9. Anser the following questions:

1. When was the term «Belaya Rus» used for the first time? 2. How did people try to explain the origin of the word Belarus? 3. Who were the ancestors of the Belarusians? 4. Where did they live? 5. When did the disintegration of the tribal society take place? 6. What were the consequences of the development of arable farming? 7. What happened at the beginning of the 9^th century? 8. What was Kievskaya Rus like? 9. What was formed in 1569? 10. Who exploited the Belarusian people? 11. When did the troops of the Swedish king Charles XII invade Belarus? 12. Who routed the Swedish troops? 13. What country annexed Belarus at the end of the 18^th century? 14.When did Napoleon invade Belarus? 15. When did the citizens of Vitebsk erect the monument on the Uspenski hill? Why? 16. When was the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed? 17. How did the economy and culture develop before World War II? 18. What damage did World War II bring to Belarus? 19. When did Belarus proclaim its sovereignty?

10. Agree or disagree with the following stab

1 The ancestors of the Belarusians were Anglo-Saxes. 2 They lived in the basin of the Svisloch. 3. It was Kievskaya Rus that united three fraternal peoples. 4.In 1569 the Mongols and Tatars annexed Belarus. 5. The Polish feudal lords exploited the Belarusian people cruelly. 6. The troops under the command of Peter the Great helped the Belarussian people in their struggle with Napoleon. 7. In 1812 Belarus was invaded by the fascist Germany. 8. On January 1, 1919 the Revolutionary Workers and Peasants' Government of Byelorussia proclaimed the formation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. 9. By the end of the 30-ies the life of the Belarusians was unhappy. 10. Belarus has experienced the horrors of numerous invasions.

11. Choose a word from the box to put into each gap:

1. The history of Belarus ... to antiquity. 2. Feudal wars and foreign invasions . . . these land. 3. In the 14th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . . . Belarus 4.In 1812 Belarus ... by Napoleon. 5. In 1939 Western Belarus occupied since 1921 by Poland, ... Byelorussia б. Minsk, Gomel, Vitebsk, Grodno, Mogilev, Brest, Bobruisk Orsl other cities ... important industrial centres.

was invaded, goes back, joined annexed,

plundered, grew into

12. Comprehension check. Choose the best alternative according to the text:

1. The term «Belaya Rus» was used for the first time in the

a) 13th century;

b) 12th century;

c) 14th century.

2. In the Middle Ages the territory of the present day

Belarus was first populated by

a) Eastern Slavic tribes;

b) Western Slavic tribes;

c) Eastern German tribes.

3. The ancestors of the Belarusians lived in the basins of

a) the Dnieper and the Zapadnaya Dvina rivers where

they grew rice and fished;

b) the Dnieper and the Bug rivers where they grev

cotton and hunted;

c) the Dnieper and the Zapadnaya Dvina rivers when

they hunted, fished and farmed.

4. Kievskaya Rus was formed

a) at the beginning of the tenth century;

b) at the end of the ninth century;

c) at the beginning of the ninth century.

5. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania

a) helped to form a new state in the second half of

the 13^th century;

b) annexed Belarus in the second half Of the 13^th

century;

c) annexed Belarus in the second half of the 12^th century.

6. Rzecz Pospolita was formed

a) to struggle against the Principality of Moscow;

b) to struggle against the Mongols and Tatars;

c) to struggle against the Polish feudal lords.

7. The famous battle of Poltava

a) stopped the Swedish intervention;

b) stopped the Russian intervention;

c) stopped the German intervention.

8. To commemorate the victory won over the French in 1812 the citizens of Vitebsk

a) built a monument to Napoleon;

b) built a monument which stands on the Uspensk

hill;

c) built a mausoleum which stands n the entre о

the town.

9. The western regions joined Belarus in

a) 1949;

b) 1938;

c) 1939.

10. During World War II Belarus

a) lost every fourth of its inhabitants;

b) restored its towns and itit

c) rebuilt its economy.