ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS OF CIVIL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY (стр. 5 )

The most precious thing in Kizhy is 22-cupola Cathedral of the Transfiguration built in 1714. Its walls, ceilings and roofs were made of pine trees without any nail, using only an axe. The twenty-two cupolas are of different size which givethe cathedral a fairy-tale look.

We don`t know anything about the man of genius who built it. There is a legend inKizhy that this church was built by Master Nestor. Having built, he threw his axe into Lake Onega with the words, “There has never been, there isn`t and there will never be anything like it.”

The island Valaam is the biggest on the Ladoga. There is a monastery on the island. It was founded by Novgorod townsfolk and stood to defend Russian land borders, and many times repelled Swedish attacks. The monastery was ruined in the early 17th century, but restored in the 18th century. Along with trees that are common to these latitudes, you can see oak, cedar groves, alleys of silver fir and fruit gardens. The walls of northern structures were always made of pine. The carpenters always tried to make the building stand as long as possible. 22 domes are reliable protection against the wet. When it rains, water falls from the upper to the lower domes, which throw water far away from the walls. That is why the wooden church has managed to survive so long.

There are also other interesting wooden constructions, small chapels, living houses. People from every corner of the world keep coming here. They speak different languages but all agree on one point: Kizhi is incomparable!

Notes to the text:

fir - ель

island - остров

magnificent - великолепный

manage - суметь

masterpiece – шедевр, творение

pine - сосна

preciousthing - ценность

voyage - путешествие

willbetempted – не удержится от искушения

alley - аллея

border – граница, рубеж

cedar - кедр

defend - защищать

early - вначале

grove - роща

incomparable – бесподобный, несравненный

latitude - широта

Novgorodtownsfolk - новгородцы

repel - отражать

restore - восстанавливать

ruin– разрушать

survive - выживать

Grammarexercises

I.Перепишите и переведите предложения, обращая внимание на перевод Participle 1.

1.  Speaking of residential construction we must say that the apartment houses are mostly built to suit urban conditions.

2.  Natural stone is used for footing and foundations for external walls carrying the load.

3.  Being brittle concrete can`t withstand tensile stresses, and it can`t therefore be used in structures subjected to tensile stresses under load.

4.  Concrete units have been brought to the construction site for assembling.

II.Перепишите и переведите предложения, обращая внимание на перевод Participle 2.

1.  The design adopted for the new bridge simplified the fabrication of steelwork.

2.  Large – panel construction consists of using reinforced concrete panels one or two stories high, sometimes made of light – weight insulating concrete.

3.  When reconstructed the station looked more beautiful than before.

4.  Huge reinforced concrete units manufactured in heated factory premises and assembled at a construction site have many advantages.

III. Перепишите и переведите предложения, обращая внимание на перевод независимого причастного оборота.

1.  The ancient houses being built without cement, the remains of only a few of them still exist.

2.  The Conference on building contains a wide range of facilities: three large council chambers, each containing about 400 public and 120 press seats.

3.  The country was rich in hard and durable (прочный) stone, but poor in timber and metal, the main material used for construction being granite.

4.  Being built in a new way modern houses have better facilities.

Text 6:The Story of a Statue

If you ever come to London you will surely go to Trafalgar Square. The main feature of the Square is Nelson`s Column with the figure of the great seaman on the top.

Just behind it is the National Gallery where there is one of the finest collections of pictures in the world. In the middle of the road there is an interesting statue which is one of the finest in Great Britain. It is made in bronze and represents Charles I on horseback.

The Statue of Charles I has a very amusing history. After the English Civil War (1642 – 1646) it was taken down and sold to a cutler. He immediately made great numbers of knives and forks with bronze handles. He told everybody that they were the best knives and that he had made them from the metal of the statue. They were rapidly bought, both by the friends and the enemies of the late monarch. The cutler soon made a lot of money and retired from business. Some time after the Restoration the government wanted to put up a new statue to the memory of Charles I. When the cutler heard of this he told the government that he had hidden the old statue and that he would sell it to them at a moderate price. They agreed and the monument was put up again in the place where it stands now.

WORDLIST

Trafalgar Square – Трафальгарская площадь

Nelson`sColumn – Колонна Нельсона

EnglishCivilWar - Гражданская война в Англии

NationalGallery – Национальная картинная галерея

The Statue of Charles I – СтатуяЧарльза I

Restoration - Реставрация

Text 7: The State Tretyakov Gallery

The building standing opposite the southern walls of the Kremlin, beyond the Moskva River, was built at the beginning of the 20th century from a design by the famous Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov, a connoisseur of old Moscow. It looks like an illustration to an old Russian tale.

The façade is decorated with the ancient coat of arms of Moscow. An inscription on both sides says.

«The Moscow city art gallery named after PavelMikhailovich and Sergei MikhailovichTretyakov. Founded by P. M. Tretyakov in 1856 and presented to Moscow in 1892, together with the collection which S. M. Tretyakov had bequtathed to the city.»

PavelTretyakov, a merchant by birth and an outstanding patron of Russia art, dedicated 40 years of his life to his main calling – the establishment of a national art museum.

From the beginning he sought to build up a collection of realistic, poetic paintings by Russian artists who loved their country.

Tretyakov purchased paintings that have become part of the golden treasury of Russian art and are regarded as milestones in its history. He supported many Russian painters and commissioned numerous paintings. He was particularly fond of Repin. Many of Repin’s paintings can be seen in the gallery, including his masterpiece, «Ivan Grozny and His Son, Ivan».

Another giant of Russian art, Surikov, owed a great deal to Tretyakov. His painting «The Execution of the Streltsi», «BoyarinyaMorozova» and other famous canvases hold pride of place in the gallery.

Some people think that it is as beautiful and important as the Art Theatre, the St. Basil’s Cathedral and everything that is best in Moscow.

The gallery has tens of thousands of paintings, drawings, sculptures and icons. Among the icons are some world-famous masterpieces by Andrei Rublyov.

A new huge building for the gallery is on the bank of the MoskvaRiver.

Wordlist

artist – художник

masterpiece – шедевр

bequeath – завещать

merchant – купец, торговец

beyond – по ту сторону

milestone – веха

calling – призвание

numerous – многочисленный

coatofarms – герб

outstandingpatron – выдающийся покровитель

collection – коллекция

owe (to) – быть обязанным

commission – заказывать

particularly – особенно

connoisseur – знаток

poetic – поэтический

dedicate – посвящать

purchase – покупать

establishment – создание

realistic – реалистичный

execution – казнь

regard – считаться

facade – фасад

seek – стремиться (к)

fromadesign – по эскизу

southern – южный

giant – титан

support – поддерживать, помогать

illustration – иллюстрация

tale – сказка

including – включая

treasury – сокровищница

inscription – надпись

Text 8: SightseeingoftheKremlin

Прочитайте текст и расскажите о достопримечательностях Кремля

Let us travel about our capital. It is difficult to describe Moscow in a few words. And it is very difficult to see all the places of interest.

The first place the tourists go to in Moscow is the Kremlin. One can’t imagine Moscow without the Kremlin, which is the heart of the city.

The Kremlin is known for its splendid buildings, among which are many wonderful cathedrals. You can also see there the Bell-Tower of Ivan the Great, the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell.

Thousands of people from all over the world visit Red Square. Red Square is famous for St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Monument to Mininand Pozharsky. This monument was erected in 1818 in memory of the liberation of the Russian land from foreign invaders. AnotherfamousbuildingistheHistorical Museum Building.

Проверьте понимание текста, ответив на следующие вопросы:

Выберите из текста ответы на следующие вопросы:

a) What is the Kremlin know for?

b) What places in Moscow do thousands of people usually visit?

c) What monument was erected in Moscow in 1818 and why?

Расскажите, что интересного вы узнали о Кремле.

Text 9: The Borodino Battle Panorama

Переведите текст с помощью словаря:

As one rides along Moscow’s Kutuzov Avenue one notices an unusual round building rising above the trees of a park. This building was erected as a museum to house a panorama of the Borodino battle.

The structure is very impressive; it is nearly 30 metres high, and is faced with glass, marble and ceramics. Some of the guns used in the 1812 battle are installed around the building.