Task 3. Read the text

People love sightseeing because it is interesting and makes unforgettable impression. They may do a lot of sightseeing, or they may do a bit of sightseeing. People go to museums, art galleries, see fountains, statues, visit palaces, temples, castles, cathedrals, markets. Many people go on a sightseeing tour of a town in a bus or they rent a car. When you are sightseeing, it helps to buy a guidebook, because it is a book of information for tourists. You may buy a map of the town you are in. It may help you, too. When people do sightseeing they take a lot of photographs and spend lots of money on souvenirs. Many beautiful cities have become very touristy and they are always very crowded with tourists. Old cities also draw people for sightseeing because of their historical monuments.

After sightseeing tourists go out and have a good time in restaurants, cinemas, theatres, night-clubs, at concerts, discos, bars. Markets are worth visiting. They have lots of little stalls selling just about everything from apples to antiques.

Unfortunately, Tambov is not packed with tourists because it is far from tourists routes. But I think its places of interest will be visited by tourists because of its architectural ensembles, historical and cultural memorials. Tourists are invited to the Museum of Local Lore, Chicherin’s house-museum, the picture Gallery. There are some memorial places in and round our region, Ivanovka, for instance. Personal things, books, manuscripts, photos which belonged to the Rachmaninovs are collected in Rachmaninov’s house-museum in Ivanovka.

The ancient Greeks spoke of the Seven Wonders of the World. Recently, some engineers came up with this list of the seven wonders of our modern world: the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building in New York City, the Netherlands North Sea Protection Works, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the CN Tower in Toronto, the Itaipu Dam at the Brazil-Paraguay border, the Channel Tunnel, which joins France and England. All these things were called “modern wonders” because they are important advances in engineering.

The traditional tourist attractions of the world are the Grate Wall in China (was begun in 214 B.C.), the Colosseum in Rome (was opened in 80 A.D.), the Taj Mahal in India (was started in 1630 and finished in1652), the Statue of Liberty (was designed by the French sculptor Bartholdi), the Eiffel Tower in Paris (was completed in 1889). The Great Wall of China is the largest structure ever built. The Colosseum was sometimes filled with water for ship battles. The Taj Mahal is a very rich tomb for the wife of an Indian prince. The Statue of Liberty in New York was given to Americans by the people of France. The Eiffel Tower was built for the 100^th anniversary of the French Revolution. The Channel Tunnel was constructed to join France and England.

Vocabulary