Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev was a Russian and Soviet geologist, traveler, and science fiction author. Vladimir Obruchev graduated from the Petersburg Mining Institute in 1886. His early work involved the study of gold-mining, which led him to come up with a theory explaining the origin of gold deposits in Siberia. He also contributed to the surveying of the longest railroad in the world, the Trans-Siberian. While working for the railway, Obruchev explored the Karakum Desert, the shores of the Amu Darya River. He  worked as a geologist on Lake Baikal, on the Lena River, and in gold fields near the Vitim. He also explored the Transbaikal area, and Altai.

In 1929 Obruchev was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Having spent half a century in exploring Siberia and Central Asia, Obruchev summarized his findings with a three-volume monograph, The Geology of Siberia (1935–1938), followed by The History of Geological Exploration of Siberia. Many of his works deal with the origins of loess in Central Asia and Siberia, ice formation and permafrost in Siberia, problems of Siberian tectonics, and Siberian goldfields.

He also authored many popular scientific works, such as Formation of Mountains and Ore Deposits (1932), Fundamentals of Geology (1944), Field Geology (1927), Ore Deposits (1928–1929), and others. All together, Obruchev authored over a thousand scientific works, among which are a most extensive geological study of Siberia and a five-volume history of the geological exploration of Siberia, which have been awarded the Lenin Prize as well as the prizes and medals of several scientific societies.

In his native country Obruchev is best known as the author of two perennially popular science fiction novels, Plutonia (Плутония, 1915), Sannikov Land (Земля Санникова, 1924), Gold Prospectors in the Desert (1928) and In the Wilderness of Central Asia (1951).

Пояснения к тексту:

science fiction author – автор научной фантастики

gold fields – месторождения золота            

loess deposits – залежи лёсса

permafrost – вечная мерзлота                             

X. Прочитайте 3-й абзац текста и дайте письменный ответ на следующий вопрос:

What has been awarded the Lenin Prize as well as the prizes and medals of several scientific societies?

Грамматический комментарий к контрольной работе №1

Таблица №1

Спряжение глагола to b е во временах группы Indefinite

Таблица №2

Спряжение глагола to have во временах группы Indefinite

Оборот there + to be

Оборот there + to be имеет значение есть, находится, имеется, существует. Глагол to be ставится в личной форме (is, are, was, were, will be) и согласуется с последующим именем существительным. Перевод таких предложений надо начинать с обстоятельства места или со сказуемого, если обстоятельство отсутствует.

1. There are many new books at the Institute library.

В институтской библиотеке много новых книг.

2. There are different methods of learning English words.

Существуют различные методы (способы) заучивания английских

слов.

В вопросительном предложении глагол в личной форме ставится на первое место перед there:

Is there a school in your street? На вашей улице есть школа?

Ответ :

Yes, there is. Да, есть.

No, there isn’t. Нет.

В полном отрицательном предложении после оборота there + to be ставится отрицательное местоимение no:

There will be no lecture on physics tomorrow.

Завтра не будет лекции по физике.

Таблица №3

Местоимение