Четвёртый вариант контрольного задания №1 Tasks

1. Прочитайте текст и письменно ответьте по-английски на вопросы, следующие за текстом.

Sochi

1. Sochi is our lovely hometown. It is situated on the Black Sea coast about 1500 km south from Moscow. What makes this city so special? Sochi is called the city of three seasons because there is no winter here. As we usually say, “the golden autumn slowly turns into the early spring”. When golden leaves slowly fall down on the earth the first flowers begin to blossom. Sochi is the only northern subtropical city in Russia. One can bathe in the Black Sea from May till October because the water of the Black Sea is still warm. The water of the Black Sea contains many chemical substances such as iodine, chlorine, bromine, sulphates, carbonates, sodium, potassium, etc. All of them react with your body and make you healthier. There are many mineral water springs in Sochi and its area.

2. Have you ever heard the name Greater (Big) Sochi? Sochi is one of the most stretched cities along the sea coast. It is 148 km long! Small towns and settlements: Adler, Khosta, Kudepsta, Dagomys, Lazarevskoye and many others belong to Big Sochi.

3. The history of this area goes back to the ancient times. One can call this area “the Cradle of Mankind”. People came here from Asia Miner 400 – 350 thousand years ago. There are more than 150 historical places of interest in the area. Here camps and caves of prehistoric people have been found.

4. The rich lands of the Caucasus always attracted invaders: Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Genoese, Turks. In the VI century BC the Black Sea coast attracted Greek colonists, who had based a number of trade-settlements, such as Diascuria (modern city of Sukhumi), Pitiunt (Pitsunda), Triglif (Gagra). Christian religion was brought over from the Byzantyne three centuries earlier than to Russia. In the end of the X and beginning of the XI centuries AD the first known Christian constructions were built in Loo, Galitsino and Veseloye.

5. During XVIII – XIX centuries Russia conducted long wars with Turkey for the exit to the Black Sea. In 1829, after the end of the Russian-Turkey war, by the peace treaty the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, from a mouth of the river Kuban up to the fort St. Nicholas (to the south of modern city of Poti), had departed to Russia. The symbol of the victory of the Russian weapon of 1829 is the monument “an Anchor and Cannon”

6. The end of Russin-turkish war had not solved all the problems of strengthening Russia on the Black Sea coast. On April, 21st, 1938 a small wooden fortress was established in the Sochi river area to protect this land from local tribes. It was named Alexandria in honour of the Empress’s Alexandra. The fortress was renamed several times, and only in 1896 by the decision of the Tsarist government it was renamed in the settlement of Sochi, after the name of the River Sochi.

7. In the end of the XIX century the Black Sea coast was intensely occupied by the immigrants from the central parts of Russia, from Moldova, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Georgia, and Armenians and Greeks from Turkey. The Sochi district became multinational area of Russian Empire and it is till these days..

8. Sochi was a fast developing port, industrial and resort city on the Black Sea coast. Modern houses were constructed in the city, and many streets in the centre of Sochi looked like the centre of Moscow in 30s and 50s. Until now the favourite residence of Russian Presidents is Bocharov Creek. Ski resorts of Krasnaya Polyana, warm blue waters of the Black sea, luxurious hotels, picturesque scenery create irresistible atmosphere around the place. Sochi was elected the host of the Olympic Game 2014. So the city has become a great construction site, where a lot of modern buildings, sport facilities, hotels are being built nowadays. We are looking forward to this remarkable event.