Экзаменационный (типовой) материал ЕГЭ / Английский / 10 задание / 07

A. In the 19th and 20th century, just like any other big industrial city, Moscow had many plants and factories. They provided Muscovites with jobs and industrial goods such as fabrics, clothes and cars. They also made their owners rich and famous. However, from the late 20th century until now the number of plants and factories in Moscow has been subsiding, and here again, Moscow follows the general tendency that you can see all over the world.
 

B. Besides jobs and industrial goods, plants and factories bring pollution. Add the exhaust fumes from cars and you will get a city covered in smog. This has always been a problem, but by the mid 20th century it reached the point when it became obvious that something had to be done. Big companies started closing their manufacturing facilities in cities and moving them elsewhere. But their buildings remained, and many of them got second lives.
 

C. Two of the most spectacular examples of this trend are the two former power stations in London: Bankside Power Station which was closed in 1981 and converted into Tate Modern Gallery in 1994; and Battersea Power Station which was closed in 1975 and is now in the process of being transformed into a modern facility which will house a unique blend of restaurants, shops, parks, cultural and office spaces, as well as residential accommodation.
 

D. Moscow has several similar projects. One of the first was transforming a silk factory once owned by a French merchant Claude-Marie Girot into a modern business block. The sturdy red-brick four-storied buildings, so typical of the late-19th century factories, now house different businesses, among which is Yandex headquarters. The business block is called Red Rose 1875, commemorating the year the silk factory was opened and the fact that during the Soviet times it was named after Rosa Luxemburg.
 

E. Bolshevik Sweets Factory is famous primarily for it Yubileynoe cookies which were first produced in 1913 to celebrate the Romanov family 300th Anniversary on the Russian throne. Today, besides many other things, its historic building in Moscow is home to the Russian Impressionism Museum whose owner collects paintings of late 19th – early 20th century Russian artists. Many of the pictures were bought abroad and brought back to Russia.
 

F. Manometer Plant opened in 1886 as a foundry and during the Soviet times produced a lot of machinery for different industries. When its facilities were moved out of Moscow, the old buildings were turned into a center of art, architecture and design called Artplay. Several art galleries and architectural workshops, can be found here, as well as The British Higher School of Art and Design which has become quite popular with Russian art students.
 

G. One of the most popular creative spaces located in the old industrial sites is the former perfume factory well-known now as Flacon. This is the place enjoyed by Muscovites and tourists alike. In addition to cool cafes and restaurants, workshops and concerts, Flacon regularly holds all sorts of festivals – Days of a particular country like Norway or France, Singapore or Japan, as well as festivals of creative industries and handmade crafts.