Exercises

1. Answer the following questions:

1. When was Bryansk first mentioned?

2. Where did the first dwellings appear over 1000 years ago?

3. What do you know about the Bryansk Arsenal?

4. Why is Bryansk called a city of partisan glory?

5. What is the total area of Bryansk?

6. How many districts are there in Bryansk? What are they?

7. What kind of companies are situated in Bryansk?

8. What can you say about the cultural life of Bryansk?

9. Why is Bryansk a city of students?

10. What are the main places of interest in Bryansk? What can you see there?

2. True or false:

1. Bryansk was first mentioned in 1234.

2. There are no parks in Bryansk.

3. The first dwellings appeared in the surroundings of the Bowl Mound.

4. Ivan the great founded a shipyard in Bryansk.

5. Today Bryansk is a crossroad of 15 railways.

3. Add some more information:

1. An ancient city Bryansk has an interesting history:

2. Bryansk is often called a city of partisan glory:

3. The partisan Square is one of the places of interest in Bryansk

4. The cultural life of Bryansk is rich:

5. After war years were the period of second birth of Bryansk:

4. Translate into English:

1. Over 1000 years ago в районе Чашина Кургана появились первые поселения.

2. The Hill of Immortality был воздвигнут 7 мая 1967 года.

3. At the Partisan Square you can see памятник партизанам и солдатам, которые освободили Брянск, а также вечный огонь.

4. There are 3 theatres in Bryansk: кукольный театр, театр драмы, ТЮЗ.

5. 226 square kilometers - общая площадь, которую занимает город Брянск.

Text 2

The Museum of Crystal in Dyatkovo

The museum of crystal of the Dyatkovo crystal plant is a unique establishment in the best and happiest sense. The museum has accumulated a vast collection of glass, which reflects the basic trends in the development of the plant, ways and methods of processing and working goods made of coloured glass and crystal. It also shows the applied technology, the growth of skills, inherited by each subsequent generation, and a change in the trends of fashion.

The museum has been functioning successfully for more than a century. The Great Patriotic War (World War II) was the most terrible experience for the museum. Before the Bryansk region was occupied by German fascists, the plant's museum, like the basic equipment and machinery, was evacuated to the east of the country.

In the exposition halls of the museum we can learn about the life-story and activities of the Maltsovs, Russian manufacturers who founded our plant and created a large industrial empire. The writer-ethnographer Vasili Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko called this area "America in Russia". The whole history of the biggest and oldest crystal plant in Russia, covering more than two centuries, can be traced in the exposition halls of our museum. There is a peculiar way of showing the exposition. Items of decorum are placed on open podiums. There are no obstacles between an exhibit and a visitor. The exhibits can be viewed circularly, as if they were existing in an open space, organizing it round themselves, filling it with their bright images and light-emanating essence of that wonderful and unique material which we call 'glass'.

Today the museum is a unique collection of the ancient and modern Dyatkovo crystal. We carefully keep samples of serial and mass produce of the plant: unique works of talented distinguished masters and professional artists, a brilliant collection of the best produce of the plant made at different stages of its history.

The classical traditions of the Russian artistic glassmaking are represented here with a wonderful collection of the best produce of the plant at different stages of its history, unique items of decorum for interiors, presents to popular people, pearls of the Maltsovs' industrial empire in documents.

The Museum of Crystal offers:

• excursions about the museum

• excursions about the plant shops

Tourists come to know the process of manual production of items out of hot glass, methods of diamond-cutting and engraving crystal objects.

A constant exposition acquaints you with the unique collection of the Maltsov glass of the XIX century, with works of masters and artists of the XX century. The Exhibition Hall of the museum offers various exhibitions and display-fairs.

In the museum there functions a salon-shop, offering the best objects of small serial production and souvenirs, produced at the plant. There is an artistic salon in the museum which offers personal works of artists and the best samples of the serial produce of the "Dyatkovo Crystal".