UNIT 1

Geography, climate and natural resources of great britain, the usa and australia.

Indigenous population.

LIST OF WORDS

latitude

longitude

hemisphere

Ice Age

mainland

native / indigenous / aboriginal population

most / least densely populated

life expectancy

to border on (a country)

lowlands / highlands / uplands

peninsular

harbour

gulf

channel - canal

mountain range / chain

plough land

tributary of the river

navigable river

fresh- / salt-water lake

fertile soil

arable land

desert

semi-desert

drought

rainforest

arid / dry / waterless climate

moist / humid / wet climate

moderate / temperate climate

mild climate

precipitation

annual / yearly / average rainfall

mean / average temperature

thick / dense fog

wildlife

flora and fauna

mammals

marsupials

species of animals / plants / birds

extinct / threatened / endangered species

mineral resources

raw material

ferrous metals

nonferrous metals

coal

iron ore

limestone

timber

copper

tin

lead

to extract (oil, coal…)

deposit

shipbuilding

heavy industry

light industry

mining

engineering

power industry

iron and steel industry

oil extraction

oil / food processing

to cultivate land

dairy farming

cattle raising

Study the contents of texts 1-3 and get ready to make a comparative analysis on the basis of the table that follows the texts. Use additional information if necessary (texts 1, 2, 3 from SUPPLEMENTARY READER and other sources). Remember to make use of your active vocabulary.

TEXT 1. United Kingdom: Geographical Position, Climate, Mineral Resources.  The official name of the country we usually call England and occasionally Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The U. K. is situated on the group of islands lying just off the mainland of north-western Europe. The British Isles include Great Britain proper, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales. The southern part of the isle of Ireland is the Republic of Eire. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the narrower part of which is called the Strait of Dover which is 34 kilometers wide. The British Isles are surrounded by the shallow waters of the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.

They say that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography. This may or may not be true, but it is certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn't usually get very cold in winter or very not in summer.  Britain is comparatively small, but there is hardly a country, in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found. There are wild desolate mountains in the northern Highlands of Scotland - the home of the deer and the eagle. The Pennine Range in northern England and the Cambrian Mountains in Wales are much lower. In the extreme south of England are the famous chalk hills, some of which form the Dover Cliffs. The southern and south-eastern parts of the island lie in varied lowlands. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland which is 1343 meters high. The rivers of the region are short and of no great importance as waterways. The longest of them is the "Father of London", the Thames, which is a little over 200 miles. Britain's principal ports are London, Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, and Glasgow. They are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Trent, Tyne, Clyde and Bristol Avon.  Their harbors are splendid, for the coast line is very indented. Owing to the shape of the country, any point in Great Britain is no more than 70 miles from the sea. Naturally, it made the English race a sea - loving one. The warm currents in the Atlantic Ocean influence the climate of Great Britain. The winters are not severely cold, while summers are rarely hot. The British Isles are well watered throughout the year. The cloudiness is rather dense, well over half the days of the year are overcast - fogs along the coast frequently hide the sun. The fogs of London, often made severe by mixture with city smoke have a world - wide reputation, but the one not to be envied. Rivers in Great Britain are seldom frozen and generally ice-free. The grass remains green all the year round. Thanks to climatic conditions, Britain in truth looks like one great well-ordered park with its old trees, green meadows and hedges.

The British Isles are the home of four nations — English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish. Even though foreigners often call all British people "English", and sometimes have difficulty in appreciating the distinctions, the component nations of the United Kingdom are well aware of their own national identity. The Scots, Welsh and Irish regard themselves as largely Celtic peoples, while the English are mainly Anglo Saxon in origin.  England has an average population density of 980 persons per square mile (364 per square km). This average does not reveal the even higher densities in some areas of the country, such as south-east parts. Within Europe only the Netherlands has a higher population density than England. In Great Britain there are a lot of immigrants from former British Asian and African colonies. 

Great Britain has few mineral resources. Coal and oil are the most important of them. Much of the country is under cultivation and about 20% of the land is covered by National Parks and others countryside conservation areas. Great Britain is one of the leading industrial countries in the world. It has highly developed motorcar, textile, chemical and electronics industries which are centered in such cities as London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. Great Britain is also famous for its wool industry. English wool is exported to many countries. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.

TEXT 2. The United States of America – Geography, Climate, Population

The United States of America is also referred to as the United States, the USA, the U.S., America and the States (in colloquial speech). It is situated in the central part of the continent of North America. The USA is the fourth-largest country after Russia, Canada and China. The total area of the USA is over 9 million square kilometers.

The United States is a varied land — of forests, deserts, mountains, high flat lands and fertile plains. The continental United States stretches 4,500 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Gulf of Mexico in the south. It is also washed by the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

In the North the USA borders on Canada. In the South it shares borders with Mexico. The USA also has a sea-border with Russia and the Bahamas.

In the north-east the USA is divided from Canada by a natural boundary - the Great Lakes.

Alaska in the North and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean also belong to the territory of the USA.

The state of Alaska is far from the rest of the country and is separated by Canada from the U.S. territory. The distance between the western end of Alaska and Russia is only 80 kilometers.

Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA in 1959 and they occupy the islands in the Pacific Ocean.

There are two highland and two lowland regions in the continental part of the USA.

The Rocky Mountains (which are called the "backbone" of the continent, or the Continental Divide), the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains in the west which is part of the Cordillera mountain system, form the highland region of the country. The Rocky Mountains house a lot of national parks.

The highest peak in the USA is in Alaska. It is called Mount McKinley and it is 6,000 meters high.

Western mountains are much higher than eastern ones. The Appalachian Mountains with their gentle slopes stretch along the Atlantic coast. The two central lowlands that are between two highland regions are called the prairie and the Mississippi Valley.

There are many rivers and lakes in the USA. The longest rivers are: the Mississippi River (which is one of the longest rivers in the world), the Missouri (the tributary of the Mississippi), the Ohio (also the tributary of the Mississippi), the Rio Grande (which makes the natural boundary with Mexico), the Columbia (which flows in the western part of the country) and the Colorado (which runs from the western part of the country through deep canyons to the southern part of the country). There is a huge number of lakes on the territory of the country. In the state of Minnesota alone there are 10,000 lakes.

The Great Lakes form the biggest group of lakes in the country. They contain fresh water. These lakes are said to have half of the world’s fresh water. These five lakes are: the Superior, the Huron, the Erie, the Ontario and the Michigan. Four of the Great Lakes belong to the territories of two countries: Canada and the USA. Only Lake Michigan belongs totally to the territory of the United States. The Niagara River rushes from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario over famous Niagara Falls. The word "Niagara" is an Indian word which means "roaring waters". And that is definitely true because the loud sound of falling water can be heard 25 kilometers away from the place. The Great Lakes are interconnected by natural channels. Their waters have an outlet into the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River and the Hudson River (in the mouth of which New York is situated).

The USA is also famous for two large salty lakes. One of them is Great Salt Lake in the state of Utah and the other is the Salton Sea in the southern part of the state of California.

Since the USA is a very big country it has a number of climatic regions on its territory. They are continental, subtropical, desert, arctic and some other regions. Almost every kind of climate may be found, but the country lies mostly in the temperate zone.

Subtropical climate is in the southern part of the country. Continental climate is in the central part, the climate of Alaska is arctic. The north and the north-east are the coldest regions and much snow falls in winter there.

The climate along the Pacific Ocean is much warmer than the climate of the Atlantic coast.

Hot winds that blow from the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The USA suffers a lot from such weather extremes as hurricanes. They usually bring highly dangerous storms. They take thousands of lives and cause billions of dollars of damage to the USA.

The current US population is over 311 million people, so the United States has the world's third largest population (following China and India). It represents a mere 4.5% of the world's population, so about one in every twenty people on the planet is a resident of the United States of America.

Los Angeles and New York are the two most populated cities of the country with population crossing 10,000,000 people. The Northeastern part of USA is the most densely populated part of the country. Cities near to the sea coast like Miami, Huston, San Diego, New Orleans, Tampa etc are also some of the highly populated areas of the country.

The nation’s natural advantages and resources are probably greater than those of any other area of equal size. The mineral resources vary from precious gold and rare uranium to various nonferrous metals. Coal, oil, iron, copper, lead, zinc and other minerals are abundant. They form the basis of modern industry. 

Industrial activity within the United States has been expanding southward and westward, most rapidly since World War II. Louisiana, Oklahoma, and especially Texas are centers of industrial expansion based on petroleum refining; aerospace and other high technology industries are the basis of the new wealth of Texas and California, the nation's leading manufacturing state. The industrial heartland of the United States is the east–north–central region, comprising Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, with steelmaking and automobile manufacturing among the leading industries. The Middle Atlantic states (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) and the Northeast are also highly industrialized; but of the major industrial states in these two regions, Massachusetts has taken the lead in reorienting itself toward such high-technology industries as electronics and information processing.

Large corporations are dominant especially in sectors such as steel, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, petroleum refining, computers, soaps and detergents, tires, and communications equipment. The growth of multinational activities of US corporations has been rapid in recent decades.

The history of US industry has been marked by the introduction of increasingly sophisticated technology in the manufacturing process. Advances in chemistry and electronics have revolutionized many industries through new products and methods.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the United States was the world leader in computer manufacturing. At the beginning of the 21st century, however, the high-tech manufacturing industry registered a decline. Semiconductor manufacturing had been migrating out of the United States to East Asian countries, especially China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Certain long-established industries—especially clothing and steelmaking—have suffered from outmoded facilities. Automobile manufacturing was an ailing industry in the 1980s, but rebounded in the 1990s. The United States has a total of 153 oil refineries. Crude oil and refined petroleum products are crucial imports, however.

TEXT 3. Australia – Geography, Climate, Wildlife, Natural resources

Country Name: Commonwealth of Australia Location: Oceania Capital: Canberra Largest city: Sydney Area: 7.7 million sq km Coastline: 25,760 km Independence: 1 January 1901 Urban Living: 89% of population Life Expectancy:  81.63 years

Australia is an island nation located in the Southern Hemisphere. Its continental mainland encompasses about 7.7 million km² or 3.0 million sq mi. This makes it the 6-th largest territory by land mass in the world. It stretches about 3,700 kilometers from north to south and 4,000 kilometers from east to west.

  It is home to about 22 million people who are happy to be known as “Aussies” who choose to concentrate in large numbers along the eastern and southeastern coasts, making sure never to drift too far from the beach. More than 85 per cent of people live within 100 kilometers of the coast. Australia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with just 3 people inhabiting each km² (7 people per sq mi). 

Now human habitation in Australia is estimated to have begun about50 thousand years ago with the arrival of the original aborigines. Their descendants living in Australia today are believed to represent the world’s oldest surviving civilization. 

The vast majority of the land, unfit for human habitation, with only 6% of the landmass is arable. Lack of water makes Australia the driest inhabited continent on the planet and keeps the population centers close to the moist coastal plains. There are vast desert and semi-arid lands. Geographically, Australia is an old, well worn land that has earned the title of the flattest continent on earth. Its territory is made up of mostly low plateaus and deserts that contain the oldest and least fertile soils.

The wildlife is vast and unique. Being an island separated from the rest of the world for the past 50 million years, Australia has developed its own unique flora and fauna. This allowed a range of animals to establish successful populations in Australia in a way that were unable to do so in other parts of the world. Almost all of Australia's native mammals are marsupials. Marsupials give birth to their young and then carry them in a pouch near their belly until the infant is old enough to survive on its own.

Australia is home to many other forms of wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. For example, there are around 800 species of birds, half of which are unique to this country. Australia is also called the land of parrots. 

Australia’s marine environments contain more than 4,000 fish varieties and tens of thousands of species of invertebrates, plants and micro-organisms. About 80 per cent of Australia's southern marine species are not found anywhere else in the world. Australia teems with native animals, and there are more mammals here than anywhere else on earth. Of all unique Australian animals, the three most internationally recognized icons are Koala, Kangaroo and Kookaburra. Much of Australia's fauna is protected by legislation; a notable exception is kangaroos, which are prolific and are regularly culled. The federal Environment Protection Act 1999   protects all native fauna and provides for the identification and protection of threatened species. In each state and territory, there is statutory listing of threatened species. At present, 380 animal species are classified as either endangered or threatened. 

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometers (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. The climate is significantly influenced by ocean currents. These weather patterns correlate with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

Australia is a country rich in natural resources which are in demand from the rest of the world.  Beginning with the farm produce of wool and wheat in the 19th century, Australia today is a significant supplier to the world in the commodities of coal, iron ore, uranium, beef, natural gas and the exotic opal. In fact Australia is the world's largest net exporter of coal and accounts for about 29% of global coal exports. Its natural resources include bauxite, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas and petroleum. Australia produces 95 per cent of the world's precious opals and 99 per cent of its black opals. The world’s opal capital is the quirky underground town of Coober Pedy in South Australia. The world’s largest opal, weighing 5.27 kilograms, was found here in 1990.

Major agricultural products include wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits, cattle, sheep, and poultry. Leading industries are mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, and chemicals.

Australia’s location in the Southern Hemisphere also makes it ideally situated to supply counter-seasonal produce to markets in Asia, Europe and North America during their winter months. Australia exports around 65 per cent of its farm products; 60 per cent of its forest products; 98 per cent of its wool; and 51 per cent of its dairy products.

Issues	Great Britain	USA	Australia
Formal and informal names of the country
Capital, largest cities
Location (hemisphere, latitude, longitude)
Population, its density and distribution throughout the country
Surrounding countries, seas and oceans
Territory (size as compared to other countries)
Relief (major mountain ranges, highlands, lowlands)
Climatic zones (variety, scarcity)
Characteristic features of the climate, factors that influence it
Major rivers, lakes, marine environments, their economic value
Characteristic features of the flora and fauna
Major agricultural crops
Mineral resources (abundance - scarcity; used for domestic needs – imported)
Leading industries
Advantages and disadvantages of the geographic position

TEXT 4. Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.