Translate the following word combinations.

Экскурсия включает, основные достопримечательности, обеспечить информацией, номер автобуса, шедевры архитектуры, памятники знаменитым ученым, московские бульвары, смотровая площадка, мемориальный комплекс, Храм Христа Спасителя, мужской монастырь, женский монастырь, достопримечательности, принимать Олимпийские игры, продолжительность тура, войти в автобус, выйти из автобуса, фотографировать.

Write your own words of introduction to start a tour.

Render the following introduction.

Добрый день! Меня зовут … и я хочу рассказать вам немного о Москве.

Как вам известно, это одна из самых известных столиц мира и туристических центров. Во время нашей экскурсии вы познакомитесь со многими достопримечательностями нашей столицы. Вы увидите Красную площадь и башни Кремля, величественный Храм Христа Спасителя, Новодевичий монастырь, Университет, мемориальный комплекс на Поклонной горе. Со смотровой площадки мы полюбуемся панорамой города.

Надеюсь, что вам понравятся достопримечательности столицы и ее захватывающий ритм. Я прожил в этом городе всю жизнь, и, честно говоря, это мой самый любимый город.

Теплые воспоминания о вашей поездке помогут сохранить прекрасные сувениры – расписные шкатулки, яркие платки, красочные матрешки.

Read and translate the text, consult a dictionary, make sure that you know all the words well. Try to memorize it. Make your own guide-interpreter’s dictionary; write out the most interesting words and expressions into it according to the categories: history, geography, sightseeing, religion, economy, science and architecture, social life, flora and fauna, military terms and unusual adjectives.

MOSCOW

Moscow is the inseparable part of the Russian life. Moscow’s history dates back to 1147 when Prince Yuri Dolgoruky established a small outpost on the banks of the Moskva River.

By the 15th century Moscow was Russia’s political, cultural and trade centre. During the reign of Ivan the Great it became the capital of the Russian Empire. Ivan invited the greatest Russian and European architects to create a capital so wondrous that “really embodied fantasy on an unearthly scale.” Soon the city was hailed as “New Constantinople”. In the next century Ivan the terrible was crowned the first tsar of all Russia in the magnificent Uspensky Cathedral. In the 18th century the foreign traveller wrote that Moscow, “so irregular, so extraordinary and so contrasted had never before claimed such astonishment!”

In 1712, after Peter the Great transferred the capital to St Petersburg, Moscow remained the symbol of national pride. Many eminent writers, scientists, artists and musicians, such as Pushkin, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Repin and Tchaikovsky lived and worked in Moscow, which never relinquished its political significance, artistic merit and nostalgic charm. Even when Napoleon invaded Moscow in 1812, he wrote: “I had no real conception of the grandeur of the city. It possessed fifty palaces of equal beauty to the Palais of Elysee.”

In 1918, after more than two centuries, Moscow once again became Russia’s capital.

Modern Moscow is the largest city in the country with a population over nine million. The Kremlin remains the seat of the government. Moscow is now the hub of an enterprising new metropolis. New business, coops, joint ventures are initiated daily. Democracy and capitalism have already made a great impression.

If a visitor has a few days or several weeks, there is always plenty to do and see. Moscow has over 2500 monuments, 50 theatres and concert halls, 4500 libraries, 125 cinemas and 70 museums. Moscow is also rich in history, art and agriculture. One of the most memorable experiences is to stand in Red square and look out on the golden magnificence of the cathedrals and towers of the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral.

Other attractions include Novodevichy Convent, which dates back to 1514, St Andronik Monastery, which houses the Andrei Rublev Museum of Old Russian Art. There are also fascinating side streets to explore.

Now at the beginning of the 21st century we are witnesses to Moscow renaissance. It is becoming an impressive, modern capital city in the European sense, while at the same time preserving its national and unique character and its unforgettable historical appearance.