Russia. General information
In the north of Russia live the walrus, the seal, the white bear, the polar fox and the reindeer. In the forest zone live the bear, the wolf, the fox, the lynx, the sable, the ermine, the elk, the roe, the wild boar and in the Far East the tiger and the leopard.
Among the trees growing in the European part of Russia there is the birch, the pine and the oak, in Siberia – the cedar, the larch and the fir-trees, and in the Far East – the iron and the cork trees, the lotus, the ginseng and the lianas.
There are 150 volcanoes in Kamchatka peninsular, 30 of which are active. Three quarters of the country’s minerals and fuels, including oil, natural gas, coal, diamonds and gold are concentrating in Siberia and the Far East. There also ferrous ores near Kursk and in the Urals where half of the world’s variety of minerals can be found.
There are many villages in Russia famous for their specific crafts: painted boxes in Palekh, wooden tableware in Khokhloma, and toys in Dymkovo. Log houses, usually decorated with wood carving are typical for Russian villages.
Not long ago people in Russia villages performed traditional khorovods (a kind of round dance) and chastushki (folk chanted rhymes) and rode in troikas (carriages drawn by teams of three horses abreast). Village residents still prefer to drink tea from samovars.
Traditional Russian cooking includes porridges, pancakes, various aspics, cabbage, chicken and fish soup, pirozhki (turnovers), and kvass (a beverage made from fermented rye bread). Siberian cuisine has such dishes as stroganina (frozen fish) and pelmeni (meat-filled dumplings).
Exercise 2. Complete the sentences.
In the north of Russia live …
In the forest zone live…
In the Far East live…
In European part grow…
In Siberia grow…
In the Far East grow…
In Kamchatka there are …
Mineral resources of Russia are …
Exercise 3. Make up pairs. Use your knowledge if necessary.
Palekh toys
Khokhloma painted iron trays
Zhostovo a brand of Russia ceramics painted white and blue
Ivanovo painted boxes
Dymkovo wooden tableware
Tula laces
Gzhel fabrics
Kizhi shawls
Pavlov Posad wooden architecture
Vologda samovars
Exercise 4. Pick out things connected with Russia. Use your knowledge if necessary.
Riding in troikas, dancing gopak, performing khorovods, eating pancakes, eating pudding, riding in dogs’ team, bathing on Epiphany, eating sushi, letting paper lanterns with candles to flow along the river.
Text 3
Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.
Rf state system
The Russian Federative Republic is set up by the Constitution of 1993.
Under the Constitution Russia is a Presidential Republic. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by the President.
The legislative power is vested in the federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. The Lower Chamber is the State Duma. Each Chamber is headed by the Speaker. Legislature may be initiated in either of the two Chambers. But to become a law a bill must be approved by both Chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill.
The President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He makes treaties, enforce laws, appoints members of the executive departments to be approved by the Federal Assembly.
The executive power belongs to the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister. The first action of the Prime Minister on the appointment is to choose the Ministers who are responsible for framing Government policy.
The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court and a number of regional courts.
The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four-year period.
Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. It was the first state symbol that replaced the former symbols in 1991. The hymn of Russia has the same melody as the hymns of the USSR which was written by Aleksandrov. The lyrics were written by Sergei Mikhalkov, who also made lyrics for two hymns of the Soviet Union. A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of the Rurikovichies.
Exercise 2. Answer the questions.
When was the Russian Federative Republic set up?
What kind of the Republic is Russia?
How many branches are there in the federal government?
What is the structure of the legislative power?
How does a bill become a law in Russia?
What are the functions of the President?
What is the structure of the executive power?
What is the judicial branch represented by?
What is the state symbol of Russia? What do the stripes mean?
What do you know about the history of our hymn?
What do you know about our emblem?
Exercise 2. Make up a scheme of the political structure of Russia.
Text 4
Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.