Examination Card №37

I. Reading
Croquet was introduced in England in 1856 and later brought to America. It was suitable for women as it required considerable skills but not much strength or technique. Earlier men and women could play croquet together as they needed little equipment and no special clothing to play this game.

Lawn tennis was another popular sport for middle-class women. This game was considered to be an excellent method of exercise and a useful mental and physical outlet. Men enjoyed lawn tennis too, because it was more active than croquet or archery. By 1880s it had become the rage in fashionable summer resorts.

II. Writing
Dear Jane,
I've read your letter on the Internet and decided to respond. I'm a 16-year-old student from Ukraine. My home city is Luhansk. It is situated in the southeastern Ukraine.
My family isn't big. I am the only son of my parents, but I have a lot of friends. This year I'm finishing school. I'm going to enter the university to study Law.
Write me about your interests. What profession have you chosen for yourself?
Best wishes,
Taras

III. Speaking
The territory of Ukraine is about 603,700 thousand square kilometres. It is twice as big as Italy. Our country stretches for 1,300 km from east to west and 900 km from north to south. The country is situated in the centre of Europe. The geographical centre of Europe is the town of Rakhiv. The country borders on Russia, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Belarus. The geographical position of Ukraine has always had many advantages. It is ideal for the development of its economy due to the natural resources, too.

We find the Carpathian Mountains with the highest peak Hoverla (2,061 m) in the west of Ukraine. The Carpathians are young mountains. They are characterized by flat summits and gentle slopes. The flat area of the treeless summit is called a polonyna.

There are the Crimean Mountains with the highest peak Roman Kosh (1,545 m) in the south of Ukraine. Their slopes are steep.

Ukraine is washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the south. The Black Sea is deep. The Sea of Azov is shallow. The main ports are Odesa, Kherson, Mykolayiv and Sevastopol.

Ukraine has a great wealth of rivers. The largest rivers are the Dnipro, the Dniester, the Danube, the Southern Buh, the Siversky Donets and the Tysa. But some of the southern regions have practically no rivers.

There are over 3,000 lakes throughout Ukraine. The largest freshwater lakes are Lake Yalpuh and Lake Svytiaz.

Ukraine consists of 24 oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The biggest cities are regional centres. They are Vinnitsa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Uzhhorod, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovograd, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi and Lutsk. The cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol have a special status set by the laws of Ukraine.

Sevastopol is a popular seaside resort and tourist destination. It is also an important centre of marine biology research. In particular, studying and training of dolphins has been conducted in the city since the end of World War II. The downtown core situated on a peninsula between two narrow inlets, South Bay and Artillery Bay, features mostly Mediterranean-style, three-storey residential buildings with columned balconies and Venetian-style arches. Chersonesus, one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine, is also situated there.

The climate of Ukraine greatly depends on its geographical position. As Ukraine is a large country, its climate is different in various parts of it. The Carpathian and the Crimean Mountains protect the country from the bitter winds. The climate along the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is much warmer than the climate of the rest of the country. The climate of the Crimea is subtropical. Summer is hot and dry. Winter is more often rainy than snowy. This region can boast a lot of wonderful plants which you can't find in other parts of Ukraine. There are a lot of evergreen trees and bushes here. The hottest summer months are July and August with a record high of +40°C. The highest rainfall is observed in the western part of Ukraine, in the Carpathians.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-21