Nebraska

Nebraska sweeps to the horizon in broad, gently undulating hills and open, sun-drenched vistas. These treeless expanses perplexed some of the first white people who ventured onto the prairie in the 19^th century. The first explorers were astonished by the immense herds of elk they saw. Prairie potholes – shallow basins filled intermittently with water – supported untold numbers of ducks and geese, and the nutritious native grass fed enormous herds of bison, or American buffalo.

This land developed into the Cornhusker State, a realm of farms and ranches. Livestock feedlots and towering grain elevators, where 95 percent of the terrain is given over the production of corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, and other crops, and to the raising of beef cattle and hogs.

The name Nebraska comes from the Oto Indian word nebrathka, which means flat water. This is what the Otos called the great river that flows west to east across the state. French traders called it the Platte.

Migration to Nebraska has not been limited to humans. Every year in late March half a million cranes converge on the Platte in the central part of the state, pausing here on their northward migration to their mating grounds in the Arctic. The convocation of cranes is one of the great wildlife spectacles in North America.

In 1867 Nebraska joined the Union as 37^th state.

КОНТРОЛЬНОЕ ЗАДАНИЕ № 2

ВАРИАНТ 8

I. Перепишите следующие предложения. Определить видовременные формы глаголов и залог; укажите их инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык /см. образец выполнения 1/.

1. Securities are bought and sold by securities markets.

2. Our company decided to apply for a loan after it had spent most of its funds.

3. The telephone bell rang when the manager was talking to a customer.

4. The owner has invested some of his money into new businesses.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на особенности перевода на русский язык причастий (Participle I и Participle I). Подчеркните причастия. Помните, что причастие в предложении может выполнять функции определения, обстоятельства или составной части глагола - сказуемого /см. образец выполнения 2/.

1. The North became more industrialized than before.

2. A doctor walking in the grounds with a blinded soldier was called away.

3. While reading a book given to me yesterday I found a lot of new words.

4. We ask you to increase the number of trucks bought from us.

III. Перепишите следующие предложения. Подчеркните в каждом из них модальный глагол или его эквивалент; переведите предложения на русский язык / см. образец выполнения 3/.

1. She is so old that is not able to look after her house.

2. Her child was seriously ill and she had to call the doctor.

3. Could you help me?

4. Must I do it immediately?

IV. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на многозначность it, that, one.

1. It was the only quiet time in his life.

2. Still it was not until the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution that Connecticut really came into its own.

3. Connecticut did not just benefit from the revolution; it helped create it.

4. Is this your umbrella? – No, mine is that green one.

V. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык текст.