Evgenij Pluschenko

Pluschenko was sent to the ice-rink by his mother at the age of four. His mother liked figure skating and had some friends at the rink. When Evgenij was 11, his ice-rink in Volgograd closed, and the boy left his home and moved alone to St. Petersburg to train. His mother came to Petersburg later, while his father and elder sister stayed in Volgograd. Pluschenko is one of the few male skaters to perform great spins and jumps. At the age of 16, Evgenij was the youngest male skater to receive the perfect score of 6.0. Pluschenko’s parents never watch him compete live, even when competitions took place at home. Pluschenko withdrew from the 2005 World Championship after the short program because of injury. He underwent surgery in Munich, Germany in spring 2005. On June 18, 2005, Pluschenko married Maria Yermak. His wife studies sociology at the University of St. Petersburg. They met in 2004 when Pluschenko, driving in St. Petersburg, noticed her in a convertible and decided to follow her. At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Pluschenko skated two brilliant programs, and became the Olympic champion. Looking to the future Pluschenko will be doing some skating tours, including Champions on Ice

Exercise 2 Answer the following questions.

1. Who was Mikhail Lomonosov? 2. What did he make for Russian science? 3. When did he die? 4. What Pushkin’s works do you know? 5. Were his novels translated into many languages of the world? 6. Who was the first spaceman in the world? 7. When did he fly into space? 8. When did he die? 9. Who is one of the few male skaters to perform great spins and jumps? 10. When did Pluschenko become the Olympic champion?

Exercise 3 Translate and memorize the following expressions from the text.

Chemistry and mining, a great scientist, the first Russian academician, a physicist, a painter, an astronomer, a geographer, a historian and a statesman, to be named after, research in electricity, gravity and the character of colour, to be interested in, a rival, to be translated into, to perform great spins and jumps, male skater, to compete live, to undergo surgery, to notice smb. in a convertible, to follow smb.