5. Gulf – bay – inlet – cove – arm – bight.

arm – a narrow inlet of waters from the sea; a long narrow piece of water or land that is joined to a larger area.

f.e. A small bridge spans the arm of the river.

bay – a part of the sea, or of a large lake, enclosed by a wide curve of the shore.

f.e. the Bay of Bengal; Hudson Bay; a magnificent view across the bay (picture at coast)

bight – (rare) a long curve in a coast.

f.e. the Great Australian Bight.

cove – a small bay = an area of sea that is partly enclosed by land

gulf – a large area of sea that is partly surrounded by land.

f.e. the Gulf of Mexico; Gulf of Guinea;

• the Gulf – the Persian Gulf – the area of the sea between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran;

• the Gulf States – the countries with coasts on the Gulf.

inlet – a narrow strip of water that stretches into the land from the sea or a lake, or between the islands

Vocabulary exercises.

Pronounce and transcribe the following words.

1. Northern, southern, area, frontier, mountainous, desert, ocean, canal, climate, oak, birch, the taiga, the tundra, latitude, volcano, region, resources, iron, ore, swamp, eastern, western, current, healthy, longitude, unhealthy, stretch, the Antarctic circle, hemisphere, marsh, plateau.

2. Europe, European, Asiatic, Africa, African, Australia, Australian, America, American, Asia, Asian, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Gibraltar, the English Channel, Korea, Croatia, Mongolia, Egypt, the Hudson Bay, Venezuela, Norway, the Gulf of Mexico, Mauritania, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, the Adriatic Sea, Hungary, the Mediterranean Sea, Lithuania, Sudan, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Latvia, Kenya, Estonia, Namibia, the Ægean Sea, Zaire, Austria, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Macedonia, Thailand, Niger, Netherlands, Nigeria, Colombia, Luxembourg, Argentina, Belgium, Guyana, Liechtenstein, Georgia.

3. The Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Sea of Azov, Siberia, the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptevs' Sea, the Eastern-Siberian Sea, the Chukchee Sea, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, the Black Sea, the Gulf of Finland, the Bering Strait, the Laperuze Strait, the Tartar Strait, Sakhalin, the Neva, the Dniper, the Lena, the Yenissei, the Amur, the Yamahl peninsula.

Read aloud and give Russian equivalents of the following.

1. Pole, polar night, elk, area, south-west, mountainous, lowland, highland, tableland, shallow, canal, channel, strait, meridian, copper, lead, eruption, wild boar, maple, zinc, cotton, peat, coal, sea-way, foodstuffs, basin, tributary, moderate, subarctic, estuary, ginseng, liana, drought, latitude, isthmus, poplar, to irrigate, linden, gulf, raw materials, basin, leopard, longitude, roe, equator.

2. A gentle / steep slope, metal ores, within the Arctic Circle, the border lies along the river, the border runs over a mountain chain, the river rises in…, the river runs into…, the current of the river, the Frigid Zone, the bed of the river, the mouth of the river, a freshwater lake, the Temperate Zone, virgin forest, leaf bearing forest, mixed forest, coniferous forest, the foot of a mountain, a dense network of canals, an extinct volcano, of a volcanic origin, an earthquake, vegetation, the Torrid Zone, virgin lands, evergreen trees, birds of passage, birds of prey.

Translate the following into English rapidly. In case you cannot, review Topical Vocabulary again.

1. Общая площадь страны, граница, белка, суша, прилив, возвышенность, низменность, плоскогорье, горный, отлив, гавань, канал, мыс, приток, олово, равнина, скала, тундра, тайга, перешеек, свинец, роща, рысь, соболь, ясень, болото, ручей, ущелье, долина, ландшафт, цинк, карликовые деревья, уран, простираться, полярный медведь, овраг, поверхность, полуостров, рельеф, кратер, судоходный, водопад, пролив, кедр, пороги, северный олень, лишайник, плодородный, песец, ива, папоротник, мох.

2. Умеренный климат; изрезанность береговой линии; угольный бассейн; Ближний Восток; арктический пояс; запасы газа; восточные страны; песчаная пустыня; северный (южный) полюс; морской берег; целинные земли; берег реки; умеренный пояс; пастбища; Средний Восток; полезные ископаемые; Дальний Восток; Крайний Север; природные ресурсы; вершина горы; скалистые горы; равнина, покрытая травой; черноземная степь; мелководье, на отмели; здоровый климат, обильные осадки, сильные туманы, оазис.

Choose the right word: area or territory.

1. If a room measures 10 by 15 feet, its __ is 150 square feet. 2. There are large __ in Africa still unpopulated. 3. Our people never forget the 22^nd of June when the fascists attacked our __ from the air. 4. The __ of Russia lies both in Europe and Asia. 5. The __ of the UK is a bit larger than that one of the Sverdlovsk region. 6. The total __ of Russia is equal to about one-seventh of the total land of the globe. 7. An explorer made a map of a piece of __ near the South Pole. 8. There are vast __ of forest in Siberia. 9. The __ of this large farm is about 700 hectares. 10. Very few people live in the desert __ of the United States.

Text I.

Something about the geography of the United Kingdom *

Reading of the geographical names.

Great Britain ['greıt 'brıtn] – Великобритания Northern Ireland ['nɔ:ðn ' aıələnd] –Сев. Ирландия Scotland ['skɔtlənd] – Шотландия Wales [weılz] – Уэльс the United Kingdom – [ju'natıd 'kıŋgdəm] – Соединенное Королевство London – ['lʌndən] – Лондон Edinburgh ['edınbərə] – Эдинбург Cardiff – [ka:dıf] – Кардифф Belfast [,bel'fa:st] - Белфаст the British Isles ['brıtıʃ 'aılz] – Британские острова the Isle of Weight ['aıləv 'wait] – остров Уайт Anglesey ['æŋglsı] – о. Англси the Isle of Man – ['aıləv'mæn] – остров Мэн the Hebrides – ['hebrıdı:z] – Гебридские острова the Orkney Islands ['ɔ:knı 'aıləndz] – Оркнейские острова the Shetland Islands ['ʃetlənd 'aıləndz] – Шетландские острова Guernsey ['gə:nzı] – остров Гернси Jersey ['dʒə:zı] – остров Джерси the English Channel – ['ıŋglıʃ'tʃænl] – Па-де-Кале the Strait of Dover – ['streıtəv'dəʊvə] – Ла-Манш the North Sea – ['nɔ:θ'sı:] – Северное море the Irish Sea – ['aırıʃ'sı:] – Ирландское море

the Atlantic Ocean [ət'læntık 'əʊʃn] – Атлантический океан Highlands ['haıləndz] – Северное нагорье Lowlands – ['ləʊləndz] – Шотландская низменность Ben Nevis [,bən'nevıs] – г. Бен-Невис Snowdon ['snəʊdən] – г. Сноудон the Grampian Mountains – ['græmpıən 'mauntınz] – Грампианские г. the Cheviot Hills ['tʃı:vıət 'hılz] – Чевиот-Хиллхз (горы) the Pennine Chain – ['penaın 'tʃeın] – Пенинские горы the Cambrian Mountains – ['kæmbrıən 'mauntınz] – Кембрийские г. the Severn – ['sevn] – Северн р. the Thames – ['temz] – Темза р. the Clyde – ['klaıd] – Клайд р. the Tweed – ['twı:d] – Твид р. the Avon – ['eıvn] – Эйвон р. the Trent – ['trent] – Трент р. the Cam – [kæm] – Кэм р. the Great Ouse – ['greıt'u:z] - the Tyne – ['taın] – Тайн р. Lake District – Озерный край Lock Ness – ['lɔk'nes] – Лох-Несс оз. Lock Lomond – ['lɔk'ləʊmənd] – Лох-Ломонд, озеро Lough Neagh– ['lɔk'neı] – Лох-Ней оз.

The British Isles lie off the western shores of Europe and come nearest to the Continent where the white cliffs of Dover face the cliffs of north-east France. The Strait of Dover is so narrow that a tunnel was built to connect the railways of the two countries. In the narrowest place it is only 32 km wide.

North and west of Dover the British coasts are farther away from the Continent, they are separated from it by the North Sea and the English Channel. In the east the country is washed by the North Sea rather shallow. The Atlantic Ocean washes the western coast of the country.

Great England is the greater island and includes England, Scotland and Wales. It is separated from Ireland, the second largest island, by the Irish Sea. And there are a lot of smaller islands, the main of which are the Isle of Weight in the English Channel, Anglesey and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Hebrides – a group of islands off the north-western coast of Scotland, and two groups of islands lying to the north of Scotland – the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. Near the north-western coast of France one can see two islands – Guernsey and Jersey that belong to the UK.

Great Britain owes much to the seas. In the first place, the seas acted as a guard and often kept the island free from wars. In the second place, the seas have given Great Britain a great advantage through the tides. Far out in the Atlantic the tides are scarcely noticed, but in the shallow British Seas the difference between high tide and low tide is often very considerable especially in funnel-shaped estuaries (воронкообразное устье реки) like those of the Severn and the Humber. Thus in-coming deep water twice in every twenty-four hours up the lower channels and estuaries of the rivers has made it possible for large ports to be built many miles from the open sea. Besides the shallow waters around the British Isles are the homes of many fish.

The total territory of the country is 244 000 square km. Its coast line is very indented. So this indentation gives a lot of convenient harbours for ships. Ship-building, sea navigation and sea trade are among the most developed branches of national economy. Owing to the shape of the country there is no point in it that is more than 100 km from the sea.

The surface of the British Isles varies very much. There is hardly any other country in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found in so small a compass. There are plains and ravines, plateaux and chalk cliffs, wonderful fruit gardens, pastures and gloomy moors and swamps.

Speaking about the mountains of the country one can mention the fact that they are not very high. The north of Scotland is mountainous and it is called Highlands. There are the Grampians with the highest point of the country Ben Nevis (1343 m). The north-west highlands, deeply intended by sea lochs, are one of the most scenically impressive areas of Europe. The middle part of Scotland, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called Lowlands and the southern part is occupied by the Southern Uplands. The Cheviot Hills separate Scotland and England. The Pennine Chain stretches in the north-south direction across the northern and central parts of England. Nearly the whole of Wales is occupied by the Cambrian Mountains with its highest point Snowdon (1085 m). The north and west of England are mountainous having the Cumbrian Mountains, but the eastern, central and south-eastern parts of England are a vast plain with gently sloping hills.

There are many rivers in the UK but they are not very long and only few of them are navigable. So they are no of great value as water-ways. The longest river is the Severn, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one. Among other prominent rivers one can name the Clyde, the Tweed, the Avon, the Trent, the Cam, the Great Ouse, and the Tyne.

When speaking about lakes, first of all we should mention one area in the north-west of England – Lake District (Озерный край). It is famous for its beauty of nature, numerous lakes and valleys, and it is the home of many poets of Great Britain. Among other famous lakes everybody knows Lock Ness with its mythological monster Nessy. As Lock Ness, Lock Lomond is in Scotland too. But the largest lake of the UK is in the Northern Ireland – Lough Neagh.

Answer the questions.

1. Where do the British Isles lie?

2. Is the strait between Great Britain and the continent narrow or wide?

3. What seas and oceans wash the British Isles?

4. What are the two greatest islands of the British Isles?

5. What sea is between Great Britain and Ireland?

6. Are there only two large islands or many other islands of smaller size?

7. What are their names?

8. Where are they situated?

9. What islands are close to France?

10. Why does the country owe much to the seas? What role do they play in the history of the kingdom?

11. What is the role of tides in the life of the coastal towns and cities?

12. What is the total area of the country?

13. Is the coast line regular or indented?

14. What can you say about the scenery of the kingdom?

15. What mountain rages do you know? Where are they situated?

16. Is Scotland mountainous or plain country?

17. The greater part of Wales is a huge plain, isn’t it?

18. What are the highest points of the country?

19. Why are the rivers of the UK of not great value?

20. What rivers of the UK do you know? Where do they run to?

21. What is Lake District famous for?

22. What other lakes can you name? What are they famous for?

Fill in the missing words given below in the box. Retell the text. Add some other information if you can.

separate borders swamps slopes leaf-bearing Peninsula tundra republics purest gentle tops situated steppes washed total area coniferous

Our country is called the Republic of the Russian Federation or Russia. It is the largest country of the world. Russia is __ in the eastern part of Europe & in the northern part of Asia. Its __ is over seventeen million square kilometres. Russia was one of the __ of the former USSR (the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics). Now our country is an independent state.

The country is __ by 14 seas of three oceans: the Pacific, the Atlantic & the Arctic. The Russian Federation __ on many countries on land: Norway, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea.

There are many plains in our country. Among them there are the Great Russian Plain & the West Siberian Plain. The great part of the West Siberian Plain is occupied with __. There are also many mountains & mountain chains, the biggest of which are the Urals, which __ Europe from Asia, & the Altai. The Ural Mountains are very old and there are practically no gorges or steep __ except in the Polar Ural. The southern part has __ hills that in the Orenburg region turn into dry steppes. Some mountains are very high. The highest __ of Russia are Elbrus in Caucasus & Kluchevskaya Sopka in the Kamchatka __. Also there we can find 150 volcanoes, 30 of which are active.

There are over two million rivers in Russia, & twenty-two of them are more than one thousand kilometers long. We all know such rivers as the Volga, the Don, the Dniper, the Dvina in the European part of the country, the Ob, the Yenissei, the Lena in Siberia & the Amur in the Far East. They are the greatest. They serve as wonderful water-ways, and sometimes it is the only means of communication in the region. We have about 2,5 million lakes in our country. The largest of them are the Caspian Sea, the Ladoga Lake, the Onega Lake & the deepest lake is the Baikal Lake. The waters of this lake are the __ in the world.

In the Extreme North one can find __ with its permafrost (вечная мерзлота). To the south it is changed by taiga forests with huge __ trees. The __ forests occupy mainly the middle belt of the European part of Russia and the southern Siberia. To the south of the Great Russian Plain are __ and deserts. The steppes of the Cuban territory are the richest soils in Europe and they are deeply cultivated. There crops, and grapes and fruit give rich harvests.

Fill in prepositions or adverbs where necessary.

1. Great Britain lies __ the west __ Europe. 2. __ the south Great Britain is washed __ the English Channel. 3. __ the south this country borders __ Korea. 4. This island is separated __ the mainland __ a narrow straight. 5. We used to spend our mornings __ the seashore not far __ the lighthouse. 6. The indentation of the coastline gave the pirates a lot of small, secret harbours to shelter. 7. Suddenly we saw a ship __ the horizon swiftly moving __ our boat. 8. The south-eastern part of England is a low-lying land __ gentle hills and a coast which is regular __ outline. 9. The Amazon basin is rich __ numerous species of flora and fauna. 10. The position __ mountain ranges __ Eastern Siberia and Far East naturally determines the direction and length __ the rivers. 11. The Volga rises __ the Valdai Hills. 12. The young man couldn't keep his balance and rolled __ the steep slope __ the hill. 13. The isthmus __ the Crimea and the mainland is very narrow, it takes you about an hour to cross it. 14. Many islands of Polynesia are __ volcanic origin. 15. The Dead Sea in Israel is __ sea level. 16. Frenchman Alain Bombaire made a solo boat trip __ the Atlantic Ocean trying to prove the possibility __ surviving __ the ship wreckage; it took him 56 days and twenty kilograms of lost weight to reach America. 17. Nowadays it is proved that some birds __ passage carry the avian grippe. 18. The path ranges __ the brook. 19. One can find __ dwarf trees, mosses and lichen __ tundra __ the Arctic Circle. 20. The climate __ the Far East is characterized __ monsoon rains __ summer and strong cold winds and heavy snowfalls __ winter.

Add an adjective from list A to fit each noun in list B. Make sentences of your own with these word combinations.

Model: rocky mountains

1. Swampy, healthy, coal, flat, deep, dense, mountainous, mineral, gas, total, grassy, sandy, fertile, coniferous, leaf bearing, inland, shallow, navigable, continental, steep.

2. Fog, country, river, resources, climate, desert, field, waterway, lake, climate, wood, area, basin, land, region, deposits, soil, forest, waters, valley, slope, mountains.

Complete the sentences.

1. The longest river in the world is __. 2. What is higher: a hill or a __? 3. The Urals are rich in __. 4. Is St. Petersburg situated on the Lake Onega or the __? 5. Which is wider: a stream or a __? 6. Do you happen to know whether elephants live in America or __? 7. The greatest mammal in the world is __. 8. The highest mountain in Russia is __. 8. Among the large cats only __ live in prides. 9. The national tree of Australia is __, it is depicted on the coat-of-arms of this country. 10. I know some birds of prey: __. 11. The deepest lake in the world is __ . 12. Poland has borders on __. 13. The smallest country of the world is __. 14. The Sahara is situated in __ of Africa. 15. The largest bodies of fresh water are in Great Lakes in __. 16. __ and other crops are raised in the Temperate Zone while raw rubber is cultivated in the __. 17. Liners can enter the estuaries of some British rivers only at a high __. 18. A mixed forest is a forest of __ and __ trees. 19. A good place of shelter for ships is called a __. 20. An artificial watercourse for inland navigation is called __.

Fill in articles.

1. 1. The pupils watched as their teacher showed them __ Indian Ocean to __ south of Asia, __ Arctic Ocean around __ cold North Pole, and __ Atlantic Ocean washing __ shores of __ icy lands at __ South Pole. 2. Gibraltar is built on __ narrow western shore of great rock - __ Rock of Gibraltar – which we can see towering up above __ harbour with __ signal-station on __ very top. If we climbed up there and looked across __ Straits, we could easily see __ mountains of Northern Africa in Morocco.

2. After quite __ long voyage we landed at __ mouth of __ second river – that runs down __ woody mountain. Then we began to ascend __ slope towards __ tableland. Little by little __ hill grew steeper and became stony under foot, __ wood began to change its character and to grow in __ more open order. It was indeed, __ most pleasant part of __ island that we were now approaching. Thickets of green trees were dotted here and there with __ red columns of __ pines. __ air was fresh and stirring.

How can we describe the geographical situation of a country? There are several examples of such stories given below. Make several questions to each story and retell them. Find the translation of the words printed in bald.

1. Belgium has an area of 30 519 square km. It extends 230 km north to south and 290 km east to west. The Belgian North Sea coast is 66 km long. Inland from the coast are fertile polders, the sandy Flanders plain, the heaths and woods of Kempen. Between these northern lowlands and the wooded Ardennes and Belgian Lorraine in the south lie the alluvial, fertile central plateaus. The country’s highest point is the Signal de Botrange (694 m) in the Hautes Fagnes (Eifel). The main rivers are the Scheldt and the Meuse. The Scheldt rises in northern France and flows through Ghent, Antwerp and a delta-like estuary in the Netherlands into the North Sea. The Meuse flows out of the French Vosges [vo:g], through eastern Belgium into the Netherlands. Rich rainfalls all year round allow farmers get good harvest. The climate is very mild, though in winter there are strong winds with rain and snow.

2. Denmark is one of the flattest countries in the world. The highest point is only 173 m high. It occupies the territory of 43 080 square km. The country is situated on the Jutland peninsula which has a 67-km-long frontier with north Germany at its base, and 483 islands, of which about 100 are inhabited. The country is washed by the waters of the Baltic Sea. And the islands are separated by many channels greater part of which is navigable. The longest river is the Gudenå of 160 km long, but there are a lot of small rivers, springs, lakes and ponds. Due to mild climate they are rarely frozen in winter, though summers are seldom hot. But these even temperatures all year round allow pastures and meadows to be always green.

3. Austria is situated in the centre of Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia. It also has borders on Switzerland, Slovakia, Lichtenstein, Check Republic, Hungary and Germany. The country is landlocked. The total area of the country is 83,670 sq. km., slightly less than the Sverdlovsk region. The relief of the country is divided into two parts – in the west and south one can see mostly mountains, the Alps, along the eastern and northern margins it is mostly flat or gently sloping. The highest point is Grossglockener of 3,798 m; the lowest point is Neusiedler See at the height of 115 m. As the country is mainly mountainous there is always the danger of landslides, avalanches and earthquakes.

Only 16,6 % of land is arable, but many slopes of the hills and the lower parts of the mountains are used as pastures and meadows.

Speaking about water bodies one can mention one of the largest rivers of Europe, the Danube, on which the capital of the country Vienna is, its tributary the Inn, the Muhr and a lot of minor rivers running from the mountains. But the only navigable river is the Danube. There are rather many lakes located mainly in the mountains on the height not less than one kilometre.

Austria has rather large deposits of coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt and oil, discovered not long ago. Due to large forests of the Alps timber is produced.

Austria has a temperate climate in the plains and continental in the mountainous part. So it means the inhabitants of the country have cloudy, cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and heavy snowfalls in mountains. Summers are moderate with occasional showers.

4. One of the largest countries of the world is Canada that is situated in North America. Topographically Canada is divided into five regions: the Atlantic Provinces, consisting of rolling plains and rugged coasts; the Great Lakes - St. Laurence fertile lowlands, most densely populated; The Canadian Shield¹², as a whole accounting for almost 50% of the land area, with rocky, frozen subsoil and treeless plains in the north and thick forests to the south; the interior plains with large deposits of oil and potash; and the Cordillera region. The country’s chief rivers include the Yukon and the Mackenzie in the west, the North Saskatchewan, the South Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan and the Athabasca Rivers in central Canada as well as the Ottawa and the St. Laurence Rivers in the east. The country’s highest point is Mount Logan at 5,951metres which is located on the Yukon Territory. The largest islands are those in the Arctic Archipelago, extending from St. James Bay to Ellesmere while on the Western coast they are Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton and some others, and Anticosti Island on the eastern coast. The climate is continental in interior of the country, arctic in the north and marine in the coastal provinces.

Read each set of notes and see if you can guess which passage can be referred to a certain name of the country given to you – India, Nepal, South Africa, Canada, Japan, Holland, Brazil, Mexico.

1. A peninsula bounded by a large mountain range in the North – a wide plateau extending to the ocean in the South – unpredictable monsoon climate – population (approximately 1 billion) concentrating in the northern plains.

2. Enormous forest areas in the interior – coastal mountains in the West – numerous islands off the north coast – lowlands in the North – continental climate, severe inland, more moderate by the sea – total area: 3,851,809 square miles.

3. A wide variety of land and climate – a huge river basin in the North – thickly forested – a vast plateau in the South – densely populated in the coastal belt to the east – relatively undeveloped in central areas beyond the highlands – mountainous and hilly in the South-East – lies on the equator.

4. Consists of four main islands – mountainous and hilly – many active volcanoes – subject to earthquakes, typhoons and tidal waves – extends through many degrees of latitude – the climate, therefore, is very diverse.

5. Located round the mouth of the Rhine and opposite the Thames estuary – a long coastline – most of the country flat and low-lying – large areas in the West and in the North below sea level – subject to floods – complex network of canals.

6. Mountainous with numerous lakes – varied climate according to altitude, ranging from tropical to temperate to cold – highest point over 18,000 feet (nearly 6,000 metres) – desert in the West – half of the country lies inside the Tropic of Cancer.

7. To the North the southern slopes of a gigantic mountain chain – tropical forests and jungle – highest peak 8,845 metres – fertile valleys for agriculture in central zone.

8. Most highly developed country in Africa – rich in mineral deposits and other natural resources – large industrialized urban area round coasts – rural in the interior – rich vegetation, good irrigation.

Now, make a story of the same type about the countries suggested below:

Italy, Egypt,

Bulgaria, Mongolia,

the Philippines, Argentina,

Monaco, Panama,

Norway, Ethiopia,

Chilli, Congo.

Do you know…

1. … across what countries the following rivers run: the Danube, the Rein, the Oder, the Congo, the Mekong, the Rio-Grande, the Orinoco, the Amazon, the Gang, the Ind, the Euphrates, the Niger, the Limpopo?

2. …where the following mountain ranges are situated: the Yablonevy Range, the Cascade Range, the Jugjur Range, the Atlas Mountains, the Sikhote-Alin Range, the Pennines, the Carpathian Mountains, the Chersky Range, the Smoky Mountains, and the Cheviot Hills?

3. … the names of at least three lakes of Europe, Africa, Asia, America and at least one of Australia?

4. … what mineral resources have such countries as Congo, South-African Republic, Spain, Poland, Afghanistan, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, India, and Austria?

Some information about geographical phenomemena.

What do you know about oceans? Can you answer these questions before reading the text?

1. What ocean is the greatest?

2. What ocean is the smallest?

3. What is the deepest point in the oceans? Where is it?

4. Why are the oceans salty?

5. Whom of the famous Russian seamen do you know?

6. Whom of the foreign seamen can you name?

Now there is a piece of information about oceans.

Four or Five Oceans?

Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth's surface. The oceans contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply. The oceans of Earth are unique in our Solar System. No other planet in our Solar System has liquid water (although recent finds on Mars indicate that Mars may have had some liquid water in the recent past). Life on Earth originated in the seas, and the oceans continue to be home to an incredibly diverse web of life. The oceans of Earth serve many functions, especially affecting the weather and temperature. They moderate the Earth's temperature by absorbing incoming solar radiation (stored as heat energy). The always-moving ocean currents distribute this heat energy around the globe. This heats the land and the air during winter and cools it during summer.

The Earth's oceans are all connected to one another. Until the year 2000, there were four recognized oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographical Organization delimited a new ocean, the Southern Ocean (it surrounds Antarctica and extends to 60 degrees latitude). There are also many seas (smaller branches of an ocean); seas are often partly enclosed by land. The largest seas are the South China Sea, the Caribbean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Why are the oceans salty?

As water flows in rivers, it picks up small amounts of mineral salts from the rocks and soil of the river beds. This very-slightly salty water flows into the oceans and seas. The water in the oceans only leaves by evaporating (and the freezing of polar ice), but the salt remains dissolved in the ocean - it does not evaporate. So the remaining water gets saltier and saltier as time passes.

The salinity (salt content) of ocean water varies. The oceans and seas contain roughly 5 x 10 ¹⁶ tons of salts. One cubic foot of average seawater contains 2.2 pounds of salt. The oceans are about 3.5% salt (by weight). Salinity is generally reported in terms of parts per thousand (abbreviated o/oo), the number of pounds of salt per 1,000 pounds of water; the average ocean salinity is 35 o/oo. The saltiest water is in the Red Sea and in the Persian Gulf, which have a salinity of about 40 o/oo (due to very high evaporation rates and low fresh water influx). The least salty seas are in the Polar Regions, where both melting polar ice and a lot of rains dilute the salinity. We don't speak here about the salinity of the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea – in fact they are lakes. Though, you can read a newspaper lying in the water of the Dead Sea.

Ocean	Area (square miles)	Average Depth (ft)	Deepest depth (ft)
Pacific	64,186,000	15,215	Mariana Trench, 36,200 ft deep
Atlantic	33,420,000	12,881	Puerto Rico Trench, 28,231 ft deep
Indian	28,350,000	13,002	Java Trench, 25,344 ft deep
Southern	7,848,300 sq. miles (20.327 million sq km )	13,100 - 16,400 ft deep (4,000 to 5,000 meters)	the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench, 23,736 ft (7,235 m) deep
Arctic	5,106,000	3,953	Eurasia Basin, 17,881 ft deep

Earthquakes and Killer Waves.

Read these texts, translate and retell them. They tell you about disasters that occur on our planet from time to time. What else can you add to these stories?

What Is an Earthquake? We all know even if we haven't experienced it ourselves, that during an earthquake the ground shakes, lots of buildings fall down and sometimes cracks appear in the earth. But what makes an earthquake happen?

Planet earth is covered with a thick crust. The crust is cracked into more than twenty sections – a bit like the shell of a boiled egg when you tap it with a spoon. These cracked sections are called tectonic plates and they are always on the move. They move very slowly, but with incredible power. When the plates rub against each other or collide with each other, an earthquake happens.

Massive Destruction. Earthquakes happen all the time in all parts of the world but we don't notice most of them because they are small. But big earthquakes are really dangerous. They can buildings fall down, set off landslides and do other deathly things.

Have you ever heard about the Rift Valley in Africa? It was created by repeated earthquakes over thousands of years, which opened up the ground to form an enormous trench. The trench is so deep and wide that it can be seen from the moon!

The highest death toll caused by an earthquake was in China in 1556 when at least 830,000 people died. China also holds the record for the greatest number of deaths in recent times. In 1976, a huge quake caused the death of 250,000 people.

No Protection. Nowadays, new buildings in earthquake-prone towns and cities are built to withstand the shock of an earthquake. Even so, during seismic activity, gas pipes and electricity cables are ripped apart and cause fires and explosions, so even if buildings don't fall down, there can still be a lot of destruction.

San Francisco is a rich city on the west coast of North America. People live there and are still building houses, shops and office blocks. But San Francisco sits on one of the greatest earthquake zones in the world. Children have earthquake drills at school, but, unsurprisingly, people hope that it will never happen.

Tsunami. A tsunami is a chain of huge waves caused by an earthquake, but this time under the seabed. Tsunami waves can be very long (as much as 100 kilometres) and there may be an hour between them. They can move very fast, too, sometimes at the speed of 800 kilometres an hour. So if an earthquake happened in Los Angeles, a tsunami could hit Tokyo quicker than you could fly between the cities by jet.

When a tsunami reaches a coastline, it slows down but its height grows. There have been tsunamis as high as 30 metres above sea level! No wonder they are so dangerous. The Christmas weekend tsunami of 2004 is probably the most destructive tsunami in history.

Sounding the Alarm. Before the huge waves of the recent tsunami crashed into the coastline areas, wild and domestic animals showed very unusual behaviour. They seemed to know what was going to happen.

According to eyewitness stories, the following events happened:

• Elephants screamed and ran for higher ground.

• Dogs refused to go outdoors.

• Zoo animals rushed into their shelters and nothing could make them come out.

Such stories are not new. In 373 BC, historians wrote that animals, including rats and snakes, deserted the Greek city of Helices just days before a quake destroy the place. During the more recent earthquake in Turkey in 1999, dogs howled like wolves for two days before the earthquake struck. No one took any notice and many buildings fell down like stacks of cards, killing over 17,000 people. Not a single animal died during the Christmas tsunami of 2004 on one of the islands of Thailand, though there were a large number of victims and the greatest destruction. All animals and birds found shelter in the inland area on the tops of hills.

Do animals have a sixth sense? Can they predict disasters? And why don't people learn to use these animal instincts?

Answer the questions.

1. What happens during the earthquakes?

2. What are the reasons for such a phenomenon?

3. What are the most destructing earthquakes have you heard, read or seen?

4. Why are they so dangerous?

5. What is tsunami like?

6. What happens with tsunami when approaching to the coast?

7. Why is tsunami dangerous?

8. Why don’t animals die during such disasters?

9. You are got by an earthquake / tsunami. What should you do in attempt to survive?

The opposite of oceans is deserts. What can you tell about them except that it is very hot and dry there?

A) The main desert regions on our planet are the following (I think you have heard about them some time ago at school, but I'd like to remember you about them):

Arabian - covering most of the Arabian Peninsula.Atacama - running down the western coast of South America (in Chile).Australian - hot deserts covering much of western and central Australia.Iranian - northeast of the Arabian Peninsula and west of the Thar Desert.Kalahari - covering much of the south-eastern tip of Africa.Namib - running down the south-western coast Africa.North American - rain shadow deserts in south-western North America, in the USA and Mexico.Patagonian - in south-eastern South America.Saharan - a huge desert covering much of northern Africa - the biggest desert in the world.Takla Makan-Gobi - a continental desert in central Asia, mainly in Mongolia and north-western China.Thar - in northwest India.Turkestan - in Turkmenistan.

B) What do you know about flora and fauna of deserts? What peculiarities do they have?

3. Can you tell anything about the climate of desert regions?

4. And now read this text to be sure that everything you have told about deserts before is correct.

Something about deserts Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth’s surface and occur where rainfall is less than 50 cm/year. Although most deserts, such as the Sahara of North Africa and the deserts of the south-western U.S., Mexico, and Australia, occur at low latitudes, another kind of desert, cold deserts, occur in the basin and range area of Utah and Nevada and in parts of western Asia. There are four major types of deserts: 1). hot and dry; 2). semiarid; 3) coastal and 4). cold. Temperatures and precipitations. Hot and dry deserts are characterized by extremely high temperatures in summer (sometimes about 50ºC above zero) and very low rate of rainfalls. Sometimes rain starts falling and evaporates before reaching the ground. The other types of deserts also have a very low level of rainfalls. But the level of condensation of dew caused by night cooling may even exceed the rainfall received by some deserts. But these regions receive a little more than twice the solar radiation received by humid regions. The northerner a desert is the colder and longer winters are and summers become much shorter and not so warm. Vegetation. Most deserts have a considerable amount of specialized vegetation, as well as specialized vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Soils often have abundant nutrients because they need only water to become very productive and have little or no organic matter. Disturbances are common in the form of occasional fires or cold weather, and sudden, infrequent, but intense rains that cause flooding. Vegetation is very poor. Plants are mainly ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees. Leaves are very small and covered with a thick cuticle (outer layer). Cool nights help both plants and animals by reducing moisture loss from transpiration, sweating and breathing. Very often they have a form of a spine. The spiny nature of many plants in semiarid deserts provides protection in a hazardous environment. The large numbers of spines shade the surface enough to significantly reduce transpiration. Some plants have extensive root systems close to the surface where they can take advantage of any rain showers. Many plants of semiarid deserts have silvery or glossy leaves, allowing them to reflect more radiant energy. These plants often have an unfavourable odour or taste. In costal deserts all of the plants with thick and fleshy leaves or stems can take in large quantities of water when it is available and store it for future use. In some plants, the surfaces are corrugated with ridges and grooves. When water is available, the stem swells so that the grooves are shallow and the ridges far apart. As the water is used, the stem shrinks so that the grooves are deep and ridges close together. The plants of cold deserts are widely scattered. One of the most widespread plants is sagebrush. Plant heights vary between 15 cm and 122 cm. The main plants are deciduous. Fauna There are relatively few large mammals in deserts because most are not capable of storing sufficient water and withstanding the heat. Deserts often provide little shelter from the sun for large animals. The dominant animals of warm deserts are nonmammalian vertebrates, such as reptiles. Mammals are usually small, like the burrowers and kangaroo rats of North American deserts. The animals include small nocturnal (active at night) carnivores. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. The animals stay inactive in protected hideaways during the hot day and come out to forage at dusk, dawn or at night, when the desert is cooler. In semiarid deserts one can find such as the kangaroo rats, rabbits, and skunks; insects like grasshoppers and ants; reptiles are represented by lizards and snakes; and birds such as different kinds of owls and eagles. Among animals of costal deserts one can find coyote and badger, great horned owl, golden eagle, bald eagle. Amphibians that pass through larval stages have accelerated life cycles, which improves their chances of reaching maturity before the waters evaporate. Some insects lay eggs that remain dormant until the environmental conditions are suitable for hatching. Fauna of cold deserts is represented by different kinds of mice, rabbits, ground squirrels, badgers, kit foxes, and lizards. Almost all of them are burrowers. Deer are found only in winter.

surface – поверхность rainfall – осадки low latitude – низкие широты semiarid – полузасушливый low rate – низкий уровень to evaporate – испаряться solar radiation – солнечное излучение humid – влажный, сырой vegetation – растительность vertebrate animals – позвоночные животные invertebrate animals - беспозвоночные животные abundant nutrients – изобильные питательные вещества ground-hugging shrubs – цепляющиеся за почву кусты cuticle – кутикула, кожица to reduce moisture loss – сокращать потери влаги transpiration – испарение spine – иголка, колючка бот. hazardous – опасный glossy leaves – глянцевые, блестящие листья fleshy – мясистые corrugated with ridges and grooves – изборожденные складками stem shrinks – ствол сморщивается to scatter – разбрасывать sagebrush – полынь deciduous – бот. лиственный mammal – млекопитающее to withstand – противостоять shelter – укрытие reptile – рептилия burrower – обитатель нор nocturnal carnivore – ночное плотоядное животное arachnid – паукообразное насекомое hideaway – убежище to forage – добывать еду skunk – скунс lizard – ящерица snake – змея badger – барсук amphibians – земноводные larval stage – стадия личинки maturity – зрелость dormant – спящий to hatch – высиживать

Answer the questions.

1. How are all the deserts divided and why?

2. What are the temperatures in different kinds of deserts?

3. Why do the leaves of desert plants usually have a form of a spine?

4. What else help plants keep water?

5. Why aren’t there large animals in deserts?

6. What kinds of animals are mostly spread there?

7. Why are there a lot of nocturnal animals?

8. How can amphibians and insects overcome hazardous conditions of life?

What do you know about forests? What kinds of forest do we have in our country?

Something about forests

Today, forests occupy approximately one-third of Earth’s land area, account for over two-thirds of the leaf area of land plants. They have been held in reverence in folklore and worshipped in ancient religions. However, forests are becoming major casualties of civilization as human populations have increased over the past several thousand years, bringing deforestation, pollution, and industrial usage problems to this important part of nature.

Present-day forests, biological communities that are dominated by trees and other woody vegetation, can be classified according to numerous characteristics, with seasonality being the most widely used. There are three major types of forests, classed according to latitude:

• tropical;

• temperate;

• boreal (taiga).