The best curative spa town for children

количество принимаемых туристов

финансовый обвал

наслаждаться

курорты с минеральными источниками

идеальный оздоровительный курорт

лечить ревматизм

восстанавливаться после болезни

возможности лыжного курорта

альпийские ледники

Черноморское побережье

лучший курортный город для детей

Direct flights

прямые рейсы

Task 6 Read the previous text once again and entitle it.

Task 7 Read the text and translate it. For help see the vocabulary notes that follow the text.

For those seeking natural height, Russia's best attractions may be the Altai and Caucasus Mountains. Untouched, unharmed and largely undiscovered by Western tourists, the so-called golden mountains of Russia's Altai republic are noted for being among the most beautiful and primordial parts of Siberia.

The Altai mountain chain is set in a rich and diverse landscape of steppe, taiga and semi-desert, and stretches about 2, 000 kilometers from Mongolia's Gobi Desert to the West Siberian Plain, through Chinese, Mongolia, Russian and Kazakh territory.

Altai is known for its primordial scenery, the exceptionally clear water of Lake Teletskoye, mysterious rock drawings, tombs beneath mounds and ancient archaeological treasures.

In 1999, the Altai republic received about 200, 000 tourists, but the flow of visitors was unorganized and could pose an environmental danger to the area. Altai has great opportunities to develop ecological and cultural tourism, and it has resorts for tourists, but these are 5 hours away from the international airport at Barnaul and are not connected to one another. Access to some areas is difficult and sometimes only possible by helicopter, horseback or on foot.

Areas of the Caucasus mountains, which rise dramatically above the Black Sea coast and run down to the Caspian Sea, are known for their plant diversity, subalpine pastures grazed by wild animals and lack of human disturbance. Here, one can go skiing, scale Europe's highest peak - the 5, 642-meter Mount Elbrus - and relax at the spas of Mineralniye Vody. Home to a range of cultures, peoples and languages, the Caucasus also stretch into the more troubled regions of Dagestan and Chechnya, so travel is unsafe in some areas.

The Moscow Times, May 5, 2000

Vocabulary notes on the text

To seek natural high

Untouched and unharmed

Primordial

Semi-desert

To stretch

Mysterious rock drawings

Tombs beneath mounds

Ancient archaeological treasures

To pose an environmental danger

Access

By horseback or on foot