THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION The Russian Federation (Russia) is the world's largest country in area. It extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It is located in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres. Russia borders many countries, such as Finland, Ukraine, the Baltic States, China, Mongolia and others. The surface of Russia is various. You can see lowlands and highlands, forests and wide grasslands on its territory. The Russian Federation is situated on two plains. The longest mountain chains are the Urals, which separate Europe and Asia, the Caucasus, the Altai. There are many rivers and lakes in our country. Major rivers include the Volga in Europe, the Yenisei, the Ob, the Lena in Asia. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world's deepest lake. There are different climatic zones on the vast area of our country. In the North, it is very cold, even in summer. The central part of the country has a mild climate. In the South, it is warm, even in winter. The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold. Russia has abundant natural resources, which, besides large areas of forests, vast fertile soils and a great water supply, include large deposits of gas, coal, iron ore etc. Three quarters of the mineral wealth are concen-trated in Siberia and the Far East. The population of Russia is over 150 million people. Most of Russia's people (over 80 per cent) are ethnic Russians, but more than 100 minority nationalities also live in our country. The European part of the country is Adensely populated. Most of the people (about 70 per cent) prefer to live in cities, towns and on their outskirts. The official language of the country is Russian. The head of the state is the President, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President appoints the ministers, but they must be approved by the Federal Assembly. The head of the government is the Prime Minister. The Russian flag was adopted in 1991. It has three horizontal stripes which symbolize: white the earth, blue the sky, red the freedom. Besides the Russian flag, a two-headed eagle. MOSCOW Moscow is the capital of Russia, our Motherland. It was founded in 1147 as a fortress on the Moskva River. The city was ruined during the Tartar invasion in the 13th century. The city was gradually restored and became stronger. The Napoleon army in 1812 destroyed Moscow by fire, but Moscow was soon rebuilt and developed again. Moscow is more than 850 years old. A lot of water has flowed under its bridges, and many his-toric events have left their traces on the city's face. Modern Moscow is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities of the world. It is one of Russia's major industrial cities with the population of 9.5 million people. Its total area is about 900 thousand square kilometres. Moscow is a political centre where the government of our country works. Moscow is a cultural centre. It attracts tourists from all over the world. Moscow is known for its beautiful cathedrals, monuments, theatres, mu-seums etc. The Bolshoi Theatre, the Tretyakov Art Gallery, the Push-kin Fine Arts Museum, the Kremlin are well-known even abroad. Red Square with its multi-domed St Basil's Cathedral is the heart of Moscow. Moscow is the city of higher educational institutions. Moscow State University, which is named after the greatest Russian scientist M. Lo-monosov, is famous all over the world. All people of Russia are proud of their magnificent and beautiful capi-tal. a) Find in the texts the words which have the similar mean-ings as the following words: the biggest, territory, whole, different, a lot of, plentiful, to contain, towns, liberty, to ruin, nice, famous, centre. b) Find in the texts the words which have the opposite meanings to the fol-lowing words: lowlands, narrow, in the South, hot, small, majority, vertical, black, to restore, weaker, above, agricultural. c) Read, translate the sentences, change the words in italics into the words with similar or opposite meanings. 1. Many rivers are flowing through the country. 2. The city was de-stroyed by the Tartar invasion. 3. Moscow is known for its beautiful ca-thedrals. 4. That summer was cold. 5. This country has abundant natural resources.