Топики по Английскому

Moscow

The history of Moscow began in 1147, and since then Moscow has always had a

leading position in the life of the whole country. It is the political,

cultural, scientific centre of Russia.

Coming to Moscow for the first time, many tourists start sightseeing with

Red Square. In Red Square they visit St.Basil's (() Cathedral, a

masterpiece of (() ancient Russian (() architecture. It was built in memory

of the victory over Kazan in 1552 The monument standing in front of

St.Basil's Cathedral tells us of the people's victory over Polish invaders

in 1612. On the monument you can read the following words: "To citizen

Minin and Prince Pozharsky from grateful Russia".

On the territory of the Kremlin we can see the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great

built in the 15th century. At its foot there is another ancient monument -

the Tsar Bell weighing 200 tons.

Opposite the Cathedral is the Museum of History.

If you are interested in arts you'd better visit the Tretyakov Art Gallery

which contains fantastic Russian icons, monumental paintings and historical

themes performed by Peredvizhniki, Repin, Surikov, Levitan and other great

artists. If you visit the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts you'll (() admire the

(()magnificent display of West-European paintings of the 13th-20th

centuries.

Moscow has over 60 historical, art, natural science and literary museums,

memorial houses and flats, exhibition halls.

Moscow is a city of world-famous theatres. The Bolshoi Theatre was opened

in 1825. Its (() repertoire includes more then 50 operas and ballets. The

Maly Drama theatre, the Moscow Art Theatre, the Obraztsov Central Puppet

Theatre enjoy great (() popularity.

Moscow has excellent sports (() facilities. The Lenin stadium and the

Moscow Sports Complex "Olympijski" are the largest sports complexes in my

country. Moscow is a city of science. It has hundreds of scientific

institutions and higher education establishments, among which is Moscow

Power Engineering Institute.

Unknown words

admire - любоваться

Moscow power engineering institute (technical university)

- in brief - mpei

Moscow Power Engineering Institute is state higher education institute

and has the status of technical university.

MPEI is well-known as one of the largest Technical Universities of

Russia in the fields of power engineering, electrical engineering,

electronics, informatics, computer science. It has modern educational and

scientific laboratories, large experimental facilities, educational-

scientific heat station, educational-scientific TV centre. It has the

Special Design Bureau which deals with deep space communication systems,

several centres of deep space communication in different regions of Russia.

More than 1500 computers (large, medium and personal) and modern

technological equipment are distributed through the MPEI Departments. MPEI

is training the specialist for the foreign countries during 50 years and

now the students of 68 countries are trained in MPEI. For large successes

in training of high-qualified engineers and scientific researchers MPEI was

(() officially awarded by two Russian orders and six orders of different

foreign countries.

Many famous foreign persons have got the education in MPEI:

. Ion Iliesku, the President of Romania,

. Li Peng, the Prime-Minister of the State Council of China,

. Vladimir Dvorjecek, the Director of TESLA (Czekia).

Moscow Power Engineering Institute was founded at 1930 on the base of

(()Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Moscow Technical University named

after Bauman and of Faculty of Electrical Industrial Engineering of the

Institute of National Economy named after Plekhanov.

Now MPEI has the main residence in Moscow and three branches: in Kazan, in

Smolensk, in Volzgskij. Total quantity of students in Moscow is about

20’000

The educational and research activity of MPEI is directed to training

the Bachelors of Science, Engineers and Masters of Science in the very

wide fields of modern Power Engineering, Electrical Engineering,

Electronics and Computer Science;

There are several faculties:

. Power Engineering Industry Faculty

. Thermal Power Engineering Faculty

. Industrial Heat Engineering Faculty

. Electromechanical Faculty

. Faculty of Electrical Equipment and Automatization of industry and

transport

. Electrical Power Engineering Faculty (???)

. Faculty of Automatics and Computers faculty of Electronics

technologies

. Radio Engineering Faculty

. Power Physics Faculty

.

In accordance with MPEI`s Charter MPEI has the right to award to its`

graduates the following academic degrees:

. (() Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Bch. Sc.);

. Diplomized Engineer (Dipl. Eng.);

. Master of Science in Engineering (Ms. Sc.);

. Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy in

Mathematics and Physics (Ph.D.);

Duration of studding in MPEI is from 4 years (for Bachelors) to 9

years (for Doctors)

Great Britain

1. General

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the

British (() Isles. It consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and

Northern Ireland. England, Wales and Scotland (() occupy the territory of

Great Britain. Northern Ireland is situated in the northern part of

Ireland. The territory of the United Kingdom is about 244 square

kilometres. His the 75th place among other countries in the world. The

population is over 55 million. About 80% of the population is (() urban.

The capital of the country is London.

2. Geographical position and physical features:

The surface of Great Britain (()varies (()greatly. The northern and western

part of the country is mountains and is called the Highlands. All the rest

(south, east and centre) is a (() vast plain which is called the Lowlands.

The mountains are not very high. The rivers are not long. The most

important of them are the Severn and the Thames. There are many beautiful

lakes in the (()mountainous parts of the country.

3. Climate

The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream

influence the climate of Great Britain.

The weather in GB is very changeable. A fine morning can change into a wet

afternoon and evening and the wrong side out. The English people say:

"Other countries have a climate; in England we have weather." The English

also say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains in the

morning, when it rains in the afternoon or when it rains all day long.

The best time of the year in GB is spring(of course, it rains in spring

too). The two worst months in Britain are January and February. They are

cold, (()damp and unpleasant. Summer months are rather cold and there can

be a lot of rainy days. So most people who look forward to summer holidays,

plan to go (()abroad for the summer.

4. National economy

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. It is known as one

of the world's largest producers and exporters of iron and steel products,

machinery and electronics, chemicals and textile, aircraft and navigation

equipment. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding.

Great Britain is a country with old cultural traditions and customs. The

most famous educational centres are Oxford and Cambridge universities. They

are considered to be the intellectual centres of Europe. The education is

not free, it is very expensive.

5. Politic system

The United Kingdom is a (() monarchy and the Queen is the head of state.

But in practice it is ruled by the elected government with a Prime Minister

at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of

Lords and the House of Commons. There are three main political parties in

Great Britain: the London, the (()Conservative and the Liberal parties, The

Conservative party is the ruling party nowadays.

Unknown words

vary - меняться

vast - громадный, обширный

damp - сырость

abroad - за границей

USA

1. General

The United States of America was formed by emigrants in 1382. The USA makes

up of 62 states. Washington, the capital of the United States is situated

on the Rotomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece

of land which doesn't belong to any state but to all the states. All these

states are (()sovereignty.

2. Geographical position and physical features:

The USA occupy a large territory and are situated in the central and

southern part of North America. The USA is washed by the Atlantic ocean in

the east and by the Pacific ocean in the west. In the north, the USA has

borders on Canada and in the south on Mexico. The USA is divided into three

areas: Eastern area is a highland, central area is a plain and Western area

is mountains including the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. There are

five great lakes in the northern part of the USA. There are: Huron,

Michigan, Supireo, Ontario and Erie. They are connected by fast rivers.

There is the most famous to the whole world fall called Niagara Fall.

Mississippi together with its (()tributary Missouri is the longest river in

the world.

3. Climate:

Mountain ranges cross the country from north to south and don't protect

it against cold air from the north and warm one from the south. The USA has

a continental climate.

4. National Economy.

The USA is a highly developed industrial country. Large reserves of oil,

(()coal, iron and other minerals are solid base of development of Americans

industry. Heavy industry (() prevails in USA, including such branches as

the mining, metallurgical, engineering, chemical and high-tech industries.

USA has also well-developed light industry which includes textile,

(()tanning and (()footwear industries. The food industry is well developed

too. Both animal (()husbandry and farming takes big place in the economy of

the USA.

5. Political system

Under the Constitution, the federal government is divided into three

branches. The Congress is (() vested with the (()legislative power and made

up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are

435 members in the House of Representatives and 100 senators. Each state

elects two members of the Senate.

The executive branch is headed by the President, who (() proposes

bills to Congress, serves as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The

President is chosen in nation-wide elections every 4 years. The second

person in executive branch is vice President. The vice President, elected

from the same political party as the President

The (() judicial branch consists of Federal District Courts, 11

Federal Courts and the Supreme Court. Federal judges are appointed by the

President. Federal courts decide cases involving federal law, conflicts

between citizens of different states.

Constitution is the most important document in the USA. Constitution

has been amended 26 times. The Bill of Rights guarantees individual

liberties: freedom of speech, religion and so on.

Unknown words

tributary - приток

prevail - торжествовать

tanning - кожевенный

footwear - обувной

animal husbandry - животноводство

vest - облекать (властью)

legislative - законодательной

propose - предлагать

amend - улучшать, исправлять