Англійська

Unit 4

the radial principle. At the beginning of the 19th century the city developed along its roads and after 1860 the railway and the horse-driven and electric trams became a major factor in its development, accelerating construction in new districts of the city. Residential areas of villas and cottages appeared. Modem systems of water supply and sewage were con­ structed in the 19th century, the streets were paved and street lighting was introduced. Boulevards, squares and parks were created. In this period, many grand architectural buildings were erected.

Today Lviv possesses many historical and cultural monu­ ments. It is vital to preserve the historical and architectural

heritage of Lviv, which is on a par with the leading cities of Europe and the world.

[Adapted from: The Bulletin, National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO, Issue N o .l, 1996, p. 12]

Exercise 10.

Find in the text the places where the following expressions are used and translate the whole of the relevant sentence into Ukrainian:

for good (= for ever)

to date back to (= to exist since)

in keeping with (= according to; on the basis of)

to be on a par with (= to be of equal importance, quality)

Exercise 11. Cloze test

Fill in the spaces, entering only ONE suitable word in each space:

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF UKRAINE

the largest... entirely within Europe. Its territory includes the Autonomous Republic ...

Crimea, which occupies a peninsula in the South ... the country, almost entirely sur­ rounded by the Sea of ... to the east and the Black Sea to the ..., west and north-west. The relief consists of a steppe ..., bordered by uplands to the west and south-west, and

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Unit 4

Larysa Kosach (the real name of Lesia Ukrainka) was bom on 25th February 1871 in Novograd-Volynsky. Her mother was a Ukrainian author who wrote under the penname of Olena Pchilka. Larysa’s father Petro Kosach was a lawyer and a highly edu­ cated person of progressive views. The Kosach family maintained close relations with many writers, scientists, actors and musicians. Larysa’s favourite poet was Taras Shevchenko, and she dedicated several poems to him, among them The Legend and

On the Anniversary.

Lesia Ukrainka wrote her first known poem Hope at the age of 9. In January 1881 the girl fell ill. Later it became clear that she was afflicted with bone tuberculosis. For thirty years the disease was advancing and brought on an untimely death of the poet­ ess. Nevertheless, those years were marked by prolific creativity. Lesia gained a com­ mendable knowledge of German, French, English, Italian, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek and Latin, which helped her to translate literary works from these languages. In addi­ tion, she was interested in sociology and especially in history. In 1893 Lesia Ukrainka published her first collection of poetry On the Wings of a Song, which was followed by the poems Robert Bruce and An Ancient Tale. From 1895 till 1901 Ukrainka was actively engaged in writing political essays and literary critiques.

Lesia Ukrainka’s dramatic legacy includes over 20 monumental dramas in verse, dramatic poems and short dramas. Among them are In the Catacombs, Cassandra and, of course, the famous Forest Song, written in 1911. The latter was an outstanding contribution to national and world literature.

Text 3. HISTORY OF UKRAINE

Exercise 3.

Study the text and answer these questions:

How many different states have existed on the territory of present-day Ukraine? What are their names?

Ukrainian history from the earliest times to the present day can be divided into five main periods: Kyivan Rus, the Grand Duchy of Poland-Lithuania, the Cossack era, Ukraine under imperial rule and 20th century Ukraine.

The term Ukraine was first mentioned in 12th century manuscripts as a geographi­ cal term for the southern lands of the state of Ancient Rus, which in the 9th—11th cen­ turies covered a large territory from the Carpathian Mountains to the Volga River and from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. In the process of the development of the Ukrain­ ian nation, the name Ukraine gradually began to be associated with the territories in south-western Rus - the Kyiv, Chemihiv, Volyn, Podillya, Galicia, Transcarpathia, Bukovyna and Zaporizhia regions.

The prosperity of Kyivan Rus reached its peak in the reign of Prince Volodymyr the Great (980-1015) and his son Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054). Prince Volodymyr

186

Ukraine

consolidated all the lands of the Eastern Slavs, strengthened the state and in the year 988 introduced Christianity. Yaroslav the Wise continued the work of his famous fa­ ther. He did much for the cultural development of the country and he concluded trea­ ties with a number of European countries. These treaties were reinforced by the mar­ riages of his daughters. Princess Anna became Queen of France, Princess Elizabeth Queen of Norway and Princess Anastasia Queen of Hungary.

The last effective rulers of Kyivan Rus were Volodymyr Monomakh (1113-1125) and his son Mstyslav (1125-1132). Between the 14th and the 16th centuries, Lithua­ nia, and later Poland, expanded their rule in the Ukrainian lands.

A new chapter in the history of Ukraine opened with the emergence of a new stra­ tum - that of the Cossacks. The word Cossack originally referred to the free independ­ ent men who lived on the unsettled periphery of the country. Cossack settlements first appeared in the 1480s. The Zaporizhian Sich was located far beyond the reach of gov­ ernment authorities. Any Christian male was free to come to this island fortress and to join the Cossack brotherhood. He was also free to leave at will.

Historians generally agree that prior to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Petro KonashevychSahaidachny was the most outstanding Cossack leader. He mobilised and led the large Cossack army that fought in continuous wars against the enemies of Ukraine. He won the battle near Khotyn (1621) that arrested the advance of Turkish troops and saved Europe from a Turkish invasion.

Ukraine experienced hard times in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its territory was di­ vided between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Those were the harsh times of tsarist subjugation, and the prohibition of using the Ukrainian language in any sphere of human activity. The economy of the country was based on serfdom until it was abolished in 1848 in Austria-Hungary and in 1861 in the Russian Empire. But the Ukrainian people never ceased to struggle for independence even under such cruel cir­ cumstances. One of the most positive achievements was the organisation of the Broth­ erhood of St. Kyryl and Methodius by M.Kostomarov, M.Hulak and T.Shevchenko.

Ukraine took an active part in the struggle against the despotism of tsarist autoc­ racy, serfdom and political disfranchisement. And at last, after centuries of slavery, the Ukrainian National Republic was proclaimed in 1918, But the political and economic situation made the existence of the young independent state impossible. For more than seventy years Ukraine formed a constituent part of the Soviet Union. Our country went through the grim years of the genocidal famine of 1932-33, Stalinist repressions and World War П, when the plague of fascism swept over the whole of Europe. Yet again Ukraine arose from ashes and ruins.

A new chapter began for our country when in the referendum of 1st December 1991 the citizens of Ukraine ratified the Act of the Declaration of the Independence of Ukraine of 24th August 1991.

[From: Orest Subtelny, Ukraine: a history. University of Toronto Press, 1988]

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Text 4. UKRAINIAN POLITICAL FIGURES

Exercise 4.

Study the text and answer the questions:

What are the names of the political figures mentioned in the text? Who were they?

The lives of Ukrainian political figures give a vivid picture of the heroic past of the Ukrainian people. The institution of hetmanship was introduced in Ukraine in the 16th century. The hetmans were the military leaders of the Cossack army until the liberation war of 1648-1654. In the course of this war Ukrainian statehood was revived. In accordance with the Treaty of Zboriv, signed in 1649 by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Polish king, the Cossacks were given their own territory: the Kyiv, Chemihiv and Podillia regions. Subsequently, the Ukrainian hetmans were not only commanders-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, but they were also in charge of administrative, financial and diplomatic affairs.

Ukrainian hetmans varied in their character and outlook, but shared the same fate, many of them dying in foreign lands. For example, Baida Vyshnevetsky was tortured to death in Istanbul and Ivan Sulyma in Warsaw. Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed during a military campaign in the Crimea. The grave of Bohdan Khmelnytsky was de­ stroyed by the Polish gentry. Demyan Mnohohrishny, the first Ukrainian political exile to Siberia, died there. The legendary hetman Pavlo Polubotok was tortured to death in Petropavlovsk Fortress in St. Petersburg.

The most outstanding political figure in Ukraine in the 20th century was Mykhailo Hrushevsky. He was bom in September 1866 in the town of Khelm (now the territory of Poland), but three years later the family moved to the Caucasus, where Mykhailo spent 17 years of his life. In 1886 he was admitted to the department of history and philology of Kyiv St. Volodymyr University. His diploma paper was awarded the gold medal. In 1894 Hrushevsky headed the Department of World History at Lviv University. In Lviv he made friends with Ivan Franko and became the head of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. In 1898 the first volume of his major work The History of Ukraine-Rus was published. The tenth and final volume of this work was completed 36 years later.

When World War I broke out, the Hrushevsky family were in the Carpathians. On re­ turning to Kyiv, Hrushevsky was arrested, imprisoned and later deported to Russia. After the February revolution of 1917, Hrushevsky headed the Central Council of Ukraine and was elected its president. But after the establishment of the Hetmanshchyna regime with Pavlo Skoropadsky as hetman, Hrushevsky went underground, and then emigrated, first to Prague and later to Vienna. In the early 1920s he was invited by the Soviet government to return home, and was elected a Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During the last ten years of his life Hrushevsky was working on the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian lite­ rature. He died under mysterious circumstances in Kislovodsk in 1934.

The names of many Ukrainian political figures were disgraced and forgotten for many years. Today, they can at last be acknowledged once again, and the details of their biographies can now throw additional light on the history of Ukraine.

[Source: News from Ukraine, various issues, 199!/1992]

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Unit 4

Section I, Exercise 2

P:Well, people say that English people are very polite. But I think that Ukrainians are more genuinely polite than English people. English people are polite because they are expected to be polite. It’s a social custom er..., they are, you know, al­

ways saying ‘thank you’, and ‘please’, and ‘sorry’, and apologising, whereas....

Л: But they don’t really mean it when they say it. Yes, it’s just a habit.

P:They don’t really mean it. I don’t think so, it’s just a habit. I felt that, you know, Ukrainians are more genuinely interested and pleased to talk to you.

Section I, Exercises 3-5

The Interview, Part 2

/: If you had an opportunity to be present at any cultural event, what are your im­ pressions?

A:I went to the Opera three times in a two-week stay in Lviv. I had never been to the opera before in my life. In Britain it’s... it’s not a very everyday thing to do. It costs a lot of money first of all, so it’s not really very common. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I was very pleased and I enjoyed the performances and the building itself was very impressive, I found. How about you, Peter?

P:Well, I went to the ballet at the same place, in the Opera House. I went to a con­ cert, classical concert which was in a church, I think and... something else which I’ve forgotten... an art gallery, the opening of an art gallery, exhibition... which is, you know, it’s in a very modem style... gallery, like... just as you... you would see in the west really... er... and I think that was pretty much the same as what you would experience in Britain, but I think the concert and... and the ballet are not very different, but I think more people are interested in ballet and classical music in Ukraine than... than in England. As Angela says, in England it is very expen­ sive, it’s... [an] upper-middle class or upper class pursuit... ordinary people don’t really get involved in that kind of cultural activity. So, it was a big change really.

I’ve never been to that sort of thing before.

/: And what did you get to know about Ukrainian customs and traditions?

A:Well, we found a nice market where there’s some nice craftworks on sale... and carved wooden things, pottery and of course the beautiful embroidery.

P:I bought a candlestick.

A : I bought a candlestick. I bought an embroidered blouse for my daughter and lots of little wooden things and pottery things, and amber... amber bracelet... it was very nice. So, yes, some very nice traditions.

/: Perhaps you’ve learnt some words and idioms in Ukrainian.

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Ukraine

A: Very few. I learnt how to say ‘Dobryi den’ and ‘Do pobachennia’. That’s about all. /: And you, Peter?

P:I learnt basic things, just enabling me to say ‘hello’, ‘good bye’ and ‘thank you5. ‘Thank you’ most of all, I think, was the most important one... but I think tthe first thing I learnt was 4e same’. I am not sure it is pronounced correctly but it’s spelt the same in English and in Ukrainian: the same - te same. It is even more bizarre

because ‘the same’ in Ukrainian means the same as ‘the same’ in English. It’s a very strange coincidence indeed.

A: And easy to remember.

/: So, we were told that English people start any conversation with a remark about the weather. So, what about the weather in Ukraine and in Britain? Is it the same?

A:I went to Ukraine in the summer. Er... so I had one experience of the weather. And I was expecting it to be a lot warmer than Britain. But I think I just picked a bad two weeks and it was quite rainy and stormy but there were some nice bright sunny pe­ riods inbetween. I remember going for a picnic in the park and sitting outside. But

A:Er... no, I found them two quite different cities, er... er... Coventry is very modem...

it’s been rebuilt since the war, so none of the beautiful old buildings that you have in Lviv. Maybe the modem tower blocks are similar anywhere in the world, really.

/: Peter, would you like to add anything?

P:I think, no, I agree with Angela on that point.

/: Is there a particular place in Lviv that you like most? Would you like to return

A:Oh, thank you.

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Unit 4

Section I. Exercises 6-7

The Interview, Part 3

/: While in Lviv you had an opportunity to meet students of Lviv Polytechnic. What do you think about Ukrainian young people, their educational level and knowl­ edge?

P: I had quite limited contact, I think. We had contact with some university students who, in general, are younger than British university students because they go when they are seventeen. I think they are more committed to their education, they are more serious about their studying, er... the classes that we observed the stu­ dents were... we observed some English language classes... I think, the students were really quite good. They are very interested to learn about Britain, you know, we were asked all sorts of questions which we couldn’t really answer, you know, all of them fully. And we did have some contact with younger children, children of members of the University when we found out about the kind of education they get. I think they are dealing with more sophisticated subjects at an earlier age, for example, an eight-year-old boy, the son of one of your department members is doing algebra and you certainly wouldn’t start doing algebra in a British school until you were maybe 11, And his English was also excellent, you know. And, obviously, children don’t start learning another language in Britain until they are about 11. So, you know, in many ways, I think, the primary education is possibly better in some ways than in Britain. But I think the style of education is totally different.

/: Thank you. Well..., and the last question, perhaps. Being teachers of English would you kindly give some good advice to our students as to how to learn a for­ eign language, English in particular, most effectively.

A:Well, that’s a very, very big question. Many books have been written on this subject. But I think to,., to follow your interest, try to do things that you like, but include English, maybe watching TV programmes, films, reading books, newspa­ per articles, magazines, listening to music, even, or to songs, maybe in English. So, just try to make it an enjoyable experience.

P:And, of course, if you can, you should try to travel to an English-speaking coun­ try, not necessarily Britain. Er... because I think every language teacher will tell you this, that the best way to learn a language... is to learn it in a context of hav­ ing to use it every day, and using it for practical purposes er... with concrete re­ sults. You soak up so much of a language simply by being in the country, it’s an invaluable experience, really, for learning any language.

A: Yes, they have to, really.

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