1. Read through the text focusing on the following points:

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

1. Read through the text focusing on the following points:

2. What are the most important water basins of the United States?

3. What are three main parts of the country singled out in accordance with its relief?

4. What are the major mountain ranges found in the United States?

5. What is the Continental Water Divide?

6. What are the mineral resources of the country and their seats?

The USA is situated in the southern part of North America, occupying the area of 7.8 million sq. kms (without Alaska). It is much larger than that of Europe, the 4th after the former USSR, China, Canada.

The territory of the USA stretches for 2.500 kms. from North to South almost up to the Northern Tropics (Tropic of Cancer) and for 4.500 kms from East to West. Airlines service 817 cities throughout the country. A flight from New York to San Francisco takes five and -a - half hours. A coast- to- coast trip by train takes three days.

The country is washed by two oceans - the Atlantic in the East and the Pacific in the West. In the South the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico (a part of the Caribbean Sea) wash its coasts.

In the south-west the USA borders on Mexico. In the North - on Canada. On the US -Canadian border you can find the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario) which are the world's largest fresh water basin. They constitute a whole inland sea with an area of 245.000 sq. kms (equal to the territory of Great Britain). The lakes are interconnected by rivers and channels. Between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the Niagara river there are the powerful Niagara Falls, precipitating from the height of almost 50 m. The water power of the falls drives the generators of large hydro-electric stations.

1. RIVERS

The biggest river in the United States is the Mississippi with its tributaries - the Ohio, the Missouri and the Arkansas Rivers. The broad Mississippi River system runs 5969 kms from Canada into the Gulf of Mexico, it is the world's third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. The Mississippi has been called the "father of waters". Through all its lower course, it wanders along, appearing lazy and harmless, but its laziness is deceptive. Bitter struggle with its floods - each worse than the one before - finally taught Americans to fight against rages of the mighty river.

The long Rio Grande forms most of the border between the United States and Mexico.

Like the Mississippi, the many shorter rivers that rise east of the Appalachian Mountains flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, the Rocky Mountains are known as the Continental Divide, because all the waters to their east are destined for the Atlantic and those to their west for the Pacific.

Three great river systems drain that part of the United States which lies west to the Rocky Mountains. All three systems empty into the Pacific Ocean. In the North, the Columbia River and its tributary, the Snake river, drain parts of Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The Sacramento River and its chief branch, the San Joaquin, drain the great interior valley of central and northern California. The Colorado River and its many branches drain much of south-western United States. These three river systems have great value as sources of water power.

The Yukon rises in the Canadian Rockies, but in its lower course it flows westward across Alaska to its mouth in Bering Sea.

Among the most important rivers flowing from the Appalachians into the Atlantic are the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Potomac and James.

2. RELIEF

Physical features of the USA are greatly diverse. The land varies from heavy forests to barren deserts, from high peak mountains(Mc Kinley in Alaska rises to 6193,5 meters) to deep canyons (Death Valley in California is 1064 metres below the sea level). In accordance with the relief the territory of the United States may be divided into three main parts:

1. Atlantic East (comprising the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountain System)

2. Pacific West (the Cordillera Mountain System and the Pacific Slope)

3. The Great Central Plain between them (The Interior Plain).

Most of the area is covered with forests because the soils are too thin and poor to grow crops. Farms and important cities take up much of the valley floor, but generally the region has few people living in it and this district is one of the most backward in the country.

1. The Appalachians stretch along the Atlantic coast. They are ancient, strongly eroded mountains of no great height (2000 ms above the sea level). But the coastal line is occupied by the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which, expanding in the South, enjoins the Gulf Coastal Plain in the lowlands of Florida. It stretches from New England to Alabama.

The North of Atlantic Coastal Plain has a moderate and humid climate. The winter is.hilly with abundant snowfalls, the summer is warm and rainy. The average temperature in New York is 0°C in January and +22 in July. The climatic conditions and podzol soils favour:he cultivation of crops and vegetables.

Florida and the Gulf Coastal Plain enjoy a subtropical climate, the influence of the Gulf Stream tells much on it. the cultivate there cotton, rice, sugar-cane, lemon and orange trees. (The average January temperature of Florida is +20 °C).

2. The powerful Cordillera Mountain System occupies the west of the States. It is composed of lofty mountain ranges of which the Rocky Mountains form the eastern chain of the Cordilleras.

The Highland includes 3 separate subdivisions. The Rocky Mountains make up the first subdivision of the Cordillera Highland. They form the Continental Water Divide.

On the eastern side the mountains make an almost solid wall. This wall is broken only by a broad tongue of the Interior Plain which reaches deep into Wyoming to form the Wyoming Basin. Most of the region is thinly settled because of the wild high mountains.

The West subdivision of the Cordillera Highlands is the Sierra Nevada Cascade range, which extends from the Canadian boundary southward through Washington, Oregon and California almost to Mexican border.

The region is almost as high and rugged as the Rocky Mountains. It forms almost an unbroken wall. The only easy route from the interior to the coast is at the point where the Columbia River cuts throughout the mountains a wide pass. The region is not good for growing crops because of the steep high mountains and valleys.

But there are great forests in the Cascades and large gold deposits in the Sierra Nevadas. Important lumbering and mining industries have developed there.

The Cascade Range abounds in waterfalls of cascades. The peaks of Sierra Nevada are covered with eternal snow.

The western chains of the Cordilleras and the Rocky Mountains enclose the Great North-American Plateau. The climate there is continental and dry, the vegetation is of the desert and semi-desert type. These plateaus are like tablelands through which the Colorado River has carved deep canyons, the most famous is the Grand Canyon in north-western Arizona.

3.MINERAL RESOURCES

The United States has large reserves of all more widely used minerals except tin. These minerals include coal, petroleum, nuclear fuels, natural gas, iron, copper bauxite (the ore of aluminium), lead, zinc, stone, and many others. The country produces enough of some minerals to supply all its own needs and to ship to other countries as well. The minerals shipped to the United States include tin, nickel, manganese, chrome, industrial diamonds and asbestos.

Most of the petroleum and natural gas deposits are located in the sedimentary basing on the flanks of the Cordillera, in California, on the High Plains and Gulf Coast Plain on the eastern side; the principal coalfields are in the eastern United States, the main producing areas being in the Appalachian Plateau region.

Hydro-electric power has been developed on the Tennessee River and on the "Fall Line" between the Appalachians and the Atlantic Coast Plain, on rivers such as the Columbia, Sacramento, and Colorado which drain to the Pacific, at Niagara Falls, on the river St. Lawrence, and at many sites in New England. Uranium is produced in Colorado and several other Mountain States. The principal seat of iron deposits in the United States is the "ranges" located in the ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield close to Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Rich magnetite ores are worked in Pennsylvania.

The main supplies of the other metallic minerals are drawn either from the Mountain States or from the Ozarks. The outstanding contributors are Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho, but all the western states except Oregon are of importance.

History has glamorized the gold rushes to California and Alaska and the silver finds in Nevada. Yet America's yearly production of gold ($ 2.831000 000) is far exceeding by the value of its petroleum, natural gas, clays, phosphates, lead and iron.

KEYWORDS

stretch for, border on, inland basin, tributary, follow/run into, rise, drain, dam, vary from... to, barren, canyon, strongly eroded, enjoin, abounding / abundant, favour the cultivation of, extend from, cut through the mountains, enclose, supply one's own needs, ship to / into, draw from (mine), a deposit, glamorize, gold rush.

Complete the sentences:

1. The biggest river in the US is

The three main tributaries are....

2. The Rocky Mountains are known as because the streams to their east flow into the

Atlantic and those to the west to the Pacific.

3.The West subdivision of the Cordilleras Highlands is the....

4.In accordance with the physical features the territory of the USA may be divided into...

5.The highest mountain of the USA is...

6.The lowest point of the USA is... in... made up by...

7.Two great river streams which empty into the Pacific Ocean are...

8.The river which forms most of the border between the United States and Mexico is...

9.In the South - West the USA borders on...

Render into English using your active vocabulary:

1. Територія США простягається на 2500 km з півночі на південь та 4500 км зі сходу на захід.

2. На півночі США межує з Канадою, а на південному заході - з Мексикою.

3. Найбільша річка Сполучених Штатів Америки - це Міссісіпі з її притоками -річками Огайо, Міссурі, Арканзас. Вона тече зі Скелястих гір і впадає у Мексиканську затоку.

4. Між озером Ері та озером Онтаріо на річці Ніагара знаходиться могутній Ніагарський водоспад.

5. Кліматичні умови та ґрунти на півночі Атлантичної прибережної рівнини сприяють вирощуванню зернових культур та овочів.

6. Аппалачі простягаються вздовж Атлантичного узбережжя. Це давні, сильно вивітрілі гори невеликої висоти (2 000 метрів над рівнем моря.)

7. Водні потоки по один бік континентального водорозділу течуть в Атлантичний океан, по другий бік - в Тихий океан.

8. Великі озера Верхнє, Мічіган, Гурон, Ері, Онтаріо з'єднані між собою річками та каналами. Вони становлять найбільший у світі басейн прісної води.

9. На півночі Атлантичної прибережної рівнини клімат помірний та вологий. Зима холодна, багата на снігопади, літо тепле і дощове.

10.Деякі мінерали виробляють в такій кількості, що можуть не тільки задовольнити свої потреби, але можуть вивозитись їх інші країни.

11.В Пенсільванії видобувають багаті магнітні руди, а найважливіші поклади заліза знаходяться у стародавніх скелях неподалік озера Верхнього та озера Мічіган.

TESTS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Name and show on the map:

1)the countries and bodies of water which border on the United States;

2)four important rivers east of the Mississippi River and two important rivers west of the Mississippi River;

3)the most powerful tributaries of the Mississippi;

4)four important mountain ranges of the United States;

5)the highest mountain and the lowest point in the United States;

6)five lakes that make up the greatest inland basin of fresh water in the world.

Choose the correct variant. Only one variant is correct:

1. A natural boundary between Mexico and the United States is formed by;

a) the Columbia;

b)the Colorado;

c) the Rio Grande.

2. The Continental Divide is found in:

a) the Appalachians;

b) the Rockies;

c) the Cascades.

3. The Great Lakes are found:

a) on the US- Mexican border;

b)in the Appalachians;

c) on the US-Canadian border.

4. The Potomac and the Hudson flow from:

a)the Appalachians;

b)the Rockies;

c) the US-Mexican border.

5. A subtropical climate is enjoyed by:

a) the Atlantic Coastal Plain;

b)the Pacific Scope;

c) the Gulf Coastal Plain.

6. Death Valley is found in:

a) California;

b)Florida;

c) Colorado.

7. The Mississippi is the world's:

a)first longest river;

b)third longest river;

c) fourth longest river.

Mark the given statements: T - for true or F - for false. If the statement is wrong, give the correct information. If right, enrich it with details.

1. The biggest river in the United States is the Mississippi with its tributaries - the Ohio, Missouri and the Delaware Rivers.

2. Florida and the Gulf Coastal Plain enjoy a tropical climate.

3.The USA is situated in the southern part of North America, occupying the area of 7,8 mln km without Alaska.

4.The Rocky Mountains stretch along the Atlantic Coast.

5.The Cordilleras are ancient, strongly eroded mountains of no great height.

6.The Cascade Range abounds in waterfalls and cascades.

7.The USA is washed by two oceans - the Atlantic in the East and the Pacific in the West.

8.The peaks of Appalachians are covered with eternal snow.

9. Between Lake Erie and Lake Huron on the Niagara river there are the powerful
Niagara Falls, precipitating from the height of almost 50m.

10.In the South the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico (a part of the Dead Sea) wash the US coasts.

11.The territory of the USA is rich in natural resources: coal, oil, metals, iron.

12.Iron, steel, machinery, aerospace products, foodstuffs, chemicals, scientific equipment, textiles belong to the leading industries of the USA.

13.Copper, tin, silver, petroleum, gold, diamonds are among the chief products of the country.

14.The Great Central Plain (the Interior Plain) is between the Atlantic East and the Pacific West.

15.The Continental Divide is a high crest or ridge that separates the eastward flowing rivers, which flow into the Atlantic Ocean, from those flowing westward into the Pacific Ocean.

16.The highest mountain in the USA Mount McKinley is situated in the Sierra Nevada Cascade Range.

17.The influence of the Gulf Stream tells much on the climate of Pacific West.

18. The Mississippi together with the Missouri flows for 4000 miles from the
Appalachians and empties into the Pacific Ocean.

19.Physical features of the USA are greatly diverse.

20.The Yukon River rises in the Appalachians.

REGIONALISM

Read through the text focusing on the following points:

1. What is the meaning of an American motto?

2. What makes one region of the United States different from another?

On every coin issued by the government of the United States are found three words in Latin: E pluribus unum. In English this phrase means "out of many, one." The phrase is an American motto. Its presence on coins is meant to indicate that the United States is one country made up of many parts.

On one level of meaning, the "parts" are the 50 states that march across the North American continent and extend to Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the mid-Pacific. On another level, the "parts" are the nation's many different peoples, whose ancestors came from almost every area of the globe. On a third level, the "parts" are the environments or geographical surroundings of the United States.

From the standpoint of government, the USA is one single country, of course. Its center is the national government in Washington, D.C. There are many other signs that the United States is indeed united - a national language (English) and a national coinage, to name only two. The many parts remain, however, making it difficult in some ways to gain an idea of the United States as a whole.

Americans often speak of it as a country of several large regions. These regions are cultural rather than governmental units.

They have been formed out of the history, geography, economics, literature and folkways that all parts of a region share in common.

The development, over time, of culturally distinctive regions within a country is not unique to the United States. Indeed, in some countries, regionalism has acquired political significance and has led to domestic conflict. In the United States, however, regions have remained culturally defined, to the point that there are no easily demarcated borders between them. For this reason, no two lists of American regions are exactly alike. One common grouping creates six regions. They are:

- New England, made up of the northernmost five states along the Atlantic seaboard plus
Vermont and parts of New York.

- The middle Atlantic Region, composed of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Maryland.

- The South, which runs from Virginia south to Florida and then west as far as central Texas. The region also takes in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and large parts of Missouri and Oklahoma.

- The Midwest, a broad collection of states sweeping westward from Ohio to Nebraska and southward from North Dakota to Kansas, including eastern Colorado.

- The Southwest, made up of western Texas, portions of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and the southern interior area of California.

- The West, comprising Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

1. DIFFERENT PLACES, DIFFERENT HABITS

What makes one region of the United States different from another? There are many answers to the question and the answers vary from place to place.

As a case in point, consider the role of food in American life. Most foods are quite standard throughout the nation. That is, a person can buy packages of frozen peas bearing the same label in Idaho, Missouri or Virginia.

A few foods are not available on a national basis. They are simply regional dishes, limited to a single locale. In San Francisco, one popular dish is abalone, a large shellfish from Pacific waters. Another is a pie made of boysenberries, a cross between raspberries and blackberries. Neither abalone nor boysenberry pie is likely to appear on a menu in a New England restaurant, however.

To take another example, consider the way Americans use the English language. For many years experts have been writing rules for standard American English, both written and spoken. With the coming of radio and television, this standard use of the English language has become much more generalized. But within several regions and subregions local ways of speaking, known as dialects, still remain quite strong.

In some farming areas of New England the natives are known for being people of few words. When they speak at all, they do so in short, rather choppy sentences and clipped words. Even in the cities of New England there are definite styles of speech. Many people pronounce the word "idea" as "idear', or "Boston" as "Bahstun".

Southern dialect tends to be much slower and more musical. People of this region have referred to their slow speech as a "southern drawl". For instance, they commonly use "you-all" as the second person plural.

Regional differences extend beyond foods and dialects. Among more educated Americans, these differences sometimes center on attitudes or outlooks. An example is the stress given to foreign news in various local newspapers. In the East, where people look out across the Atlantic Ocean, papers tend До show greatest concern with what is happening in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. In the towns and cities that ring the Gulf of Mexico, the press tends to be more interested in Latin America. In California, bordering the Pacific Ocean, news editors give more attention to events in East Asia and Australia.

KEYWORDS

ancestors, regionalism, share in common, domestic conflict, no easily demarcated borders, be made up/composed of, run from...to, comprise, be standard throughout the nation, a "southern drawl", center on.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

1. Point out three levels of meaning which the phrase "E pluribus unum" implies.

2. What are the criteria according to which the United States may be divided into six regions?

3. What makes one region of the United States different from another?

SPEECH PRACTICE

1. Name six regions of the United States defining the area which they compromise. Show them on the map.

2. Explain the meaning of the motto "E pluribus unum".

Imagine you are a person who has an opportunity to ask an American about regionalism in the USA. Find out about

а) the nature of American regionalism,

б) the way one region of the United States differs from another.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04