The world heritage

How long would it take you to see the most famous places in the world? Three months? Six months? Twelve months? No. If you visit one famous place every day, it will take you fifteen months!

At the moment there are more than 460 heritage sites around the world from Albania to Zimbabwe. Some of them are man-made, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, others are natural, for example the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina. However, every site is important because each one is part of everyone’s past, present and future.

Unfortunately, our children and grandchildren may not have a chance to visit many of these places. They are damaged by wars, weather, age, traffic and pollution. However, one of the biggest problems for them is vandalism. Some people, visiting the attractions, destroy or damage them. They sometimes spray paint on the walls of the buildings or steal valuable items like mosaics.

At some sites, such as Stonehenge in England, governments have built high fences to protect the site from vandals. But high fences are very ugly and very unfriendly. So, experts suggest some other ideas about how to solve the problem of vandalism. Guards, dogs and television cameras are among them. The problem is that all these solutions are very expensive.

Other experts say that the best solution is education. When people are taught to respect their history, they will not destroy or damage it, but pre­serve it.

In 1972 countries around the world united to form The World Heritage Organisation. Today, the organisation helps to maintain and restore the most important attractions from our history and spreads the information about the value of historic sites.

4.2 Conjunctions. Match the following English and Russian expressions:

как …, так и… ни … ни … посредством, с помощью что касается (меня) по сравнению с либо …, либо … между прочим, кстати с одной стороны (а) также и с другой стороны

as for (me) both … and … by means of by the way on the other hand as well as compared with/to either … or… on the one hand neither … nor …

4.3 Match the conjunctions to the sentences.

because if while since until unless when as though although

She was painting a landscape ____ I saw her. The wind was cold ____ it was the month of December. Let’s sunbathe ____ the sun is in the sky, then go indoors. You need not come with us ____ you wish to. I really like rock music. I don’t like jazz ____. We will go sightseeing ____ the weather is fine. He hasn’t visited any museums ____ last summer. The match did not take place ____ of the heavy rain. We waited ____ she came. ____ they were very tired, they continued working.

4.4 Read the text and complete it with the appropriate sentences 1-3.

The role of museums

1. What is more, people can learn about the history and culture of other countries. 2. Moreover, many have laboratories for preserving ancient objects. 3. In order to do this, historians and archaeologists have to do extensive re­search.

The primary function of any museum is to educate the general public by exhibiting histori­cal objects which have been found. Museums provide clear description of these objects. They explain where they are from, when and how they were made, and what they were used for. _____ (A). Museums help us to understand our history. _____ (B). The exhibition of Tutankhamen’s tomb is a good example of this. The number of gold objects and other artefacts found in the tomb was extremely impressive. This exhibition travelled the world and taught people about an­cient Egypt. Museums are important centres for educa­tion and research. _____ (C).

4.5 Grammar for revision. Put the verbs into the correct passive tense, then use the prompts 1-4 to ask and answer questions in pairs.

The Louvre is the national museum and art gallery of France. In 1546, work on the Louvre 1) __ (start) by King Francis I. The Louvre 2) __ (use) as a royal palace until 1682. It 3) __ (open) to the public as a museum and art gallery in 1793.

Today many of the world’s most famous paintings 4) __ (keep) in the Louvre, as well as sculptures, jewellery and other forms of art. It 5) __ (visit) by millions of people every year.

Model: When/work/the Louvre/start?

SA: When was work on the Louvre started?

SB: Work on the Louvre was started in 1546.

1. What/ the Louvre /use as/until 1682?

2. When / the Louvre / open/ to the public?

3. What /keep/in the Louvre?

4. How many people /it /visit by / every year?

4.6 In pairs, ask and answer questions ( Model 1), then talk about each place, as in Model 2.

Name: the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France Designer: Gustave Eiffel Completed: 1889 Material: iron Built as: memorial to the French Revolution Name: Arch of Triumph, Paris, France Designer: Jean Chalgrin Completed: 1835 Material: stone blocks Built as: memorial to Napoleon’s victorious battles

Name: the Parthenon, Athens, Greece Designer: Ictinus & Callicrates Completed: 423 BC Material: marble Built as: temple of goddess Athena Name: the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy Designer: Bonnano Pisano Completed: 14 century Material: white marble Built as: bell tower of Pisa Cathedral

Model 1

SA: Where is the Eiffel Tower located?

SB: It is located in Paris. Who was it designed by?

SA: It was designed by Gustave Eiffel. When was it completed?

SB: It was completed in 1889. What is it made of?

SA: It is made of iron. Why was it built?

SB: It was built as an entrance to the Second World Exhibition.

Model 2

The Eiffel Tower is located in Paris, in France. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel and it was completed in 1889. It is made of iron. It was built as an entrance to the Second World Exhibition.

4.7 Exam Task. Complete the dialogue with the questions in the list, then make your own dialogue about a famous site.

a) How old is it? b) What does it look like? c) What’s that?

A: Did you have a good time in Greece, Mary?

B: Yes, thanks. It was wonderful. The best place we visited was the Acropolis.

A: Really? _____ (1)

B: It’s an ancient building on top of a hill in Athens.

A: Oh. _____ (2)

B: It was built by the ancient Greeks in 500 BC.

A: That’s amazing. _____ (3)

B: It’s made of marble and it has lots of columns. It’s really beautiful.

A: It sounds fantastic. I wish I’d been there with you.

4.8 Exam Task. Collect the information about any widely known sight in our country or abroad and give a report on it. Talk about:

what it is famous for the name of the architect (if known)

place where it’s located the material used

when and why it was built why it attracts people now.