match texts a-g with headings 1--8. use the headings only once. there is one you do not
need to use.
1 the future of the olympic city,
5. the sports festival
2 where the name comes from.
6. a russian resort.
3. mentioned in myths
7 getting ready for the great sports event
4. suitable for summer and winter sports
8. famous for its.collection of plants
a. sochi is the second longest city in the world stretching for 145 kilometers along the shores of
the black sea. the city is located at the same latitude as the world famous resorts of cannes
san-remo and nice, and has the same weather conditions, that's why it's also called the russian
riviera. sochi is one of very few cities in russia where you can see real palms, eucalyptus,
magnolias and fruit, such as figs and grapes, which is not typical of the average cold russian
climate
b. sochi is a relatively new name for the city. it was first called sachi in 1896. the first russian
settlement on the site was called fort alexander. historians say that the word sochi has two
possible meanings. it could be a variation of the term sshatche which was used by the local
people to mean place by the sea. it is also believed that sochi comes from shacha which locals
used to mean sell a head because it used to be where slave markets were held
c. sochi is situated between the sea and mountains which creates a very favourable climate, the
sea warms the coast, and the mountains protect the city from the cold north winds. sochi's
summer is associated with the long swimming season. winter temperatures are not often below
12 c. and ice hockey, figure skating, curling and speed skating are usually arranged as indoor
events. however, up in the mountains it is much colder and there's lots of snow, especially in
february and march
d. for several years sochi and its citizens curefully prepared for the olympic games. the
competitions were organised in two clusters: coastal cluster for joc events in sochi, and a
mountain cluster located in the krasnaya polyana mountains. the mountain cluster hosted
skiing and sliding sports. it took around 30 minutes to travel from the coastal to mountain
cluster. construction of the olympic clusters took 7 years.
e. ancient rome and athens aren't the only places where greek gods lived and performed their
remarkable feats. it is known that odysseus, a legendary greek king of ithaca, met his enemy
the one-eyed cyclops, in sochi the city was also the site where prometheus was chained and tortured. he was punished for granting fire to humans. today a statue of prometheus is placed
on the top of eagles rock.
f. the sochi botanic garden history goes back to the end of the 19" century. it is believed to be
one of the most beautiful gardens in russia. over 1800 kinds of unique plants grow there. you
can see the flora of various regions: china, australia, south and north america, the caucasus
etc: the garden is located on a hillside and has two levels, from the top of which an impressive
view can be seen.
g. the xxii olympic winter games, a major international multi-sport event, were held
in sochi in 2014. it was the second olympics in russia after the 1980 summer olympics
in moscow. the olympics in sochi were distinguished primarily by the fact that these were the
first winter games carried out in a city with a sub-tropical climate. 2780 athletes from different
countries took part in the 98 events of the games.