5.5. Summarize the text.

Topic 6. The Russian Federation

6.1. Read and translate the text:

I am a citizen of the Russian Federation or Russia. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. It occupies about l/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in the Eastern part of Europe and in the Northern part of Asia. Russia is a great power both on land and at sea. Its total area is over 17 million square km.

The waters of 13 seas (for example the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, White Sea, Barents Sea, Laptev Sea, Sea of Okhotsk) and three oceans (the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific) wash our country. Russia borders on Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and others. The Russian Federation also has a sea border with the USA.

Our country is rich in flora and fauna. There are numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in Russia are the Altai, Urals and Caucasus. There are over two thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Amur. The Volga River is the longest river in the European part of Russia. It is 3530 km long. The Volga River runs in the Caspian Sea, which is in reality the largest lake in the world. The Lena River is the longest river in the Asian part of Russia. It is 4480 km long. Our country is also rich in various lakes. The deepest lake in the world is the Baikal.

The climate in Russia is rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources: oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, gold, silver, nickel, copper and different minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. The population of the country is about 140 million people. The European part of Russia is densely populated. There are many cities, towns and villages there.

The Russian Federation is a Presidential republic. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker.

The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister.

The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

The 12-th of December is the Day of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Our country has a multiparty system. The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

The capital of the Russian Federation is the city of Moscow. It is the largest political, financial, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities. Moscow was founded in 1147.

The official language of the Russian Federation is the Russian language. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a double headed eagle and a white-blue-red banner.

Topical Vocabulary

1) citizen	гражданин
2) to occupy	занимать
3) Earth surface	поверхность Земли
4) total area	общая площадь
5) to border on	граничить с (чем-л.)
6) to be rich in flora and fauna	быть богатым растительным и животным миром
7) numerous	многочисленный
8) forest	лес
9) plain	равнина
10) steppe	степь
11) taiga	тайга
12) highland	возвышенность, горная местность
13) desert	пустыня
14) the Urals	Уральские горы
15) the Caucasus	Кавказ
16) climate	климат
17) moderate	умеренный
18) natural resources	природные ресурсы
19) oil	нефть
20) coal	каменный уголь
21) iron ore	железная руда
22) gold	золото
23) silver	серебро
24) copper	медь
25) state	государство
26) population	население
27) government	власть
28) to consist of	состоять из
29) branch	ветвь (власти)
30) legislative power	законодательная власть
31) executive power	исполнительная власть
32) judicial power	судебная власть
33) to belong to	принадлежать к
34) Federal Assembly	Федеральное Собрание
35) the Council of Federation	Совет Федерации (верхняя палата Федерального Собрания)
36) State Duma	Государственная Дума (нижняя палата Федерального Собрания)
37) speaker	председатель (палаты)
38) to comprise	включать, охватывать
39) Constitutional Court	Конституционный суд
40) Supreme Court	Верховный суд
41) multiparty system	многопартийная система
42) irrespective of	независимо от
43) double headed eagle	двуглавый орел
44) banner	знамя, флаг
45) influential	влиятельный
46) foreign policy	международная политика
47) to be proud of	гордиться чем-либо