Exam Card 2

 Reading 

 1. Read the newspaper opinion column and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

UNESCO World Heritage List  

            Belarus joined UNESCO in 1954. During many years, Belarus has been building up fruitful and dynamic relations with international organizations. Belarus programme of UNESCO activities includes numerous interesting projects in the fields of education, science, information, communications, and, of course, culture. In October 1988, Belarus joined the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Today 4 Belarus sites have already been included into the UNESCO World Heritage List.

            In 1992, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, a natural heritage object and a unique European forest reserve which has been protected since the 14th century, was the first one to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

          In 2000, the Mir Castle Complex, which was built at the beginning of the 16th century, was also added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The successful combination of Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance architecture makes Mir Castle one of Europe’s most impressive castles. In 2005, two more sites were included into the UNESCO World Heritage List. They are the Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwills in Nesvizh and the Struve Geodetic Arc points3.

            For centuries the Nesvizh Palace used to be the residence of the Radziwills, one of the richest families in Europe. Today the National Historical and Cultural Museum­ Reserve Nesvizh is a wonderfully restored castle, which is visited by hundreds of tourists from all parts of the world. No wonder, it has become a landmark of Belarus.

             The Struve Arc is a world famous construction. The same sorts of points are in 10 countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, all together 265 points. According to the historical data, there were 31 geodesic points in Belarus, and only 19 survived.

              Belarus is going to propose to add Independence Avenue in Minsk for inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Socialist Postwar Architecture in Central and Eastern Europe.

heritage [ˈheritidʒ] наследие
Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance architecture [ˈgoθɪk, bəˈrok, rɪˈneɪsəns ˈɑːkɪtektʃə]
the Struve Geodetic Arc points [ˈstruːv ˌdʒiːəʊˈdetɪk ˈɑːk ˈpɔɪnts] Геодезическая дуга Струве, представляющая собой цепь опорных пунктов наблюдения

2. Belarus is a member of UNESCO: Find this extract and read it aloud.
3. Which Belarusians sites are included on the list for protection?
4. What other sites does Belarusian government want to be on the UNESCO List?

Listening 

II. Listen to the speaker speaking about choosing a career and answer the questions below.
1. Why is choosing the right job very important?
2. Which jobs are popular among young people at present?
3. What advice does the speaker give?

Speaking 

III. Let’s talk about education.