Great Natural Wonders of the World

Before watching

I. A. Match the words and expressions in the box with the correct definition and translate them into your native language.

Crust Canyon Geyser Plateau Algae Pinnacle Gully Stalagmite Stalactite Glacier Savannah Tributary Crater Atoll Lagoon Aurora Borealis Chasm Dune Monolith Oasis Tide Bay Estuary Reef Fjord

1. a large tall block of stone, especially one that was put in place in ancient times, possibly for religious reasons;

2. a small narrow valley, usually formed by a lot of rain flowing down the side of a hill;

3. a large mass of ice which moves slowly down a mountain valley;

4. the round open top of a volcano;

5. a deep valley with very steep sides of rock that usually has a river running through it;

6. a very deep space between two areas of rock or ice, especially one that is dangerous;

7. the Northern Lights, bands of coloured light that are seen in the night sky in the most northern parts of the world;

8. a high mountain top;

9. the wide part of a river where it goes into the sea;

10. a line of sharp rocks, often made of coral, or a raised area of sand near the surface of the sea;

11. a hill made of sand near the sea or in the desert;

12. a large flat area of grassy land, especially in Africa;

13. the regular rising and falling of the level of the sea;

14. a coral island in the shape of a ring;

15. a large area of flat land that is higher than the land around it;

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

16. a very simple plant without stems or leaves that grows in or near water;

17. a sharp pointed object coming up from the floor of a cave, formed by drops of a stalactite;

18. a narrow area of sea between high cliffs, esp. in Norway;

19. a part of the sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land;

20. a stream or river that flows into a larger river;

21. the hard outer layer of the Earth;

22. a place with water and trees in a desert;

23. a lake of sea water that is partly separated from the sea by rocks, sand, or coral;

24. a sharp pointed object hanging down from the roof of a cave, which is formed gradually by water which contains minerals as it drops slowly from the roof;

25. a natural spring that sends hot water and steam suddenly into the air from a hole in the ground.

B. Make your own sentences with ten of the words/expressions in A.

While watching

I. Fill in glacier, lava, waterfall, tide, river, erosion to form collocations as they were used in the documentary, find the meaning of the unknown words, then make sentences with three of the collocations. The information in brackets will direct you as for which part of the documentary contains the answer.

1. ____ tumbles, drops down steep cliffs (South America, North America)

2. ____ gnaws, surges down the valley (South America, Europe)

3. ____ spews from the volcano (the Pacific Ocean)

4. ____ gushes from a hole in a mountainside, swells, flows (Europe, South America)

5. ____ molds the gullies (Australia)

6. ____ races, ebbs and flows, sweeps into the inlet (Australia)

II. Substitute the underlined words and expressions with their synonyms which have been used in the documentary. The information in brackets will direct you as for which part of the documentary contains the answer.

a. never-ending processes of natural erosion (Introduction)

b. admire its extraordinary landscapes (North America)

c. a maze of colourful clear pinnacles called hoodoos (North America)

d. scorching hot (North America)

e. elaborate formations (North America)

f. noticeable feature (North America)

g. visitors go down to see (North America)

h. primeval forces (the Pacific Ocean)

i. studded with geological wonders (Africa)

j. strange glow (Europe)

k. calm river (Africa)

l. extremely dry landscapes (Australia)

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

m. rough and pointed coastline (Australia)

n. that’s what makes the virtually uninhabited Australian countryside so unforgettable (Australia)

III. Answer the following questions:

1. Which national park was the very first one in the world?

2. Which waterfall is the highest one in the world?

3. Which mountain chain is the longest one in the world?

4. Which mountain range is the highest one on earth?

5. Which mountain is the tallest one above sea level in the world?

6. Which river is the longest one on our planet?

7. Which desert is the biggest one in the world?

8. Which desert is the richest source of diamonds on the planet?

9. Where is each of the above mentioned natural wonders of the world located?

V. Choose the correct answer a, b or c. There is only one correct answer for each.

1. How many American pioneers (during the gold rush of 1849) traveled west towards California in search of wealth and new life are known to have died crossing Death Valley?

a) 1

b) Hundreds

c) 49

2. Which nation of people were the first to devise and put into practice the concept of national parks?

a) Paiute Indians

b) Canadians

c) Americans

3. Is there any vegetation in the bubbling basins of Yellowstone in summer?

a) Yes, there is

b) No, since nothing can grow in their boiling water

c) No, since algae grow only in winter when the water cools down

4.Where do the rivers of Yellowstone flow?

a) East to the Atlantic ocean

b) West to the Pacific ocean

c) Both to the Atlantic and the Pacific

5. What is called hoodoos?

a) Brice Canyon

b) Colourful pinnacles

c) People turned to rock

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

6. Which canyon has been created by the Colorado River cutting through the ancient Colorado plateau?

a) Brice Canyon

b) Colorado Canyon

c) Grand Canyon

7. What is the approximate age of the earth, according to the host?

a) 4 billion years old

b) 2 billion years old

c) 1 billion years old

8. What assumption can one make about the Grand Canyon based on the host’s words?

a) It’s getting shallower

b) It’s getting deeper

c) It is not changing at all

9. The stalactites and stalagmites in the cave system in Carlsbad, New Mexico, grow

a) Comparatively fast

b) Very slowly

c) At the same speed as most of the processes that shaped the earth

10. The distinction of Yosemite Falls is that it is

a) The tallest on the continent

b) The tallest on the planet

c) The tallest in the country

11. Angel Falls is

a) Taller than Niagara Falls but shorter than Yosemite Falls

b) Taller than both Niagara and Yosemite Falls

c) Taller than Yosemite Fallsbut shorter than Iguazu Falls

12. The Amazon River has

a) Under 1000 tributaries

b) Over 1000 tributaries

c) Seven tributaries

13. What is peculiar about the part of South America where Argentina’s Glacier National Park is located?

a) Moreno Glacier is the largest one in the world

b) Glaciers there are melting faster than anywhere in the world

c) The ice is still advancing there

14. Hawaii are

a) In the Pacific ocean

b) In the Atlantic ocean

c) In the Indian ocean

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

15. What happens when an extinct island volcano is submerging under water?

a) An atoll is formed

b) Coral around the rim of the crater doesn’t grow

c) It erupts every once in a while

16. What according to the host is Asia’s greatest natural wonder?

a) Mount Fuji

b) Taj Mahal

c) The Himalayas

17. Which European mountain range stretches across half a dozen countries, according to the host?

a) The Himalayas

b) The Alps

c) The Andes

18. What makes Mount Matterhorn famous?

a) Its height

b) Its shape

c) Ihe quality of its rock

19. How are the formations in Eisriesenwelt different from those in the caves of Carlsbad, New Mexico?

a) They are made of minerals

b) They are made of ice

c) They are man-made

20. What attracts visitors to the small town of Abisko, according to the host?

a) A chance to see the Northern Lights

b) Skiing resorts

c) Unusual landscapes

21. Where is Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, situated?

a) Kenya

b) Egypt

c) Tanzania

22. Which waterfall do Africans call Mosi-oa-Tunya (“the Smoke that Thunders”)?

a) Angel Falls

b) Victoria Falls

c) Yosemite Falls

23.What attracts travelers to the Namib Desert, according to the host?

a) The diamonds, which abound there

b) The view of the dunes

c) Hot-air balloon excursions

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

24. Uluru (Ayers Rock)

a) Is one of the numerous Australian monoliths

b) Is big enough to be called a mountain

c) Is not typical of the continent’s skyline

25. The Great Barrier Reef is formed by

a) Many small islands and 3,000 reefs

b) 2,000 individual reefs

c) many small islands and up to 1,000 reefs

26. New Zealand is

a) As mountainous as Australia

b) As flat as Australia

c) Considerably more mountainous than Australia

27. Why can’t one see the great bulk of the land in Antarctica, according to the host?

a) Because of zero visibility

b) Because it is covered with ice

c) Because of the numerous mountains hiding it

After watching

VI. Fill in the gaps with the answers from task III. You may need to change the form of the word.

1. We encountered very few people while hiking across the ____________.

2. The setting sun turned the____________ ocean into a sea of gold.

3. Many ships have been torn apart on the ____________ rocks that ring the shoreline.

4. It was August, and the previous day had been a ____________ hot one.

5. All experienced hill walkers are well aware of the dangers of ____________ to the hills without being properly equipped and prepared.

6. I walked down the building from the top to bottom and could only ____________ at the way it had been constructed.

7. ____________ clouds of gas formed themselves into stars.

8. Lasers are used to cut ____________ designs in wood.

9. The ___ pressures of the job started to affect her health.

10. But beyond that intimate corner was a wall of ____________ glass, giving an uninterrupted view of the mountains.

11. Much of Namibia is ____________ country and only fit for raising goats.

12. Downtown business owners say they want the city's homeless shelter moved to a less ____________ location.

13. In one of the tales of the Arabian Nights the sovereign has the ____________ experience of meeting himself.

14. The sky was clear and ____________ with stars.

V. Choose one of the natural wonders enlisted below, find additional information about it and make a presentation to the class:

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

Death Valley Yellowstone National Park Monument Valley Brice Canyon the Grand Canyon Caves of Carlsbad Yosemite National Park Angel Falls Iguazu Falls the Amazon the Andes Argentina’s National Glacier Park Hawaii Mt Fuji The Valley of Guilin the Himalayas the Alps Eisriesenwelt Abisko National Park Mt Kilimanjaro the Nile the Sahara the Serengeti the Rift Valley Mt Lengai Victoria Falls in Africa the Namib Desert Ayers Rock the 12 Apostles Talbot Bay Purnululu National Park the Great Barrier Reef Mt Cook Antarctica

“No loss by flood and lightening, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed.” – Helen Keller

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29