Pre-reading
a) What is “loyal to its cultural museum traditions”?
b) Who is responsible for preserving the museum traditions?
c) Which of the following words you expect to find in the text with the title “ Museum Traditions of Barnaul”?
d) When you check your choices against the text, give line references for any you find and make sure you understand the words.
| sell revenue costs development profit canvases brand alliance fund icons manuscripts ethnography customer museum collection spirituality explorer founder archaeology |
As it was long ago Barnaul is loyal to its cultural museum traditions. Barnaul can really be called the pioneer of museum business in Siberia. Barnaul was one of the first in Siberia to open the Museum of Regional Studies (Local Lore) in the 19th century. The museum of Local Lore was opened here in 1823, its founders were: P. K. Frolov, a progressive public man, the head of the Kolyvan – Voskresensk mining district and F.V. Gebler, Doctor of Medicine, a naturalist and explorer of Altai. Today the museum collections number 100000 monuments of natural history, material and spiritual culture. Especially rich are the collections on archaeology, ethnography, and history of mining business. The collections of manuscripts and rare books published in Russia before the18th century contains about five hundred copies. Samovars, ceramics, and Russian lace arouse intense interest.
Great contribution to spiritual development of the Barnaul citizens is made by the State Art Museum. Among its exhibits are sixteen – century icons and 18th century iconostasis. Visitors have a chance to see the canvases by A. Savrasov – “Grave on the Volga”, “The Vorobyov Hills”, by I. Shishkin – “ Forest River”, “Autumn”.
The unique Museum of History of Altai Literature, Art and Culture, which was recently opened, has become Barnaul citizens’ pride. The goal of the museum is to inform its visitors of the place and significance of Altai in world culture and to contribute to the creation of Russian spirituality.
The structure of the museum funds is unusual, presenting independent private funds of notable men of literature and art whose creative work is closely associated with Altai. Among them are figures of world significance: V.Shukshin, N. Rerikh, I. Pyryev.
The new gets on with the old. It gives a special charm to our city, its history and today’s life of Barnaul.
Comprehension
1. Match the beginning of a sentence in column A with an ending in column B to produce a statement which is true according to the text.
| A | B |
| a) The new gets on b) Especially rich are the c) Collections d) The Museum of Local Lore e) As it was long ago Barnaul | a) On archaeology, ethnography, history of mining business. b) was opened here in1823 c) is loyal to its cultural traditions. d) sixteen – century icons and 18th century iconostasis. e) with the old |
2. Imagine the author is addressing an audience. Using words from the text, complete her statements.
Welcome to Barnaul. I’m going to be your guide and I’ll show you around the center of Barnaul. We’ll walk a lot and I’ll tell you something about the museums of Barnaul. Barnaul can really be called the pioneer of _______ business in Siberia. The Museum of_______ _______ was opened in 1823. Especially rich are the collections on_______, _______, _______ of mining business. Intense interest is aroused by _______, _______, Russian _______. Great contribution to the spiritual development of the citizens is made by the _______ _______ _______ . The unique Museum of _______ of Altai Literature, art and _______, which was recently opened, has become Barnaul citizens’ _______ .
3. What do you understand by the “great contribution to the spiritual development”?
Vocabulary
4. Two-word collocations, consisting of an adjective and a noun, are an economical way to convey meaning. This text uses a lot of them. Match the adjectives with their noun partners. Check their meaning if you need to.
| special independent unique spiritual material progressive regional cultural rich rare | museum contribution books collections funds traditions man culture development charm |
Text organization
5. Say which words or phrases in the text the following refer to. Give line references for your answers.
“its history” refers to…
“closely” refers to …
“citizens” refers to …
“a chance” refers to …
“lace” refers to …
“copies” refers to …
“rich” refers to …
“man” refers to …
“studies” refers to … .
Viewpoint
In your opinion, what is the role of museums in the spiritual development of our citizens?