MOSCOW INTERACTIVE

What is the Khrushchyovka? How was it constructed?

Listen and read through to find out.

  Intensive house building started in Moscow in 1955 when Nikita Khrushchev's government passed a law which cancelled the “decorative extravagances” of the previous era. Instead, they wanted to build cheap houses as quickly as possible. By 1961, engineers had introduced a design for a prefabricated 5- storey building. It was immediately accepted and it became the typical design for the Khrushchyovka, the new type of building. However, because of space limitations in Moscow at the time, designers started building 9- and 12-storey versions of the Khrushchyovka later on. The last 5-storey Khrushchyovka was finished in 1971.

  The Khrushchyovka design was an early attempt at building prefabricated houses. They used concrete plants to form the panels. Then, tracks moved those panels to the desired location to construct the house. They followed the same procedure to construct the bathrooms as well. Construction crews, then, put them in place and connected them to pipes.

  Khrushyovkas had very specific characteristics. These 5-storey buildings had no elevators. This is because at that time construction of elevators was too expensive and time-consuming. According to Soviet safety standards, a building without an elevator couldn’t have more than 5 storeys. This explains why a lot of Khrushyovkas had only five storeys. Another typical feature was the small size of the flats since they were originally designed for small families. Nevertheless, it was not unusual for three generations of people to live together in two-room apartments. Some of these houses had a storage room but kitchens were no bigger than 6 m2.

  By the late 1980s about 70% of all the buildings in Moscow were Khrushchyovkas. Many of the districts with Khrushchyovkas turned into large residential areas. Life in these identical houses became monotonous and unexciting with effects on social and cultural life as well.

  To find a way to renovate Moscow, the government and the mayor of Moscow passed new laws in 2016 setting new standards for building flats. Blocks of flats are still made out of ready-made pieces, but now these pieces can be of different sizes, shapes, heights and colours. Also, there are different kinds of balconies and windows. What’s more, entrance halls are now bigger with no steep stairs. It is a lot safer and easier to enter blocks of flats with a pram or a bike now. Nearby streets are not dark at all because various shops and cafés are on the ground floors of these new buildings. Moscow has achieved worthy improvements that help everyone in the community.

Read the text. Decide which of the statements (1-8) are true (1 – True), false (2 – False) or not stated (3 – Not stated).

Listen to and read the text again. Compare your house/flat to a Khrushchyovka flat. Tell the class.

  In groups design your own house. Think about: material – place – size – shape – height – colours – number of rooms – other features. Present your idea to the class.

Do you do any sports in your free time? How can someone do rock climbing in a gym in Moscow?

Listen and read through to find out.

A. Rock climbing is a fascinating activity. It is a kind of alpinism which people have been used for centuries to hunt for their food or find the shortest path across the mountains. Rock climbing became an outdoor sporting activity in the 19th century. Over time competitors moved away from rock climbing in the countryside and, instead, moved into climbing gyms.

B. Rock climbing is divided into speed climbing, difficult climbing and bouldering which consists of short but extremely challenging routes. All competitors face the same conditions while competing in climbing gyms. As any sport, climbing also attracts spectators and sponsors. Nowadays, anyone from children to adults can try rock climbing. Children may even be able to climb more difficult walls than their parents!

C. Climbing gyms provide everything you need. A climbing wall can be 2-15 metres high. It’s like a very steep hill.  A belay, or safety cable, is attached to you so you will be not fall. On the walls, there are hooks at different lengths apart. Some are more difficult to reach than others. There are also “plumbs” on the walls which make each climb difficult. Climbing shoes are given to the participants. You can also ask your instructor for a bag of magnesium carbonate or chalk which helps to prevent your hands from sweating.

D. Throughout the climb an instructor supervises you. Also, during the climb you can rest in a number of ways. You can hang for a couple of minutes on the belay or find a position on the wall where your body is supported by three different points. This distributes your weight evenly and keeps your centre of gravity in the middle of your body. But it’s a good idea not to rest for long since it will be difficult to continue climbing.

E. When you reach the top it’s a good idea to know how to get down as well. You can go down in two ways: either on the hooks or hanging on the belay and bouncing off the wall. When you’re climbing the wall, make sure that you don’t get too close to other climbers. It is also important to ensure that during the descent there aren’t any people beneath you.

F. You should follow some basic rules before your climbing training. If you’ve had a meal, you should wait at least an hour before climbing to avoid discomfort. Before training you should warm up your legs, buttocks, arms and back. Pay attention to warming up the muscles in your fingers. Often by the end of the climb your fingers will refuse to bend. To avoid this, warm them up using a small expander.

G. Rock climbing helps you fight physical and psychological stress, and learn to take full control over your actions. To conquer a simple ascent, you don’t need special training but very soon you will feel pain in your muscles. So, you need to exercise and stick to a healthy diet. However, the biggest problem may be a fear of heights. Experienced climbers say you should focus on the finishing point, not on how high you have already climbed, and, most importantly, never look down! Despite all difficulties, it can be very rewarding. In the end, you’ll be healthier and happier.

Read the text and match each paragraph (A-G) with its heading (1-8). You can only use each heading once. There is one extra heading.

1. Train your mind and body
2. Take a break
3. From survival to entertainment
4. Climbing equipment
5. Proper preparation
6. Climbing high
7. What’s after the top
8. A real sport

Listen to and read the text again. What are the benefits of this type of exercise? Tell the class.

Do some research to find out more about extreme sports in Moscow. Present your information to the class.

What kind of sports do you like? Which sports do you prefer to watch and which sports do you prefer to take part in? Are you a member of a sports club?

What’s interesting about Moscow for sports fans?

Listen and read to find out.

A. All of Moscow parks and recreational areas have the infrastructure for practicing physical exercises and sports. In winter a lot of Moscow parks turn into huge ice-skating rinks where people can rent skates. A lot of Muscovites traditionally go to these ice rinks with their families. During the summer, in the same areas you can find ping-pong tables, football pitches, basketball courts, tennis courts and work-out complexes for outdoor fitness.

B. To support this growing interest in amateur sports, a large number of sports centres have been built around the city. From 2012 to 2017 more than 6,000 sports facilities from simple street workout stations to Grebnoy Canal in Krylatskoe and Luzhniki were renovated or rebuilt.

C. In Moscow, amateur athletes can take part in numerous tournaments and sporting events throughout the year. In the Amateur Football League in Moscow alone more than 10,000 people take part. Hundreds of running enthusiasts also participate in Moscow traditional marathons which are open for all.

D. Large sports festivals are also organized in Moscow every year. The Luzhniki Olympic complex annually holds the Open Summer Season festival. In Luzhniki, there are more than 20 sports and entertainment areas where festival goers can take part in street football, chess, workout, street basketball and big tennis tournaments.

E. Open Summer Season festival has a lot to offer, especially to the young participants. Everyone can work through the Ready for Labour and Defence programme or see Russian extreme sports teams perform. There are frequent BMX, skateboarding and roller sports championships, as well as parkour and break dancing contests held in Moscow. As for the young festival goers there are a lot of contests, attractions and fascinating games that they can take part in.

F. In Moscow, there are plenty of opportunities for people to appreciate other important events as well. A lot of important national and international events take place in Moscow. Lots of Russian leading football, hockey, volleyball, basketball clubs have their headquarters in Moscow. Indeed, a lot of these clubs often represent Russia at international level. This means that every year Muscovites can attend football, volleyball and basketball championship matches with competitors from around the world.

G. Today, Moscow continues to hold some of the biggest tournaments in the world. In 2016, tourists from all over the world came to Moscow to see the Ice Hockey World Championship. It was organized to a high standard and earned high praise from the Ice Hockey International Federation. Moscow has, in recent years, successfully held figure skating, modern pentathlon, athletics, short track speed skating, fencing, ice hockey, paddling and canoeing world championships.

Read the text and match each paragraph (A-G) with its heading (1-8). You can only use each heading once. There is one extra heading.

1. A host for world championships
2. A great festival in a great stadium
3. Olympic sports
4. Fun all year round
5. Non-professional participants
6. Facilities for all
7. The professionals’ meeting point
8. Cool sports and the youth

Listen to and read the text again. Give the class a summary of the text.

 In groups design a sports week to be held in your school. Decide on the sports people can take part in, the timetable for each day, the prizes. Present your idea to the class.

Look at the pictures and the title of the text. What is Journey to Christmas? What can people do there?
Listen and read to find out.

  I have been to a lot of places but my favourite one is Moscow. The Russian capital is the best city to celebrate New Year. Between 16th December 2016 and 15th January 2017, Moscow held the 4th Journey to Christmas.

  During the festival the whole city came alive. Public places became even more attractive with bright and beautiful festive decorations. Festival sites were open till 3 am on New Year’s Eve. Also, the best artists from Russia, France and Italy set up lighting installations in the streets creating more than 400 light fixtures, 3 gigantic light balls, 6 merry-go-rounds and 144 decorated trees. A big skating rink was installed in Teatralnaya Square. The venues held well-known performances like The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cipollino and Snow White twice a day. 50 figure skating stars were members of the casts. What’s more, different educational projects, concerts, master classes, quests and sports competitions were open to all.

  There was also a Christmas fair in which 15 countries took part. Among them were Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Greece, India, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru and Spain. 40 regions of Russia also brought their local products to the fair. These included Tver oblast, Astrakhan oblast, Murmansk oblast, Kaliningrad oblast, Republic of Karelia, Orenburg oblast, Nizhny Novgorod oblast, Vladimir oblast, Tula oblast, Ivanovo oblast and many others. Participants of the project “Active Citizen” voted on how the festival should be organised and what goods should be sold. Muscovites chose traditional goods like sweets, souvenirs and Christmas decorations.

  Lots of restaurants and cafés also took part in the festival. Among them were Café Pushkin – a Beverly Hills Diner, Porto Mikonos – a Greek restaurant, LavkaLavka – a farmers’ chain, and Tchaikovsky – a café. The restaurants prepared exclusive menus that included traditional Christmas dishes and drinks. The menus changed each week. Visitors to the fair had the chance to drink traditional hot drinks prepared according to an old recipe.

  We had the chance to see an exciting entertainment programme with performances by street dancers and actors. A lot of well-known troupes took part in the fun. Among the brightest shows were Pulsar Show, Pandora Show, Anastasia Obertaeva’s theatre, pyrotechnic shows and shows by Bright people and Tall Brothers.

  Competitions and quests were organized at 17 sites for those wishing to stay active and warm in the cold. 50,000 participants at the Christmas quest were awarded prizes and festival goers were encouraged to visit interactive family programmes. Moscow’s best children’s projects presented 3,000 master classes and entertainment programmes. Among them were Masterslavl – the town of masters’, Kidburg – a town of professions, Kulibin Pro – a technical creativity workshop, Sm-47 – a carpentry club and Bosco’s creative clubs.

  Charity events took place as well. Ksenia Alferova and Egor Beroev’s foundation, Ya est, organized master classes on making toys and decoration. Another charity event, organized by Polina Tumashik, Usupova’s project: Kind Post – gave festival goers the opportunity to get an illustrated postcard and send it to their loved ones. Moreover, Liza Arzamasova’s foundation held a workshop of good ideas where everyone could make gifts for elderly people in nursing homes. It was a unique experience.

Read the text again and answer the questions.

1. How was the city decorated for the festival?
2. Which performances could people watch?
3. What could people buy at the Christmas fair?
4. What did restaurants and cafés do to take part in the
festival?
5. How could visitors help the elderly in nursing homes?

 Tell the class four things that impressed you from the text. What would you like to do in the festival?

Do some research to find out about another important festival in Moscow. Present your information to the class.

Look at the picture and the title of the text. How has the Moscow Planetarium changed over the years? What attractions can you find in it today?
Listen and read to find out.

History

Moscow Planetarium is the oldest planetarium in Russia and traces its’ history back to 1929. The best equipment at the time, such as planetarium projector made by the German company Carl Zeiss Jena was bought for it. Thanks to this projector stars appeared on the dome. In 1934, various astronomical clubs began their work at the planetarium. These clubs encouraged many children to become engineers, astronomers, and cosmonauts, and dedicate their lives to astronomy. From 1960 to 1975 even Soviet cosmonauts trained at the Moscow Planetarium. In 1990, new observatory with the largest telescope in Moscow was opened in the planetarium, so that anyone could observe starry sky.

But then the planetarium closed for 17 years. During this time it became bigger and new facilities were added. It was reopened on June 12, 2011. Now it is an interactive centre where natural sciences are actively promoted.

Inside the Planetarium

Inside the multi-storey planetarium there are the Large and Small Star Halls, the Urania museum, the Lunarium interactive museum, the Sky Park with two observatory towers and a 4D movie theatre.

The Large Star Hall is also known as “the sky of the planetarium”, has a dome, 25 metres in diameter and it is one of the largest in Europe. Here you will find the latest fibre-optic starry night projector “Universarium M9”, made by Carl Zeiss Jena. It allows visitors to see more than 9,000 celestial bodies. Also, astronomical shows take place in this hall. The Small Star Hall is properly equipped so that visitors can watch the night sky in miniature. The Urania museum has two halls. Visitors can learn about the history of the planetarium, see a collection of antique astronomical tools, or admire a model of the solar system.

The Lunarium interactive museum has more than 80 interactive exhibits. In the Astronomy & Physics section each exhibit is a science lab where you can create tornadoes, calculate your weight on different planets and examine black holes. You can also view a collection of meteorites, the largest of which weighs 125 kg. The Discovery of the Cosmos section resembles a space station. Inside its modules, you can learn about the Big Bang theory, save Earth from asteroids, contact aliens, study zero-gravity and vacuum features. You can even dock a spaceship with a space station. It was opened in 1947 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Moscow.

The Sky Park is an open-air museum connected to the planetarium. It opened in 1947 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Moscow. Its collection of antique and modern astronomical tools attracts a lot of visitors.

Read the text again and answer the questions.

In which part of the planetarium is there..
1. a collection of modern
astronomical tools?
2. a large dome?
3. a miniature of the night sky?
4. a collection of models of the
planets?
5. a state-of-the-art projector?

In which part of the planetarium can you..

6. see a large meteorite?
7. watch astronomical shows?
8. do various experiments?
9. see thousands of celestial bodies?
10. feel like an astronaut?

Read the text again. Keep notes for each of the years/dates: 1929, 1934, 1960 to 1975, 1990, 12th June 2011, present. Tell the class the summary of the Moscow Planetarium’s history.

 What kind of advancements would you like to see in Moscow Planetarium? How can it be further improved?

Do some research to find out more about the observatory towers and the 4D movie theatre in Moscow planetarium. Present your information to the class.

What do you know about the Kitaygorodskaya Wall? What else would you like to learn?

Listen and read to see if you can answer your questions.

  In the centre of Moscow, at a remove of several hundred metres to the east of the Kremlin, an important historical monument is located. The old gates, towers and fragments of the redbrick fortress stand out against the magnificent houses and modern shopping centres. That’s it that’s left of Kitaygorodskaya Wall. Several centuries ago, this wall – a unique medieval monument – protected the heart of Moscow from invaders. In the 20th century it was almost completely destroyed. However, nowadays, you can see fragments of the wall in Moscow – both original and restored.

  The history of the wall began in the 16th century. Although Kitaygorod district was settled earlier in the 15th century in Moscow. When the walls and towers of the modern Kremlin were built by Ivan II, noble boyars began to settle nearby. Later on, Ivan the Terrible built the first wooden Gostiny Dvor and Trading Rows on the East side of Red Square.

  In 1521, Mehmet I Giray invaded Moscow. After that, it was obvious that a protective wall was necessary. Elena Glinskaya, mother of Ivan the Terrible, ordered to build it. Wooden walls had been built by 1534, and four years later the architect Petrok Maly Fryazin finished the construction of the red stone wall with towers and gates – Kitaygorodskaya Wall. It was 2,567 metres long. However, the wall was not only a defensive structure, but also a place of commerce. Shops that sold clothes and other items appeared along it, vendors sold meat, eggs and salmon pies near the gates.

  In the 18th century the wall lost its military purpose. Even before the Patriotic war of 1812, it was in poor condition. Part of the wall was planned to be pulled down to build Alexander Avenue. Alexander I, however, was wise enough to preserve and renovate the wall. However, in the fire of 1812 a large part of the Kitay-gorod district and the wall burned down.

  During Stalin's reconstruction of Moscow in the 1930s a lot of monuments like Kitaygorodskaya Wall were destroyed. In 1934, the last major section of the wall was demolished and only the little part had left behind. However, over the last 50 years, some sections of Kitaygorodskaya Wall have been restored such as “Voskresenskie” Gate (“Resurrection Gate”) that leads from Manezhnaya Square to Red Square, the Round Tower and a section of the wall on Teatralnaya Square, as well as Bird Tower and the wall along Kitaigorodsky Passage. Thus, future generations will have an opportunity to learn about the past of Moscow’s defence walls and admire this magnificent monument.

  Today it is still a mystery why the wall is called Kitaygorodskaya. The most popular explanation is that the name came from the old word “kita” – a bundle of wooden strips used to build walls. According to another explanation, ”kitay” in Mongolian  means “middle”, while in ancient Russian ”gorod” means fortress. Thus, Kitay-gorod means middle fortress. Actually, it occupied the centre of Moscow between the Kremlin and the last defence line. The truth has not been discovered yet.

Read the text again and complete the table with information related to the Kitaygorodskaya Wall.

Use the completed table in Ex 3 to present the Kitaygorodskaya Wall to the class.

 Why is it important to preserve monuments like this? Discuss in pairs.

Do some research to find out more about other historical monuments in Moscow. Present it to the class.