Inside Out

Russia WORKSHEET A

• Russia is by far the largest country in the world, with a total area of more than 17
million square kilometres. It lies in two different continents, Europe and Asia, and
covers about an eighth of the Earth’s total area of land.

• The population of Russia is about 142 million, the ninth biggest in the world, but
is currently decreasing because of a low birth rate.

• The capital of the country is Moscow, which has a population of around 10

million. The part of Moscow that most often appears in photographs is probably
the area around Red Square, which contains the Kremlin (the residence of the
Russian president) and St Basil’s Cathedral with its brightly coloured ‘onion’
domes.

• Most historians would agree that some of the important events in Russia during
the twentieth century were also important for the rest of the world, for example
the revolution of 1917 in which a group called the Bolsheviks (led by Vladimir
Lenin) took power and created the world’s first ever communist state. This state
grew to become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or Soviet Union,
which played a very important role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second
World War (1939-45). Later, the Soviet Union became one of the world’s two
‘superpowers’ along with the United States, until political and economic reasons
caused it to collapse in 1991. Since then, the introduction of capitalism has led to
huge economic changes, with a small minority of Russians becoming extremely
rich; the country now has the second-highest number of billionaires in the world,
after the United States.

• Many people would say Russia has produced some of the world’s greatest
composers, such as Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, and also some of the greatest
writers, such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. It also contains two of the most famous
and prestigious ballet companies in the world, the Bolshoi and the Kirov.

• Russians have been very successful in international sport. The Soviet Union
usually won more medals than any other country at the Olympic Games, and
Russian competitors still do very well in Olympic events such as gymnastics,
athletics, boxing and weightlifting. Russia also has the current number one in the
women’s international tennis rankings, Maria Sharapova.

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 Inside Out
Russia WORKSHEET B

Exercise 1

Here are some simple definitions for words that appear in the text on Worksheet A.
Find the words they refer to and fill in the gaps.

1. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) someone who studies or writes about events in history

2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) a person who writes music, especially classical music

3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) a very rich person who has more than a billion pounds

or dollars

4. _ _ _ _ _ (noun) a small flat piece of metal that you are given for winning a

competition

5. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (verb) to suddenly fail or stop existing

6. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) someone who takes part in a sports competition

7. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) the sport of lifting heavy weights

8. _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) one of eight equal parts of something

9. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) a situation in which people completely change their

government or political system, usually by force

10. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (noun) the economic system that many people think of as the

‘opposite’ of communism

11. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (adjective) admired and respected by people

12. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (adverb) at the moment

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It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.
 Inside Out
Russia WORKSHEET C

Exercise 2

Now fill in the gaps below to complete the crossword and reveal the name of the
second biggest city in Russia, which used to be called Leningrad and is home to the
Kirov ballet company.

1
2

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

1. After the Bolsheviks took power, Russia became a ________________ country.

2. Russia is the ________________ country in the world.
3. St Basil’s Cathedral ________________ in a lot of photographs.
4. The Soviet Union had ________________ and political problems.
5. Maria Sharapova plays ________________.
6. Russia’s population is not ________________.
7. Part of Russia is in ________________.
8. Moscow ________________ around 10 million people.
9. The ________________ rate in Russia is currently lower than in many other
countries.
10. The Soviet Union ________________ against Nazi Germany in the Second World
War.
11. Only a ________________ of Russians have become very rich since the end of
communism.
12. Russia does very well in international ________________ competitions.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.