Vocabulary notes on the text. Sun-splashed beaches

Virgin wilderness

Sun-splashed beaches

девственная природа

залитые солнцем пляжи

Wonderland

Mineral spas

The average tourist

To venture

To miss

To realize

Hot springs

To be restricted

The collapse of the Soviet Union

Local tourists

To head off abroad

To unearth

To dig out

To catch on

страна чудес

минеральные источники

средний турист

рисковать

упускать, пропускать, лишать себя

понимать

горячие источники

быть ограниченным

крушение Советского Союза

туристы, путешествующие внутри страны

направляться за границу

найти, разыскать

раскапывать, находить

становиться известным

Task 2 Read the previous text once again and entitle it.

Task 3 Read the text and translate it. For help see the vocabulary notes that follow the text.

Russia is probably best known for its well-traipsed route of St. Petersburg and Moscow - the introduction points for the average tourist and about as far as many are likely to venture.

Considered the heart of Russia, Moscow is described by travel operators as a place where ancient Russia meets the Soviet Union and capitalism - illustrated by the golden onion domes of the Kremlin's Orthodox churches, which look out past Lenin's mausoleum and over the massive GUM shopping complex.

St. Petersburg, on the other hand, is considered to be a more European capital. The creation of Peter the Great, it is the best known for its 18th- and 19th-century palaces; the Peter and Paul fortress, a former prison; the Hermitage Museum; and the Nights.

Often favored over Moscow by tourists, St. Petersburg is one of the few cities that has allocated money from its budget to support the development of tourism.

The Golden Ring is a group of towns and cities - including Suzdal, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma and others - which once played an important political, spiritual and cultural role in ancient Russia. They offer a host of restored and abandoned churches, monasteries and fortresses, rich museums and preserved wooden villages. Whereas in the mid-1980s, the circuit would draw 2 million to 3 million foreign tourists a year, by 1999 this figure had dropped to around 200, 000. Now Russian tourist companies are promoting their cruises and tours more to Russian tourists in a bid to attract them to the region, and are offering different itineraries such as tours focusing on the ring's artisan heritage.

The Moscow Times, May 5, 2000

Vocabulary notes on the text

Well-traipsed route

Average

To venture

Ancient Russia