Isthmus and peninsula

Ethnic native physical considered separated joins country inhabitants isthmus landbridge projection region subcontinent

A n isthmus is a narrow piece of land that (1) ___ two larger areas of land. A good example is the Karelian Isthmus which is a (2) ___ in the north-west of Russia between the Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland.

A peninsula is a long (3) ___ of land into the water, connected with mainland by an (4) ___. The Iberian peninsula, for example, situated in south-western Europe and (5) ___ from France by the Pyrenees, comprises Spain and Portugal. The ancient names of this (6) ___ were Hispania and Iberia. The word Iberian can also refer to the ancient Iberia in the Caucasus, or anything pertaining to its culture, (7) ___ or language. It is sometimes used to describe the ancient (8) ___ of Georgia. By the way, Caucasian is used to describe not only a (9) ___ of the Caucasus, but also a member of the Caucasoid (10) ___ division, which is a major human division having certain distinctive (11) ___ characteristics such as skin color varying from very light to brown, and fine hair ranging from straight to wavy and curly. This division is (12) ___ to include groups of people indigenous to or inhabiting Europe, northern Africa, southwestern Asia, and the Indian (13) ___ and persons of this ancestry in other parts of the world. Interestingly, Georgia can refer to one of the American states.

5. Выберите подходящее слово из предложенных двух вариантов.

Perception of geography

A common/general (1) mistake in hand-drawn maps is the tendency/

trend (2) to make Europe too large and Africa too small. People from all parts of the world tend/pretend (3) to draw the world this way, including the Africans. One of the facts/factors (4) involved here is that old maps were drawn with “Mercator projection technology/technique (5)”, which makes the areas nearer the North Pole including Europe seem abnormally/normally (6) large. Other areas in the middle, such as Africa, seem smaller than in reality/realization (7). However, the Mercator maps also enlarge Greenland and Canada, and people usually do not make mistakes about their dimensions/diameter (8). Thus, a better explanation must lie in people’s ideas about relative/relevant (9) importance of the continents. The size of Europe tends to be exaggerated/deteriorated (10) because of its importance in people’s minds. Similarly/Analogously (11), Africa becomes smaller because people tend to underestimate/overestimate (12) its importance.

6. Выберите подходящее слово из предложенных трех вариантов.

Errors in geography

W hat (1) ___ if someone asks you to draw the map of the world? The results can be (2) ___. Few people have (3) ___ ideas of what the world looks like. You might expect the (4) ___ in the (5) ___ of the countries. After all, this is a task that (6) ___ a certain skill with a pencil and good memory. But many people do not even know the (7) ___ size of the continents. They tend to (8) ___ them or make them smaller according to their point of view. For this (9) ___, the home continent is often drawn too large. A Brazilian, for example, (10) ___ to enlarge the continent South America, while the Vietnamese enlarges Asia.

1	A occurs	B happens	C originates
2	A confusing	B puzzling	C surprising
3	A accurate	B exact	C sharp
4	A faults	B drawbacks	C mistakes
5	A position	B situation	C locations
6	A requests	B obliges	C requires
7	A relative	B related	C relating
8	A exaggerate	B enlarge	C magnify
9	A reason	B cause	C ground
10	A tends	B inclines	C intends

7. Образуйте соответствующее однокоренное слово.