Яков Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 2 курс

— I'd like you to tell me something about your country.

— I think the best way to get a general idea of a country is to study the map. It's lucky I've

got one with me. Here it is.

66 hedge:a row of bushes or low trees which are forming a kind of barrier.

— Perhaps we had better start with the physical outline of the country.

— Well, Russia can be divided roughly into two main regions — the highlands in the east

and the lowlands covering the greater part of the country, with a long mountain range cutting it into

two unequal parts.

— You mean the Urals. They form the natural border between Europe and Asia. But the

highest mountain chains, as far as I can see are situated in the south and the south-east of the country.

What do you call them?

— The Caucasus, between the Caspian and the Black Sea and the Altai in Asia.

— I'd love to go there. My hobby is mountaineering. But our mountains are not so high as

yours, as far as I know.

— I believe they are not We have peaks four and a half miles high. But we also have

lowlands several hundred feet below sea level. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the

midlands, tundra and taiga in the north.

— What are the "steppes"?

— They are treeless plains covered with grass. The soil is fertile there.

— And is the tundra like our heather moors?

— Not in the least. It's a kind of frozen desert in the Arctic region.

— And what is the 'taiga', I wonder?

— It's a thick coniferous forest stretching to the south of the tundra. It's rich in animals,

valued for their fur like sable, fox, squirrel.

— I'd like to go hunting there, but I'm afraid I would never be able to stand toe cold.

— Our climate is also varied. In the south-west the weather is usually mild and wet; northern

Asia is one of the coldest places on earth, and in the south the heat is unbearable. But in the middle

of the country the climate is moderate and continental.

— Well, it has been very interesting for me to hear all those things. Thank you very much for

your information.

Memory Work

England! with all thy faults, I love thee still,

I said at Calais, and have not forgot it

I like the taxes when they're not too many;

I like a sea-coal fire, when not too dear;

I like a beef-steak, too, as well as any;

Have no objection to a pot of beer;

I like the weather when it is not rainy,

That is, I like two months of every year.

George Byron

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (П)

Words

border n

hedge n , υ

resort n

cattle n

level n

rural adj

chemicals n

machinery

n

steppe n

cotton n

moderate adj

stretch υ,

n

desert n

pasture n

taiga n

dock n

peak n

tool n

fence n

picturesque adj

tundra n

fertile adj

range n

vast adj

financial adj

raw adj

Word Combinations

information technology

densely (thinly) populated

consumer

electronics

shipbuilding yards

highly developed

trading centre

coal (iron) fields

rural district

offshore

oil

industry

rich in (smth.)

heavy (light) engineering

moderate (mild)

climate

Proper Names

the Avon

Dublin

the North Sea

Belfast

Eire

the Pennines

Birmingham

Glasgow

Portsmouth

the Bristol Channel

the Grampians

the Severn

the Cambrians

the Hebrides

Sheffield

the Cheviot Hills

the Orkney Islands

Southampton

the Clyde

the Shetland Islands

the Strait of Dover

the Cumbrians

Ireland

the Tyne

Leeds

the Thames

Manchester

the Mersey

Newcastle

EXERCISES

I. Study Texts A and В and a) transcribe the words below:

petrochemicals, commerce, fertile, engineering, iron, industry, equipment, moderate, resort,

pharmaceuticals, dairying, rear, rural, picturesque, meadow, ploughing, acre.

b) Transcribe the geographical names used in Text A,

II, Pick out front Text A English equivalents of the following:

высокоразвитая промышленная страна, ведущий финансовый центр, тяжелое

машиностроение, каменноугольный бассейн, электронное оборудование, судостроительные

верфи, ускоряющийся темп перемен, разработки в высокотехнологичном производстве,

добыча нефти в открытом море, информационная технология, бытовая электроника, страна с

высокой плотностью населения, земледелие, химические продукты из нефтяного сырья,

сельскохозяйственный район, плодородные долины, хорошо возделанные поля, живописный

пейзаж, мягкий климат, модные курорты.

III. Writte questions about Text A, using the words and phrases from Ex. II.

Prepare to discuss the text (Use he map.)

IV. Read Text С and pick-out English squivalents of the following phrases:

получить общее представление о чём- n ., иметь при себе что-л., образовывать

естественную границу, насколько я понимаю, мое любимое занятие (мой конек), насколько

мне известно, ниже уровня моря, ни в коей мере, непереносимый.

V. Retell Text С in indirect speech. Try and give an additional piece of

information on the topic.

VI. Fill in Use weirds bolder, boundary or frontier. Choose the correct

alternative.

Note:The Russian word граница has several equivalents in English: border — пограничная

зона или полоса по обе стороны демаркационной линии, е.g. The people living on the border of

two adjoining countries usually speak the languages of both.; boundary — граница как

разграничительная линия, предел, е.g. This stream forms a boundary between the two farms.;

frontier — граница как демаркационная линия, государственная граница, е. д, to pass the

frontiers, и как пограничная зона или район (в отличие от border) только по одну сторону

демаркационной линии, е.g. to guard the frontiers, frontier station, fortress, incident, dispute,

1. When we went camping, we put up our tents on the ... of the lake. 2. The ... incident was