VI. B. A) Translate the following word combinations

the largest country in the world, be situated in, total area, over 17 million square kilometres, be washed by 12 seas, three oceans, the Arctic ocean, to border on fourteen countries, a sea-border with the USA, a great variety of flora and fauna, numerous forests, the highest mountains, plains, highlands and deserts, the longest rivers, be rich in natural resources, various lakes, the deepest lake in the world, time zones, climate conditions, natural gas, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, highly developed industrial pow­ers, main industrial branches, a multinational state, the population of the country, different nations and nationalities, official language

b) Insert articles where necessary

1. Russia is … largest country in the world. 2. The Russian Federation is … multinational state. 3. … Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. 4. The highest mountains are … Altai, … Urals and others. 5. ... population of the country is over 140 million people. 6. The country has a great variety of ... flora and ... fauna.

c) Insert prepositions where necessary

1. Russian is the official language … the state. 2. Our land is washed … 12 seas and 3 oceans. 3. The country borders … fourteen countries. 4. Our land is also rich … various lakes. 5. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake … the world. 6. The climate conditions are rather different: … arc­tic and mild (moderate) — … continental and subtropical. 7. The country is situated ... Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia.

d) Choose the right variant

1. Russia is the (larger / largest) country in the world. 2. (Most / More) than 100 different nations and nationalities live in the Russian Federation. 3. There (is / are) over 2 million rivers in the Russian Federation. 4. Our country is one of the (richer / richest) in natural resources coun­tries in the world. 5. Lake Baikal is the (deeper / deepest) lake in the world. 6. The country (border / borders on fourteen countries. 7. The country (have / has) a great variety of flora and fauna.

VI. C. Answer the questions

1. Is Russia a large country? 2. Where is it situated? 3. What is the total area of the country? 4. What seas and oceans is our land washed by? 5. How many countries does it border on? 6. What can you tell about flora and fauna? 7. What are the highest mountains? 8. How many rivers are there in the Russian Federation? 9. What are the longest rivers? 10. What is the deepest lake in the world? 11. What is the population of the country? 12. What are the climate conditions of the country? 13. What natural resources is our country rich in? 14. What are the main industrial branches of the country? 15. What is the official language of the state?

VII. A. Read the text The Russian Federation and then discuss it

The Russian Federation is a constitutional state headed by the President. The President controls only the executive branch - the government. The country government con­sists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker.

The executive power belongs to the Government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

court суд lower нижний	chamber палата upper верхний			belong принадлежать power [′pauə] держава, власть
comprise включать, охва­тывать Federal Council Совет Федерации government [′gʌvnmənt] правительство			executive [ig'zekjutiv] исполнительный Federal Assembly Федераль­ное Собрание legislative ['ledʒislətiv] законо­дательный
judicial судебный consist (of) состоять (из)		Supreme Court [sju'pri:m 'kɔ:t] Верховный суд the Council ['kaunsl] of Fede­ration Совет Федерации