Методические указания Санкт-Петербург 2010 г. Удк 802. 0 /075. 8/. Лобановская Т. Л. The Russian Federation (стр. 2 из 8)
4. Территория наших соседей граничит с Индией.
5. На экзамене ему нужно было рассказать про упадок Римской империи.
6. Россия, как правопреемник СССР, несет ответственность за долги этой страны.
7. Российские богатые традиции празднования Нового Года известны на весь мир.
8. Хвойный лес является одним из богатств России.
9. В России находится 10% всех пахотных угодий всего мира.
10. При таком положении дел трудно достичь состояние баланса.
Ex. VII Look through the text and find all sentences in Active voice, define its tenses.
Ex. VIII Look through the text and find all sentences in Passive voice, define its tenses.
Text 2 CLIMATE AND POPULATION OF RUSSIA
The climate of the Russian Federation is formed under the influence of several determining factors. The enormous size of the country and the remoteness of many areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental and subarctic climate, which is prevalent in European and Asian Russia except for the tundra and the extreme southeast. Mountains in the south obstructing the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean and the plain of the west and north make the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences. Throughout much of the territory there are only two distinct seasons — winter and summer; spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low temperatures and extremely high. The coldest month is January (on the shores of the sea—February), the warmest usually is July. Great ranges of temperature are typical. In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and from west to east. Summers can be quite hot and humid, even in Siberia. A small part of the Black Sea coast around Sochi has a subtropical climate. The continental interiors are the driest areas.
Russia's population was 141.91 million as of January 2009, a very slight decrease from the previous year according to the government statistics service and the Ministry of Public Health. The birth rate in 2008 was the highest recorded in the last 15 years. Moreover, in Russia the majority of population is concentrated in European zone. There are lots of reasons of it and one of them is better climate than in Siberia or the Far East. The improvements may in part be attributed to the implementation of a National Priority Health Project and financial incentives to mothers having two or more children. Life expectancy remains low compared to developed countries, but rose to 61.4 years for men and 73.9 for women in 2007. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, traffic accidents, and violence continue to be major causes of death among working age men. Many premature deaths are attributed to excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. A truly healthy Russia will require serious improvements in the health sector and some major changes in current cultural norms. To combat the looming demographic crisis, in October 2007 then-President Putin approved the concept of demographic policy for the years 2008-2025. The program aims to increase life expectancy, reduce mortality, increase the birth rate, improve the population's health, and develop a sound migration policy. The government instituted the National Priority Health Project and "mother's capital" in order to slow the population decline. These programs had short-term success; Russia's population declined by 0.25% in 2008, compared to 0.4% in 2007. It is unknown if such programs offer a long-term solution. In April 2008, the government approved joining the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is expected eventually to reduce extremely high smoking rates, and the government put significant amounts of money into prevention of smoking and alcohol abuse in the 2009-2011 budget. The economic crisis, however, raises doubts about the future of such spending.
Active vocabulary
Humid - влажный, мокрый, сырой, отсыревший
Prevalent – зд. преобладающий
Except for - исключая, кроме, за исключением
To obstruct - заграждать, преграждать
Government statistic service – государственный комитет по статистике (госкомстат)
Life expectancy - средняя продолжительность жизни, ожидаемая продолжительность жизни
Incentives – средства, поощрения, стимулы; зд. материнский капитал
Cardiovascular diseases – сердечно-сосудистые заболевания
Cancer - рак
Premature death - безвременная смерть
Looming – зд. увеличивающийся
Mortality - смертность
Life expectancy - средняя продолжительность жизни
Birth rate - уровень рождаемости, рождаемость
To develop a sound migration policy – развивать правильную миграционную политику
In order to – для того, чтобы
Long-term solution – долгосрочное решение
Smoking and alcohol abuse – злоупотребление алкоголем и наркотиками
Ex. I Mach the word combination with its definition:
1. Life expectancy
2. Incentives
3. Cardio-vascular disease
4. Looming
5. Mortality
6. Birth rate
a. It is the average life span of an individual.
b. It is something that incites or has a tendency to incite to determination or action
c. It is the disease involving the heart and blood vessels.
d. It means to appear in an impressively great or exaggerated form.
e. It is the number of deaths in a given time or place.
f. It is the ratio between births and individuals in a specified population and time.
Ex. II Read and translate the text “Climate and Population of Russia”.
Ex. I1I Answer the following questions:
1. How is the climate of the Russian Federation formed?
2. What results in the dominance of the humid continental and subarctic climate?
3. What makes the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences?
4. What are the coldest and the warmest months?
5. Where is a subtropical climate in Russia?
6. What is the population in Russia?
7. What zone is the majority of population concentrated?
8. Why do you think the National Priority Health Project was implemented?
9. What is life expectancy in Russia?
10. What are the major causes of death and premature deaths among working age men?
11. What was done to combat the looming demographic crisis?
Ex. IV Agree or disagree with the following statements:
1. The climate of the Russian Federation is formed under the influence of several determining factors.
2. Throughout much of the territory there are only three distinct seasons — winter, summer and spring.
3. Great ranges of temperature are typical in Russia.
4. Mountains in the north obstructing the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean and the plain of the west and north make the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences.
5. The birth rate in 2008 was the highest recorded in the last 15 years.
6. In Russia the majority of population is concentrated in European zone.
7. Life expectancy remains low even compared to the developing countries.
8. Many premature deaths are attributed to cardiovascular diseases, cancer and traffic accidents.
9. The long-term program is aimed to reduce the population decline.
10. The economic crises raises doubts about the future of Russia.
Ex. V Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1. The authorities are obstructing a United Nations investigation.
2. Everything is arranged except for one small detail.
3. Humid continental climate is in the predominance in the whole Russia except for the Caucasus.
4. Summers in the European part can be hot while winters are not very cold.
5. Financial incentives to mothers having two or more children are the part of the National Policy.
6. Life expectancy remains low in Russia in comparison with other European countries.
7. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, traffic accidents and violence continue to be major causes of death among Russian people.
8. To combat the looming demographic crisis the concept of demographic policy was approved.
9. Prevention of smoking and alcohol abuse is the major purpose of governmental policy.
10. Nobody knows whether that program offers a long-term solution.
Ex. VI Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Эта стена загораживает весь обзор!
2. В этой части страны влажный климат является преобладающим.
3. Горы, преграждающие путь теплым воздушным массам находятся на юге.
4. Недавно госкомстат России объявил результаты последнего исследования.
5. К сожалению, средняя продолжительность жизни в нашей стране остается низкой.
6. По данным государственного комитета по статистике основными причинами смертности в нашей стране являются сердечно-сосудистые заболевания, рак и несчастные случаи на дорогах.
7. Алкогольная зависимость и курение приводят к преждевременной смерти.
8. Правительство разрабатывает программы по улучшению состояния здоровья населения и правильную миграционную политику.
9. Для того, чтобы предотвратить преждевременную смертность наше правительство присоединилось к международной конвенции по табакоконтролю.
10. Наше правительство вкладывает определенную сумму в бюджет на предотвращение алкогольной и наркотической зависимостей.
Ex. VII Make the following adjectives Comparative and superlative:
Enormous, subarctic, cold, low, good, high, big, small, warm, dry, excessive, near.
Ex. VIII Look through the text and find a sentence with the modal verb and put all types of the questions to this sentence.
Text 3 ADMINISTRATIVE AND TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS
Federal subjects
Russia is a federation which, as of March 1, 2008, consists of 83 subjects. These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament). However, they do differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Autonomous okrugs, while federal subjects in their own right, are at the same time considered to be administrative divisions of other federal subjects (with Chukotka Autonomous Okrug being the only exception). The federal subjects are considered to be the second level of federal division, being subject to the federal laws (first level).
21 republics are nominally autonomous, each has its own constitution, president and parliament; is represented by the federal government in international affairs; and is meant to be home to a specific ethnic minority.
46 oblasts (regions) are most common, regular administrative units with federally appointed governor and locally elected legislature. Commonly named after the oblast center—the largest city in the oblast, its administrative center.
9 krais (territories) are essentially the same as oblasts. The title "territory" is historic, originally given because they were once considered frontier regions. 1 autonomous region is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.
4 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts), are more autonomous than oblasts but less than republics; usually with substantial or predominant ethnic minority.
2 federal cities are major cities that function as separate regions.
Fig.2 Federal Subjects of the RF
Federal districts
The federal districts are a level of administration for the convenience of the federal government of the Russian Federation. They are not the constituent units of Russia (which are the federal subjects). Each district includes several federal subjects and each federal district has a presidential envoy (whose official title is Plenipotentiary Representative). The official task of the Plenipotentiary Representative is simply to oversee the work of federal agencies in the regions, although in practice this oversight is extensive and of considerable consequence. Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws. For economic and statistical purposes, the federal subjects are grouped into twelve economic regions. Economic regions and their parts sharing common economic trends are in turn grouped into economic zones and macrozones. The federal districts were created in May 2000 by Vladimir Putin as a part of a wider program designed to reassert federal authority. This wider program of reform included the Federation Council becoming indirectly elected, the scrutinizing of republican constitutions and regional charters, and the President gaining the right to dissolve subjects' parliaments and dismiss subjects' governments if they disobey federal law. The Plenipotentiary Representatives and their staff ascertain the extent of a subjects' violation of federal laws and norms. They also oversee the process of correction at a closer level than can the federal institutions in Moscow. The creation of the federal districts has assisted in restricting laws and practices of the subjects which contravene federal law, for instance, the curtailment of citizens rights, the authoritarian practices of subjects' governors (or, in case of republics, their presidents), the manipulation of police and the control of the judiciary by subjects' governments, the strict control of journalism, and the manipulation of elections. Federal agencies, particularly in the justice system, had been "captured" by subjects' governments during the segmented federalism of the Yeltsin period. This process is being forestalled as Plenipotentiary Representatives ensure that agencies do the work for which they are intended rather than being brought under the influence of powerful local elites. The Plenipotentiary Representatives are overseeing a system of rotation of federal employees throughout the regions in order to avoid them becoming dependent on local leaders. The federal districts coincide exactly with the Interior Ministry forces' military regions, and coincide closely with the Defense Ministry regions. This allows the Plenipotentiary Representatives to have direct access to the command structure of the military and security apparatus. This sends a clear message to the subjects that they must cooperate with the federal government, and is very useful for the Plenipotentiary Representatives.
Fig.3 Federal Districts of the RF
Active vocabulary
Federation - федерация, объединение, союз, федеративное государство
To be of equal federal rights – находиться на равных федеративных правах
To differ in the degree of – отличаться по степени