1. Perm’s industry

2. City’s cultural life

3. Natural resource as attraction

4. The greatest achievement

5. Traditionally liberal

6. Beneficial location

7. Where the name comes from

8. Too important to be left alone

A. The word “Perm” first appeared in the 12th century in the Primary Chronicle, the main source describing the early history of the Russian people. The Perm were listed among the people who paid tribute to the Rus. The origin of the word “Perm” remains unclear. Most likely, the word came from the Finno-Ugric languages and meant “far land” or “flat, forested place”. But some local residents say it may have come from Per, a hero and the main character of many local legends.

B. Novgorodian traders were the first to show an interest in Perm. Starting from the 15th century, the Muscovite princes included the area in their plans to create a unified Russian state. During this time the first Russian villages appeared in the northern part of the region. The first industry to appear in the area was a salt factory, which developed on the Usolka river in the city of Solikamsk. Rich salt reserves generated great interest on the part of Russia’s wealthiest merchants, some of whom bought land there.

C. The history of the modern city of Perm starts with the development of the Ural region by Tsar Peter the Great. Perm became the capital of the region in 1781 when the territorial structure of the country was reformed. A special commission determined that the best place would be at the crossroads of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, which runs east-west and the Kazan line, which runs north-south. This choice resulted in Perm becoming a major trade and industrial centre. The city quickly grew to become one of the biggest in the region.

D. Perm is generally stable and peaceful, so the shocks of 1917 did not reach it right away. Neither did they have the same bloody results as in Petrograd. Perm tried to distance itself from the excesses and did not share the enthusiasm

for change of its neighbours. Residents supported more moderate parties. They voted for the establishment of a west European style democracy in Russia. Unfortunately, the city could not stay completely unaffected, as both the White

and the Red armies wanted its factories.

E. Perm’s desire for stability and self-control made the region seem like a “swamp” during the democratic reforms of the 1990s. Unlike other regions, there were no intense social conflicts or strikes. Nevertheless, Perm was always among the regions that supported the democratic movement. In the 1999 elections, the party that wanted to continue the reforms won a majority in the region. So the city got an unofficial status of “the capital of civil society” or even “the capital of Russian liberalism”.

F. During the Second World War many factories were moved to Perm Oblast and continued to work there after it ended. Chemicals, non-ferrous metallurgy, and oil refining were the key industries after the war. Other factories produced

aircraft engines, equipment for telephones, ships, bicycles, and cable. Perm press produces about 70 percent of Russia’s currency and stamped envelopes. Nowadays several major business companies are located in Perm. The biggest players of Russian aircraft industry are among them.

G. Perm has at least a dozen theatres featuring productions that are attracting audiences from faraway cities, and even from abroad. The broad esplanade running from the city’s main square has become the site of almost continuous

international art, theatre and music fairs during the summer. Even the former prison camp with grim walls outside town was converted into a theater last July for a production of “Fidelio”, Beethoven’s opera about political repression. The performance was well-reviewed.

1. Thoughtless behaviour

2. Benefits of private business

3. Too complicated to use

4. Bad for business

5. Science brings hope

6. Road incident

7. More parking places

8. Personal choice

A. City centre parking is expensive and many important roads are now closed to private transport. This would be fine — if public transport was cheap and convenient, but it is neither. The result is that people are avoiding the city centre so restaurants, cinemas and shops are closing.

B. The motorcyclist drew along side and I heard abusive language as he banged on the car roof. I immediately locked the car doors and tried to work out what was wrong. He then shouted that I had almost collided with him. Truth to tell — I didn’t see him until now. I tried to apologize but he wouldn’t listen.

C. They now have cars that run on electricity, solar power and even on vegetable oil. New petrol engines are super efficient and make less harmful emissions. More people are working from home because of advances in communication technology and computer security. At last we have some grounds for optimism.

D. As she approached the traffic lights the driver in front of her tipped out a mess of fast food boxes, polystyrene cups and chip bags. She pressed her horn angrily. “Why don’t people consider what they do”, she wondered helplessly. “Someone will have to clear this up and we all have to pay for it.”

E. Sarah has worked for herself more than 10 years now. It had been risky but now her interior decoration business is a success. She loves being her own boss. It constantly amazes her that her friends in big corporations believe they have job security. How can they think this way when these companies are constantly firing people to make bigger profits?

F. It was not easy deciding. It never is when buying a new car. Reliability and comfort are big issues as are fuel economy, maintenance and so forth. A car has to feel right as well. Price and value for money are also critical. But in the end Ralph made his decision confident that it was just the right one for him.

G. Jane studied the small print. To make a successful insurance claim for her accident she needed so much information. Several complicated forms took hours to complete. She then needed three independent quotations, a witness statement, and a police statement and after everything she still had to pay the first $500 anyway.

1. National language

2. Freedom of media

3. Customs and traditions

4. Public transport

5. Geography

6. Leisure and sport

7. Modern history

8. Economic outlook

A. Lithuania is situated on the eastern Baltic coast and borders Latvia in the north, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation and Poland in the southwest, and Belarus in the southwest and east. The geometrical centre of Europe lies in eastern Lithuania 25km north of its capital Vilnius. The landscape varies between lowland plains and hilly uplands and has a complex network of rivers.

B. Lithuania has historically been the least developed of the Baltic republics, with a smaller industrial base and greater dependence on agriculture. Sugar beet, cereals, potatoes and vegetables are the main crops. Lithuania’s foreign trade has gradually changed during the 1990s, and now the European Union, not Russia, is its main trading partner.

C. Lithuanian is the mother tongue for 80% of the population. After the country joined the European Union in 2004 this language has become one of the EU official languages. Lithuania has a large number of dialects for such a small territory, including High Lithuanian and Low Lithuanian.

D. Lithuania offers different opportunities for a nice vacation. You can explore a range of large sand dunes and pine forests while hiking in the Curonian Spit National Park, take part in some action sports in Nida, a village that makes a true paradise for sailing, windsurfing, paragliding and kiting, or try out more extreme sports, such as hot-air ballooning and gliding.

E. Those who are interested in folklore may enjoy their stay in Lithuania in any season of the year. The Mardi Gras celebrations are held in various Lithuanian cities and small towns at the beginning of February. The Folklore Festival is held in Vilnius’ Old Town during in May. There you can see craft fairs, taste traditional dishes, join song and parties and listen to psalms.

F. Lithuania’s TV market is dominated by commercial channels. The radio market is similarly competitive. Lithuania’s media are free and operate independently of the state, and there are no government-owned newspapers. However, politicians do occasionally attempt to influence editorial policy.

G. In cities and towns there are buses and trolleybuses, which usually run from 05.00 to 23.00, but times do vary between routes. You can’t pay the fare to the driver in cash but you can buy coupons from him. Coupons can be also bought at news kiosks before boarding. Minibuses are less crowded but more expensive.

1. Unhealthy eating habits

2. Correcting mother nature

3. The turning point

4. The solution

5. Simple lifestyles

6. Summer all year round

7. Unnatural lasts longer

8. A tricky question

A. Have you ever wondered where our food comes from? The obvious answer is that it comes from the supermarket. However, that still doesn't answer the question because nowadays, it can come from anywhere on the planet. In addition, we have no idea how some of the food products we buy, such as hot dogs or cookies, are made. For us, food is sometimes a mystery.

B. Long ago, things were not so mysterious. Our ancestors would have known exactly where their food had come from. When we were hunters and gatherers, we ate what we killed or gathered with our own hands. Later as farmers, we grew or raised the food that we ate. If we didn't grow it ourselves, it would have come from a nearby farm or at the furthest, a neighboring village.

C. Beginning in the late 15th century, during the development of trade with India and America everything changed. Explorers discovered exotic kinds of food such as potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins and chocolate, and introduced them to Europe. Although they are common now, people back then were suspicious and even thought they might be poisonous. All of a sudden, what you were eating was not so obvious.

D. In recent times, technology and modern forms of transportation have changed things even more. Food can be shipped from one side of the planet to the other, and refrigeration means that we don't have to worry about things spoiling. As a result, the whole idea of seasonal fruits and vegetables has lost its meaning and it no longer seems strange to eat strawberries in winter. Exotic fruits have become common, and many people have no idea where they come from.

E. Advances in food science and chemistry have changed food even more. Processed foods such as cookies, cereal, spaghetti sauces and soft drinks are made in factories with chemicals. The reason this is done is to save money since natural ingredients cost much more than artificial ones. It's also done to increase the shelf life, meaning the time that the products can remain on the shelves of the supermarket without going bad.

F. Even if you avoid eating processed foods, you still can't be sure what you are eating. Farming practices have changed beyond recognition and farms are often run like a factory. Animals are injected with hormones to make them fat and fruits and vegetables are genetically modified to produce 'improved' versions. In addition, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are regularly sprayed on plants. The health effects of this are not yet known and have yet to be seen.

G. So what can you do? The main thing you can do is educate yourself so that you know exactly what you are eating. Read the labels carefully and know what chemical ingredients are harmful. Try to buy organic fruits and vegetables that are grown naturally or buy them from local farmers' markets. By being aware and selective of the food that we buy, we can be more certain of what we are eating, enjoy more delicious food, as well as make sure we are eating healthily.

1. Motivating opportunity

2. Books come first

3. Teachers to come first

4. Junk food — out

5. Numbers come first

6. Relevant for today

7. Learn by using

8. Fewer and worse

A. High school students have rights protected by the Constitution like everyone else, but it is complicated. There is no one set of rules. State laws differ from federal laws, and school board regulations vary from place to place. Students discover what rights they have by trying to exercise them, and, if prevented, taking the school to court.

B. Kids who live on junk food grow up to be fat and unhealthy, so schools should teach good health. They should fill their vending machines with health foods, and lunch programs should serve nothing but nutritious meals. If some kids complain, so what? They complain about algebra, too.

C. There is a new five-year program that lets students earn a high school diploma and two years of college at no cost. It is getting kids who are at risk to become more mature in the lower grades, to take college-prep courses, study harder, and focus on a career. Once in the program, very few drop out.

D. Neuroscience (brain science) is finding out how teaching affects the brain. It has discovered pre-school kids can learn numbers and simple math because the number instinct is hard-wired in the brain. So is the language instinct, but teaching kids to read is harder. It takes longer for the brain to connect sounds with letters — up to 11 years.

E. In hard times, colleges must be relevant. Today’s students want Chinese and Arabic, not Latin and Greek. Economics is in demand; and even English classes are teaching how to network, write a resume, and present oneself in an interview. It is not a good time to be a philosophy professor.

F. Computers help with drills and practice, but they are not much help in higher-level thinking. In the lower grades, money is better spent on new textbooks, music programs and the arts. In the higher grades, there is no choice. Everyone should learn to use the electronic genie.

G. The US program, No Child Left Behind, seeks to place a qualified teacher in every classroom. But where is the pool of qualified people out there waiting to teach disadvantaged kids in the cities? US policy should provide better training and support for those already teaching. They could start a new program and call it No Teacher Left Behind.

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1. Hard to see and to believe

2. From travelling to discovery

3. Little experience — big success

4. Small size — great opportunities

5. Inspired by noble goals

6. Hard to explain how they could

7. Protected by law

8. Breathtaking just to watch

A. Charles Darwin's five-year voyage on H. M. S. Beagle has become legendary and greatly influenced his masterwork, the book, On the Origin of Species. Darwin didn't actually formulate his theory of evolution while sailing around the world aboard the Royal Navy ship. But the exotic plants and animals he encountered challenged his thinking and led him to consider scientific evidence in new ways.

B. The 19th century was a remarkable time for exploration. Vast portions of the globe, such as the interior of Africa, were mapped by explorers and adventurers. It was the time when David Livingstone became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in Africa and introduce them to Christianity, as well as free them from slavery.

C. Louis Pasteur's various investigations convinced him of the Tightness of his germ theory of disease, which holds that germs attack the body from outside. Many felt that such tiny organisms as germs could not possibly kill larger ones such as humans. But Pasteur extended this theory to explain the causes of many diseases — including cholera, ТВ and smallpox — and their prevention by vaccination.

D. Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect who designed New York City's Central Park, called the Yosemite Valley «the greatest glory of nature.» Californians convinced one of their representatives, Senator John Conness, to do something about its protection. In May 1864, Conness introduced legislation to bring the Yosemite Valley under the control of the state of California. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law.

E. The Maya thrived for nearly 2,000 years. Without the use of the cartwheel or metal tools, they built massive stone structures. They were accomplished scientists. They tracked a solar year of 365 days and one of the few surviving ancient Maya books contains tables of eclipses. From observatories, like the one at Chichen Itza, they tracked the progress of the war star, Mars.

F. Bali has been a surfing hotspot since the early 20th century, and continues to attract surfers from all over the world. The island's small size and unique geography provides wonderful surfing conditions, in all seasons, for surfers of any level of experience. Inexperienced surfers might like to try Kuta's kind waves, while more able surfers will try Nusa Dua's powerful waves.

G. Base jumping is an extreme sport, one which only very adventurous travelers enjoy. Some base jumpers leap off bridges, others off buildings and the most extreme off cliffs in Norway. Once a year, base jumpers in the US get to leap off the New River Bridge in West Virginia. During the annual Bridge Day, hundreds of jumpers can go off the bridge legally. Thousands of spectators show up to watch.