7. Answer the following questions:

•What was the main source of incomes to the Russian treasury from Russian America?

• What fact concerning Alaska became obvious for the Russian imperial family?

• Why was the importance of Alaska lessened?

• Who of the Russian Emperors sold Alaska?

• Why did some Russian statesmen oppose the sale?

• What did the Hudson’s Bay Company want to obtain the possessions of the Russian America for?

• What factors joined Russia and the USA?

• For how much was Alaska sold?

• Which were the consequences of obtaining Alaska by the USA?

8. Prove that the territory of Russian America was practically uninhabited.

9. Write the reasons if the selling of Russian America was a wise or not wise decision. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Convert $7.2 million to the current rate of roubles.

11. Complete the sentences:

• Russia’s contemporaneous acquisition of new lands meant __________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

•The better access to the Pacific Ocean passed through ________________________________

• The future of Russia on the Pacific was connected with ______________________________

• The recent enemy of Russia was __________________________________________________

• The only potential buyer of Alaska were the USA, because __________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

• Presidents James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln didn’t react positively to Russian offers because ___________________________________________________________________

•Russian possessions were sold practically for nothing _______________________________

•Russian colonization of Alaska produced a rich history of great importance because ____

_______________________________________________________________________________

12. On your own. Use the Internet and other sources to find some information about the attack of the Kamchatka Peninsula by the ships of the British Royal Navy.

13. Give a key sentence to each paragraph.

14. Give a summary of the text.

15. Read the text, translate and discuss.

Исторические факты

•Российская империя продала труднодоступную и необжитую территорию по 2 цента за акр, то есть всего в полтора раза дешевле, чем была продана наполеоновской Францией и намного бо́льшая (2 100 000 км²) и вполне освоенная территория исторической Луизианы: только за порт Нью-Орлеана Америка первоначально предлагала 10 млн. долларов в более «весомом» долларе самого начала 19 века.

•В то же самое время, когда была продана Аляска, одно-единственное трёхэтажное здание в центре Нью-Йорка — нью-йоркского окружного суда, стоило казначейству штата Нью-Йорк дороже, чем правительству США — вся Аляска.