Экзаменационный (типовой) материал ЕГЭ / Английский / 10 задание (24) / 49

A. Russian folklore, as well as poems and tales by Russian writers often mention a beautiful house called the “terem”. It is sometimes described as a tall tower where a beautiful girl lives and needs to be rescued from. A folk song states: “My beloved lives in a tall terem, which no one can enter”. The word “terem” can also refer to a luxurious ornate house. In Pushkin's “Tale of a Fisherman and a Fish”, when the old woman becomes an aristocrat, she is found by her poor husband in a “tall terem”.

B. The Russian word “terem” is derived from the Greek “teremnon”, which means house or home. In Russian, “terem” has two meanings: it refers to the upper floors of a rich house, often with a decorated pointed roof, as well as a part of a rich family's house where only women lived. Interestingly, the Russian word for prison – “tiurma” – has the same origin as “terem", and in fact, for many aristocratic women in old Russia, the beautiful terem was a sort of a prison – they were not allowed to leave it!

C. The Terem Palace of the Moscow Kremlin is often referred to as “the main Terem of Moscow”. It was constructed in 1635-1636 by the best architects of the time, including Larion Ushakov, Bazhen Ogurtsov, and Trefil Sharutin. The palace was originally built for Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Tsar of the Romanov dynasty. Nowadays, the Terem Palace is a part of the Grand Kremlin Palace and functions as the official residence of the Russian President.

D. Moscow is a modern city that has a history of being ravaged by fires. As a result, there are very few wooden structures left. Pogodin's Izba, built in 1856 as a gift for historian Mikhail Pogodin by wealthy businessman Vasily Kokorev, is a rare example of a traditional Russian wooden folk style that has survived. Designed by architect Nikolai Nikitin as a “teremok”, this hut served as a source of inspiration for the development of the Neo-Russian architectural style in the 19th century.
 

E. At the turn of the 20th century, when the Neo-Russian style became popular, wealthy merchants hired the most talented architects to build houses shaped like fairy-tale “terems” in Moscow. Some of these buildings still exist today and continue to fascinate onlookers with the incredible imagination of their creators. Several of these terems are now museums, the most iconic ones being the Tretyakov Gallery and the Timiryazev State Biology Museum at Malaya Gruzinskaya street.
 

F. “Teremok”” is a Russian folk tale about a fly that builds herself a home – a “teremok” – to protect herself from the dangers of the world. Soon she is joined by a flea, a mosquito, a mouse, a frog, a hare, a fox and a wolf, who are in need of shelter. Instead of turning them away, the kind-hearted fly welcomes them all. Miraculously, the terem grows together with its growing family. It is a tale of coooperation and the importance of helping others in times of need.

G. Few people know that the Russian Matryoshka doll was first designed by Sergey Maliutin in the 1890s and was inspired by traditional Japanese nesting dolls. One of such dolls was brought from Japan by Elizaveta Mamontova whose husband Savva Mamontov was Maliutin's friend. Maliutin was a prominent artist known for promoting the Neo-Russian style and designing some of the most iconic buildings, including “Teremok” in Talashkino village, and Pertsov’s house in Moscow.