The Russian Federation. Акопян Л.Г. - 34 стр.

      Sakharov played a decisive role in developing the Soviet hydrogen bomb. While
working on the bomb he came to the conclusion that any atomic and nuclear weapons
should be banned.
      In 1966 he took part in his first human rights demonstration, a one-minute silent
protest in Pushkin Square. A year later, he wrote a letter to Communist Party leader
Leonid Brezhnev defending imprisoned dissidents.
      He fought courageously for human rights in the former USSR and in 1975 he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
      His international repute as a scientist kept him out official, but in 1980 he was
deprived of all his titles and orders and exiled to the city of Gorky. In Gorky he
continued to work for peace, justice and human rights.
      Only in 1985 A. D. Sakharov was allowed to come back to Moscow. It was
Mikhail Gorbachev who helped A. Sakharov to return to Moscow. He was given back
all his titles and 3 years later he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet. But soon
he died in 1989.
      A. D. Sakharov is remembered by everybody as an outstanding humanist and
philosopher. He realized even in 1968 that our society should develop in a new
direction. He foresaw the changes that are taking place now

      6.8 Listen to the text (see 7.16; 7.17; 7.18)

      6.9 Make a report on some Russian greatest scientist not mentioned in
Section 6

      7 Section 7
      Text for auding



       7.1 Text 1

                                 The Russian Federation
     Russia is the largest state in the world. It occupies half of Europe and one third of
Asia. When the residents of the Far East hurry to work in the morning, the residents of
Moscow hurry to the evening shows. Russia borders on twelve countries on land.
Twelve seas wash the shores of it.
     Russia is rich in water resources. It has a number of lakes and rivers. The largest
river in the European part of the country is the Volga, and the largest river in the Asian
part of the country is the Lena. Lake Baikal is the largest fresh-water lake in the world.
     Russia is one of the richest countries in the world in natural resources. More than
half of the area of Russia is covered with forests, which are of great economic

36