Ufa – the capital of Bashkortostan

Ufa was founded in 1574 as a fortress. Now it is a large administrative, industrial, cultural and scientific center of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and of the Ural region as a whole. The city occupies over 710 square kilometers, while its population exceeds 1 million people representing over 100 nationalities and ethnic groups.

Our beautiful Ufa is rich in history. According to the archaeologists, historians and folk legends, there were ancient towns on the territory of modern Ufa even in the 5th century.

Ufa is an important transportation centre. All kinds of transport routes, such as railway, air, river and motorway ones, connect the city with all other regions of Russia and countries of Europe and Asia. The city numbers over 1,000 streets, 22 bridges and 6 river ferries. Ufa airport has an international status.

Two multi-industry complexes build up the economic basis of Ufa: fuel-and-energy and machine-building. Almost 50 percent of Bashkortostan Republic’s industrial potential is located in Ufa. Ufa engages in trading cooperation with more than 80 foreign countries. Ufa's most important trade partners include China, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, France, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, USA etc.

Many urban facilities of the highest demand are constructed in Ufa: schools and hospitals, roads and bridges, sports facilities and recreation centers.

Ufa is one of the leading million-plus cities of the Russian Federation in terms of the high birth rate and low death rate. Healthcare services are represented by a municipal network of 61 institutions.

The city’s educational system embraces 28 institutions of higher education, both public and private, 18 vocational schools and 23 specialized secondary schools. There are 229 preschool educational institutions and 161 general education schools, as well as 11 ethnic Sunday schools embracing over one thousand pupils. There are 10 scientific research institutes in Ufa, as well as the Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography which comprises a unique collection of verbal poetic and musical folk lore, exhibits in archeology, ethnography and anthropology. Ufa is justly proud of the Akhmet-Zaki Validi National Library which stores about 2 million volumes in various languages, 200 manuscripts of the 15th and 16th centuries, editions of Russian classical writers printed during their lifetime.

The capital of Bashkortostan also has 6 theatres, Bashkir State Philharmonic Society, Bashkir State Puppet Theatre, museums, culture centers and clubs, a circus, ballet and choreography studios, cinemas, a planetarium, two centralized library networks, children's music and arts schools.

One of the city’s principal sports facilities is the Ufa Arena Ice Palace, a newly-constructed multi-purpose ice arena, which hosts numerous international and domestic competitions. Residents of Ufa have about a thousand sports facilities at their disposal, including Akbuzat Horse Racing Track, Tennis Palace, 6 stadiums, 13 closed-door swimming pools, a closed-door horse riding school, a shooting center, 254 gyms, mountain ski routes, biathlon and ski jumping facilities.

Welcome to the hospitable land of Bashkortostan and its heart, its capital – Ufa City!

Answer the questions.

1. When was Ufa founded?

2. What urban facilities are available in Ufa?

3. What is the population of Ufa?

4. How many educational institutions are there in Ufa?

5. What is Ufa famous for?

6. What sports facilities are at the disposal of the residents of Ufa?

The Dywan District

The Dywan district occupies the north-east part of the Republic of Bashkortostan. It borders by Nuriman, Karithel, Askyn, Masetle, Kyighy, Salawat districts and the Ekaterinburg region.

The Dywan district was established on August, 20,1930. The total area of the district is 3,246 square kilometers. The territory was populated long ago: there were found places where people of the Neolithic epoch (V – III centuries B.C.) had lived. The name of the centre of the district originates from the name of the tribe Masaget.

People are engaged in agriculture and they produce grain, meat and dairy products.

There are 52 populated areas in the district. People of many nationalities live there. The Dywan district is the native land of writers Akhmet Erikey, Timir Yusupov, Vladimir Yurezansky, Nizam Karipov, an artist Victor Astaltsev. A. Shafikov, a highly-qualified choreographer, a talented dancer, a head of the Folk Dance Company “Duslyk” was also born there.

Sabantui

Early in the summer there comes the time of Sabantui: a feast of dreams and hopes, of strength and dexterity, of songs and dances. The name Sabantui comes from ‘saban’, which means a plough in the Bashkir and Tatar languages, and ‘tui’, which means a festival. As a man ploughs with his saban, he is thinking of the future harvest, even after the sowing is over, he keeps dreaming of it. So, Sabantui is the festival of the plough.

In the morning on the day of the Sabantui, the maidan filles with people. Old women take their traditional costumes made of velvet, young people put on their best dresses and suits. The maidan is decorated with huge banners with wishes for a good harvest and brightly coloured tents.

The festival starts with Sabantui horse racing. Meanwhile other contests begin. Some try their luck at pole climbing, while others try climbing a pole placed at an angle to the ground which, like a wild horse, shakes off the unlucky ‘riders’. The sack race is also very popular. A popular race for women involves racing with a yoke and two buckets filled with water: not a single drop should be split on the way to the finish line. The national wrestling – kuresh attracts the biggest crowd of spectators because they love to watch the competitors showing off their strength and skills. The winner in each competition is awarded a prize, the top one being a ram, taken home on the winner’s shoulders.

The festival continues until late at night, when the air fills with cheerful songs and the tender sounds of the kurai, the ground vibrates with energetic dancing.

Read the text again and write out the names of all the contests held at Sabantui.

Grammar exercises:the use of articles

Use “a/an” or “the” where necessary.

1. Ufa is proud of … Akhmet-Zaki Validi National Library.

2. Major lakes are … Asylykül Lake, … Qandrykül Lake and … Urgun Lake.

3. The highest mountains include … Mount Yamantau, … Mount Bolshoy

Iremel, … Mount Maly Iremel.

4. … Ufa is the capital of … Bashkortostan.

5. The Republic of … Bashkortostan is located between .. Volga River and …

Ural Mountains.

6. The best-known of the theatres is … Bolshoi Opera House.

7. … Mount Elbrus is the highest peak in the country.

8. Many Russian artists, composers and poets had lived in this street including

… Leo Tolstoy, … Nikolai Gogol and … Sergei Rachmaninov.

9… Red Squire is the central and the most beautiful square in … Moscow.

10. Moscow stands on the banks of … Moskva river.

11. In summer we went to … Black Sea.

12. … Lomonosov was … great Russian scientist.

13. … Black Sea is in … South of Russia.

14. … Petrovs went to … Moscow yesterday.

15. Many rivers provide access to ports of … Baltic and … Black seas.

Translate into English.

1. Сердце Москвы – Красная площадь.

2. Кремль и собор Василия Блаженного являются шедеврами древней русской архитектуры.

3. Поезд прибывает в Эдинбург ровно в 8.

4. Наша страна омывается тремя океанами – Тихим океаном, Арктическим океаном, и Атлантическим океаном.

5. На западе она граничит с Норвегией, Финляндией, Белоруссией и Украиной.

6. Петр Великий основал Санкт Петербург в 1703 году.

7. Лондон стоит на Темзе.

UNIT 3. RELATIONSHIPS

Youth Culture

Young people have a particular relationship with the world. There are many cultural groupings (subcultures) that have interests different from those of the mainstream culture. A particular cultural grouping is a way for young people to express their individuality. Besides youth culture is a particular attitude of young people to the whole world of fashion, image, style, music, and dance. Youth cultures have always been influenced by the power of the music and fashion industries and they are constantly changing.

When the new trend in music, Rock-n-Roll, appeared in the 1950s, it immediately became very popular with the young people. Over the last forty years or so it has had an enormous effect on people's lives, and especially on the kind of clothes they wear.

The first group, which appeared in the late 1950s, was the Teddy Boys. Their clothes were an imitation of the clothes which were worn in Edwardian England - the time of the reign of Edward VII, the beginning оf the 20th century (Ted and Teddy аrе abbreviations оf Edward): long jackets with velvet collars, “drainpipe” trousers (so tight that they looked like drainpipes) and brightly coloured socks. Their shoes had very thick rubber soles and their long hair was swept upwards and backwards. This was like а revolution in fashion: before the Teddy Boys came, young people had usually worn the same kind, of clothes as their parents. Now they wore what they liked.

In the mid-60s the Mods (so called because оf their modern style оf dressing) became the new leaders оf teenage fashion. Short hair and smart suits were pоpular again. Тhе Mods rode scooters, which they usually decorated with а lot of lights and mirrors. They often wore long green coats with hoods, called parkas.

Тhе Mods’ greatest enemies were the Rockers, who despised the Mods’ scooters and smart clothes. Like the Teddy Boys, Rockers listened mainly to rock-n-roll. They rode powerful motor-bikes, had long untidy hair, wore thick leather jackets, and drank alcohol. Throughout the 1960s, оn public holidays during summer, groups of Mods and Rockers used to travel to the sea-side resorts оf south-еаstеrn England, where they got into battles with the police and with each other.

Towards the end of 960s а new group appeared, whose ideas started in California in the USA. This new group was the Hippies. They preached а philosophy оf peaсе and love, wore necklaces оf coloured beads, and gave flowers to surprised strangers in the streets. The name Hippies comes from the fact that drug-takers in Asia and in the Far East used to be on one hip
while smoking opium. Hippies did not use opium, but they smoked marijuana and took powerful drugs called LSD. Hippies wore simple clothes, blue jeans and open sandals, and grew their hair very long. They often lived together in large communities, sharing their possessions. It was their protest against materialism of the 1960s.

The 1970s saw the appearance of the Skinheads, who got their name because they cut their hair extremely short or even shaved it all off. They wore very short trousers, enormous boots and braces. The Skinheads blamed the immigrants for the unemployment in the country. They attacked Asian and black immigrants in the streets and in their homes. Many Skinheads joined the National Front, a political party whose slogan is “Britain for white people only”.

Towards the end of the 1970s another style of music and dressing appeared – the Punks, and it is still very popular. The word Punk comes from American English and is used to describe someone who is immoral or worthless. The Punks sing songs about anarchy and destruction and use bad language. Their music is loud, fast and tuneless.

In recent years many new bands have emerged; and some old ones have reappeared. A new trend is New Wave music, which totally rejects the ideas of the Skinheads. Many of the bands contain both black and white musicians, and anti-racism concerts have been organized (they are also known as Rock against Racism). West Indian music has also played a large part in forming people’s musical tastes. Many new British bands combine traditional rock music with west Indian reggae beat.

Mаnу of the new bands make use of the changes in technology to develop their music. Computerized drum machines, synthesizers and other electronic instruments аге now just as popular as the electric guitar.

Answer the questions.

1. What effect did Rock-n Roll have on people?
2. What group became the new leaders of teenage fashion in the 1960s? How did they cut their hair? How did they dress?
3. What was the difference between the Mods and the Rockers in the way they wore their hair or dressed?
4. What do you know about the Hippies?
5. What new group appeared in the 1970s? Why were they called Skinheads?
6. What does the word punk mean?
7. How does New Wave music promote friendship among people?

What do you know about youth cultures? Match the subculture and its most distinguishing feature (onе feature is extra).

Features:

1) brightly coloured hair

2) reggae fans, very short hair

3) the ‘dark’ look

4) Italian look

5) army boots, leather jackets

6) drugs and rock’n’roll

7) haircut: short on top and longer around the sides

8) 2 or 3 wheeled motorized vehicle

9) Celtic crosses, swazzies

10) coats in the style of the beginning of the century

11) all-night dancing

12) wizards of the computer world

Subcultures:

a) goth e) punk i) mod

b) hippie f) skinhead j) Chelsea girl

c) bonehead g) rocker k) biker

d) raver h) hacker

Youth Problems

Today it is fashionable to speak about teenage problems. Some years ago alcohol, fights, killings and other kinds of violence were more problems for adults than for young people. But now, violence, AIDS, drugs and alcohol are more and more associated with youngsters.

Almost half of teenagers have an experience with drugs, alcohol and sex under the age of 16. Social problems, family relationships and misunderstanding, school problems, lack of money on spending free time lead to increasing crime among young people. A lot of teenagers who have drug or alcohol addiction almost never believe that they are dependent.

Other problem with many young people is smoking. It doesn’t only damage their health but the health of those around them. Millions of teenagers know it’s bad for them, but they still do it, because their friends smoke, they want to look ‘cool’, and finally, they can’t resist it.

For many teenagers a great problem is to control their weight, many of them are keeping to a diet in an early age. They themselves and their parents understand it’s not healthy to be fat; it causes many other problems, like relationships with other teenagers.

Answer the questions.

1. Who are teenagers?

2. What other youth problems do you know?

3. What problems do young people have in our country?

What Has Gone Wrong?

Some specialists explain that the changes of our society, the system of our life force young people to choose their own lifestyle. Many teenagers are trying to be independent, and free in the way of living, making friends, spending free time, clothing, and style.

On the one hand, our society agrees that 15 – 17-year-old people are old enough to be responsible for what they do and give them quite a lot of freedom and rights. On the other hand, most adults think that teenagers are too young to be taken seriously. Teenagers are under constant pressure from their parents, which leads to misunderstanding, leaving homes by children. Many teenagers can’t listen to their parent’s advice or just have a quiet talk; they choose to ignore all rules. So things get under control.

A lot of teenagers say that their parents let them do anything they want and are quite indifferent to their problems. Many teenagers get upset or depressed when they can’t solve their problems. As a result, it makes them believe that there is only one way – to stop living and commit suicide.

According to ‘the older generation’ teenagers are lazy, they wear ridiculous clothes and are rude to their elders, they find it impossible to be polite, helpful, caring or hard-working. What’s more, they spend all their time listening to awful music. Actually, not all the young people think only about parties, drugs and the opposite sex. Many of them spend a lot of time thinking about their work, studies, their families and friends and their hobbies. You can meet a lot of polite, friendly, open, interesting and hard-working young people.

So if you are a teenager and you are having problems with your parents try talking things over with them. Tell them what you think but be ready to listen to them as well. Remember that your parents love you. Discussing your problems calmly will help you and your parents to understand each other better,

Answer the questions.

1. Do your friends have problems with their parents/ teachers? Why?

2. How can you solve your problems?

3. Do you discuss problems with your parents?

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