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SAINT-PETERSBURG
In Russia Saint-Petersburg is the second largest city after Moscow. It is a big industrial, scientific and cultural centre with a population about 5 million people.
St.-Petersburg is situated on the banks of the Neva, in the north-west corner of Russia.
The city St.Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad is about three centuries old. It was founded by Peter I in 1703 and from 1712 up to 1918 it was the capital of Russia. The Great October revolution broke out in Petrograd in 1917. It was renamed Leningrad after V.I.Lenin's death in 1924. Since 1991 it has become St.Petersburg again.
In the years of World War II Leningrad was besieged by the fascists and cut off the rest of the country.
The blockade lasted for 900 days. Hundreds of thousands of Leningraders perished from hunger, cold and artillery fire, but the city did not surrender. The blockade was broken in January 1943.
Present-day St.Petersburg is a centre of highly developed industry. The leading branches of the city's industry are shipbuilding, machine-building, instrument-making and so on. St.-Petersburg is a centre of Russian science. There are research centres and more than 40 higher educational establishments.
St.Petersburg has always been one of the finest cities in the world. If you go sightseeing you will see its magnificent architectural ensembles, granite embankments, wonderful historical and cultural memorials.
On the right bank of the Neva one can see the Peter-and-Paul Fortress. From the end of the 18-th century the fortress served as a political prison. In 1922 it was opened as a historical and architectural museum.
On the left bank of the Neva one can see the majestic panorama of Palace Square - the central square of St.-Petersburg. There stands the Winter Palace. It was built by Rastrelli in the 18-th century.
Now it is part of the Hermitage, one of the world's biggest museums. It contains a large collection of European paintings, antique sculptures and many other articles.
Facing the Winter Palace is the building of the former General Staff erected by Rossi. The Triumphal Arch (with the Chariot of Glory) symbolizes the victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812.
In the centre of the square stands the Triumphal Column designed by Montferrand. It was erected in memory of the victory over Napoleon.
Walking along the Neva embankment we can see the Admiralty built by the architect Zakharov. It was erected on the site of the old Admiralty Fortress and shipyard designed by Peter I. The golden spire of the Admiralty rises 70 m high and is visible from different points in the city. Walking further along the embankment we find ourselves in Decembrists' Square. In the centre of the square stands a monument to the city's founder Peter I, known as the "Bronze Horseman". It was created by the sculptor Falconet.
A green park takes us to St.Isaac's Cathedral - an outstanding monument of architecture designed by Montferrand. This is the largest cathedral in St.-Petersburg. Its dome is visible from afar and there is an excellent view of the city from the dome. The Cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858).
The main street of St.-Petersburg is Nevsky Prospect. It begins at the Admiralty and ends at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, covering 4,5 km. All along Nevsky prospect there are museums, hotels, cinemas, theatres, restaurants and shops. A lot of things attract your attention on Nevsky Prospect: the Kazan Cathedral built by Voronikhin, the statues of Field-Marshals Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly designed by the sculptor Orlovsky. On the other side is Art Square with a magnificent building of the Russian Museum built by Rossi. Here the best works by Russian painters and sculptors are on display. In the middle of the Square is a monument to Pushkin designed by Anikushin.
Walking further along Nevsky Prospect you will see the State Public Library, the Pushkin Drama Theatre, the Palace of Young Creators. Nevsky Prospect runs over the Anichkov Bridge known for its sculptural groups by KIodt. Near the Moscow Station it branches into an avenue named after Suvorov. It leads to Smolny (which has played an important and tragic role in the history of Russia). At present Smolny houses the St.-Petersburg's Administration.
Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official title of the political unity of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This country is often also called Great Britain or Britain. The British Isles lie to the north-west of the continent of Europe and consist of the main island and several smaller islands. Northern Ireland shares an island with Eire, the Republic of Ireland, which is a separate nation.
Great Britain has a very good geographical position. The Gulf Stream gives Britain a temperate climate. It is mild and damp. The summer is not hot and the winter is generally comparatively warm. The north and west of Great Britain are mountainous. The southern and south-eastern parts of the island lie in lowland Britain. The nation has thousands of dialects and six native languages: Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Manx, Cornish and English. English and Welsh are the most widely spoken languages, while Manx is obsolete.
Britain is a constitutional monarchy presently headed by a queen. Theoretically, the monarch has exceptional political power. A Prime Minister can only dissolve or form a government with the monarch's permission. The monarch can dismiss or appoint a Prime Minister at will. In practice, however, he or she would not seriosly interfere with the democratic process. The last monarch to do so, Charles I, was beheaded more than 350 years ago.
The British parliament is two-tiered. The "Upper House", or the House of Lords, has minor political functions and its members are not elected. The main activity of government is centred in the elected "Lower House", or the House of Commons. Members of the government belong to the party which wins the most seats in the House of Commons. The leader of the largest party becomes the Prime Minister. From his or her Members of parliament, the Prime Minister chooses a smaller group of about 20, called the Cabinet. The Cabinet is the most important body of the executive and makes all major political decisions. The Cabinet normally meets once or twice a week at,No.10 Downing Street, presided over by the Prime Minister who can dismiss any cabinet minister whenever he or she chooses.
The Prime Minister can also advise the monarch to dissolve Parliament, thus facing the country with a general election, at any time he wishes. The discipline of the party machine is such that the Cabinet is normally sure of majority on any major issue of policy or legislation. Since 1867 British politics have been dominated by two major parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Traditionally, the Conservative Party represents the ruling class while the Labour Party represents the working class. The Conservatives have held power since 1979. There is only one other major party - the Social and Liberal Democrats. The second largest party now, the Labour Party, is known as "The Opposition" or, more formally, "Her Majestys Royal Opposition".
Britain is a country with highly developed industries. The north of England and South Wales is heavily industrialized. Sheffield is the centre of the steel industry. There are cotton mills and textile factories in Manchester. Liverpool is an important port. Clydeside near Glasgow and Belfast in Northern Ireland are ship-building centres. Many of these areas are in decline, howewer, owing to an economic recession and damaging governmental policies.
London is probaply the most popular tourist destination in Europe. Among the attractions is the Gothic Westminster Abbey, site of the coronation of England's kings and queens for over 700 years. Close by are the Houses of Parliament (1840-60), in late Gothic style, built on the site of the medieval Palace of Westminster. There one can see a Clock tower measuring 315 feet high, known thoughout the world as Big Ben. Visitors can now also visit Buckingham Palace, the residence of the Queen. The crown jewels are kept in the Tower of London. Guarded by brightly coloured beefeaters. The Tower, built in 1080, has been used as a fortress and a prison. Among other places of interest is St.Paul's cathedral (1675-1710), designed by Christopher Wren. It is the second largest cathedral in the world and stands in the heart of the city. Among those buried in the cathedral are Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, who's army won the Battle of Waterloo. In the centre of Trafalgar Square one can see Nelson's Column, which commemorates Nelson's victory over the French in 1805.
London is a mecca for the museum goer. Several of the greatest museums in Europe are located here. Among them are the British Museum and the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square which has a superb collection of French, Italian, Dutch, Flemish and Spanish masters.
Historically, London has been divided into three parts: the West End, the East End and the City. The West End is the most vibran part of London with its palaces, beautiful buildings, historic monuments and parks, theatres, museums, fine shops and restaurants. The East End is traditionally inhabited by the workers. Here one can see factories and docks. The City is the financial and business centre of London. It is a very small part of London, being only one square mile in area, and only a few thousand people live there. Howewer, it contains the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and the head quarters of many of the wealthiest companies and corporations in the world. During the day the City has a population of half a million. Every morning the City is invaded by a vast army of clerks, civil servants and businessmen.
St. Petersburg State University of information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics was founded in 1930. Its formation was brought about by the growing needs of the country for qualified specialists in instrument-making. Today, the University has nearly 10000 students, more than 30 academic departments and more than 600 teaching staff. Well-known scholars give lectures to students, hold practical classes and seminars.
The main University building is in Sablinskaya street. It is used by various departments, computing centre and classes, well-stocked library, etc. The library contains about 1 mln volumes and has seating for over 100 readers. There one can read journals, magazines, dictionaries and books. The computing centre provides a full computing service to all staff and students.
The main building also contains the dean's offices, assembly hall, lecture-theatres and well-equipped laboratories. The latter provide necessary equipment for making experiments and carrying out laboratory work. Here the members of the Students Scientific Society do research. They get both deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience under the supervision of professors, associate-professors, lecturers and tutors.
Applicants have to take several exams, if they want to enter St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. Usually these are entrance exams in Physics, Mathematics and an essay.
Matriculation takes place in August, and studies at all faculties begin mainly in September.
The faculty of Fine Mechanics and Technology trains students in Electronics, Engineering, Science, Computing, Automatics, Telemechanics and others.
The faculty of Optics is the oldest in the University and the largest one of its kind in the country. Future researchers and engineers щ instrument-making study here. The faculty of Physical Engineering is well-known for its outstanding scientists in thermophysics and quantum electronics. They cooperate with firms in Britain and
Switzerland.
The faculty of Management and Economics and the Faculty of Sciences are rather new. They have been organized to train qualified economists, managers and engineers capable of doing academic work in high school.
The faculty of Computing Technology and Management and the faculty of information Technology and Programming are famous for their academic excellence At present, students from these faculties win the first places in international computer competitions.
USA
The United States of America is the name of the country composed of 50 states joined in a federal republic, and its citizens are universally known as "Americans". The USA is situated in the central and southern parts of North America and occupies the greater part of its territory. The USA is washed by the Atlantic ocean in the east and by the Pacific ocean in the west. In the north the USA borders on Canada and in the south on Mexico. In size, the United States is not the biggest. It is among the nations such as Russia, Canada and China. The population of the country is 244 mifc.
The USA is divided into three areas: Easton area - a highland. Central area - a plain, and Western area which is mountainous and includes the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The northern part of the USA embraces the region of the five Great Lakes - Lake Superior, Huron. Michigan, Erie, Ontario.
The main land mass of the United States is in the temperate zone. The climate conditions of the country are modified by the great mountains and the winds. With every variety of surface it possesses every variety of climate, from that of the tropics, to that of the Arctic regions. It is at the same time one of the hottest and one of the coldest countries; one of the wettest and one of the driest.
The United States of America is a federative republic, where political power belongs to monopoly capitalists. The government is divided into three branches:
legislative /the US Congress/, executive /the President and his administration/ and judicial /the US Supreme Court/. The US Congress is made up mainly of representatives of big business: bankers, industrialists and their lawyers.
The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states and the House represents the population according to its distribution among the states. Each state is guaranteed at least one representative-in the House. The House of Representatives has 435. members. The Senate is composed of 100 members, two being elected from each state. The executive power belongs to the President. The President is a nominee of the ruling circles of the USA. The President is also the head of the Cabinet, the executive body of the Government. He holds his Office during the term of four years, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term. There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic and the Republican The USA is highly developed industrial country, and its agriculture is highly mechanized It holds first place in the capitalist world for production of coal, iron, oil and natural gas.
The heavy industries are for the most part in the Middle West, in the region of the Great Lakes, around Detroit and Chicago. Also highly developed industries are automobile industry, machine-building, ship-building.
The capital of the US is Washington. Washington was created to be the seat of government of the USA. The flag of the USA, the Stars and Stripes, has fifty stars on a blue background. Each of these stars represents one of the fifty states. But the city of Washington is not in any of these states. It occupies the District of Columbia, abbreviated into D.C., and the name of capital always goes with this abbreviation not to be mixed up with another Washington, which is a state on the Pacific Coast. The population of Washington is about a million people.
Washington is like no other city of the USA. New York is a centre of finance, shipping, fun, Chicago will sell you wheat and other products. But Washington's only industry is government. The White House, where the US President lives and works, the Capitol, the home of the US Congress, and the Supreme Court are all in Washington.
New York has always been the gateway to the USA. It is a city of strilling social contrasts. It is the nation's largest city with a population over 8 million people and the richest port, it is the place where most of the millionaires live and at the same time a greater proportion of New Yorkers live in poverty and deprivation than the average for the US. New York is situated at the mouth of the Hudson river, where the Statue of Liberty meets everybody who comes to New York by sea. This bronze statue was presented to the United States by France in 1886 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence,
New York is considered to be a city of skyscrapers. The highest of them is the
Empire State Building. It has 102 storeys, its height is 380 m. The 39 storey building of the United Nations Organisation is situated on the bank of the East River.
There are more than 50 museums in New York. The best known are Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of National History.
The famous Wall Street is America's financial centre occupying a quarter of a mile. It symbolises the moneymarket of the US
Автор идеи: TMk
Администратор: Aleko LB
