The St.Petersburg–Moscow mainline is considered to be the oldest and the most outstanding railway in Russia. In the thirties of the 19thcentury much was spoken about the necessity of its construction and various projects were proposed by Pravdin, Safonov, Muravjov, Abaza, but all of them were rejected. In June 1839, the professors of the Moscow Engineering Institute P.P.Melnikov and N.O. Kraft were sent to the USA for the purpose of studying experience gained by the Americans in constructing and operating the railways. Melnikov's report about the results of their trip laid down the basis of the future railway project. According to this project «chugunka» was planned as a double-track line, 664 km long, with the 5 feet gauge (now the standard), steam powered. The speed of passenger and freight trains was supposed to be 34.4 km/h and 16 km/h respectively. The construction began in 1843 and lasted 8 years. From the very beginning the builders faced many hardships because of severe climatic and difficult geological conditions. Hundreds of kilometers of track were laid down through forests and marshes, many rivers were crossed. It should be noted that the line is virtually straight and level. 185 bridges and 19 viaducts were built to make the line as straight as possible. There is a legend that the route of the railway was chosen by the tsar Nikolay I, who took the map and the ruler, drew a straight line between the two cities on the map and ordered this line to be the route of the railway. But the fact is that the construction of the line was preceded by long and thorough surveying work, a great part of which was done by P.P.Melnikov himself. All the component parts of the track, bridges and viaducts were produced at Russian plants by using only domestic materials, including timber for sleepers and cast iron for rails. One has to give credit [нужноотдатьдолжное]to the first railway builders, who laid the track in extremely difficult conditions. They worked from dawn till sunset, often in water up to their knees and their main tools were spades and axes. P.P. Melnikov proposed to mechanize the railway construction, but his idea was not backed up because it required a lot of expenses., Nevertheless, four excavators were bought in the USA on Melnikov's recommendation. It is interesting to note that at that time there were only seven excavators in the world. The other three ones were operated in the USA and Great Britain. The railway was officially opened for public traffic on November 1, 1851. The first train departed from St.Petersburg at 11.15 and arrived in Moscow 21 hours 45 minutes later. There were 17 passengers in the first-class cars, 63 – in the second-class cars and 112 – in the third-class cars. The speed of the first trains was 40 km/h but two years later it was increased up to 60 km/h. It was the world's record in the speed of passenger trains. It should be addedthat the Alexander Engineering Works was established in St. Petersburg to provide this railway with locomotives and cars.

Отчет о проделанной работе: письменный перевод текста.

Практическая работа № 32.

Тема: Определение активного и пассивного залога.

Цель: определение пассивного залога.

Перечень оборудования для проведения работы: тетрадь, письменные принадлежности, словарь.

Задание: выполните тест.

Active / PassiveVoice

Выберите правильный вариант:

1.We ... by a loud noise during the night.

woke upare woken upwere woken upwere waking up

2.A new supermarket is going to ... next year.

Buildbe builtbe buildingbuilding

3.There’s somebody walking behind us. I think ... .

we are followingwe are being followingwe are followed

we are being followed

4.‘Where ...?’ ‘In London’.

were you bornare you bornhave you been borndid you born

5.There was a fight at the party, but nobody ... .

was hurtwere hurthurt

6.Jane ... to phone me last night, but she didn’t.

Supposedis supposedwas supposed

7.Where ...? Which hairdresser did you go to?

did you cut your hairhave you cut your hair

did you have cut your hairdid you have your hair cut

8.... during the storm.

They were collapsed the fenceThe fence was collapsed

They collapsed the fenceThe fence collapsed

9.The new computer system ... next month.

is being installed by people is be installed

is being installedis been installed

10.The children ... to the zoo.

were enjoyed takenenjoyed being taken

were enjoyed takingenjoyed taking

11.... chair the meeting.

John was decided toThere was decided that John should

It was decided that John shouldJohn had been decided to

12.This car is not going ... in the race.

to driveto be driveto drivento be driven

13.Will these clothes ... by Saturday?

Makemadebe makebe made

14.The mice ... the cheese.

have eatenhave been eatenhas eatenhas been eaten

15.When a student I ... to the discos every Friday night.

used to goare used to gouse to gowere used to go

16.Neither Jim nor Jack ... there.

was invitedwas been invitedwere invitedwere been invited

17.Your food ... .

is still being preparedhas still been prepared

is being preparewill prepare yet

18.Their engagement ... in the local paper.

was announcedhas been announcing

is being announcedhad announced

19.When ...?

has the letter postedhas the letter been posted

was the letter posteddid the letter post

20.After the volcanic eruption of 1957 the railway station ... .

destroyed completelywas completely destroyed

hasbeendestroyedhasdestroyed

Отчет о проделанной работе: выполнение теста.

Практическая работа № 33.

Тема:История развития железных дорог.

Цель: подготовка к пересказу текста, активизация лексики.

Перечень оборудования для проведения работы: тетрадь, письменные принадлежности, словарь.

Задание:прочитайте текст и ответьте на вопросы к тексту.