2.01 Задание 10. Задание на понимание основного содержания прочитанного текста

Установите соответствие между текстами А-G и заголовками 1-8. Запишите свой ответ последовательностью цифр, где первая цифра - заголовок к тексту A, а последняя - заголовок к тексту G. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

1. The city decline
2. Difficult early times
3. A port needed for trade
4. The status still kept 
5. The time of wealth
6. A centre of technology
7. A long-awaited fortress
8. Glorious war history 

A. Today, Russia is washed by 13 seas. However, this was not always the case. In the 18th century, the country had only been able to directly access the Arctic Ocean and fought a hard battle to establish some sort of a presence in the Baltic Sea. In 1581, during the Livonian War, Swedish forces captured Nerve, which was the only large Russian port on the Baltic coast at that time and was of strategic importance to Russia. So, the Russian tsar Ivan IV had nothing left to do but to look to the north.

B. In absolute terms, European trade was booming in the 16th century, new trading routes were searched for. It was nearly impossible for Russia to engage in trade with Western Europe in such conditions, but it was absolutely necessary for Russia's continued development. English traders by then had already carved a route to Russian settlements on the shores of the White Sea. However, there were too few local piers for effective trade to take place. A large full-fledged port was required for merchants' ships.

C. On March 4, 1583, the tsar ordered the establishment of a city near the Mikhailo-Archangel monastery, located at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, 30 kilometres from the White Sea. The following year, the New Kholmogory fortress was built there and, from the 17th century onwards, it became known as Arkhangelsk. The fortress was constructed from masts tied together. The most skillful master of carpentry could not have produced anything better. It became Russia's only route into Europe then.

D. Arkhangelsk developed rapidly as a city, and there were many good reasons for that. A large sea pier was constructed, as well as trade centres for foreign merchants —so-called Guest Courts. Brits, Dutch and other "Germans" brought imported cloth, velvet, lace, wines, precious stones, gunpowder and cannons, bringing back with them wheat, pork and pork fat, sable, sap and other goods. Almost all of Russia's trade with the West in those days used to be conducted through Arkhangelsk. 

E. Peter I visited the city in 1693 and came to be rather impressed with what he saw: the amount and variety of foreign ships dazzled the young tsar. On his orders, the shipyard was founded, which oversaw the construction of the Russian trading and naval fleet. On June 25, 1701, at the very start of the Northern War against Sweden, the enemy attempted to take the city, but was crushed in the area near the Novodvinsk fortress, which guarded the approaches. This became the first major Russian victory in that war.

F. At the start of his reign, Peter I accomplished a lot for the development of Arkhangelsk, but, in the end, it was also he who bore the blame for the fading glory of this key centre of Russian trade. After the tide of the war turned in Russian favour, the tsar's decrees began deliberately redirecting the flow of trade from Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg. In 1718, only a third of the exports went through the northern port. And after the war ended, St. Petersburg presided over 100 % of all trade with Western states.

G. Until Peter I fought to create his "window to Europe" through the Baltic Sea, the only window of such kind Russia had ever had was situated in the Arctic Ocean. It was the city of Arkhangelsk. Arkhangelsk has long stopped being the main port in Russia, and the city never served the purpose of the "northern gate" in the country. However, there is one area it never fell behind in — as in the 18th century, the city continues to play a major role in the launching of scientific expeditions into the Arctic Ocean.