Peter the Great(1672-1725)wanted his city to be unique (独特的)in Russia. So he filled it with canals like those of Venice, baroque(巴洛克式的)palaces and British townhouses. Now the city has celebrated its 300th anniversary(周年纪念).
Naming the city was a difficult matter. At first, Peter the Great called his huge ambitions new Russian city Sankt Pieter Burkh. But, he soon changed this to St Petersburg. When World War Ⅰ broke out in 1914,it was renamed Petrograd. On the death of Lenin in 1924,it became Leningrad. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991,it returned to St Petersburg. Many people call it Plain Peter today. There was a time when all of Russia’s available(可用的) stones were sent there to build Peter’s magnificent(雄伟的)“Window on the West”.
From the start, St Petersburg was a very modern, international city. It first became the Russian capital in 1712 and, with this in mind, Peter hired a great deal of international talent to build and develop it.
The most obvious effect of the arrival of foreigners was in the layout(设计)of the city’s streets, parks, palaces and government buildings. Although bombed to near destruction by Adolf Hitler’s forces in the 1940s,the city was rebuilt, stone by stone. What you see around you is in the end of Catherine the Great’s reign(统治) in 1796 when, after nearly a century, Peter’s city was one of the finest in the world.
Peter the Great remains a meeting point for the cultures of Russia and Europe. Maybe you are one of the 49 percent of its population who, in 1991,voted to remain its revolutionary name, Leningrad, or the 51 percent who opted for St Petersburg. To everyone, it remains Peter, an architectural stone of race and fascinating beauty.
1.In the passage the author wants to_________.
A. say St Petersburg is more famous than other cities in Russia
B. introduce the great history of St Petersburg
C. describe the building styles of St Petersburg
D. make more people interested in St Petersburg
2.Which of the following names of the city has the longest history?
A.Sankt Pieter Burkh. B.St Petersburg.
C.Petrograd. D.Leningrad.
3.The underlined phrase“opted for” probably means “________”.
A.were against B.chose C.rebuilt D.moved away from
4.The writer of this passage__________.
A.is an architect(建筑师)
B.is a historian
C.is familiar with the history of St Petersburg
D.considers St Petersburg the largest city in Europe