My native town (novopolotsk)

I live in Novopolotsk. This is my native town. It looks so beautiful at any time of the year, especially in spring, when everything is in bloom. Novopolotsk is situated in a very picturesque place on the Dvina River to the north of Vitebsk region. It is one of the youngest towns of Belarus.

The first page of history of my native town dates approximately 50 years back.

On June 7^th, 1958 the first builders arrived to a wooden ravine near Sloboda village. A few days after the ravine turned into an encampment. This was a starting point for the construction of a big industrial complex and the development of chemical and oil-processing industry in Belarus.

At first the name of the settlement was Pionerskiy. On October 23^rd, 1959 it received its first official name – the Polotskiy settlement.

The main task was to build an oil-processing plant. At the end of 1962 the construction of its first technological line was completed.

On December 14^th, 1963 the Polotskiy settlement was renamed Novopolotsk
Town.

Novopolotsk today is an industrial town with a big oil and chemical complex. Novopolotsk has the population of 107,400 people. There are 12 industrial plants in the town. The most important plants are the Chemical Works «Polymir», the Measuring Devices Works, the Protein and Vitamin Concentration Plant and the Oil-Refinery Plant, nowadays it is known as «Naftan». Novopolotsk has more than 3,000 state-owned and private enterprises. It has a 60% stake in the region’s industrial output and export. The town has established trade and economic relations with all CIS countries and more than 30 other countries around the world.

Every third out of 107,400 inhabitants studies. Novopolotsk has a great educational system: kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, evening schools, a gymnasium, lyceums and an out-of-school centre. Special attention has been paid to the development of schools which focus on further study in the areas of art, architecture, choreography, music and foreign languages. The town has created excellent conditions for vocational training with the Oil Training College, two vocational technical schools and a music college. Polotsk State University maintains a centuries-old tradition of education. Nowadays the future high skilled specialists are trained at 10 faculties of the university.

Novopolotsk is also famous as a scientific and cultural centre. It has a Museum of History and Culture, a Craft and National Culture Centre, an Art Gallery and a Centralized Library System, which includes the central library and a public centre for legal information with seven branches. Novopolotsk’s Central Library System was awarded a special library prize by the President of the Republic of Belarus.

There are some monuments and historical places of interest in our town. They are the following: the First Tent Monument to the builders of Novopolotsk, the monument to the memory of Liliya Kostetskaya, a young partisan who took part in the Great Patriotic War and was killed by fascists, and others.

Novopolotsk is a famous sport centre with 240 relevant facilities including stadiums, swimming pools, the Palace of Sports and Culture, sport complexes, shooting ranges, football fields, and volleyball and basketball arenas. There are more than 4,000 students attending sports schools. Recently, a Special Olympics school has started its enrollment. The town often hosts international tournaments and sport festivals. More than 100 citizens are members of Belarus’ national teams in various sporting events. Our athletes are well-known sports personalities.

There are four polyclinics and a hospital where highly qualified medical workers take care of the state of health of our dwellers.

In the centre of the town there is a central square – The Square of Builders. In the square there is a house where local authorities sit. Political meetings and demonstrations are held in the square. This is the venue of different folk festivals and holidays. It is nicely decorated and fully crowded during New Year holiday, the Easter, the Holiday of Collecting the Harvest or Shrovetide Carnival.

The town is quite modern with its five and nine-storied buildings. In recent years Novopolotsk has significantly extended its boundaries. Now people live in the modern cottage settlements of Mezhdurechye and Ekiman as well as downtown’s high-risers.

There are several fountains in our town. I think the most attractive one is near the musical school in the main Molodezhnaya Street. It has a lovely sculpture of a boy sitting on a large ball. To my mind it symbolizes that the great majority of town residence is the youth. Probably as the proof of that when the weather is fine there are a lot of prams with babies and small children running around the fountain. Everybody jokes that Novopolotsk consists of one long street (the street without the end). There is even the feature film with this very title about Novopolotsk and its builders.

My native town is situated in a very picturesque place. The landscape in this part of the country is very beautiful. The town is surrounded by deep forests where there are a lot of berries and mushrooms. One of its best known features is the town park which stretches along the bank of the Dvina River. It attracts everybody's attention; especially children rush there because of the numerous merry-go-rounds and side-shows. The park contributes greatly to the relaxed atmosphere of the town.

Novopolotsk welcomes guests visiting it on business or for pleasure: the oldest hotel of the town, «Belarus», has been remodeled recently. Hotel «Belarus» meets European standards, and many restaurants, cafes, sanatoriums and places of rest and relaxation are happy to receive customers from all over the world.

I think Novopolotsk is an easy town to live in – not too big and not too small. It is a student town and a perfect place to live and study.

My town is famous not only for its beauty, but also for its people. They are warm and friendly. You are welcome to visit my town.

2. Answer the following questions:

1)What is your native town? Can you tell anything about it?