ACCORDING TO LAWS OF HOSPITALITY
Braslav is among the most popular destinations for Belarusians and foreigners.
Now, a state programme is being developed to raise the attractiveness of the
region to tourists, turning the district centre (home to 10,000) into a modern
European city.
The local tourist industry is to enter a whole new level. At present, there are
five tourist bases and two hotels — situated in Braslav and near the town. New
facilities are going to be very comfortable. Drivyaty tourist base within the
Braslav Lakes National Park, which occupies 70,000 hectares, is among the most
modern and popular destinations. It's soon to be expanded, with new hotels, a
spa centre, a cafe and an indoor aqua park.
In the early 16th century, Duchess Yelena, who was married to Grand Duke
Alexander (who ruled over Lithuania and Russia) and actually owned Braslav,
founded a monastery on the site. Fragments of this ancient settlement will be
restored as part of the Braslav district's tourism development programme.
The ancient Belarusian town has many interesting sporting traditions, including
an international fishing contest, which has been gathering hundreds of fishermen
from Belarus, Russia and Latvia for the past few years. Sports lovers and those
who enjoy the outdoor life are sure to be delighted by the town's new rowing
channel, ski-roller track and ski slope, in addition to a sports complex with an
ice rink.
The local cinema is to be fully modernised, with new halls opened, while an
entertainment complex will be built, offering billiards and bowling. A new
shopping centre, with a cafe for children, is also planned, alongside a lake-river
museum, with an aquarium.
This wonderful resort town should please tourists with its modernised
infrastructure and Braslav district could soon become an international tourist
destination. One potential investor is to start construction of a new sanatorium
very soon.
State programmes for regional development are already working in the Polesie
and Naroch Lake areas.
2. The author tells us about sporting traditions that exist in Braslav. Find this
extract and read it aloud.
3. What new things will tourists see in Braslav?
4. Why will it be interesting to visit this Belarusian town?
№7
1.Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.
A smallholding
небольшой земельный участок
rewarding
стоящий полезный
MAKE THE DREAM COME TRUE!
Many people who are fed up with living in overcrowded and polluted cities dream of moving to the country and having their own small farm, or smallholding*.
The Telegraph newspaper published a report about families who had attempted to make that dream come true. One couple, Ed and Sally Budd, bought a small farm a few months ago. It consisted of a house in need of some repair and a plot of land. Ed and Sally are planning to restore the house and they have already begun growing vegetables. They've also got a few cows and sheep. Both Ed and Sally work in London and only visit their smallholding at weekends. Fortunately,a local farmer looks after their animals during the week in return for keeping his own animals on their land.
So far Ed and Sally are enthusiastic and they aren't at all afraid of all the hard
work that they still have to do. Sally told the newspaper: "Eventually, we want
to live all year round on our smallholding. We want our children to grow up
here and to be able to play in the woods."
Of course, some people are very enthusiastic at the beginning, but they soon
start making mistakes. The Telegraph describes the experience of two people,
Liz Sharkland and Gerry Toms, who had a rather bad start. "We began in
completely the wrong way," says Liz. "We saw an advertisement in the paper
for this beautiful old farmhouse. We came up to see it and loved it immediately.
It was July and the weather was very hot. We bought the place and moved in
late autumn. Then it began to rain." The fields turned into mud and Liz and
Gerry found that it was not suitable for keeping animals.
Gradually, however, Liz and Gerry started to make progress. They learned a lot
from simply living on the smallholding. Then Liz attended a smallholding course and studied for a Higher National Diploma in countryside management. Liz has now gained enough experience to be able to offer expert advice to other people who want to start a smallholding.
Living close to nature can be very rewarding*, but making a success of it requires a lot of hard work.
2. Read aloud the extract where Sally says why they want to live in the country.
3. What does the newspaper report say about Ed and Sally?
4. What mistake did Liz and Gerry make?
№8
1. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.
HOW TO BECOME A WINNER
All sports people are under a lot of pressure to win. They also experience
powerful emotions. When they win or do well, they feel excited and extremely
happy. But when things go badly, they feel depressed and anxious. This is why
athletes have to be mentally strong. In the past, athletes only trained to get
physically fit. Today, professional sportsmen learn to control their mind too.
England rugby player Johnny Wilkinson played brilliantly at the Rugby World
Cup in 2003. But after that things started to go wrong. He was injured a lot and
he wasn't playing so well. He told The Times: "I couldn't control my emotions.
Things were going wrong and I couldn't do anything about the situation. The
problem was that I couldn't control my mind. If I wanted to feel better, I knew
I had to learn how to control it."
He read lots of books to try to understand how to solve the problem. He found
the answer in books. Wilkinson said: "The books tell us that reality changes
depending on how we look at it. This made me understand that I was making
my own problems. I could solve my problems if I looked at reality differently."
In team sports such as football, it is important to create a team spirit. This can
be very difficult because teams consist of people with different personalities.
Professor Dave Collins is a sports psychologist. He says: "A team is like a monster
with 11 heads. It's not easy to get all the players think in the same way, to help
one another and to work together. But when you see a team that works as a unit,
everything happens naturally and easily."
When there is a team spirit, the players help one another. They all take
responsibility when things go badly. They do not blame individual players for
mistakes. In this way, each player feels more confident and can concentrate
better on the game.
Today, sports psychologists have an important job to do. They help athletes
become mentally fit and develop a winning mentality. Having a winning
mentality really can make a difference between winning and losing.
2. Read aloud the extract which says about the importance of being mentally
strong.
3. What does the article say about Johnny Wilkinson?
4. Why is it important to create a team spirit?
№9
1. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.
A consumer
потребитель
A reduction
скидка
ARE WE SHOPAHOLICS?
If you think you are not one of those people whose buying habits are influenced
by advertisements, you are most probably mistaken. The latest survey made by
The Consumers'* Federation shows what effect modern advertising techniques
have on customers.
150 people were asked to answer questions in a short questionnaire just as they
were leaving a Tesco supermarket after finishing their shopping. Only 15 % of
the people agree they buy things because they've seen them advertised. More
than 50 % insist they do not even watch commercials on television. However,
over three quarters had no problems matching the most popular perfume brands
with their advertising slogans.
Most people do not realise that advertising aims not only at making them
buy a certain brand. It's also all the techniques supermarkets use to make
customers buy more than they have actually planned. The music, the smells,
the arrangement of products, the reductions*, all have one goal — to get as
much money as possible out of our pockets. 94 % of the people taking part in the survey said they buy between one and five things more than is really necessary,each time they visit a supermarket.
How to avoid spending too much? Here are a few tips: first of all, always
make a shopping list and follow it, no matter what special offers you come
across. Secondly, never go shopping on an empty stomach — you'll buy tons of
unnecessary food. If you really have to take children with you, agree in advance
what one thing you'll buy them and don't change your mind later, when they
get tired or excited. And, above all, limit the time spent in shops to an absolute
minimum; don't treat shopping as a leisure-time activity. Do we have any chance in the battle against the powerful advertising machine? I doubt it.
Most of us like spending time in supermarkets, even if we don't realise it. It's
become one of our favourite pastimes, something like hunting combined with
a family picnic.
2. What are the results of the survey carried out by the Consumers' Federation?
Read aloud the extract which says about it.
3. Which methods are used to attract buyers to the shops?
4. What does the article recommend to do not to become a shopaholic?
№10
- Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.
