TOPIC: GEOGRAPHY
TEXT A. INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS IN GREAT BRITAIN
England is a highly developed industrial country. The city of London is one of the World's three leading financial centres along with New York and by far the biggest in Europe The Bank of England is the commercial pulse of the city of London while Greater London is important for products of all kings in cluding food, instrument engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, clothing, furniture and printing. It has some heavy engineering plants and several leading research establishments65. London is a great port with many docks.
North-west of London, in the midland counties (the Midlands) is a very important industrial district which is known as the "Black country". In Birmingham, the centre of this area, and in the manufacturing towns nearby, various goods are produced: machine tools, tubes, domestic metalware, rubber products, etc. The largest coal and iron fields in Britain are located in the Midlands. Further north is Manchester, one of the main centres for electrical and heavy engineering and for me production of a wide range of goods including computers, electronic equipment, petrochemicals, dye-stuffs and pharmaceuticals. The Manchester Ship Canal links Manchester with Liverpool, one of Britain's leading seaports.
East of Manchester is the city of Sheffield, well-known for its manufacture of high quality steels, tools and cutlery. A short railway journey to the north-east will take you from Manchester to Bradford, the commercial centre of the wool trade.
Further north is Newcastle situated on the North Sea coast, a city famous for its shipbuilding yards and its export of coal.
What is remarkable about the second half of the 20th century is the accelerating pace of change.
The Scottish economy has moved away from the traditional industries of coal, steel and shipbuilding. North-east Scotland is now the centre of offshore oil and gas industries. There has been a significant development in high-technology industries, such as chemicals, electronic engineering and information technology. In Scotland, the richest part is that of the Lowlands. Here there are coal and iron fields. Glasgow is the largest city, seaport and trading centre of Scotland.
Recent decades have seen fundamental changes in the Welsh economy. Wales is an important centre for consumer electronics, information technology, chemicals, and food and drink.
Although Britain is a densely populated, industrialized country, agriculture is still one of its most important industries. Dairying is most common in the west of England, where the wetter climate encourages the growth of good grass. Sheep and cattle are reared in the hilly and moorland areas of northern and south-western England. Its best farmland lies in the south-eastern plains.
The south of England is rural, with many fertile valleys, well-cultivated fields and pastures.
The south-eastern coast is well-known for its picturesque scenery and mild climate and a number of popular resorts. On the southern coast of England there are many large ports, among them: Southampton, Portsmouth, Plymouth.
TEXT B. THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE
— I know that there are many types of natural scenery in England. But what is there in the English landscape that strikes the eye of the stranger used to other countries?
— Its "park-like" appearance, I believe. England in truth looks like one great well-ordered park with its old trees, green meadows and hedges.66
— But as far as I know the hedges take up a considerable part of soil suitable for ploughing.
— They do. But the Englishman loves the green of England with its hedges, tender-green in spring, covered with leaf and flower in summer, a blaze of gold and red in autumn. In winter too they are still beautiful with a few scarlet berries almost burning in the frost.
— And yet, if England swept away her hedges and put in their place fences the saving of land would be enormous.
— But much of the park-like beauty of the countryside would be gone and with it the peculiar character of the English landscape.
— I hear there are a lot of lovely gardens all along the English countryside. Are English people fond of gardening?
— They are. Almost every one in England tries to come in touch with a bit of plant life. In the East of London you may see workingman's "flats" with their window gardens. In the West End, land which is worth many thousands of pounds per acre is devoted to garden use. In the small suburban villas a very considerable tax of money and labour is paid in the effort to keep in good order a little pocket handkerchief of lawn and a few shrubs.
— Well, I think that this proves that the Englishman is at heart a great lover of nature, though he is supposed to be such a prosaic and practical person.
TEXT C. LOOKING AT THE MAP OF RUSSIA
— 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.
— 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 reported by the newspapers in detail. 3. A ... dispute is a quarrel about where a ... is or ought to be. 4. The river formed a ... between these rural districts. 5. The half-ruined tower used to be a ... fortress. 6. The region along the boundary between England and Scotland is called the ... . 7. A hedge is a fence or a row of bushes or low trees, which are planted to form a ... round a garden or field. 8. Great Britain's .... northern, eastern and southern, are formed by seas and oceans.
VII. Study Text С and use it as a model for a talk between an Englishman and a Russian who is on his first visit to England. VIII. Fill in the words north, west east, south, or their derivatives:
1. The ... half of our country consists mainly of low plains, while the greater part of the ... half of Russia is covered with mountain chains. 2. In Siberia the biggest rivers are the Ob, the Yenissei and the Lena. They flow ... through a vast area parallel to one another. 3. The climate contrasts are quite striking in Russia. You can find the ... braving the frosts that reach 70 degrees below zero Centigrade and at one and the same time the ... basking In the sun on ... seashores lined with green palms. 4. The Leningrad region lies to the ... of Moscow. 5. A ... is a person who lives in the ... and a ... is one who lives in the ... . 6. Devon and Cornwall are situated on the ... peninsula of England.
IХ. Supply articles where necessary:
There is no other country in ... world whose nature is more varied than that of ... Russia. ... western half of ... country consists mainly of... low plains. The country is divided into two parts by ... Ural mountains.... greater part of ... eastern half is covered with vast plateaus and mountain chains. Here, on ... Kamchatka Peninsula ... biggest active volcanoes of ... Old World are located.
In ... south ... plains of ... western half of ... country are bounded by... huge mountain ranges. Here are ... country's highest peaks.
Many of ... rivers of... Russia are among ... world's greatest ... most important rivers of ... western plain are ... Volga, ... Western Dvina,... Don and ... Northern Dvina.
In ... Far East... Amur flows into ... Pacific.
In ... lakes, too, our country is extremely rich. Among them are ... world's greatest lake ... Caspian Sea and ... deepest — ... lake Baikal.
X. Discuss the following topics (use the map):
1. English scenery and climate.
2. Agricultural districts of England.
3. The most important industrial regions in England.
4. Physical background of Russia.
5. The surface of Russia.
6. The climate of Russia.
Note: Evaluate these talks according to their information content: amount and quality of information.
XI. Supply prepositions where necessary:
Our motherland is immense. It's ... far the largest and richest country both ... Asia and Europe. Its frontier line is the longest... the world.
Natural conditions ... Russia vary greatly. If you cross Russia ... the extreme North ... the South you will get a good idea ... the climate contrasts, to say nothing ... the difference ... scenery and vegetation, characteristic ... various geographical zones. Siberia unlike ... the Urals, the face ... Ta-tary differs ... that... the Caucasus. One region is rich ... one thing, another is rich ... another.
Perhaps no country's geographic location has played such ah important part... its history as Russia's. Half... Europe and half... Asia, its history has revolved ... this basic fact.
XII. 1. Describe the scenery, climate and industries of your home town, region or republic. 2. Choose four slides or postcards and give a commentary on them. With the first picture, concentrate on describing what there is in the picture. With the second one try to give the position of things accurately. You can use the third one for talking about how and when the picture was taken. And the last one can be the starting point for a story or joke. (See "Classroom English" Section V.) XIII. Finish up the sentences according to the model. (Consult a dictionary.):
Englishmen live in England, they speak English.
... in Scotland,.... ... in Ireland, .... ... in Sweden, ....
... in Norway, .... ... in Denmark,.... ... in Holland, ...
... in Spain, ... ... in the USA, .... ... in Switzerland,....
XIV. Make up dialogues between an English and a Russian student on the topics:
1. Moscow and London — cultural and industrial centres.
2. The main industrial centres (towns, ports, etc.) of Russia and England.
3. Rural areas of both countries.
XV. Translate the following, putting it into your own words:
a) express your opinion;
b) say how far factors like climate, the geography of a country, its history, religion(s), system of government, etc affect national character. Give examples.
с) write some brief notes about your own national character as yon think foreigners see yon. Then, in small groups, describe to each other this "foreign" view of your nation and say why you agree or disagree with it.
Британский характер
Национальный характер повсюду живуч. Но ни к какому народу это не относится в большей степени, чем к англичанам, которые судя по всему, имеют нечто вроде патента на живучесть своей натуры. Такова первая и наиболее очевидная черта англичан. Стабильность и постоянство их характера. Они меньше других подвержены веяниям времени, преходящим модам. Важно, однако, подчеркнуть, что при своей стабильности характер этот составлен из весьма противоречивых и даже парадоксальных черт, одни из которых весьма очевидны, другие же трудноуловимы; так что каждое обобщение, касающееся англичан тут же может быть оспорено.
Материалистический народ — кто усомнится в этом? — англичане дали миру щедрую долю мистиков, поэтов, идеалистов. Народ колонистов, они проявляют пылкую приверженность к собственной стране, к своему дому.
Неутомимые мореплаватели и землепроходцы, они одновременно страстные садоводы.
Их любознательность позволила им познакомиться с лучшим из того, чем обладают другие страны, и все-таки они остались верны своей собственной. Восхищаясь французской кухней, англичанин не станет имитировать ее у себя дома. На редкость законопослушный народ они обожают читать о преступлениях и насилиях. Являя собой воплощение конформизма, они в то же время заядлые индивидуалисты, и среди них полно эксцентриков.
Все эти парадоксы, к которым, пожалуй, следует добавить еще один: при всей своей парадоксальности английский характер редко бывает загадочным и непредсказуемым.
Генри. Стил Коммаыджер (США), Британия глазами американцев. 1974
Я не пытаюсь утверждать, будто англичане никогда не менялись. Перемены происходят всегда. Но эти различия, столь заметные внешне, не проникают вглубь, до корней. К лучшему или к худшему, исконные черты английской натуры по-прежнему остаются неким общим знаменателем, оказывают глубокое влияние на национальный характер и общий стиль жизни.
Джон Б. Пристли (Англия), Англичане, 1973
XVI, Comment on the following proverbs and sayings. (Explain their meaning, give their Russian equivalents.):
East or West, home is best. There is no place like home.
So many countries, so many customs. When at Rome, do as the Romans do.
Rome was not built in a day. To carry coals to Newcastle.
ХVII. Read the following passage and a) discuss it in detail; b) give a short summary of the passage; c) comment on the following:
the beauty of Britain as the author sees it;
the variety of geographical features;
a happy compromise between Nature and Man.
We live in one of the most beautiful islands in the world. This is a fact we are always forgetting. When beautiful islands are mentioned we think of Trinidad67 and Tahiti.68 These are fine, romantic places, but they are not really as exquisitely beautiful as our own Britain. Before the mines and factories came, and long before we went from bad to worse with our arterial roads and petrol stations and horrible brick bungalows, this country must have been an enchantment. Even now, after we have been busy for so long flinging mud at this fair pale face, the enchantment still remains. Sometimes I doubt if we deserve to possess it. There can be few parts of the world in which commercial greed and public indifference have combined to do more damage than they have here. The process continues. It is still too often assumed that any enterprising fellow after quick profits has a perfect right to destroy a loveliness that is the heritage of the whole community.
The beauty of our country is as hard to define as it is easy to enjoy. Remembering other and larger countries we see at once that one of its charms is that it is immensely varied within a small compass. We have here no vast mountain ranges, no illimitable plains. But we have superb variety. A great deal of everything is packed into little space. I suspect that we are always faintly conscious of the fact that this is a smallish island, with the sea always round the corner, We know that everything has to be neatly packed into a small space. Nature, we feel, has carefully adjusted things — mountains, plains, rivers, lakes to the scale of the island itself. A mountain 12,000 feet high would be a horrible monster here, as wrong as a plain 400 miles long, a river as broad as the Mississippi; Though the geographical features of this island are comparatively small, and there is astonishing variety almost everywhere, that does not mean that our mountains are not mountains, our plains not plains.
Our children and their children after them must live in a beautiful country. It must be a country happily compromising between Nature and Man, blending what was best, worth retaining from the past with what best represents the spirit of our own age, a country rich in noble towns as it is in trees, birds, and wild flowers. (From "The Beauty of Britain" by J. В. Priestley)
XVIII. Role-playing:
Mr. Nice, a lecturer, in his early forties. His topic:
"Don't Spoil Nature".
The audience: Alex, a sceptically-minded young man of 21, a student of Geography; Miss Dorothy Peach, an ardent lover of nature, age 73;
Mr. Frederick Healey, a journalist work ing on a popular newspaper, middle-aged.
Rest of class: make offers and suggestions relating to the problem.
Don't Spoll Nature
Both in densely and in thinly populated countries the authorities make regulations and give hints to would-be tourists to protect the countryside from pollution.
Here's what the Tourist Office of Finland advises would be visitors: While you are enjoying the uniqueness of the Finnish landscape, the forests, the lakes, the rivers, the seas, the wild life and vegetation, you should obey the unwritten laws of nature. Sheer carelessness and thoughtlessness can cause great damage. As you travel about, please remember you are a guest in the Finnish countryside.
It is forbidden to break off branches of trees and bushes. Picking flowers (except protected species) is allowed. When you travel by car please avoid throwing litter and rubbish about. Put it in plastic bags and take it to the next place where waste is collected. In Lapland, the beauty of the landscape is extremely fragile and easily damaged. Remember that it can take over 200 years for the tracks left by your car to disappear.
Although it may be tempting to drive over moors of Lapland you must always keep to the roads. Because the climate in Lapland is so cold, metal glass and plastic waste remain unchanged for centuries.
Suggested phrases: Right, can we begin, then, do you think? Can you all hear me at the back! Good, that's fine. I'm going to talk about: as you know; anyhow. — I'd just like to run through the main points... The first thing of course, is... And on top of that... Now has anybody got any points he'd like to raise? Now, that's a good question. The thing here is — er we've thought a lot about this one. I think that's it then. Thanks very much for your attention.
XIX. Film "Mr. Brown's Holiday". Film Segment 7 "How do I Get to...?" (Sallsbury), a) Watch and lislen, b) Do the exercises from the film.
STUDIES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH
VII
In its broadest sense any meaningful piece of written prose marked for its unity, content and message may be called a composition, that is a unit of written communication involving a writer, a message and a reader.
Between the sentence and the whole composition stands the paragraph. It is a composition in miniature because it meets the same requirement of unity, content and message (see "Studies of Written English" in Units One, Two, Three).
A group of paragraphs constitutes more complex compositions, such as essays, short stories, accounts, letters, class-compositions as a special exercise in written communication, etc.
Essay is a short prose composition (5—20 pages) on a particular subject. Usually it is of explanatory and argumentative nature (see "Studies" in Unit One). For instance, the passage "Teacher Training in Great Britain" (see Unit Five) as well as "Introducing London" (see Unit Three) is close to a formal essay. "What's Your Line" (see Unit One) and the first letter of Judy describing her college experience (see Unit Five) may be classed with informal essays on teaching.
Unity of essays is built up around the central idea. Any addition of unimportant details or afterthoughts destroy the unity.
Coherence is achieved through skilful arrangement of details according to the following rules: a) present your material from "the general to the particular"; b) try the order of enumeration, that is, arrange several points of view according to their importance, or interest, or order of happening; c) use key-words as connectives and transitions.
The following is a brief list of transitional words and phrases that help to connect paragraphs of an essay: on the one (other) hand, in the second place, on the contrary, at the same time, in paricular, in spite of this, in like manner, in contrast to this, in the meantime, of course, in conclusion to sum up, in addition, morepver, finally, after all, and truly, in other words.
Emphasis is achieved with the help оf concrete details. Avoid generalities and abstractions. Before writing an essay consider the following:
1. Study the materials about the topic.
2. Think of the main idea you are going to develop in your essay.
3. Write an informal essay "Looking at the Map of Russia."
4. Make a plan (topic plan, sentence plan, paragraph plan).
5. Develop the paragraph plan into an essay according to the rules of unity, coherence and emphasis.
6. Go over the essay for "self-editing" purpose and see if it meets the main requirement of good writing — clarity of communication.
Assignments:
1. Маke an outline of the passage "The British Isles" and analyse it from the point of view of its unity, coherence and emphasis.
2. Write a formal essay "Looking at the Map of the British Isles" according to your own plan.
LABORATORY EXERCISES (II)
1. Listen to the texts "Industrial and Agricultural Districts in Great Britain", "The English Landscape", "Looking at the Map of Russia". Mark the stresses and tunes. Repeat the texts following the model.
2. Without looking back at the texts, decide whether the following statements are true or false.
3. Extend the sentences according to the model.
4. Write a spelling-translation test; a) translate the phrases into English; b) check them with the key.
5. Listen to the text "The Lake District" and write it as a dictation. Check it with the key.
6. Listen to the poem "England" by G. G. Byron. Mark the stresses and tunes. Learn it by heart .
7. Listen to the text "The Isle of Man" or some other text discribing a part of Great Britain. Make a summary of the main points of the passage.
CURIOSITY QUIZ FOR EAGERS
I. Quiz "Across the Globe".
Answer the following questions. It is accuracy and amount of Information that count when choosing the winner:
1. What is the longest river in the world?
2. In what way do the western shores of the British Isles differ from the easten shores?
3. What are the smallest countries in the world?
4. What language is spoken in Holland?
5. What are the Seven Wonders of the world?
6. What is the capital of Australia?
7. What are the Rockies and where are they found?
8. What is the coldest area in Russia?
9. What is the national emblem of Canada?
10. Where is the city of Honolulu situated?
II. Quiz "Across the British Isles".
Answer the following questions. In this case it is resourcefulness and sense of humour that count when choosing the winner:
1. What is the main difference between the Cumbrians and the Cambrians?
2. Do Englishmen bring coal to Newcastle?
3. Do Englishmen go up or down to get to Edinburgh?
4. What is the difference between Loch Ness and Loch Lomond?
5. What colour is predominant on the map of the British Isles?
(Think twice before answering. There is Greenwich in the South, you may spot Greenock in the North, search the map first.)
6. Which is closer to London, Oxford or Cambridge?
7. What is the difference between Portsmouth and Plymouth?
8. What is Liverpool famous for?
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