Vocabulary

vast territory — обширная территория to service — обслуживать to vary — изменяться

inland - внутренняя часть страны, территория удаленная от моря или границы

cradle – колыбель

natural resources - природные богатства

deposits of coal - месторождения угля

oil – нефть

natural gas - природный газ

iron ore - железная руда

to border on - граничить

former - бывший

independent states — независимые государства

leading Power — ведущая держава

Russia

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans. The oceans are: the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Pacific. The seas are: the White Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and others.

Russia borders on many countries, such as Mongolia and China in the south-east, Finland and Norway in the north­west, and so on.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain chains are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on its territory. The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold and many others.

The current population of Russia is more than 140 million people. The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population live in cities and towns and their outskirts.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

Russia is a presidential republic. It is one of the leading powers in the world.

Topical Vocabulary

vast territory - обширная, огромная территория

to lie - лежать, находиться

to be washed by - омываться чем-либо

to border on - граничить с чем либо

to vary from smth. to smth. - варьировать, изменяться от чего-л. к чему-л.

a desert - пустыня

a valley - долина

a mountain chain - горная цепь

pure - чистый

to be rich in smth. - быть богатым чем-либо

natural and mineral resources - природные ресурсы и полезные ископаемые

a deposit of smth - месторождение чего-либо

oil - нефть

gas - газ

coal - уголь

iron - железо

gold - золото

the current population - население в настоящий момент

to be densely peopled - быть густонаселенным

outskirts - пригороды

a presidential republic - президентская республика

a power - держава

№16

Trains

There are different kinds of trains: passenger trains, mail trains and goods trains. Mail trains carry mail, or post, that is letters, parcels, newspapers and magazines. Goods trains carry goods. Passenger trains carry passengers. Mail trains and passenger trains are usually combined: they have carriages for passengers and a special carriage or two for mail.

Passenger trains can be slow or fast. A slow train stops at every station. Fast trains have few stops: they stop only at very large stations. So we can call these trains respectively stopping trains and non- stopping trains.

There are local trains and long-distance trains. Local trains connect points situated not far away from each other, say, a hundred or two-three hundred kilometres. By a long-distance train you can travel very far — for thousands of kilometres. If you live in a large city, like St. Petersburg or Moscow or Kiev, you can go to the suburbs of the city by a suburban train.

Sometimes, when travelling a long distance, you have to change trains (or make a changing), that is get off one train and board another, if there is no through train to the place of your destination.

When you are travelling a long distance, it is very convenient to go by an overnight train. Overnight trains have sleeping accommodation: they usually have "corridor cars," i. e. carriages with separate compartments (they are called sleeping cars, or sleepers). In each compartment there are two lower and two upper berths, on which you can sleep like in bed. Trains which run by day are called day coaches. You cannot sleep in these trains: they have only sitting accommodation: very comfortable soft armchairs.