Kharkiv

Activity 1. Match the following English words with their Russian/Ukrainian equivalents.

1) persecution a) выгодное расположение/ вигідне розташування

2) fierce battles b) ремесло / ремесло

3) settler c) производственный потенциал / виробничий потенціал

4) handicraft d) предоставлять преимущества/ надавати переваги

5) to grant benefits e) переходить из рук в руки / переходити з рук в руки

6) to be relieved of the taxes f) нести потери / нести втрати

7) to change hands g) поселенец / поселенець

8) to suffer losses h) преследование / переслідування

9) reinforced concrete i) последствия/наслідки

10) production capacity j) освобождаться от налогов/звільнюватися від податків

11) military fortification k) военное укрепление/військова фортеця

12) simultaneously n) одновременно/ одночасно

13) advantageous position o) ожесточенные бои / запеклі бої

14) consequences р) железобетон / залізобетон

Activity 2. In each line choose one word that doesn’t belong to the group and explain why you think so.

1) village, department, country, town, city.

2) region, province, capital, cross-road, metropolis.

3) power engineering, electronic industry, cathedral, transport engineering, airspace industry.

4) to construct, to build, to manufacture, to erect, to design

5) church, cathedral, bell-tower, memorial, plant.

Activity 3. Answer the following questions concerning your feelings and memories of Kharkiv.

Activity 4. Read the text and do the communication activities that follow it.

KHARKIV

Kharkiv is the second biggest city of Ukraine after Kyiv. It is the historical and geographical centre of the territory of Ukraine known as “Slobozhanshchyna”. According to some historic documents Kharkiv was founded in 1654 by the order of the Russian Tsar Aleksei Michailovich, the father of Peter the Great, as a fortress to defend the southern borders of the Muscovite state. The Ukrainian Cossacks and peasants are believed to be the founders of the present city. 20 peasant families settled on the bank of the River Kharkiv in 1653. They came from Poland to escape the persecution of Polish Landowners. A year later a big group of Cossacks came to Kharkiv to build military fortifications on one of the hills over the river Kharkiv.

The Ukrainians started settling the uninhabited lands which nominally belonged to the Muscovite state since the beginning of the 16^th century. The settlers were granted benefits by the Muscovite state: they were relieved of the taxes and had some immunity in trade and handicraft. This type of settlement used to be called “Sloboda” i. e. “free, independent”. Russian settlers appeared simultaneously with Ukrainians. Thus the two migration waves came together in Slobozhanshchyna: one came from the West and comprised Ukrainian settlers, the other – from the North and brought Russian settlers.

As to the origin of the city’s name, it is still a mystery. Some historians say that it came from the name of the river, others believe that it came from the name of a rich Cossack Khariton, who was called Kharko by his neighbours.

The town gradually turned from a military fort into a centre of handicrafts and market trade. Its advantageous position at the cross-roads of trade routes connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg with Kyiv, the Crimea and the Caucasus provided for the town’s direct trade ties with the countries of Western Europe, the near East and the Balkan Peninsula.

The next period of the city development (from the middle of the 18^th – to the middle of the 19^th centuries) is characterized by the town’s development into the administrative regional centre. But the city industry had been represented by small-scale handicraft and semi-handicraft manufacture. In 1869 the first railway line was built in Kharkiv. It gave a new impulse to the development of trade and industries in the city. The first electric power station, several new plants and factories were opened. The city started to turn into an industrial centre.

In 1919 Soviet power was established in Ukraine and Kharkiv became its first capital. Until 1934 the city was the main political, administrative, scientific and cultural centre of the republic. A lot of new plants were built during that period. New libraries, museums and educational establishments were opened. Kharkiv Civil Engineering Institute was among them.

One of the most widely known Kharkiv buildings built in constructionist style is the Derzhprom. It was the first multi-storeyed building of reinforced concrete in the Soviet Union. It was finished in 1928. Even nowadays the Derzhprom remains the symbol of the city. The other symbol of Kharkiv is the monument to Taras Shevchenko. It is considered to be the most beautiful and expressive one in the world. The monument was opened in 1935.

The Great Patriotic War proved to be a very serious test for the city and its inhabitants. Kharkiv changed hands two times. In 1942 and 1943 there were fierce battles around the city. Kharkiv was finally liberated on 23August 1943. This day is one of the most important holidays celebrated in the city. During the war the city suffered immense material and human losses. Only in 1950 the reconstruction of the industrial sector was finished and all Kharkiv plants started their work. Despite the destructive consequences of the Second World War Kharkiv remained a significant industrial and research centre of the Soviet Union. So the city continued to grow in size and in 1975 the first line of the underground was opened.

A new stage in the city development started with the declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991. Kharkiv enterprises continued to work despite many problems of post-soviet period. Kharkiv has always been highly-developed industrial city. The basis of the production capacity includes hi-tech enterprises: power engineering, electronic industry, transport and agricultural engineering, instrument engineering, radio-electronics, airspace industry. Kharkiv turns out steam turbines, tractors, numerically controlled machine tools, electric machines. The products of a number of enterprises, including high technology items, such as modern tanks and aircraft are well known in the world.

Kharkiv is one of the largest centres of science and education in Ukraine. Investigations of Kharkiv scientists in the field of solid-state physics, cryobiology and cry medicine, radio-electronics, crystal synthesis, low-temperature physics, genetics and selection are known all over the world. The first split of atom was made in one of the laboratories of Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology headed by Kurchatov and Ioffe. Nobel Prize laureate Ilia Mechnikov was born in Kharkiv region, studied in Kharkiv National University and worked there for a long time. The famous astronomer Academician Mykola Barabashov worked in Kharkiv Observatory and made significant discoveries concerning Mars, Moon and Venice.

Specialists in various fields of knowledge are trained in Kharkiv at its universities, academies and colleges. The first university in Eastern and Central Ukraine was the University of Kharkiv (now Kharkiv National University, named after V.N. Karazin). Nowadays there are 39 higher educational institutions. The main ones are: Ukrainian National Academy of Law, Kharkiv National Polytechnic University, Kharkiv National University of Radio-Electronics, Kharkiv National Aero-Space University and many others.

Kharkiv retains its theatrical traditions. There are 6 theatres in the city now: the M. Lysenko State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, the A. Pushkin State Academic Russian Drama Theatre, the T. Shevchenko State Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre, the Puppet Theatre, the Musical Comedy Theatre, the Theatre of Young Spectators. Kharkiv has art galleries and museums the most popular of which are the Museum of History, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Natural History.

Among the numerous libraries of the city there is the principal one – the State Scientific Library named after Korolenko. The library was designed by the famous architect O. M. Beketov, the author of about 70 architectural projects in neorenaissance, neoclassical, modernstylesintended for Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities.More then 40 of these projects were realized in Kharkiv.One of the most magnificent of them is the building of Kharkiv research institute of microbiology and immunology named after Mechnikov.

The main streets and avenues of the city are Sumska Street and Pushkinska Street, Lenin Avenue, Moskovsky Avenue and Poltavsky Shlyakh. The largest square in Ukraine is Svobody Square. It occupies 11.9 hectares. The oldest stone building of our city is the Pokrovsky Cathedral built in 1689. The bell-tower of the Uspensky Cathedral is frequently called “the golden crown of Kharkiv”. It was erected to mark the victory over Napoleon and is still the tallest building in the city.

Thus in its almost 370 year history Kharkiv had gone a long way from a military fortress to a significant industrial and cultural centre in Eastern Europe.

Activity 5. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements.

1. Kharkiv is the biggest city of Ukraine.

2. The Ukrainians started settling the uninhabited lands which nominally

belonged to the Muscovite state.

3. Russian settlers appeared simultaneously with Ukrainians.

4. Kharkiv was founded in 1765.

5. Becketov is an outstanding Ukrainian microbiologist.

6. The first university in Eastern and Central Ukraine was the University of Civil Engineering

and Architecture.

7. Kharkiv is one of the largest centres of science and education in Ukraine.

8. The main and the most remarkable street of the city is Sumska Street.

9. There are not many tall buildings in Sumska.

10. The Uspensky Cathedral was erected to mark the victory over Mongols and Tatars.

Activity 6. Fill in the missing words from the box in the following sentences below.

1.The Ukrainian _______ and _______ are believed to be the founders of the present city.

2. As to the origin of the city’s name, it is still a _______________.

3.Kharkiv was founded in 1654 as a ________ to defend the Muscovite state.

4.The town gradually turned from a military ________ into a centre of handicrafts and market _______.

5.The declaration of Independence of Ukraine started a new _________ in the city _______.

6. The products of a number of ______, including _____ items (such as modern tanks and aircraft) are well known in the world.

7.Derzhprom was the first _______ building of reinforced _______.