Things to do

Task 1. Translate and comment on the following.

• I hope getting higher education will help me to be highly qualified specialist and to climb the career ladder.

Task 2. Work in small groups. Role-play the situation:

You want to take part in the activities of students’ scientific society.

Discuss with your friends the following points:

• theme and the plan of your project

• students you want to work with

• your aims and ambitions

Remember to:

• discuss all the options

• take an active part in the conversation and be polite

• come up with ideas

• give reasons

• ask for your friend’s opinion and agree or disagree with him\her

• come to an agreement

Task 3. Talk on one of the topics

• Service industries.

• Personal qualities required for working in the service industry.

UNIT 2

St. PETERSBURG

“It isn't the place that graces the man, but man the place.”

(English proverb)

“Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest: Home-keeping hearts are happiest.” – Longfellow (USA, 1807-1882)

Assignments

Task 1. Practice reading the following words.

palace, architect, architecture, tsarist, centre, mansion, museum, heritage, the Hermitage, cathedral, theatre, square, spire.

Read and translate the text

History

St. Petersburg is one of the world’s most beautiful cities and one of the most important cultural centers in Europe. St. Petersburg is also called the "Northern capital of Russia", the "Venice of the North" and the "Window to Europe".

The population of the city is over 6 million people. Saint Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia, after Moscow, and the world’s most northern city with more than one million residents.

Laying the foundation stone for St. Petersburg in 1703, tsar Peter the Great, who was very fond of Europe, had two purposes in view: first, to establish the civilized European lifestyle in Russia and, second, to show the world that his countrymen were not just peasants and barbarians. Thousands of workers gave their lives building the magnificent city on a swampland.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why St. Petersburg also has this somewhat depressive atmosphere which one can clearly feel reading Dostoevsky novels.

From the 18th till the beginning of the 20th century St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian empire. The historic centre of Saint Petersburg and related groups of monuments were included in UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990.

The Sights

The city's oldest building is the fortress of Peter and Paul (1703).Peter and Paul Cathedral (1712-1733) is the main building in the fortress. Its gilded spire, 122.5 meters high, is one the symbols of St. Petersburg. Russian tsars and members of the royal family are buried in the cathedral and in the nearby Grand Dukes Mausoleum.

St. Petersburg is one of Europe's most beautiful cities. As the former capital of imperial Russia and the residence of its tsars, the city has many splendid architectural treasures.

Many of the glorious mansions are now home to museums and none come more impressive than the famous State Hermitage Museum. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors.

The other museums which attract thousands of tourists from all over the world include the Kunstkammer, the first Russian museum, the Smolny Cathedral, the Russian Museum, St. Isaac's Cathedral and Savior-on-the-Spilt-Blood and the Admiralty.

Nevsky Prospekt, the main street in St. Petersburg, is one of the best-known streets in Russia. Being in the historical center of the city, the prospect runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and then, after a slight turn, to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. In the very first days of St. Petersburg it was originally called the Great Perspective Road and was simply the beginning of the road to the ancient city of Novgorod, but it quickly became adorned with beautiful buildings, squares and bridges and became the very center of the bustling, rapidly growing city. It is 4.5 kilometers long and 25-60 meters wide. It was planned by the French architect Alexandre Jean Baptiste LeBlond, who at that moment was working for the city's founder Peter the Great.

Sadovaya Street got its name from a lot of gardens once facing the street. Moskovsky Prospect is the longest street in the city and Architect Rossy Street is the shortest one. It was in Saint Petersburg that the tradition to number streets appeared. One still can find 5th Line or 27th Line on Vasilyevsky Island. Line is one side of the street.