Article 2. Traffic solution could be up in the air

by Tom Washington 01/06/2011

Travelling above the streets could be just the ticket to ending Moscow’s transport woes.

A system of cable cars could flit along above street level, leaving the cars standing and the creaking metro system to trundle along, jam-packed, below ground.

The idea has caught on in a few places around the world. The system’s fans list speed, affordability and ecology among its virtues and plans are afoot to bring it to the Russian capital and Yekaterinburg.

Gennady Kustarev, member of the Russian Academy of Engineering and one of the developers of Kanatonoe Metro (the Cable metro) is full of enthusiasm.

“[Passengers] are guaranteed high speed and beautiful views from the windows, soaring above the bustle of the city is like a dream come true. And up there it is very quiet, the car silently glides over the ropes, you can sit, talk or listen to music,” he told Moskovsky Komsomolets.

“The problem with Russian cities is that they were built and planned without taking into account the fact that every family would own two or three cars,” Kustarev said.

No roads or tracks means no bridges and that makes cable cars easy to accommodate and quick to build.

Safety is another cable car advantage, maintains Kustarev. Although the cable cars are suspended 10-12 metres above ground there are only small ventilation holes and no windows to jump out of and no flammable materials anywhere near. “Look how many people fall on the rails in the metro each year,” he pointed out.

“The system is the cleanest out there. And this has already been proven, funicular railways have already existed for 150 years in the most extreme places, in mountains and glaciers. And chiefly, this form of transport will not interfere with existing ones,” Kustarev said.

1. The article is headlined “Traffic solution could be up in the air”.

2. The author of the article is Tom Washington.

3. The article is published in the newspaper “The Moscow News”, on the 1^st of June, two thousand eleven.

4. The article is devoted to some transport problems in Moscow.

5. The author starts by telling the reader that travelling above the streets could be just the ticket to ending Moscow’s transport woes.

6. It is reported that a system of cable cars could flit along above street level.

7. It is pointed out that the idea has caught on in a few places around the world.

8. According to the text, passengers are guaranteed high speed and beautiful views from the windows.

9. Much attention is given to the fact, that the problem with Russian cities is that they were built and planned without taking into account the fact that every family would own two or three cars.

10. It is assumed that no roads or tracks means no bridges and that makes cable cars easy to accommodate and quick to build.

11. Cable car advantages are presented at the end of the article.

12. The article contains the most up-to-date information on transport vehicles.

13. The information is of value.

Article 3. Visa free Russia by 2014?

by Alina Lobzina 01/06/2011

Visa free entry to Russia could arrive by 2014 – but possibly only for lovers of winter sports.

As Moscow and the EU move closer to scrapping the current complex visa requirements, the Sochi Winter Olympics could be made visa free as a goodwill gesture to ensure a successful competition beside the Black Sea.

The country has done it before, and it’s not impossible that these schemes “will be used again during the Sochi Olympics,” Dmitry Voronkov, director at the all-European collaboration department at the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said.

And if the arrangement is made, visa-free travel will become available not only for EU citizens, but people from other countries, he told journalists.

An Olympic concession, however, would not be a stepping stone to a unilateral end to visas for visitors to Russia.

Just as in 2008, when tickets to the Champions league final allowed football fans (pictured above) to come to Moscow to see the game, no dramatic changes in visa regulation would follow a red-tape free Olympics.

“Talking about such unilateral steps as introducing visa-free relations with the EU from our side, I believe, wouldn’t be appropriate from the point of view of international practice,” Voronkov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Long-term visas are the current target, but it’s not impossible that an entirely visa-free regime could arrive in future – and by the time of Sochi or the World Cup it might be clearer when that goal can be achieved.

Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, said recently that Russia’s visa requirements could be scrapped “as soon as the European Comission is ready”.

But that would prompt Russia to revise its registration procedures and introduce new biometric passports, as well as adopting protocols on readmission, RIA Novosti reported.

1. The article is headlined “Visa free Russia by 2014?”.

2. The author of the article is Alina Lobzina.

3. The article is published in the newspaper “The Moscow News”, on the 1^st of June, two thousand eleven.

4. The purpose of the article is to give the reader some information on visa free entry to Russia for the Sochi Winter Olympies.

5. The author starts by telling the reader that as Moscow and the EU move closer to scrapping the current complex visa requirements, the Sochi Winter Olympics could be made visa free as a goodwill gesture to ensure a successful competition beside the Black Sea.

6. It is pointed out that visa-free travel will become available not only for EU citizens, but people from other countries.

7. Particular emphasis is placed on the fact, that an Olympic concession, however, would not be a stepping stone to a unilateral end to visas for visitors to Russia.

8. It is assumed that long-term visas are the current target, but it’s not impossible that an entirely visa-free regime could arrive in future.

9. In conclusion the author cites the words of Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, who said that Russia’s visa requirements could be scrapped “as soon as the European Comission is ready”.

10. The article is of interest.

11. The information is of value.

Блок 3

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