Vocabulary

bison — бизон

careless — небрежный; беззаботный

completely — полностью

destruction — уничтожение

give way to — уступать, давать место

indeed — в самом деле, действительно

influence — сущ. влияние; гл. влиять

on the other hand — с другой стороны

prevent from doing smth — мешать, препятствовать

steppe — степь

Written Exercises to the Text

1. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following sentences.

1. Степи Северной Америки называются прериями. 2. До прихода европейцев на этих пастбищах когда-то паслись бизоны, на которых охотились только индейцы. 3. Действительно, кроме как по берегам рек, там нет деревьев, если только они не посажены фермерами. 4. Объяснение находится в особенностях самих травянистых растений. 5. Их корни растут очень быстро. 6. Одной из причин являлся пожар. 7. Вблизи гор травы низкие, но в открытой прерии они вырастают выше человеческого роста.

2. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

1) климат становится суше; 2) покрыты; 3) ближе к ...; 4) до прихода европейцев; 5) начали необдуманное истребление этих животных; 6) количество осадков слишком мало для роста большинства деревьев; 7) еще что-то не позволяло деревьям расти; 8) и для деревьев не остается влаги; 9) с развитом экономики.

Oral Exercises to the Text

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is called American prairie?

2. What animals used to go over the grasslands some centuries ago?

3. Why were there no trees on the grasslands?

4. Why are the prairies almost completely destroyed?

Text 4 natural wonders of the united states

The Cordillera are made up of three long ranges that reach north-south and nearly parallel each other. In this district part of which lies in Arizona state there are the largest deserts of the United States. Arizona is famous for its natural wonders. One of the greatest natural wonders of the world is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. It is two hundred miles long and in some places it is eighteen miles wide. The large territory of the canyon is a wonderful sight. But the greatest beauty comes from the bright colours of the canyon walls, which continually change in the sunlight.

The rock of the canyon wafts shows many chapters of earth history. Scientists find here different animals which were turned to stone. The Grand Canyon is the world's greatest geological laboratory.

In Arizona there are other natural wonders. One of these is the Painted Desert. Like the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert is also famous for its wonderful colours. From a distance the bright red and yellow of its earth and stones look like a large painted picture. Bright sunshine, combined with chemical materials in the earth makes the colour stronger.

Part of the Painted Desert is the Petrified Forest. This «forest» is made up of trees now turned to stone. The trees died millions of years ago. They fell to the ground and were covered by mud. As time passed they were petrified (that is turned to stone) by the water in the ground which had minerals. As the water flowed to every part of the tree, the minerals were laid down and little by little each tree was replaced completely by minerals. This process took millions of years.

There are many petrified forests in the western part of North America. In Yellowstone National Park there are 15 petrified forests lying one over the other. Also there is a petrified sequoia 15 feet wide in the park.

Yellowstone Park is known with its geysers. One of the most famous geysers is Old Faithful. It is a wonderful geyser. It erupts about every hour, winter or summer, day or night. Once every hour, Old Faithful sends a column of hot water into the air. It is over 100 feet high.

There are about 200 geysers in Yellowstone National Park. The Giant Geyser throws water about 175 feet into the air, but it does not erupt regularly. No one knows when it will erupt.

Niagara Falls is the best known natural wonder in the USA. It is situated between New York and Chicago. Niagara is an Indian word which means “roaring waters”. Indeed the roar of the falling water can be heard at a distance of 25 kilometres.

A mass of water is falling over a cliff 90 feet high (27 metres) with a terrible noise. Niagara has very great power. It can move big rocks and throw them into the waters.

Niagara Falls is beautiful and all the time changing. Many great writers tried to describe it.

The Niagara river gives electric power too. More than a million horse power is produced now at Niagara for local use and is sent to cities and towns in New York State and to Canada.