Unit 12 Theme: Astana is a Symbol of Hope Grammar: Sequence of Tenses

Objectives: By the end of this unit, students should be able to use active vocabulary of this theme in different forms of speech exercises.

Students should be better at discussing the capital of Kazakhstan.

Students should know the rule of Sequence of Tenses.

Methodical instructions: This theme must be worked out during three lessons a week according to timetable.

Lexical material: Introduce and fix new vocabulary on theme “Astana is a Symbol of Hope”. Discuss in groups the history of Astana. Speak about the most interesting places of our city.

Grammar: Introduce and practice Sequence of Tenses.

The history of Astana.

The ancient name of the place where Astana is situated today is known as Karaotkel, and it is originated from the name of a Kazakh settlement at the northern branch of the Great Silk Road that connected Ural and Siberia to Central and Middle Asia. The caravan ford across Ishim river to Karaotkel was convenient and in accordance with the advice of the representatives of the Kazakh auls (nomad's settlements) there was founded military fortification called Akmola in 1830. Akmolinsk of those times was famous for its fairs where one could meet merchants from all over Kazakhstan, Russia, and the countries of Central Asia. The wide assortment of national milk products - koumiss, airan, kurt, shubat, kaimak - produced by local craftsmen with much skill defined the name of that place as "AkMol" which stands for "White Plenty" in Kazakh.

In 1991 the Republic of Kazakhstan became independent. The young state turned to the history and the lost original roots. And to contribute to the memory of the ancestors the city received back its original name - Akmola. According to other sources Akmola steppes have always been a territory of inter-ethnic communication of various nations and cultures. In the middle of the first millenium B.C. it is through these steppes that the so-called route through the Great Steppe ran the very one mentioned by the great ancient Greek Historian Herodotus. Subsequently it turned into the well known Grand Silk Road. Numerous caravan routs gave birth to cities with prosperous trade and handicrafts while the population, -a part from traditional cattle breeding - was engaged in farming .

Akmola was announced the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan on December 10, 1997 by the decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan of October 20, 1997 on approval by the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The first ever capital of Kazakhstan since 1920 had been the city of Orenburg (now included in the Russian Federation).

In 1925 the capital of Kazakhstan was transferred to Kzyl-Orda. Construction of the Turksib railway served the basic reason for transferring the capital to Alma-Ata. Legally the event occurred on April 3, 1927. In 1997 Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of sovereign Kazakhstan, made decision to move the capital from Almaty to Akmola. That decision was caused by the important geopolitical location of the city in the centre of Kazakhstan and Eurasian continent, by the availability of necessary transport and telecommunication infrastructure. As to the transfer of the capital from Almaty to Akmola it is prompted by economic, ecological and geopolitical expediency. The availability of land for the further expansion of the city played a special role in the choice for the new capital.

In 1998, after long discussions and many analytical studies the government of the country made decision to change the name of the new capital to Astana, which stands for "capital" in Kazakh. The city grows and changes, becoming attractive for people in Kazakhstan and guests from abroad.

Astana - capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The International presentation of Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan was held on June 10, 1998.

Overall condition of the city, its territory, its virtually the geographic center of Kazakhstan, its proximity to major economic regions on the crossroads of important arterial lines, an opportunity of bringing the number of population up to 400.000 people, pretty stable heat-, water- and power supplies, well-developed transport infrastructure, balanced natural environment- all these factors came to be decisive in making the choice.

Topical vocabulary

1.	ancient	древний
2.	to be originated from	созданный из
3.	settlement	поселение
4.	in accordance with	в соответствии с
5.	fair	ярмарка
6.	merchant	купец
7.	craftsman	ремесленник
8.	roots	корни
9.	prosperoustrade	процветающая торговля
10.	to be engaged in	заниматься
11.	cattlebreeding	скотоводство
12.	on approval by	по одобрению
13.	location	местоположение
14.	availability	доступность
15.	to occur	происходить
16.	to be prompted by	побуждать
17.	further	дальнейший
18.	expansion	расширение
19.	to be decisive	быть решающим
20.	proximity	близость

Ex.1.Read the text and give a short summary of it.

Ex.2. Replace the parts in italics by synonyms.

The ancient name of the place, it is originated from the name of, it was convenient, one could meet merchants from all over Kazakhstan, produced by local craftsmen, the young state turned to the history, the ancestors the city received back its original name, numerous caravan routs gave birth to cities, the event occurred on, overall condition of the city, all these factors came to be decisive in making the choice.

Ex.3. Find in the text English equivalents for the following.

Известен как, совет представителей, военное сооружение, ярмарка, молочные продукты, определяет название, предки, впоследствии, принимать решение, основная причина, перекресток, электроснабжение.

Ex.4. Fill in the gaps with the words and expressions from the text.

1. The ancient … the place where Astana is situated today … as Karaotkel.

2. The caravan ford …. river to Karaotkel was convenient.

3. The wide assortment of …. products ….. by local craftsmen.

4. The young state turned …. history and the lost original roots.

5. According to …. Akmola steppes have always been a territory of … communication of various nations and cultures.

6. That decision was caused by …. location of the city in the centre of Kazakhstan and Eurasian continent

Grammar: Sequence of Tenses. Extension.

A characteristic feature of the English language is the so-called Tenses: tense of the subordinate clause depends on the time of the main clause. This rule "tenses" is particularly difficult when the verb in the main clause verb is expressed in one of the forms of past vremeni.V case in subordinate clauses can not be used forms of the present and future tenses of verbs, although it is about the actions that take place in the present or will be made in the future.