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