[00:06.48]PRE-READING
[00:28.32]in succession.
[00:48.98]A CITV OF HEROES
[01:08.02]Where there is a river, there is a city.
[01:13.59] Perhaps this is not always true,
[01:18.55] but it is true that many of the world's greatest cities
[01:24.40] have been built on the banks of a river.
[01:28.84]The Neva River flows through the centre of St Petersburg in Russia.
[01:36.39]Three hundred years ago,
[01:40.55]the Russian Czar Peter the Great came here and built a new capital-St Petersburg
[01:48.62]Peter the Great,like his country,was strong and proud.
[01:55.28]Many great palaces were built during his lifetime.
[02:01.13]The palaces were large and beautiful,
[02:06.20]and they often looked like something out of a fairy tale.
[02:11.84]St Petersburg has also been the centre of many important events in history.
[02:19.28]In 1941,the Germans tried to destroy the city.
[02:26.05]It was under attack for 900 days,
[02:31.20]but the people of the city never gave on.
[02:35.95]The Germans burned many of the palaces as they left.
[02:41.91]St Petersburg was almost in ruins: fires burned everywhere.
[02:48.96]Buildings were destroyed,and paintings and statues lay in pieces on the ground
[02:56.90]Restoring the city and its cultural relics seemed impossible,
[03:03.35]but the people of this great city would not give up.
[03:08.92]"We will not let our history and culture be destroyed,
[03:14.59]and we will do everything we can to save our city!"
[03:20.44]When the Nazis had gone,
[03:24.56]the people of St Petersburg began rebuilding the city.
[03:30.13]Pieces of the palaces that had been hidden before the Nazis came
[03:36.66]could now be used to rebuild the city and its culture.
[03:42.82]It was not easy.
[03:46.87]Painters and workers had to be very careful when they were trying to bring the city back to life
[03:55.34]It was difficult to save the palaces and buildings
[04:00.61]without destroyingtheir old beauty.
[04:05.16]With the help of old paintings and photographs,
[04:10.33]the people of St Petersburg
[04:14.17]were able to bring back the beauty of their culture and history.
[04:20.23]Now,after years of hard work,
[04:25.87]parts of statues have been put back together
[04:31.02]and missing pieces have been replaced.
[04:36.06]Old paintings,including a portrait of Peter the Great
[04:42.54]which was found in the snow outside St Petersburg,
[04:48.60]have been carefully recreated,
[04:53.36]and the old palaces have been made as wonderful as in the past.
[04:52.36]Today Peter the Great on his bronze horse
[04:51.36]can once again look out over the city he built,
[04:50.36]Like their hero Peter,
[04:49.36]the people of St Petersburg have shown that dreams can come true.
[04:48.36] Strong, proud and united,
[04:47.36]the people of St Petersburg are the modern heroes of Russia.
[04:46.36]Where there is a river,there is a city.
[04:45.36]Perhaps this is not always true,
[04:44.36]but it is true that many of the world's greatest cities have been built on the banks of a river
[04:43.36]flows through
[04:42.36]Three hundred years ago,the Russian Czar Peter the Great
[04:41.36]came here and built a new capital-St Petersburg.
[04:40.36]strong and proud.

[04:39.36]Many great palaces were built during his lifetime.
[04:38.36]something out of a fairy tale.
[04:37.36]St Petersburg has also been the centre of many important events in history
[04:36.36]The Germans tried to destroy the city.
[04:35.36]under attack for 900 days,
[04:34.36]but the people of the city never gave on.
[04:33.36]The Germans burned many of the palaces as they left.
[04:32.36]St Petersburg was almost in ruins:
[04:31.36]Restoring seemed impossible
[04:30.36]but the people of this great city would not give up.
[04:29.36]very careful
[04:28.36]bring the city back to life
[04:27.36]It was difficult to save the palaces
[04:26.36]Now,after years of hard work put back replaced
[04:25.36]including a portrait of Peter the Great
[04:24.36]Today Peter the Great on his bronze horse can once again
[04:23.36]look out over the city he built
[04:22.36]Strong,proud and united,the people of St Petersburg are ....
[04:21.36]Saving World Heritage
[04:20.36]France was one of the first to make laws protecting its legacy.
[04:19.36]India
[04:18.36]Italy
[04:17.36]has an immense number of relies and its constitution is suppposed to protect them
[04:16.36]Germany,
[04:15.36]people live and work with relies.
[04:14.36]The entire city is a museum.
[04:13.36]Funds for protection its works come partly from companies.
[04:12.36]Protecting the Great Wall
[04:11.36]Building shops or selling souvenirs on Great Wall will soon be made illegal,
[04:10.36]LANGUAGE STUDY
[04:09.36]INTEGRATING SKILLS
[04:08.36]Dear Editor,I live in Paris, France,
[04:07.36]In my country there is a famous stie,called the Chauvet Caves.
[04:06.36]I am very worried about it
[04:05.36]because some of the cave paintings have been destroyed by air pollution,
[04:04.36]No,the pollution does not come from cars or factories,
[04:03.36]but from human beings.
[04:02.36]Thousands of tourists visit the caves every year.
[04:01.36]The carbon dioxide from their brath is damaging the paintings.
[04:00.36]I think one way to solve problem
[03:59.36]is to put glass walls in front of the paintings.
[03:58.36]Second,the number of visitors should be limited.
[03:57.36]And we should build a website
[03:56.36]where people can look at the pictures and paintings.
[03:55.36]Yours sincerely,Sophie
[03:54.36]Dear Editor,I live in Paris, Francce,
[03:53.36]there is a famous scie,
[03:52.36]I think one way to solve problem is to put glass walls in front of the paintings
[03:51.36]Second,the number of visitors should be limited.
[03:50.36]And we should build a website
[03:49.36]Yours sincerely,Sophie
[03:48.36]the photo
[03:47.36]In the photo we can see two groups of pictures.
[03:46.36]The upper one is made up of three animals and a man,
[03:45.36]who looks like an elephant driver driving the elephant walking before him
[03:44.36]Followed by the elephant are two animals:
[03:43.36]a camel and a stranger-looking animal,which is breathing out fire.
[03:42.36]What do you think this animal looks like?
[03:41.36]I think it looks half-dog,and half-tiger,though it's got a dragonhead,
[03:40.36]out of which a column of fire and smoke is bursting .
[03:39.36]The lower paer of this phote
[03:38.36]to carriages drawn by horses and felloned by a man on horsehace.
[03:37.36]All these [octires are carove d or cut on a large brick
[03:36.36]made during the Hang Dynasty(bc 206--ad 220)