Answer the questions:

Why was the construction of Great Siberian Railway important?

How was the place for the bridge across the Ob chosen?

Why did a small settlement grow into a big city so rapidly?

When did the city become self-governed?

Why was Novonikolayevsk the biggest industrial and commercial centre?

How did the city develop during storming years and the Civil War?

When was the Siberian Region formed and what territories did it include?

What plants were built in Novosibirsk in the years of industrialization?

What was the Ob Sea created for?

When was underground constructed in Novosibirsk?

Translate into English:

Транссибирская железная дорога была построена с целью объединить Сибирские регионы, богатые природными ресурсами.

Гарин-Михайловский определил место строительства железнодорожного моста через Обь.

Идеальное географическое положение Новониколаевска способствовало быстрому развитию города.

До 1917 года Новониколаевск был крупнейшим промышленным и торговым центром.

Город был переименован в Новосибирск в 1925 году.

После 1955 года Новосибирск начал развиваться как единый архитектурный комплекс.

Население Новосибирска достигло одного миллиона в начале 1960-х годов.

CHECK YOURSELF

Translate the following text into English.

Новосибирск - один из крупнейших городов России. Он находится на юго-западе Сибири на реке Обь. Его население около 1,7 млн. человек. Новосибирск - крупнейший промышленный центр и важный транспортный узел. Город также является культурным центром и центром образования. Оперный театр города известен за рубежом. Театры, художественные галереи, консерватория, концертные залы удовлетворяют культурные потребности жителей Новосибирска.

Сибирское отделение Академии наук России, университеты, академии, институты, Государственная публичная научно- техническая библиотека способствуют распространению знаний.

Complete the following sentences:

Novosibirsk is the largest city.......... .

Novosibirsk is situated on.......... .

There are many.......... .

The city can boast of.......... .

In area, it is the third.......... .

Akademgorodok is.......... .

The construction of Akademgorodok began.......... .

Novosibirsk has six theatres.......... .

The building of the underground began.......... .

The city has 4 railway stations: .......... .

Make up a story of your own.

a) The town (city) I like best.

b) Going sightseeing.

c) Impressions of your visit to a town (city).

Read the article from Encyclopædia Britannica

without a dictionary and tell your groupmates the main idea of the text.*

Novosibirsk

city, administrative centre of Novosibirsk oblast (province) and the chief city of western Siberia, in south-central Russia. It lies along the Ob River where the latter is crossed by the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It developed after the village of Krivoshchekovo on the left bank was chosen as the crossing point of the Ob for the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 1893. The settlement was known variously as Gusevka or Aleksandrovsky, but in 1895 it was renamed Novonikolayevsky in honour of the accession of Tsar Nicholas II. The bridge was completed in 1897, and in 1903 town status was conferred.

The continued development of the town was based chiefly on its proximity to the Kuznetsk (Kuzbass) Coal Basin coalfield to the east and the establishment of important railway routes. In 1925 the town was renamed Novosibirsk (“New Siberia”). The city's industry was especially stimulated in World War II, when many factories were evacuated from European Russia to the area. It is now one of the largest cities in Siberia.

Novosibirsk is a major manufacturing centre. Although it has a wide range of industries, metallurgy and engineering predominate. The old, pre-Revolutionary iron industry has been transformed into the modern Kuzmin steelworks. The city also has a large tin smelter and a highly specialized gold refinery. Engineering works produce heavy machinery, hydraulic presses, electrothermal equipment, ore-concentrating and mining machinery, and agricultural machinery. Precision- and light-engineering plants make machine tools, instruments, radios, and automatic looms. There are also ship and locomotive repair shops. The chemical industry has developed rapidly. Consumer products include furniture, pianos, shoes, textiles, knitwear, and foodstuffs. Power is provided by a dam and hydroelectric station above Novosibirsk and several thermal stations in the city itself.

In addition to the trunk railway services via the Trans-Siberian, Kuzbass, and Turksib lines, local electric commuter trains link the suburbs to the city centre. There are two airports, a smaller one serving local air connections and a large main airport with direct flights to Moscow and other major cities of Russia. The Ob River is navigable. Transportation within the city is by bus, streetcar, and trolleybus.

Novosibirsk is the principal cultural and educational centre in Siberia. It has an opera and ballet theatre, botanical gardens, an art gallery, and museums, as well as a symphony orchestra.

There are many educational institutions, headed by the Novosibirsk State University, founded in 1959; other higher-educational establishments include railway engineering, electrotechnical, medical, agricultural, and teacher-training institutes. The university and a number of these institutes are located in the satellite town of Akademgorodok (“Academic Town”), on the southern outskirts of the city. Also in Akademgorodok are most of the specialist research institutes that the Academy of Sciences of Russia maintains in Novosibirsk. Pop. (1991 est.) 1,446,300.

"Novosibirsk."Encyclopædia Britannica. 20072007. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 65 Feb.Feb. 20072007 .