MY NATIVE CITY – UFA

The city where I live and study now is Ufa. It is a large cultural, scientific and commercial industrialized centre of Bashkortostan. About 40% of the republic’s industrial capacity is concentrated in Ufa. Being the capital of a multicultural and multinational republic, the city counts its population in figures of more than a million people and with such a great number of citizens the variety of ages and interests differs greatly.

Ufa represents a bright mixture of lifestyles, religions and cultures. And it’s right saying that – just look at, for example, architectural buildings: old ones neighbour with those new possessing trendy and stylish forms. The same you can observe on the busy circulation of the city life: clothes people wear, especially young, food they prefer to eat, places they choose to visit, the way they spend their time, languages they speak.

You may call Ufa the young city and you may not – the date of foundation refers to the year of 1574 when a fortress was erected to defend Bashkir people and their land from the devastating raids of the Siberian nomads. Not long ago we celebrated Ufa’s 430-year anniversary.

People of many nationalities live in Ufa; many of them come from other regions and foreign countries with the aim to work and study. It’s not surprising because Ufa numbers seven leading universities, numerous colleges, technical schools and other educational and scientific institutions and organisations. One of the most famous and prestigious is Ufa state petroleum technological university graduating specialists in oil and gas industry. Bashkir state university, Medical university, Aviation technical university, Teacher’s training university, Agricultural university and others provide specialists on a wide range of spheres.

You can also call Ufa the city of contrasts. Take a look at the city architecture and you will understand what I mean. Banks, shopping centres, complexes are built in original and modern fashions: glass doors and walls, slant and unusually shaped roofs, etc. They are huge, glisten in the sun and sometimes remind an iceberg or a block of ice that has unexpectedly appeared right in the middle of the street. At the same time very close you can find one- or two- storiedold houses made of brick and wood.

The house of entertainment complex “ Ogni-Ufy ” looks attractive and somewhat pompous outside as well as inside. It houses a disco-concert complex “Coliseo” and 2 restaurants – the “Brau Haus”and “Chainaya Bashnya”, the bistro “ Sportivnye Chroniki” where you’ll be treated with original sorts of bear made at a local brewery.

Some buildings have oriental motives in their architecture, for example, the shopping and entertainmentcentre “Gostiny Dvor”, where you can shop, dine, play in casino or just walk along the hall. The fascinating mosque “La-La Tulpan” represents itself to be authentic and unique thanks to its construction design: bright-red pointed roofs with two minarets can be seen at a far distance.

Ufa has still been growing intensive: new edifices, apartment houses are being erected. Without mentioning theatres, museums, cinemas, multiplexes (e.g. “Mir”, “Iskra”, “Pobeda”, “Avrora”), sport and fitness centres: (“Biatlon”, “Orange fitness”), popular among different age groups, many other cultural and entertainmentcomplexes, restaurants, bistros and night clubs: (e.g. “ Ogni-Ufy ”, “Tinkoff”, “ Vesiely Rodger”, “Prospect”, “Pravda”, “Dinamic”), etc. have been built for the last several years.

Some time ago when drawing the image of the city people used to point out some historical parts and sights such as museums, monuments and parks. But now, young people prefer to speak of the places interesting for them from another point of view. Now the city lives its night life along with that one of daytime. If during the day, besides their everyday routine, people think of where they can buy, eat, make a business appointment, take care of their body and train it, at night they go to places where they can dance, watch films, relax and dine. Thus, the changes in the sphere of interests of people lead to the change of their way of life and culture perception. (It doesn’t mean of course, that people forget about their traditions: for example, the tradition when during a wedding the groom and the bride visit monuments, squares and parks is permanently observed.)

ABOUT MYSELF

Hello! Let me introduce myself. My name is Anna or Anya for short. My surname is Orlova. I was born on the 15-th of March 1989 in a small village. Ten years ago our family moved to Sochi. This is the most beautiful city in Russia situated on the Black Sea coast. Now I am a first-year student at the Technical Academy. In five years I’ll be an engineer.

Now some words about my appearance. I’m tall and slim and I’ve got fair hair and blue eyes. My friends say that I’m pretty. I think I am just good-looking. I like sports and music. I was very serious about the career in gymnastics when I was in the 5-th form. But then I broke my arm and doctors didn’t let me go in for gymnastics. I like to listen to modern music, especially hip-hop and R’n’B, and I’m fond of dancing. I dance a lot and I think I’m good at it. I also love swimming. I always swim in the Black sea when I visit my parents, my dear Mum and Dad.

I would like to tell you about our family. There are five of us: my mother, father, a grandmother, a younger sister and me. My father’s name is Vladimir Aleksandrovich. He is 45. He is a mathematician by education and a businessman by profession. My mother’s name is Tatyana Petrovna. She is 43. She is a housewife. My Mum has much work about the house and little free time. My younger sister Natasha is 11. She is a pupil of the fifth form. My grandmother, my Mum’s mother, lives with us. She is a pensioner. My Granny is very kind, she helps us a lot and we love her very much.

Our family is very kind and friendly; we have a lot of friends. In summer our relatives come to visit us. And, of course, they use a chance to spend several weeks at the seaside: swimming, sunbathing, enjoying fresh, wonderful sea air.

In May I finished school number 2 in Sochi. I did well in all the subjects but my favourite subjects at school were Physics and Computer Science. I also liked English lessons. I’m very interested in learning English because I want to become a programmer.

I know that the knowledge of foreign languages helps in everyday life and career.

Two years ago I travelled around Europe. I visited France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain. The knowledge of English helped me a lot there.

As you see, my biography isn’t very long yet. But I’m sure we’ll meet again and next time I’ll tell you more about myself. See you later!!!

LONDON

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and commercial centre. It is one of the largest cities in the world and the largest city in Europe. Its population is about 8 million.

London is one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the world.

Traditionally it is divided into several parts: the City, Westminster, the West End and the East End. They are very different from each other and seem to belong to different towns and epochs.

The heart of London is the City, its financial and business centre. Numerous banks, offices and firms are situated there, including the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and the Old Bailey. Few people live here, but over a million people come to the City to work. There are some famous ancient buildings within the City. Perhaps the most striking of them is St Paul’s Cathedral, the greatest of English churches. It was built in the 17th century by Sir Christopher Wren. The Tower of London was founded by Julius Caesar and in 1066 rebuilt by William the Conqueror. It was used as a fortress, a royal palace and a prison. Now it is a museum housing The National collection of armour and the Crown Jewels.

Westminster is the historic, the governmental part of London.

Westminster Abbey has more historic associations than any other building in Britain. It dates back to 1049. Nearly all English kings and queens have been crowned here. Many outstanding statesmen, scientists, writers, poets and painters are buried here: Newton, Darwin, Chaucer, Dickens, Tennyson, Kipling, etc.

Across the road from Westminster Abbey is Westminster Palace, or the Houses of Parliament, the seat of the British Parliament. The Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament is famous for its huge hour bell, built just over a century ago and known as “Big Ben”.

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the Queen.

The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of London. It is the symbol of wealth and luxury. The best hotels, shops, restaurants, clubs, and theatres are situated there. There are splendid houses and lovely gardens belonging to wealthy people.

Trafalgar Square is the geographical centre of London. It was named in memory of Admiral Nelson’s victory in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The tall Nelson’s Column stands in the middle of the square.

On the north side of Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Not far away is the British Museum – the biggest museum in London. It contains a priceless collection of ancient manuscripts, coins, sculptures, etc, and is famous for its library.

To the east of the City is the Port of London. Here, today, are miles and miles of docks and the great industrial areas that depend upon shipping. This is the East End of London, unattractive in appearance, but very important to the country’s commerce. There are a lot of factories, workshops and docks here. The streets are narrow, the buildings are unimpressive. The East End is densely populated by working class families.

The capital has 14 bridges, the famous London Bridge being the biggest among them.

BASHKORTOSTAN

The foundation of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet republic was on the 23 of March, 1919 by the document of the formation of Soviet Bashkiria, the first autonomous republic of the Russian Federation. Today it’s the first day of the Bashkir republic birthday. Another birthday on the 12 of June is its independence day.

Bashkortostan is situated in the Southern foothills of the Ural Mountains just in the border between Europe and Asia. It occupies the territory of 143600 square kilometers. There are 20 cities and towns in the republic, which is divided into 54 administrative regions. The capital of Bashkortostan is Ufa, a beautiful city on the river Belaya bank accounting more than one million people.

The population of Bashkortostan is about four million people. It is a multinational republic. Representatives of more than 100 nationalities live and work here: Bashkirs, Tatars, Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Mordovians, Maris and many others.

The nature of Bashkortostan is very beautiful. Boundless steppe here lies near impassable taiga, mountains ranges rise over extensive plains. The Urals are not high in Bashkortostan. The highest Yamantau mount is 1640 meters above the sea. There are about 600 rivers and rivulets and thousand lakes in the republic. The largest, 1420 meters long is the famous Belaya River and its tributaries, The Ufa, the Dyoma, the Sim and others.

Rich deposits of oil, gas, gold, copper, zink, and other ores discovered here made possible a rapid industrial growth of Baskortostan. The main branches of our industry are the extraction and processing of oil, fuel and energetic industries, machine-tool building, production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal mining. Oil extraction has led to the development of refining and chemical industries.

Bashkortostan is also an important agricultural region of Russia, one of the major suppliers to the state of grain, potatoes, flax, milk, meat and other products. As to the total value of agricultural production, the republic takes 6^th place in the federation and the first place in the Ural region.

The rapid growth of industry and agriculture in the republic requires a great number of qualified specialists. They are trained at higher and technical schools. The Ufa State Petroleum Technical University is one of the leading institutions of the oil and gas industry in Russia. There are 29 research and development and project development institutions, in addition to the 26 industrial institutions already operating in Bashkortostan.

Now a few words about Ufa, the capital of our republic. The network of navigable rivers, railway lines, highways, air routes, and oil and gas pipelines leads to Ufa. The busy life in the big city is a good indication of the republic’s prosperity.

Ufa was founded in 1574. In 1573 the Bashkirs asked Moscow to erect a fortress to defend land from the devastating raids of the Siberian nomads. In 1574 Ufa was founded as a small fortress by a detachment of Russian streltsi (archers).

In 1588 Ufa was granted a town status and became Bashkiria’s administrative center.

Today Ufa is an industrial, agrarian, scientific and cultural center with the population over 1 million people. About 40% of the republic’s industrial capacity is concentrated in Ufa.

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