THE HISTORY OF BUILDING

Many thousands of years ago there were no houses such as people live in today. In hot countries people made their homes in the trees and used leaves to protect themselves from ruin or sun. In- colder countries they dwelt in caves. Later people left their caves and trees and began, to build houses of different materials such as mud, wood or stones.

Later people found out than bricks made of mud and dried in the hot sunshine became almost as hard as stones. In ancient Egypt especially, people learned the use of these sun-dried mud bricks. Some of their build­ings are still standing after several thousands of years.

The ancient Egyptian discovered how to cut Stone for building, purposes. They erected temples, palaces and huge tombs. The greatest tomb is the stone pyramid of Khufu King of Egypt. The ancient Egyp­tians often erected their huge buildings without thinking of their usefulness.

The ancient Greeks also understood the an of building with cut stone, and their buildings were beautiful as well as useful. They often used pillars, partly for supporting the roofs and partly for decoration. Parts of these ancient buildings can still be seen today in Greece.

During the last hundred years many new methods of building have been discovered. One of the most recent discoveries is the usefulness of steel- as a building material.

Nowadays When it is necessary to have a very tall building, the frame of art is first built in steel and then the building is completed in concrete. Concrete is an artificial kind of stone, much cheaper than brick or na­tural stone and much stronger than they are.

EXERCISES

I.Choose the correct variant and complete the sentences:

1.People first lived in... (a) houses, b) palaces с) trees or caws). 2. Egyptian pyramids are made of... (a) Stone, b) wood, c) bricks). 3. The cheapest building material is... (a) wood, b) bricks, c) concrete. 4. The ancient Greeks knew the art of building with (a) Steel, (b) stone, c) concrete. 5. Nowadays very tall and huge buildings are made of... (a) steel and concrete, b) bricks, c) Stone).

II. Complete the following sentences:

1. The ancient Greeks used pillars for partly for supporting the roofs and partly for decoration. 2. We usually make houses of... 3. Bricks are made of.... 4. The ancient Egyptians made their homes of....

III. Answer the following questions:

I. Where did people live many thousands of years ago? 2. Did ancient people use wood or bricks to build their houses? 3. What kinds of buildings did the ancient Egyptians erect? 4. What did the ancient Greeks use pillars for? 5. Is steel used as a building material? 6. What kinds of building materials do you know?

IV. Translate the text into Russian into using в dictionary:

Relics of Wooden Architecture.

The carpenters of the ancient Russian city of Novgorod were famed for their skill! Carpenters and builders, they erected peasant homes, fortress walls and towers, windmills, churches, chapels and even palaces. They built thousands of villages and a large number of (owns mainly with axes. In olden times practically all the buildings in Novgorod were made of timber. Relics of the carpenters skill- an of truly folk origin have been preserved to our days. To establish the artistic worth of old structures a close study is made of all that is left and of books and even legends passed on from generation to generation.

The rich finds led to the decision to collect and put in one place all the more valuable works by unknown ar­chitects of the Novgorod area.

THE HOTEL "ROSSIYA"

"Rossiya" (Russia) is the name of one of the biggest and most comfortable modern hotels in Moscow. It was designed by a group of architects under Dmitry Chechulin in 1967. The hotel stands on Moskvaretskaya Embankment, in the centre of the city. This is an interesting district with' many unique examples of architecture of the 15th- to 18th-centuries buildings in the Russian classic style. Red Squire, the ancient Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral are close by there.

The hotel is a twelve-storeyed building with a central part rising t o 22 storeys. There are four blocks—nothern, southern, eastern and western. The hotel has more than three thousand rooms and suites, and can accommodate about six thousand people. Express lifts from all floors take guests up to the flat roof, which affords a wonderful view of Moscow. There are two cinemas with 750 seats each and a cinema-concert hall to seat 3,000. The auditorium and the stage may be adapted for many purposes; one may see a ballet, folk dancing, entertainments of all kinds or hear a concert. The hall can be used for congresses, it is suitable for receptions and can even be used for various types of sports competitions. The inner courtyards with their shade, their flowers, trees and shrubs are isolated from the city noise by the high walls of the building.

The hotel includes two excellent restaurants seating 1.000.The various cafes, bars, banquetting halls, buffets canteens together with the restaurants can serve 4.500 persons simultaneously. The cinema-concert hall, cinema, restaurants and rooms have air conditioning. The hotel rooms are singles and doubles; there are also two-, three-, four- and five-room suites. The furniture is modern, the decorations—ramies, textiles, engravings, prints and water colours are in the traditional Russian style. The hotel has a parking place.

EXERCISES:

I. Choose the correct variant and complete the sentences.

1.The hotel "Rossiya" stands... (a) in the centre of Moscow, b) on the outskirts of
Moscow).2.The hotel "Rossiya" is surrounded by... (a) modern buildings, I old
buildings). 3. The cinema-concert hall in the hotel "Rossiya" can be used... (a) only for film-showing and concerts, b) for all purposes). 4. The hotel decorations are in..(a) various styles, b) traditional Russian style).

II. Complete the following sentences:

1. The hotel "Rossiya" stands on.... 2. This Moscow district has many unique examples of.... 3. The central part of the hotel "Rossiya" rises to. 4. The flat roof of the hotel affords a wonderful view of.... 5. Sports competitions can be held in....

III. Answer the following questions:

1.Where does the hotel "Rossiya" stand? 2. Is the hotel Rossiya" a tall building or not? 3. How many rooms and suites are there in the hotel? 4. What kind of rooms and suites are they? 5. Which hall in the hotel can be used for sports competitions?

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