Упр.11 What's economic geography about? ГДЗ Enjoy English 11 класс
11 Read the text and check your answers.In Russia, railways have always served as the main means of transport. Taking into consideration the vast territories of the country, no one would underestimate the importance of a reliable way to exchange goods between the southern and central regions and Siberia and the eastern parts of the country.The idea to link Moscow and St Petersburg with the distant territories of Siberia and the Far East was supported by the key economists of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, and as the result, the Trans-Siberian Railway (the Transib) was constructed.
Приведем выдержку из задания из учебника Биболетова, Бабушис 11 класс, Дрофа:
11 Read the text and check your answers.
In Russia, railways have always served as the main means of transport. Taking into consideration the vast territories of the country, no one would underestimate the importance of a reliable way to exchange goods between the southern and central regions and Siberia and the eastern parts of the country.
The idea to link Moscow and St Petersburg with the distant territories of Siberia and the Far East was supported by the key economists of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, and as the result, the Trans-Siberian Railway (the Transib) was constructed. It runs from Moscow to Vladivostok through the southeastern parts of the country, along the borders of China and Mongolia. The railway connects hundreds of little towns with big industrial cities like Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk. The construction of the railway was particularly impressive as it had to cover more than nine thousand kilometres. The full journey takes several days and takes passengers through eight time zones.
In 1974 a new railway construction project was launched — the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM). That railway line was completed in 1991 and became an impressive supplement to the Transib since it covered three thousand and four hundred kilometres connecting Siberia to the Asia-Pacific region. BAM was a very ambitious construction project whose mission was to boost the economic development of Siberia. It was thought that from an economic point of view,
Siberia should be considered a very promising region with its considerable supplies of oil, gas and minerals necessary for many industries as well as its gigantic coal deposits. Tin, diamonds, and gold are also extracted there. The problem in the past was Siberia’s isolation from the central part of Russia (which was and still is the main industrial centre), its labour shortage, and its inefficient transportation. There was a strong belief that activating the Siberian region could spur rapid growth in the country’s economy.
Lots of enthusiastic young people took part in the BAM construction project which ran through mountains and over the greatest Siberian rivers, the Angara and the Lena. All in all, the railway comprises more than one hundred and forty bridges of a hundred metres or longer each, and it has very long tunnels. New cities and towns were built along the railway. In spite of the very harsh environment, the absence of proper health care, and the lack of any comfort or commodity, the young construction workers moved quickly and BAM was completed in record time. Forced labour was never used there.
The Baikal Amur Mainline goes almost parallel to the Transib, stretching from Taishet through Severobaikalsk (on the bank of the Baikal) to Sovetskaya Gavan on the Pacific Ocean. But in contrast to the original thought about this railway the present day route could not be called a busy one and it is not even fully operational. This is because it’s rather difficult to maintain the long line that runs through the relatively unpopulated regions of Russia.
The infrastructure of the towns built along the railway is not well developed either. However, economists and geopoliticians still consider the Transib and BAM a key factor of the Euroasian economy. The existing lines of transport provide a vitally important corridor from Europe to the resources of Siberia and further on to the riches of the Far East. It also provides a possible link to Japan, Korea and China, the boosting economies of the present, via a bridge.
Will the Transib and BAM be revived shortly? Will they change the map of the vast territories in Russia and shape the future for millions of people in those regions? No one can say that they have the answer at their fingertips just yet.