Пособие состоит из 16 уроков и трех дополнительных разделов. Каждый урок рассчитан на работу в течение 4-5 часов аудиторных занятий
жүктеу/скачать 2.09 Mb. Pdf көрінісі
|
| The map of the world
If you look at the map of the world, you will see continents and oceans, seas and islands, rivers and mountains, lakes and deserts, etc. You will see that the greater part of the earth’s surface, about 71 percent is occupied by water. The large continuous bodies of water, broken info irregular parts by continents and islands are known as the oceans. Four are commonly recognized – the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. All the oceans are linked up, forming great ocean, the World Ocean. The continents are the large masses of land stand above the level of the sea. In order of size they are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. Together they occupy only about 29 per cent of the earth surface. The earth’s surface can be described as being rough or smooth. The rough lands include the world’s mountains and hilly uplands. The flat lands are its plateaus and plains. Each continent has an individual arrangement of landforms, though similarities do exist. For example, high mountain ranges are located along the western part of both North and South America. Each part has older, worn-down mountains near its eastern borders. Wide plains drained by great river system full the spaces between the mountain masses. Both have narrow coastal plains along their western margins and wider plains in the east. The largest river system in North America is the Mississippi - the Missouri. The longest river of South America is the Amazon. Eurasia (Europe and Asia combined) and Africa differ remarkably from North and South America in their surfaces. A long mountain axis extends across south – central Eurasia. To the north and north-west of this mountain core lies the largest lowland in the world, stretching from the Atlantic ocean far info Asia. The main mountain systems in Eurasia are the Himalayas (Mount Chomolungma (Everest) is the highest in the world, 8,848 metres), the Alps, the Caucasus, the Carpathians, the Altai, the Urals, the Tien Shan. There are a lot of rivers there, for example, the Lena, the Enisei, the Amur, the Ob, the Volga, the Danube, the Brahmaputra, the Ganges. The longest river is the Yangtze. Africa is not nearly as mountainous as Asia. With the exception of the Atlas Mountains, in the north-west, the highest mountains are in the east-central part of Africa. Most inner Africa is a vast plateau. It is co cut and worn by rivers that it has become a hilly or mountainous region. The main rivers are the Nile (the longest river in the world, 6671 km.), the Congo, the Niger, the Orange River, and the Zambezi. Australia has three dominant landforms. They are the highlands in the east, the plateaus in the west, and a vast plain is covering the east-central part of the continent. The most full-flowing river is the Murray. Antarctica is a mountainous land, which has many ranges and peaks. Of all continents only Antarctica is uninhabited. Only scientific stations and expeditions from a number of countries are to be found there. And the most populated continent is Eurasia. 45 9.5 Say whether the following statements are true or false 1. About seventy-one per cent of the earth’s surface is occupied by land. 2. Four oceans form the World Ocean. 3. North America is the biggest continent while Australia is the smallest one. 4. Twenty-nine per cent of the earth’s surface is occupied by the seas. 5. Both North and South America have similar surfaces. 6. The longest river of South America is the Missouri. 7. Mount Chomolungma is situated in Africa. 8. The longest river in the world is the Yangtze. 9. Three dominant landforms of Australia are the highlands, the plateaus and the plains. 9.6 Translate words and word combinations given in brackets 1. (Поверхность земли) can be described as being rough or smooth. 2. (Необозримые равнины) are situated in the east-central part of Australia. 3. South America has older, worn-down mountains (вдоль ее восточных границ). 4. (Самый населенный континент) is Eurasia. 5. (За исключением Атласских гор), the highest mountains are in the east-central part of Africa. 6. (Из всех континентов только Антарктида) is uninhabited. 7. Eurasia and Africa (значительно отличаются) from North and South America. 9.7 Ask questions to which the following sentences are the answers 1. There is more water than land on our planet. 2. The largest and deepest ocean in the world is the Pacific Ocean. 3. No, Antarctica isn’t the largest continent. It’s Asia. 4. Yes, the earth surface can be described as being rough or smooth. 5. The rough lands are the world’s mountains and hilly uplands and the flat lands are its plateaus and plains. 6. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the Ural Mountains. 7. The rivers in Europe are much shorter than the rivers in Asia. 8. The Suez Canal is the shortest waterway connecting Europe with the land washed by the Indian Ocean. 9. Mount Everest is almost 9.000 metres high. 10. Asia is four times the size of Europe. 11. No, Africa is not nearly as mountainous in Asia. 12. Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere. 9.8 Make up the plan of the text “The map of the world”. Retell this text. 46 9.9 Read the texts. Find the answers to the given questions Why is the sea between Africa and Arabia called the Red Sea? We all know from our maps that the Red Sea is the part of ocean between Africa and Arabia. At the top of it is the Suez Canal. But does any reader know why it is called red? After all its water is just like the water of any other sea – it doesn’t look like red ink. One of the answers is that much of the bottom of the sea, and much of the land around it is red sandstone. It also has red coral reefs and seaweed. Perhaps it looked red enough to the ancient Greeks and Romans, because it was known as the Red Sea even in those times. How were the Victoria Falls discovered? Have you ever seen a really big waterfall? At the Victoria Falls the blue Zambezi River, about two kilometres wide, falls down for over a hundred metres. These Falls were first discovered by an explorer called David Livingstone in 1855. He was trying to follow the Zambezi River to its mouth in a small boat when he came to the fall. At first he did not see the great waterfall from his boat. But the noise of the falling water made him stop at an island in the river and he was saved. He called it “Livingstone island”. Nowadays there is a road and a railway bridge across the river, but in those days it was very difficult even to walk near the fall because of the thick tropical jungle. 9.10 Read the dialogue and say what it is about. Read the dialogue once again and answer the following question: What mountain turns out to be the highest one and how has it been proved? A: I say, can you name the highest mountain in the world? B: Certainly, it’s Mt. Everest. I’m sure every school-boy knows that. A: Well, that’s not quite so. The thing is that if you measure from sea level, Everest – at 29,028 feet – still claims the prize. But if you measure from the centre of the earth, the highest point turns out to be the top of Mount Chimborazo. B: Chimborazo? Where is that? A: It’s an Andean peak in Ecuador. It lies just 2 degrees south of the equator. Since our planet is not a perfect sphere, it has a measurable bulge around the equator. Having used satellite data, it was calculated that the radius of the earth at this point plus the altitude of Chimborazo makes 20,946,233 feet between the summit and the earth’s centre whereas Everest sits at a comparatively low-lying latitude of 28 degrees north by 7,058 feet. 47 9.11Read the text and give a title The largest ocean is the Pacific having a total area of 63,530,000 square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, the next largest, is only 31,530,000 square miles, the Indian Ocean with 28,350,000 square miles comes third. The longest river is the Nile which is more then 4,000 miles longer or about twice the distance by air from London to Beirut. The biggest island is Greenland which belongs do Denmark and is about 840,000 square miles in extent. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea. Geographers consider it as a lake because it is not connected with any of the great oceans. It has an area of about 170,000 square miles. Which is the deepest sea? So far, as we know at present the greatest depth is in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines and goes down to 37,000 feet, which is much more than the height of Everest (20,002 feet). The biggest volcano is in Ecuador, South America. It is still active and 19,612 feet high. There is another one between Argentina and Chile and it is more than 3,000 feet higher. 9.12 Read the text and reproduce it in the form of a dialogue The world’s smallest countries. The world’s smallest independent state is Vatican City, where the Pope lives. It is only forty-four hectares in area. Next smallest is Monaco, on the south coast of France (about 150 hectares). One of the smallest countries is San Marino, a republic high in the mountains of Italy. It is also the oldest, because it was founded some 1,500 years ago. San Marino covers sixty-one square kilometres and has over seventeen thousand people. Andorra is the mountain state of even thousand people. Andorra is situated high in the Pyrenees, between France and Spain. 9.13 Check yourself. Answer these geographical questions 1. How many continents/oceans do you know? 2. Which is the smallest ocean? Which is the smallest continent? 3. Which is the largest island in the world? Which is the largest sea? 4. Which is the deepest lake in the world? 5. Where are the Caucasus situated? Where are the Appalachians situated? 6. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the Mediterranean sea, is not it? 7. Which countries do you cross if you travel from Moscow to Holland? 8. Is Teheran the capital of Iran or Iraq? 9. Are the Great Lakes in North or South America? 10. Which river flows through Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade? 11. New Zealand is situated to the south-west of Australia, is not it? 12. Of which country is Manila the capital? Where is Bolivia? Where is Senegal? 13. What joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans? 14. Why is Ireland often called Emerald Isle? |