Text № 8. First class

Mr. Plummer lived in Winchester, the old capital of England. One day, having to go to London on business, he bought a second-class return ticket and caught the morning express.

After spending the day in London, he reached the station to start his return journey at a time when all businessmen were going home to the country from their offices in London. The train was already crowded when Mr. Plummer arrived, and it was clear that, unless he changed his plans, he would have to stand up.

He noticed that there were several empty seats in the first-class carriages, and decided to travel in comfort. He could pay the difference when the ticket-collector came to the carriage on the way to Winchester. He got into a first-class carriage and sat down in one of the two remaining empty seats. The other four men in the carriage had the appearance of ordinary successful businessmen. They were well dressed in dark suits and were clearly men in good position. But before the train started, a different kind of person jumped in and sat down, a young man who had certainly never worked in an office.

Mr. Plummer was rather surprised to see such a man in a first-class carriage, until he remembered how full the train was. His coat was tight, and short at the back; his collar and tie were green; his brown shoes were narrow and pointed, like a girl’s. An unpleasant smell of hair-oil filled the air. Two of other men looked up in silence from their newspapers, shook them and then started to read again. The third man filled his pipe and blew clouds of smoke all over the carriage. Perhaps the young man hoped that no one would come to examine the tickets. If so, he was mistaken; for when the train had been traveling for twenty minutes, the door opened and an official entered.

Mr. Plummer had the necessary money ready in his hand, and held it out with the ticket. The official then turned to the others. One by one each of the four businessmen held out a second-class ticket, and all had to pay the difference. But the young man sat still. Had he no ticket at all? He had. His was the only first-class ticket in the carriage.

Text № 9. Monumental history of kyiv.

The first monument in Kyiv appeared in the very early years of the 19^th century. Over the next two centuries, near 100 monuments have been erected throughout the city. Nevertheless, not all of them have survived. So, let’s take a tour of Kyiv’s monumental history!

Podil is considered to be the birthplace of Kyiv’s monuments. There, not far from Poshtova Square, stands the 18-meter high Column of Magdeburg Rights topped with a gilded cross. This was the first monument built using money donated by city residents in order to “reaffirm the rights of the ancient capital”. In other words, its purpose was to preserve the capital’s status of a “free city”. The monument did not accomplish these objectives, as a quarter of a century later Kyiv lost its traditional self-government.

The second monument in the city appeared in the fall of 1853 in a new park, which is now known as Volodymyrska Hirka. It was the famous monument to Prince Volodymyr, who, according to legend, christened Kyivites in the Dnieper River at the end of the 10^th century in 988. The great figure of the prince was cast by professor Petr Klodt. The 20-meter pedestal was designed by architect Alexander Ton and another master sculptor by the name of Volodymyr Demut-Malynovskiy decorated the pedestal of the monument with a bas-relief called Christening of Kyivites. The Prince Volodymyr Monument has been one of the sightseeing highlights in the capital for a century and a half.

Over the course of Ukraine’s independence, 16 new monuments have appeared in Kyiv, including memorials to legendary soccer player and national team coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy, famous writer Oles Honchar, historian and public figure Mykhailo Hrushevskiy and others. These monuments embellish this ancient city and are truly popular among Kyiv residents and tourists. So, the “monumental history” of Kyiv continues…

(from “Kyiv Weekly”)