Spoken Etiquette Likes, dislikes and preferences

I particularly like	Мне особенно нравится
I really love	Мне действительно нравится
I’m quite keen on	Мне нравится
I adore	Я обожаю
I’m not very fond of	Мне не очень нравится
I can’t stand	Яне выношу
I’m not at all keen on	Мне совсем не нравится
I’m afraid it’s not my cup of tea.	Боюсь, что это мне не по душе.
It’s a difficult choice, but on the whole I prefer	Трудно выбрать, но, в целом, я предпочитаю
I’d rather	Я бы лучше
Given the choice, I’d	Если бы у меня был выбор, я бы
If I had to choose, I’d opt for	Если бы мне пришлось выбирать, я бы предпочел

What would you say?

• Speak about free time activities you like and dislike, using the phrases above.

• Make up short dialogues discussing your plans for the weekend.

Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia, its administrative, economic, political andeducational centre.

It is one of Russia’s major citieswith the population of about 9 million people. It’stotal areais about 900 thousand square kilometres.

The city was founded by PrinceYuri Dolgoruky andwas first mentioned in the chroniclesin 1147. At that time it was a small frontier settlement. By the 15^thcentury Moscowhad grown into a wealthy city.

In the 16^thcentury,under Ivan the Terrible, Moscow became the capital of the state of Muscovy. In the 18^thcentury Peter the Greattransferred the capital toSt. Petersburg, but Moscowremained the heart of Russia. That is why it becamethe main target of Napoleon’s attackin 1812. During the war of 1812 three quarters of the citywere destroyed by fire, but by the middle of the 19^thcentury Moscowwas completely rebuilt.

Present-day Moscow is the seat of the governmentof the Russian Federation. President of Russia lives and works here;government offices are locatedhere, too.

Moscow is a major industrial city. Its leading industriesareengineering,chemicalandlight industries.

Moscow is known for its many historical buildings, museums and art galleries, as well as for the famous Bolshoi, Maly and Art theatres. There are more than 80 museums in Moscow, among them the unique Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Andrey Rublyov Museum of Early Russian Art and many others.

Moscow is a city of science and learning. There are over 80higher education institutionsin the city, including a number of universities.

Topical Vocabulary

an administrative, economic, political and educational centre	административный, экономический, политический центр, центр образования
a major city	крупный город
total area	общая площадь
to be founded by smb.	быть основанным кем-либо
a prince	князь
to be first mentioned in the chronicles	быть впервые упомянутым в летописях
to grow into a wealthy city	превратиться в процветающий город
under Ivan the Terrible	при Иване Грозном
to transfer the capital to	перенести столицу в какой-либо город
to remain the heart of Russia	остаться сердцем России
to become the main target of Napoleon’s attack	стать главной целью нападения Наполеона
to be destroyed by fire	быть разрушенным пожаром
to be completely rebuilt	быть полностью отстроенным
present-day Moscow	современная Москва
the seat of the government	местонахождение правительства
a government office	правительственное учреждение
to be located	быть расположенным
the leading industry	ведущая отрасль промышленности
engineering	машиностроение
chemical industry	химическая промышленность
light industry	легкая промышленность
unique	уникальный
a city of science and learning	город науки и образования
a higher education institution	вуз