Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 12.2 million residents within the city limits and 16.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent.

      The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a meeting place of Yuri Dolgoruky and Sviatoslav Olgovich. At the time it was a minor town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. In 1156, Knjaz Yury Dolgoruky fortified the town with a timber fence and a moat. In the course of the Mongol invasion of Rus, the Mongols under Batu Khan burned the city to the ground and killed its inhabitants. The timber fort «on the Moscow river» was inherited by Daniel, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, in the 1260s, at the time considered the least valuable of his father’s possessions.

      Task 2

      You are going to take part in a telephone survey. You have to answer six questions. Give full answers to the questions. Remember that you have 40 seconds to answer each question.