Nursultan, formerly (until 1961) Akmolinsk, (1961–92) Tselinograd, (1992–98) Aqmola, and (1998–2019) Astana, city, capital of Kazakhstan. Nursultan lies in the north-central part of the country, along the Ishim River, at the junction of the Trans-Kazakhstan and South Siberian railways.
It was founded in 1824 as a Russian military outpost and became an administrative centre in 1868. Its population had reached 33,000 when it was made an oblast (province) centre in 1939. The city’s importance was greatly enhanced during the Soviet period by the government’s Virgin and Idle Lands Campaign of the mid-1950s—Tselinograd was Russian for “City of the Virgin Lands”—and by the city’s role as capital of a kray (region) that united the five northern provinces of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1960–65. There was much new construction and the establishment of various research and higher educational institutions (teacher training, agriculture, medicine, and engineering and construction).
1. What do you usually have for ___ dinner?
2. My dad is __a_ very careful driver. He never
exceeds ___ speed limit.
3. Mr Davis has been _an__ accountant for __a_ year.
4. ‘How much are ___ bananas?’ ‘ They are 90 cents __a_ kilo.’
5. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘I’ve been to ___ school.’
6. Drinking ___ milk with ___ honey and __a_ lot of
lemon juice is good for ___ sore throat.
7. My brother works in _an__ office. _the__ office is just around _the__ corner.
8. Tom was so thirsty that he drank __the_ whole
bottle of mineral water.
9. We’ve never been to ___ Paris before. It’s
_the___ first time we’re visiting ___ France.
