И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

6. Using the introductory phrases given below express your opinion on the following statements.
I suppose (believe) that... Я полагаю (считаю), что...

To many mind

} по моему мнению

In my opionion
1. The buses running on liquefied gas in some respect are better than the buses operating on petrol or diesel fuel. 2. Buses or trolleybuses better meet the ecological require­ments to public transport. 3. The streetcars will remain part of public transport in the future.

7. Make a short report on public transport in Moscow.


TEXT 6. SOVIET RAILWAYS AS SEEN BY A CANADIAN

RAILWAYMAN
(1) A group of Canadian railway men visited the Soviet Union. The aim of their visit was to see the Soviet rail­ways in action in winter conditions. Here are the impres­sions of that visit described by one of the Canadian rail experts.

(2) On the very first day of our stay in Moscow we got our first impression of the Moscow Metro. We often interrupted our subway journey to see various stations; one built on the lower deck of a double-deck bridge across the Moskva River and another with a vestibule as large as a football field.

(3) In general, each station in the subway system is decorated in a different manner with an extensive use of marble, which, though costly, is easy to maintain. Statues and sculpture are everywhere. Another thing that attracted our attention was the cleanliness and lack of advertising in the stations.

(4) During our stay in Leningrad we were fortunate enough to travel on the Metro system which is as impres­sive as the Moscow system. The trains in both Moscow and Leningrad reminded me of the Toronto system. The noise level was about the same as in Toronto, but I was sur­prised at the cleanliness again, and both the Moscow and Leningrad systems have a ban on smoking. -

(5) The second day of our trip was spent at a railway research centre 40 km outside Moscow, Engineers were testing a heavily-loaded train on a test track to simulate heavy wear. We were all impressed with the depth and scope of the Soviet research.

(6) That night we enjoyed travelling as passengers on the overnight express to Leningrad. Both the departure from Moscow and the arrival in Leningrad were exactly on time.

(7) From Leningrad we left for Murmansk where we saw an interesting demonstration of snow removal equip­ment. We were particularly impressed by a gigantic snow blower which could throw snow over a hundred metres.

(8) The journey from Murmansk to Moscow was made in the "Arctic Express", a diesel train which ran through a snow storm at a high speed which was made possible by an efficient signalling system. The engine compartment was noisy but was so clean that I walked right through it without getting my hands dirty.

(9) The locomotive crew was dressed in white shirts and a smart black uniform — quite a contrast to the Canadian uniform.