Text 3 Transportation

Retell the text.

In the 19^th century tens of thousands of immigrants from all parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire arrived at Vienna’s six major railway terminals. Today only two important stations are left, South Railway Station and West Railway Station. The city’s busy international airport, Schwechat, is served by more than 30 airlines, and motorways radiate in all directions.

Freight transport down the Danube to the Balkan states, Romania, and the Black Sea, and via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal to northwestern Europe, has grown in importance. Vienna’s container port has an annual turnover of about 1, 6 million tons.

After World War II Vienna chose to retain its tramway system instead of converting to buses. The old system, modernized and updated, continues to be an important low-cost form of public transportation. The extensive underground network has also been expanded. Consequently, within the city, most people travel by public transportation or on foot.

Text 4 Health, Welfare and Education

Retell the text.

Vienna’s hospitals and medical training have been widely esteemed since the mid-18^th century. Emperor Joseph II founded the General Hospital in 1784, and in the 19^th century Viennese medicine led the world. Vienna claims several renowned medi­cal scientists, among them Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis, discoverer of the cause of pu­erperal fever; Theodor Billroth, a pioneer in abdominal surgery (брюшная хирур­гия); Karl Landsteiner, discoverer of the blood groups; and Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalysis.

For many reasons the city’s public health care system is regarded as one of the world’s best. The number of doctors in proportion to the population is high; there are more than 40 general and special hospitals. In addition to providing model health ser­vices, the municipal government has been among the world’s pioneers in public wel­fare and social insurance. Vienna is also renowned for its clean drinking water, which comes from springs (источники) the mountains around the city.

Vienna has a much higher proportion of high-school and university graduates than the other Austrian provinces. Of the 12 universities in the country, five are lo­cated in Vienna: the University of Vienna, the University of Technology, the Univer­sity of Agriculture, the University of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Eco­nomics in Vienna.

Other notable institutions include the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Academy of Applied Arts. There are also a Roman Catholic Academy, several scientific societies, and many research institutes, as well as the venerable (именитый, почтенный) Austrian Academy of Sciences. Vienna’s teaching of music, medicine, law and the arts attracts many foreign students, who make up about 10 % of the total student population.

Text 5 Music and Theatre

Retell the text.

Vienna is the undisputed cultural centre of Austria and one of the world capi­tals of music. Even Salzburg and Bregenz festivals are independent on Viennese or­chestras, musicians, theatre directors, and actors. Operas, concerts and theatrical per­formances have played a major part in Viennese life for centuries, and many world-famous composers lived and worked in the city. The famous Society of Friends of Music, founded in 1812, helps to ensure that Vienna remains a leading music centre.

The Vienna Boy’s Choir, founded in 1498 (Haydn and Schubert were its most famous boy members), sings on Sunday mornings at the mass in the Hofburg Chapel. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra gives frequent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning concerts and also performs during the week at the State Opera House. Alto­gether there are seven concert halls in Vienna. Among the highlights of the Viennese musical calendar are the annual gala performance of Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus on New Year’s Eve and the New Year’s concert of the Philharmonic, broadcast and televised throughout the world.

The two major opera houses, the State Opera and the People’s Opera, and the two leading theatres, the Burgtheater and the Academy Theatre, are owned by the Austrian federal government, and their singers and actors enjoy respected civil ser­vant status. The State Opera is one of the leading opera houses in the world, where Verdi and Wagner conducted and where Gustav Mahler was director. It opened in 1869 with a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. During World War II it was de­stroyed, and, after rebuilding, it opened in 1955 with a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio. The Burgtheater, founded in 1776, is one of the most highly regarded Ger­man-languages theatres in Europe. In addition to several large theatres, Vienna has numerous small theatres, which provide a home for more avant-garde works.