polunina_ln_bobrovskaia_im_priroda_nauka_tekhnologii

crossed at right angles by a series of half-circles extending north and south from one pole to the other, called the meridians of longitude.

Although the equator was an obvious choice as the prime parallel, being the largest, no one meridian was uniquely qualified as prime. Until a single prime meridian could be agreed upon, each nation was free to choose its own, with the result that many 19th-century maps of the world lacked a standardized grid. The problem was resolved in 1884, when an international prime meridian, passing through London's Greenwich Observatory, was officially designated. A metallic marker there indicates its exact location.

Degrees of latitude are equally spaced, but the slight flattening at the poles causes the length of a degree of latitude to vary from 110.57 km (68.70 mi) at the equator to 111.70 km (69.41 mi) at the poles. At the equator, meridians of longitude 1 degree apart are separated by a distance of 111.32 km (69.17 mi); at the poles, meridians converge. Each degree of latitude and longitude is divided into 60 minutes, and each minute divided into 60 seconds, thereby allowing the assignment of a precise numerical location to any place on earth.

(Microsoft Encarta, 2008)

9. Arrange the parts of the text in logical order so that the text was complete.

Globe

(1)Globes are often made to rotate around a rod that pierces them at the poles. The rod, which serves as the axis of the globe, is attached to a stand. The axis is usually inclined at an angle of about 23.5°, the amount by which the axis of the earth is tilted off the axis of the sun. Some globes are placed in a mounting, or stand, that cradles the globe and allows it to be turned in any direction so that any part of the world can be easily examined.

(2)Globes that represent the earth’s surface are called terrestrial globes. Most of these globes represent the political features or relief (physical) features of the earth by colors printed on a smooth surface. A molded three-dimensional surface is used on some relief globes to represent the surface of the earth with miniature mountains, valleys, and other physical features.

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(3)The first globes were built by the ancient Greeks. The earliest known globe was one constructed by the scholar Crates about 150 BC. An ancient celestial globe that still exists was made about 150 AD as part of a sculpture, called the Farnese Atlas, in the Naples Museum, Naples, Italy. The oldest existing terrestrial globe was made by Martin Behaim in Nürnberg, Germany, in 1492. This globe does not show the Americas. As new lands were discovered in the 16th and 17th centuries, globes became more accurate.

(4)The world’s largest globe is the Unisphere, which was built for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. This stainless steel globe is 37 m (120 ft) across and weighs 408,000 kg (900,000 lb), including its base. The world’s largest revolving globe is the Globe of Peace, in Pesaro, Italy, measuring 10 m (33 ft) across and weighing 33,500 kg (73,900 lb).

(5)Globes have some disadvantages. They are somewhat bulky and cannot be stored easily. In addition, globes would have to be gigantic to show small areas, such as those of a state in the United States, in great detail.

(6)Unlike flat maps, globes can represent the earth’s curved surface without distortion. Globes are often used to plan long sea and air routes, called great-circle routes, and to determine the routes of satellites. They are also used to trace earthquake shocks and tsunamis (tidal waves). All of these routes are measured better on a globe than on a flat map because they are not straight lines: they follow the earth’s curvature.

(7) Globe is a model of the earth (a terrestrial globe) or of the heavens (a celestial globe). Globes are a kind of map. Most globes are formed from a series of roughly triangular maps called gores, which are glued on the outside of a sphere.

(Microsoft Encarta, 2008)

10. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions.

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Desert

Desert is a term applied (1) … (to/of/with) regions of the earth that are characterized (2) … (in/by/at) less than 254 mm (10 in) of annual rainfall, an evaporation rate that exceeds precipitation, and, in most cases, a hig h average temperature. Because (3) … (at/from/of) a lack of moisture (4) … (on/in/under) the soil and low humidity in the atmosphere, most of the sunlight penetrates to the ground. Daytime temperatures can reach 55° C (131° F) (5) … (at/in/on) the shade. (6)

…(In/At/On) night the desert floor radiates heat back to the atmosphere, and the temperature can drop to near freezing.

Deserts are caused (7) … (from/of/by) a combination of climate patterns and geological features.

Most desert regions have been formed by movements (8) … (from/of/on) air masses over the planet. As the earth turns on its axis, it produces gigantic air swirls. Hot air rising (9) … (over/under/above) the equator flows northward and southward; the currents cool in the upper regions and descend as high-pressure areas (10) … (in/on/at) two subtropical zones. North and south of these zones are two more areas of ascending air and low pressure. Still farther north and south are the two polar regions (11) … (by/of/from) descending air. As air rises, it cools and loses its moisture. As it descends, it warms and picks up moisture, drying out the land.

The downward movements of warm air masses (12) … (under/ behind/over) the earth have produced two belts of deserts, one along the tropic of Cancer, (13) … (on/in/at) the northern hemisphere, and the other along the tropic of Capricorn, in the southern hemisphere. Among the northern deserts are the Gobi in China, the deserts of southwestern North America, the Sahara in North Africa, and the Arabian and Iranian deserts in the Middle East. Along the southern belt lie Patagonia in Argentina, the Kalahari Desert (14) … (from/at/of) southern Africa, and the Great Victoria and Great Sandy deserts of Australia.

Other desert areas result from the influence of ocean currents (15)

…(at/on/over) landmasses. As cold waters move (16) … (to/from/in) the Arctic and Antarctic regions toward the equator and come (17) … (out of/into/onto) contact with the edges of continents, they are augmented by upwellings of cold water from the ocean depths. Air

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currents cool as they move across cold water; they carry fog and mist but little rain. Such currents flow across the coastal regions (18) … (with/of/by) southern California, Baja California, southwest Africa, and Chile; although often shrouded in mist, these coasts are deserts.

(Microsoft Encarta, 2008)

SPEAKING

11. Form a group of three or four. With your group members plan a trip to any place you want. Answer the questions below.

1.Where will your group go?

2.When will you go?

3.How will you travel (by plane, car, train, bus, and so on)?

4.Do you have any friends of yours who live there?

5.How long are you going to stay there?

6.Have you ever been to this place before?

7.What do you already know about this place?

8.What are you going to do and see?

WRITING

12.Draw a map of your home country. Show where the important places are. Be sure to mention your favourite place(s)!

13.Choose one of the English speaking countries. Write a short report. Use the following scheme:

- location

- government - population - industries - main cities

KEY WORDS

animal/plant life, apply, approach, area, aspects, branches, characteristic, characterize, climate, concern, data, deal with, describe,

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difference, distinguish, distribution, earth, environment, equator, factors, features, geography, globe, hemisphere, human, include, involve, landscape, latitude, location, longitude, measure, meteorology, natural resources, pole, population, raw materials, region, relationship, science, similarity, soil, sphere, study, surface, technique, variety

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Mountains

(1)Mountain is a name usually applied to region of land that is raised rather steeply above the surrounding terrain. Mountains are distinguishable from plateaus by their usually limited summit area (mountains are generally much narrower at the top than at the base) and they are distinguishable from hills by generally higher elevation. The elevation, or altitude, of a mountain is given as the height of the summit above sea level. Therefore, a mountain with an elevation of 4000 m (13,100 ft) may rise to a level of only 3000 m (9840 ft) above the surrounding land.

(2)Mountains are normally found in groups or ranges consisting of peaks, ridges, and intermontane (between mountains) valleys. Except for certain mountains that occur singly, the smallest unit pertaining to mountains is the range, comprising either a single complex ridge or a series of ridges generally alike in origin, age, and form. Several closely related ranges in a parallel alignment or chainlike cluster are known as a mountain system; an elongated series of systems forms a mountain chain; and an extensive complex of ranges, systems, and chains is known as a belt, or cordillera.

(3)Geologists believe that most mountains are formed by movements in the earth’s crust. The plate tectonics model has helped explain many of these processes. This model describes the crust of the earth as made up of a number of vast plates that move about at the rate of a few centimeters a year leading to the collision and separation of continents and the subsequent development of mountain belts.

(4)Movements that result in collisions between plates tend to raise the crust by faulting, folding, or arching up layers of rock. Movements that result in separation, or rifting, of plates cause some blocks of crust

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to sink, leaving other blocks to tower above them. Volcanic eruptions also raise mountains, and much of the world’s volcanic activity is concentrated along the active margins of crustal plates. Finally, some ranges of low mountains are created by nontectonic processes, chief among these being the sculpturing effects of erosion, which wears away softer rock and leaves the harder rock.

(Adapted from Microsoft Encarta, 2008)

1. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are TRUE, FALSE or there is NO such INFORMATION in the text.

2. Decide which part of the text contains the following information.

1.A vast complex of ranges, systems, and chains is known as a belt.

2.Volcanic eruptions also elevate mountains.

3.Give the answer to the following question. What is a mountain?

1.It is an area of land that is elevated rather low above the surrounding terrain.

2.It is an area of land that is elevated like a spire above the surrounding terrain.

3.It is an area of land that is not elevated above the surrounding terrain.

4.It is an area of land that is elevated rather steeply towards the surrounding terrain.

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4. What is the main idea of the text?

1.Mountains are worth studying as they are made up of a number of vast plates that move about at the rate of a few centimeters a year leading to the collision and separation of continents and the subsequent development of mountain belts.

2.Mountains are worth studying as they are distinguishable from hills by generally higher elevation.

3.Mountains are worth studying as they affect life in many ways. Apart from their mineral, forest, agricultural and recreational resource value, they exert a significant influence on climate and determine the course of economic or historical trends.

4.Mountains are worth studying as they are formed by movements in the earth’s crust.

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UNIT 2

EARTH SCIENCE

WARMING UP

1.Do you know how many planets there are in the solar system? Can you name at least some of them?

2.Using your own words try to explain the term atmosphere?

3.Define what weather is? What are the elements of weather?

4.What are the three major subdivisions of the world ocean?

READING

Earth is the third planet in distance from the Sun in the solar system, the only planet known to harbor life, and the “home” of human beings. From space Earth resembles a big blue marble with swirling white clouds floating above blue oceans. About 71 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water, which is essential to life. The rest is land, mostly in the form of continents that rise above the oceans.

Earth’s surface is surrounded by a layer of gases known as the atmosphere, which extends upward from the surface, slowly thinning out into space. Below the surface is a hot interior of rocky material and two core layers composed of the metals nickel and iron in solid and liquid form.

The atmosphere is a layer of different gases that extends from Earth’s surface to the exosphere, the outer limit of the atmosphere, about 9,600 km (6,000 mi) above the surface. Near Earth’s surface, the atmosphere consists almost entirely of nitrogen (78 percent) and oxygen (21 percent). The remaining 1 percent of atmospheric gases consists of argon (0.9 percent); carbon dioxide (0.03 percent); varying amounts of water vapor; and trace amounts of hydrogen, nitrous oxide, ozone, methane, carbon monoxide, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon.

The layers of the atmosphere are the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. The troposphere is the layer in which weather occurs and extends from the surface to

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about 16 km (about 10 mi) above sea level at the equator. Above the troposphere is the stratosphere, which has an upper boundary of about 50 km (about 30 mi) above sea level. The layer from 50 to 90 km (30 to 60 mi) is called the mesosphere. At an altitude of about 90 km, temperatures begin to rise. The layer that begins at this altitude is called the thermosphere because of the high temperatures that can be reached in this layer (about 1200°C, or about 2200°F). The region beyond the thermosphere is called the exosphere.

Earth’s surface is the outermost layer of the planet. It includes the hydrosphere, the crust, and the biosphere.

The hydrosphere consists of the bodies of water that cover 71 percent of Earth’s surface. The largest of these are the oceans, which contain over 97 percent of all water on Earth. Glaciers and the polar ice caps contain just over 2 percent of Earth’s water in the form of solid ice. Only about 0.6 percent is under the surface as groundwater.

The crust consists of the continents, other land areas, and the basins, or floors, of the oceans. The dry land of Earth’s surface is called the continental crust. It is about 15 to 75 km (9 to 47 mi) thick. The oceanic crust is thinner than the continental crust. Its average thickness is 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 mi). The crust has a definite boundary which separates it from the underlying mantle, which is much thicker and is part of Earth’s interior.

The biosphere includes all the areas of Earth capable of supporting life. The biosphere ranges from about 10 km (about 6 mi) into the atmosphere to the deepest ocean floor. For a long time, scientists believed that all life depended on energy from the Sun and consequently could only exist where sunlight penetrated. In the 1970s, however, scientists discovered various forms of life around hydrothermal vents on the floor of the Pacific Ocean where no sunlight penetrated. They learned that primitive bacteria formed the basis of this living community and that the bacteria derived their energy from a process called chemosynthesis that did not depend on sunlight. Some scientists believe that the biosphere may extend relatively deep into Earth’s crust. They have recovered what they believe are primitive bacteria from deeply drilled holes below the surface.

(Adapted from Morgan, A.V. Earth (planet), Microsoft Encarta, 2008)

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Expand your vocabulary

to harbor – дать убежище, приютить to extend – простирать(ся)

to cover – покрывать core – ядро boundary – граница altitude – высота

outermost – самый дальний от середины, от центра to consist of – состоять из

crust – земная кора

POST-READING ACTIVITY

1. Answer the following questions.

1.What does the atmosphere near Earth’s surface consists of?

2.What are the layers of the atmosphere? In which layer does weather occur?

3.What is the outermost layer of the planet? What does it include?

4.What does the hydrosphere consists of?

5.Explain what the biosphere is.

2. In each line, three words rhyme, but one is different. Underline the one that is different. The three vowel sounds are given to help you [ə], [ə:] or [ə].

3. Match the words with their meanings.