Mass Media

Mass media is a comprehensive termembracing NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, CINEMA, TELEPHONE, RADIO, TV and the INTERNET. They are one of the most characteristic f eatures of modern civilization which unite people into one global community. They are the best instruments of communication, the source of information for everybody.

Mass media influence all the spheres of contemporary life: industry, science, culture, economy. Thanks to mass media we can learn about everything happening in our republic and all over the world.

Mass media inform us of a wide range of problems and give us an opportunity to educate. They create moral and political climate in our society.

Newspapers, the most ancient printed media, include full reports on different topics. News agencies provide them with the latest information.

Magazines do not focus on daily, rapidly changing events. They provide more profound analysis of events of the preceding week.

Radio and TV perform information briefly, but quickly. They deal with economic, political, cultural and social problems of Belarus and other countries. That’s why they are so popular in any country.

Thanks to the Internet, TV, radio, newspapers and magazines we get a great amount of information. It enriches our intellect. We ’re aware of all the worldwide events. But sometimes our information media are not objective. Some facts are shown in a wrong way and make us doubt. Besides, there is too much advertisement - it irritates people.

 

 

14. The Republic of Belarus

Belarus is situated in the eastern part of Europe. Its territory is about 208 000 sq km and it stretches for 650 km from east to west and for 560 km from north to south. It borders on Latvia, Lithuania, Russia Ukraine and Poland.

The population is over 10 million inhabitants. Belarusians constitute 77 per cent of the population. 72 per cent live in cities, the largest of which are Minsk, Gomel, Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno and Mogilev.

Minsk is the capital of Belarus, its political, economic, scientific and cultural centre. It's one of the oldest cities in the republic. Its population is about 2 million.

Our native land is remarkably beautiful with its thick forests, endless fields and meadows, blue lakes and rivers. There are over 10,000 lakes and 3,000 rivers flowing over the territory of Belarus.

The climate of Belarus is moderate with mild, damp winters and warm, damp summers. The average winter temperature is 6 degrees below zero, and the average summer temperature is 18 degrees above zero.

The nature of Belarus has suffered much from the nuclear catastrophe that took place in Chernobyl in 1986. The radiation has poisoned its soil and air, rivers and lakes, it has badly affected the health of people and the climate.

Belarus is a presidential republic. The President is elected by the inhabitants of the country for a term of five years. The parliament is a representative and legislative insti­tution of the country.

Management of the country is effectuated by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, which is headed by the Prime Minister.

Belarus is located at the junction of rail and road routes, oil and gas pipelines and communications systems linking Western Europe with Russia and Asia.

The economic potential of our country is largely depen­dent on industry. Belarus produces and exports motor vehicles and tractors, chemical fibers, ferrous-metal products and chemical fertilizers, refrigerators and construction materials, foodstuffs and furniture. The production of Belarusian industrial enterprises is steadily gaining the markets of the CIS and other foreign countries.

A step-by-step reform of Belarusian agricultural complex is under way. Our agriculture mainly specializes in animal and field husbandry production. 70% of agricultural lands are used to grow flax,grain,sugar beets, potatoes, maize.

The Republic of Belarus has entered the 21st century with a developed educational system. Its educational potential is very high. The level of the adult population literacy is 99,8%. The number of students in Belarus has risen to about 400,000 (about 400 students per 10,000 residents).

 

15. OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF BELARUS

The Belarusian land has given birth to many famous people whose names are famous all over the world.

The history of Belarusian culture is more than one thousand years old. The names of Belarusian thinkers Euphrosynia Polotskaya and Kirill Turovsky have been known since ancient times.

The age of Renaissance enriched our culture with new names of Belarusian statesmen, writers and printers, such as Lev Sapega, the dynasty of Radzivil, Mikola Gusovsky, the first-printer and the first translator of the Bible into the native Belarusian language Francisak Skarina and his followers Simon Budny and Vasily Tyapinsky.

Belarusians have made a great contribution to the world literature. The names of Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Maxim Bogdanovich, Kandrat Krapiva, Vladimir Korotkevich, Vasil Bykov, Kuzma Chorny, Petrus Brovka, Maxim Tank, Alyes Adamovich are world famous.

Their works are translated into many European languages. Many streets in Belarusian cities are named after them.

As for Belarusian art the names of K. Malevich, M. Shagal, M. Savitsky and others are known far beyond the borders of our country.

Belarusian culture is also famous for its national ballet and theatre schools. The names of S. Stanyuta, N. Eremenko, L. Filatov and others enjoy great popularity in many countries.

Everybody knows the names of famous Belarusian composers N. Churkin, I. Luchenok, A. Bogatyrev, N. Aladov.

Belarusian vocal groups «Pesnyary», «Verasy», «Charovnitsa» and dance group «Khoroshky» have been a great success in many countries all over the world.

Many prominent names in the history of Belarus of the 20th century are connected with World War II and space exploration: N. Gastello, V. Tallalikhin, E. Osipova, K. Zaslonov, Belarusian cosmonauts A. Kovalenok, P. Klimuk, V. Novitsky.

Time puts everything in its place, but one thing is obvious: great times are created by great men.

 

 

16. Minsk

 

More than 2000 years ago on the Nemiga and Svisloch rivers came into existence the city of Minsk or Mensk as it was called before. The name of the city is associated with the river Menka that flowed not far from the city. The first mention of Minsk in chronicle goes back to 1067.

 

Modern Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus, its political, economic, scientific and cultural centre. Besides, Minsk is the administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS ) and its Headquarters is situated in our capital.

Minsk occupies an area of 200 square kilometers. Its population is about 2 million people. It’s the largest and the most attractive city of Belarus.

In the years of German invasion almost every building of Minsk was destroyed. There were practically no houses and no streets - just rubble and ruins.

In post-war years our capital was rebuilt anew. Nowadays Minsk is a city of modern architecture, wide clean streets and pleasant green parks.

Modern Minsk is the largest industrial centre of the country. Hundreds of Minsk industrial enterprises such as Tractor Plant, BelavtoMAZ, Refrigerator Plant Atlant, TV sets Plant Gorizont and others are the basis of Belarusian economy. They produce goods oriented towards foreign and the CIS countries’ markets.

Our capital is a big traffic centre. It has a large network of railways, roads, airlines and 2 metro lines. Minsk underground and our new railway station are the best in Europe.

Minsk is known as a city of science and students. The Academy of Sciences founded in 1929 and 25 scientific research institutions make our capital the largest research centre of the country.

There are more than 20 higher educational establishments and many secondary and professional schools in Minsk.

Our capital is a real centre of culture and sport. It attracts people by various advantages - museums, theatres, exhibitions, libraries, concert halls, up-to-date sport Palaces.

In 1974 Minsk was honored with the title of Hero-City and Gold Star medal for outstanding courage and heroism of its inhabitants during the Great Patriotic War.

 

 

17. AT THE THEATRE

There are not many theatres in Minsk but they are all very popular with the public. Theatre lovers don't miss any new performance at the Gorky Russian Drama Theatre and Yanka Kupala State Academic Theatre. Both children and grown-ups like to go to the

Puppet Theatre. Those who are fond of music go to the Opera and Ballet Theatre and to the Philharmonic.

I am a great theatre-goer. I’ll never forget my first visit to the Belarusian Opera and Ballet Theatre. My friend and I wanted to see the famous ballet Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. We knew the plot very well. We also knew some pieces of music from this ballet and decided to see the whole performance.

We bought the tickets in advance and came to the theatre half an hour before the show. At 7 sharp the performance began. The setting and the dancing were superb and exciting. The costumes were fine, the music was thrilling. The ballet seemed to me a fairy-tale. I had never seen anything more wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it.

After the first act we went to look over the theatre. We saw the boxes, the pit, the dress-circle and the gallery. There were many portraits of famous opear-singers, ballet-dancers, musicians and producers on the walls of the foyer.

When the bell for the second act had gone we went to our seats again.

At the end of the performance the curtain fell and there came a storm of applause. The dancers received call after call. They were presented with large bouquet s of flowers. We also applauded enthusiastically. The performance was a success.