Lesson 4, страница 9 - гдз по английскому языку 5 класс книга для чтения Верещагина, Афанасьева

A Letter from Yaroslavl - страница 9.

Условие.

LESSON 4

Read the letter and say what you've learnt about F. Volkov.

A Letter from Yaroslavl

NEW WORDS

to seem [si:m] — казаться

quite [kwait] — совершенно, полностью, совсем

ancient ['eɪnʃənt] — древний

a tribe [traib] — племя

trade people ['treɪd 'pi:pl] — торговый люд

wise [waɪz] — мудрый

sacred ['seɪkrɪd] — священный

a fortress ['fɔ:tris] — крепость

a coat of arms ['kəʊt əv 'ɑ:mz] — герб

a stepfather ['step,fɑ:ðə] — отчим

public ['pʌblɪk] — народный, общественный

14, High Street,

Guildford,

Surrey

August, 15th, 2012

Dear Lucille,

I have just received your postcard [pəʊstkɑ:d]. Thank you for the news. I'm glad you're having a good time. France is wonderful at this time of the year. We are going on holiday this week. I like to take my summer holiday late, then winter doesn't seem quite so long. We are going to Yaroslavl, the ancient Russian town. I have an aunt there, so we can stay with her.

This time we are not going by car. We are going by train. There is much traffic on the roads in the summer and besides Daddy is not going with us. I think we'll do a lot of walking. I have never been to Yaroslavl but I've read a lot about it. It is situated on the Volga River. I know that you are much interested in history so here is some history about this land.

According to the legend, at the place where the central part of Yaroslavl is situated now there lived a tribe who always trade people, burnt their ships and killed their men. At the beginning of the 11th century Prince [prins] Yaroslav the Wise had a fight with those who lived in that settlement, he won the victory and killed the sacred bear. That was a special thing for the Prince and he ordered to build a fortress made of wood and the new settlement got the name of Yaroslavl and its emblem (its coat of arms) became the bear.

Many centuries have passed since the time. Yaroslavl has changed a lot. It was the first fortress-town on the Volga. Now it is a big industrial [ɪn'dʌstrɪəl] and cultural ['kʌltʃərəl] centre with a lot of beautiful churches, museums and a wonderful building of the local ['ləʊkəl] theatre. You know that I'm a theatregoer. That's why I try to learn as much as I can about theatres and their history.

Yaroslavl is the place where the founder of the Russian theatre lived and worked. Do you know who I'm writing about? It was Fyodor Grigoryevich Volkov. He began a new page in the Russian theatre life.

We know little about this wonderful man. He was born in Kostroma in 1728. In 1735 he moved to Yaroslavl to live in the family of his stepfather. F. Volkov began to learn first at home and then in Moscow, but he didn't get a diploma [dɪ'pləʊmə] as his stepfather died and F. Volkov had to manage the factories of the family. But he did it very badly. He was so fond of the theatre that he often discussed plays and performances and other theatre problems ['prɒbləmz] with different people.

He created the first home theatre and then a public theatre in Yaroslavl. He gave money to construct [kən'strʌkt] the building for the theatre. People think that he wrote plays too. The first Russian public theatre opened on the 7th of January in 1751. Very soon the Russian Tsarina [zɑ:'ri:nə] Elizabeth sent for Volkov and his actors. They came to St Peters-burg.

Their performance had a great success. Later the first Russian theatre, born in Yaroslavl, became the National Russian Theatre and F. Volkov was its Head.

I'm going to see some performances at the Yaroslavl Theatre. I know that there is a beautiful monument to F. Volkov in front of the theatre.

I'll write to you later when I am back in Moscow.

Write to me when your visit to Russia begins. Then when you arrive in Moscow, I'll meet you.

See you soon.

Yours, Tanya

1. Divide the text into three logical parts and name them.

2. There are very few portraits ['pɔ:trɪts] of the great Russian actor F. Volkov. In those portraits we can see a kind open face of the actor with a lot of curly¹ hair, his dreamy eyes full of cleverness, energy ['enədʒɪ] and strength. What kind of person do you think F. Volkov was?

Решение.