Вариант 2
151st year of operation
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Belarusian Railways is in its 151st year and, to honour the date, a steam train has taken a maiden journey along the Porechie-Grodno section, pulling several carriages of passengers. There, on December 27th, 1862, its whistle announced the launch of regular railway traffic through the territory of modern Belarus. Belarus has over 5,500km of railway line, annually transporting about 150m tonnes of cargo and 100m passengers. |
Naturally, the development of many Belarusian cities – including Baranovichi and Molodechno – relied greatly on rail links. As a result, several cities feature a train on their emblem.
The latest comfortable high-speed trains will soon connect Minsk with Lithuanian Vilnius, being similar to those recently bought from Switzerland. These are the first in Belarus to rival European style regional, inter-regional and international trains and the Belarusian Government has signed an agreement with the Swiss supplier to establish a local joint venture; manufactures should be ready later this year.
The establishment of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan has created further impetus for the development of our railway network.
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By Vladimir Yakovlev
http//belarus-magazine.by №2, 2013
Questions: 1. What is the title of the article? 2. What is it about? / What is the main idea of the article? 3. Who is the aurthor of the article? 4. Was the article interesting for you? Why? Why not?
Вариант 3
Preserving legacy
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People from around the globe have long associated Belarus and the Belovezhskaya Pushcha with its aurochs. In fact, 428 currently live in the forest: the world’s second largest herd. This largest animal native to Europe already has the honour of gracing the flag of the Brest Region, showing local feeling for the graceful beast. Hundreds of years ago, aurochs wandered the boggy lands of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha forest. Beginning from the In the 12th century auroches were hunted to extinction. The last was killed in 1919. |
From 1929-1930, two and, then, five aurochs, from Germany and Sweden, were brought to the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and were encouraged to breed. By 1939, the Belarusian Government had adopted a resolution to make the Belovezhskaya Pushcha a state reserve. By 1941, it was inhabited by 19 aurochs. Since then, much has changed. In 2000, 218 of the majestic beasts were in residence. By 2012, this had hit 428 – a fantastic achievement! Now, the number of Pushcha aurochs exceeds the amount that Europe’s oldest forest can sustain in fodder, necessitating additional feed being supplied.
(930)
By Valentina Kozlovich
http//belarus-magazine.by №2, 2013
Questions: 1. What is the title of the article? 2. What is it about? / What is the main idea of the article? 3. Who is the aurthor of the article? 4. Was the article interesting for you? Why? Why not?