Text 4 Our University

We are students of the University. Our University was founded in 1974. In those days the student body did not exceed¹ 400 persons. At present the student body of the University exceeds 11,000 persons. The University occupies several buildings. The main building was completed in 1985. It houses the library with a spacious reading hall, a computer centre, many classrooms and well - equipped labs, a fine gym, a canteen, etc. The head of the University is Rector. Each faculty is headed by the dean. The course of studies lasts 5 years. Many of our teachers and instructors are outstanding specialists in various fields of technology and science. Some of them are graduates of our University.

There are several institutes at the University. We study at the Institute of Construction and Ecology. It trains civil engineers whose profession embraces many fields. A civil engineer constructs and reconstructs residential and industrial buildings, bridges, schools, palaces of culture, theatres, hospitals, tunnels, dams, etc.

The Institute has 17 classrooms and 9 laboratories. At the Institute the students specialize in Building Construction, Road Building (construction, maintenance and repair), Real Estate Management and Environmental Protection (land, water and air pollution and protection and other ecological problems).

Our second - year students work for a month² and ten days on construction sites³, where they gain certain experience. The graduates work at the plants and research Institutes. We can also find the graduates of our University at every major construction site.

Notes: 1. количество студентов не превышало; 2. в течение месяца

3. строительная площадка

 

Text 5 Russia

Russia (the official name — the Russian Federa­tion) is the largest country in the world. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. It occupies about 1/6 of the Earth surface. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

The country has a great variety of flora and fauna. There are numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts in our land. The highest mountains are the Altai, the Urals, and the Caucasus. There are over 2 million rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arc­tic and mild (moderate) — to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources coun­tries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals. It is one of the highly developed industrial pow­ers in the world. The main industrial branches are machine-building, aircraft, aerospace, automobile, tex­tile, chemical and others.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people. More than 100 different nations and nationalities live in the Russian Federation. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are the state white-blue-red flag and 2-headed Eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional state headed by the President. The President controls only the executive branch - the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly. The country government con­sists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker.

The executive power belongs to the Government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations of the Globe irrespective of their political and social systems.

Moscow is the capital of our Motherland. Its popu­lation is over 10 million people. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the coun­try and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe.

 

Text 6 Great Britain

Great Britain (the official name — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or UK — for short) is situated on the British Isles which lie to the north-west of the continent of Europe.

The country is washed by the North and Irish Seas, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. North and West of the country are highlands, South and East — lowlands. The highest mountains of the UK are the Grampians in Scotland, Ben Nevis is the highest peak (1, 342 metres).

There are many rivers in the country - the Thames, the Shannon, the Avon, the Clyde and others. The longest river is the Severn, the Thames is of great economic importance. There are many beautiful lakes in Great Britain. The most famous lakes are in North-West England. This part of the country is called the Lake District.

The climate of Great Britain is influenced by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the Atlantic Ocean and the seas. The climate is mild, not very cold in winter and never very hot in summer. The mild and damp climate is very good for agriculture.

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial pow­er. It is rich in some mineral resources: coal, iron ores, oil, gas and some metals. The most important industrial cities are Birming­ham, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and others. The country is known as one of the world largest producers and exporters of electronics and machin­ery, chemicals and textile, various aircraft and navi­gation equipment. Among the main industrial branch­es are also heavy (iron and steel) industry, coal-mining, automobile, ship-building, metallurgical industry and woolen industry.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. Officially the head of the state is the Queen. But her power is not absolute, it is limited by the Parliament. The British Parliament consists of 2 chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The British Government is headed by the Prime Minister — the leader of the party having the majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to compose the government.

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland constitute the UK. The total area of Great Britain is over 244 thousand square kilometers. The population of the UK is over 57 million people.

The capital of the country is London. It is the larg­est political, cultural and industrial centre of the coun­try and one of the largest ports of the world. Its pop­ulation is over 11 million people.