3. Retell the text.

6. The first higher mining school

In the first of our century our country was in need of highly-qualified engineers and researchers for the metallurgical and mining industries. The miners were in need of technical education. There were only a few higher educational establishments which trained geologists and mining engineers in the country at that time. Already in 1918 was signed the decree on the establishment of the Moscow Mining Academy, the first higher mining school.

According to the decree the main task of the Moscow Mining Academy was to train mining engineers and technicians, to popularize technological achievements among miners, to work at important problems of mining and metallurgical engineering and to direct scientific researches.

There were three departments in the Academy: mining, geological prospecting and metallurgical. The Moscow Mining Academy was the first to introduce a new course in coal mining mechanization which provided the basis for the development of mining engineering. Our scientists A. M. Terpigorev ;ind M. M. Protodyakonov wrote the first text-book on machinery for mining bedded deposits.

Much credit for the establishment of the Moscow Mining Academy and the development of the cooperation of outstanding scientists and educators is due to Academician I. M. Gubkin, the prominent geologist and oil expert.

In 1925 the Moscow Mining Academy was already one of the best-known educational institutions in Russia. It had well-equipped laboratories, demonstration rooms and a library which had many volumes of Russian and foreign scientific books and journals.

The Academy established close contacts with the coal and ore mining industries. The scientists carried out scientific researches and solved important problems.

The rapid growth of the mining industry called for the training of more specialists and the establishment of new educational institutions.

New collieries and opencast mines, concentration plants, metallurgical works and metal-working factories for processing non-ferrous and ferrous metals appeared in the country. Our people took an active part in the construction of new industrial enterprises.

The Academy alone could not cope with the problem of training specialists. In 1930 the Moscow Mining Academy was transformed into six independent institutes. Among the new colleges which grew out of the Academy's departments were the Moscow Mining Institute and the Moscow Institute of Geological Prospecting. Later, the scientific research Institute of Mining was organized near Moscow.

Notes

much credit ... is due to ... - велика заслуга ... належить...

Vocabulary Notes

the processing of ferrous metals - обробка чорних металів

prospecting for oil - розвідка нафти

the volume of production - обсяг виробництва

to cope with a problem - справлятися з проблемою

bedded deposits - шарові родовища

bed - шар, прошарок

a concentraition plant - збагачувальна фабрика

mining technique - гірська техніка

to call for - вимагати

to be in need of – мати потребу

the training of - підготування

Exercises:

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What was the main task of the Academy?

2. What new course did the Academy introduce?

3. Were there three or four departments at the Academy?

4. What industries did the Academy establish contacts with?

5. Who wrote the first text-book on machinery for mining bedded deposits?

6. When was the Academy transformed into six independent institutes?

7. Why was the Academy transformed?

2. Read the following sentences. Find out those which correspond to the text.

1. After the Great October Socialist Revolution the country was in great need of mining engineers and geologists.

2. According to the decree the Academy was to have four departments.

3. The Academy introduced the new course in coal mining mechanization.

4. In 1925 the Academy had well-equipped laboratories, demonstration rooms and a library which had more than seventy thousand volumes of books.

5. The Academy established close contacts with the coal industry.

6. In 1930 the Academy was transformed into six independent institutes.

7. The Moscow Mining Institute and the Moscow Institute of Geological Prospecting were among the new colleges which grew out of the Academy's departments.