English for Geographers

English For Geographers_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________English For Geographers

English For Geographers_____________________________________________

BOOK 2

Part 1

Texts for additional reading and speaking practice

Unit 1. Earth

1. Read and learn the following words:

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2. Read aloud the following word combinations and translate them:

once every year, compared with, work out, the inner core of the earth, earth looked very different, molten rock is forced up, two halves are pushed apart, come into existence, turn into solid rock.

3. Read and translate the text:

Earth

The Earth is different from the other planets in the Solar System because it has water and an atmosphere containing oxygen, so life can exist here. The earth goes around the Sun in a great orbit once every year. This causes the seasons. The earth also spins round on its own axis once every 24 hours, and this causes day (when one side faces the Sun) and night (when the same side faces away). The earth is tiny when compared with many other planets, or with the Sun. The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto are smaller: Jupiter and Saturn are hundreds of times bigger. The Sun is over a million times bigger then the Earth.

In the distant past the earth looked very different. The continents and the oceans have changed tremendously. For example, 200 million years ago there was no Atlantic Ocean. North America, Europe and part of Asia were joined as one continent which we call Laurasia. South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica formed a large southern continent called Gondwanaland. We can work out when the Atlantic began to open up, and how wide it was at different times.

This continental drift seems evident when we see how well the coastlines match up. For example, Africa and South America fit nearly together. Also, the sands and muds on the bottom of the ocean can be dated accurately, and they become younger and younger as you get nearer to the centre of the ocean.

What is happening is that there is a deep crack right up the middle of the Atlantic which is like a line of small volcanoes. Molten rock is forced up

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the crack and the two halves of the Atlantic are pushed apart. A new ocean floor is created in the middle with Africa westwards. This movement is only 1 to 10 cm per year. The surface of the Earth is divided up into several large plates, and these are all moving in different directions. North America will eventually reach Russia to the west. California may drift away from the rest of north America.

Scientists do not know exactly what the Earth is like inside. We live on the outer part which is made from hard rocks and covered with water in places. This is the crust. The inside of the earth is very hot, and below about 70 km the rocks are all in the form of molten liquid. We know this because minors have found that the rocks become warmer and warmer down deep mines, and molten rock often comes to the surface through volcanoes. The main inner layer, the mantle, is made of molten rock, and the inner core of the earth is made from solid and liquid metal.

The Universe is said to have come into existence as much as 20,000 million years ago. We shall never really know how this happened. The most popular explanation is the "big bang" theory. According to this, there was an enormous explosion which sent gases and particles hurtling out in all directions. Gradually, galaxies and solar systems began to form from this swirling mass, and the Sun might have eventually formed about 5,000 million years ago.

The Earth is thought to have formed 4,600 million years ago as a ball of molten rock. It was probably as hot as 4,0000C. It took many millions of years for the Earth to cool down enough for a crust to form, and the crust must have been very much like this at first. Molten rock turns into solid rock at temperatures of 800-1,5000C, so the early Earth’s crust would have been too hot to stand on.

The early Earth probably had no atmosphere, just like most of the other planets now. However, gases were ejected from volcanoes all over the surface, and a primitive atmosphere developed. This atmosphere had no oxygen. The first forms of life are believed to date from 3,500 million years ago, and they lived without oxygen. Oxygen came much later, since it is produced mainly by plants.

4.Answer the questions:

1.Why is the Earth different from other planets?

2.How often does the earth go around the Sun?

3.What causes the seasons?

4.What causes day and night?

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5.What planets are smaller/bigger than the Earth?

6.Did the Earth look the same in the past?

7.Do we know what is the Earth like inside?

8.How old is the Earth?

5.Are the following statements true or false?

1.The Earth is the same as the other planets in the Solar System.

2.There are 15 planets in the Solar System.

3.The Earth goes around the Sun and this causes the seasons.

4.The earth is the largest planet.

5.We all know what the earth is like inside.

6.Read aloud the following pairs of words. Name synonyms, and then antonyms:

1. different – various; 2. complete – full; 3. complicated – easy; 4. useful –useless; 5. usual – unusual; 6. to assist – to aid; 7. to include – to involve; 8. to include – to exclude; 9. high – low; 10. to provide – to supply; 11. to alter – to change.

7. Match the verbs with explanations:

English For Geographers_____________________________________________

2. Read aloud the following word combinations and translate them:

worn away, shed rain, to cope with, neighbouring rocks, to bulge upwards, curve in a great arc, rain bearing monsoon, snow-capped peaks.

3. Read and translate the text:

Mountains

As soon as mountains start to rise above the surrounding land they are attacked by water, wind, rain and ice. The softer rocks are soon eroded to form valleys, and jagged peaks form as the valleys are cut back into the hills. Young and rapidly rising mountains have high steep-sided peaks and deep valleys and gorges. In time, the peaks of the mountains and the sides of the valleys are worn away, the hills become lower and more rounded and the valleys become wider, with slower-flowing, less powerful rivers. In old age, a mountain range may become little more than a gently undulating plain.

As you climb up a mountain, the temperature falls by 10C for every 150 m. There is snow on the top of high mountains even at the Equator. Also there is less oxygen in the atmosphere the higher up you go. Winds are often very strong, and the weather can change very quickly. Mountains have a dramatic effect on the climate of surrounding areas. As the clouds rise over the mountains, they shed their rain, so the side of a mountain range where the wind blows is often very wet, but the sheltered side (the rain-shadow) gets very little rain. An example of this is in California where the western side of the Sierra Nevada receives rain brought in from the Pacific, but on the eastern side is the desert called Death valley.

Mountain plants and animals have to cope with extremes of temperature: hot days and cold nights, and very high winds. Mountain soils are often thin, as soil is washed down the slopes. Above a certain altitude, called the tree-line, trees cannot grow as conditions are too harsh, and the vegetation is stunted and slow-growing. Many animals, such as mountain hares and ptarmigan have extra thick coats in winter.

The continents sit on great plates of the Earth’s crust which slowly move over the surface of the planet. Where two plates move towards each other, the sediments on the floor of the ocean between them are squeezed up to form mountain ranges, such as the Alps, Himalayas, Andes and Rockies. This is why rocks containing fossils of marine animals can be found at the top of mountains.

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Many mountains are formed when molten rock from deep inside the Earth rises to the surface. It may pour out of the ground as lava, forming a volcano. As the lava cools, it forms hard, solid rock. Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Vesuvius in Italy are volcanoes. The largest volcanic mountain in the world is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which rises 10,000 m from the bed of the Pacific Ocean.

Sometimes huge blocks of rock can split and slide along lines of weakness called faults. Great masses of rock may be tilted or lifted above the neighbouring rocks to form mountains. Examples are the Sierra Nevada mountains in the western United States, the Black Forest and Harz mountains in Europe, and Mount Ruwenzori in East Africa, which reaches a height of 5,167 m.

Sometimes the molten lava does not reach the surface, because the rocks above are too strong to give way. Instead, it forces the rocks to bulge upwards, to form a dome-shaped mountain. Sometimes the pressure comes not from lava, but from moving water underground, thick with dissolved salts. The Black Hills of South Dakota, in the USA, are the eroded remains of a dome mountain.

The Himalayas area series of mountain ranges which curve in a great arc for 2,500 km from Pakistan in the west to Tibet in the east. They form the largest mountain system in the world. Thirty mountains reach heights of over 7,300 m above sea-level. There are many jagged snow-capped peaks and large valley glaciers. In places, the rivers have cut gorges up to 4,900 m deep. Nineteen large rivers drain the Himalayas, including the rivers Indus and Brahmaputra. They carry silt and mud from the eroding mountains to the great flood-plains in India and Bangladesh, forming the rich soil on which crops like rice and cotton are grown.

The Himalayas began to form about 38 million years ago. The sediments of the ancient Tethys Sea became crushed and folded as the continental plate bearing India was forced up against the Eurasian plate. The mountains are still rising today. In the heart of the Himalayas are very ancient rocks, up to 4,600 million years old. The climate is very different on the north and south sides of the mountain system. To the south, India and Pakistan are protected from cold air from the north, and have a temperate climate. As the rain-bearing monsoon winds blow north from the Indian sub-continent, they are forced to rise over the Himalayas, dropping their rain and snow. Parts of the Himalayas have over 3,000 mm of rainfall a year. North of the Himalayas, the winds have lost their moisture. In Tibet desert conditions exist. Rice, cereals, sugar cane and other crops are grown in the river valleys and on hill terraces. Orchards of fruit trees, vineyards and tea plantations flourish on the

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lower slopes. Sheep, goats and yaks, a kind of mountain cattle with long shaggy hair well-suited to the harsh mountain climate are reared, too. Yaks are also used to carry people and heavy loads.

About one-third of the Himalayas is covered in forest, used to make paper, matches and other products. The trees also provide firewood for local people. But too many trees have been felled on the steeper slopes and the thin exposed soil cannot absorb the heavy rainfall. The soil washes away down the slopes, and disastrous floods occur further down the rivers, particularly in Bangladesh.

The mountains contain valuable minerals and gemstones, iron ore and coal. Many of the rivers have been dammed to produce hydroelectric power. The high mountains make it difficult to build roads and railways, and many communities are very isolated.

The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a series of mountain ranges running down the western side of North America from Alaska to Mexico. Some mountains have gentle slopes with rounded tops, but others are tall with jagged rocky peaks, many over 4,000 m above sea-level. Between the snow-capped peaks lie wide valleys, plateaux, lakes and rivers. In places there are hot springs, such as the geysers in Yellowstone National Park.

The Rockies started to form 190 million years ago, and are still rising slowly today. As the land has risen, the rivers have cut deep valleys and canyons in places. Many great rivers start in the Rockies. The mountains separate rivers flowing east, such as the Missouri, from those flowing west, like the Colorado River.

The Rocky mountains are home to 5 million people. The mountains contain deposits of metals such as iron, silver, gold, lead and zinc, as well as uranium, phosphates and other salts. There is also coal, oil and natural gas. Many of the rivers have been dammed to produce hydroelectric power. It is generally the case that the higher up the mountains, the more plentiful the rainfall and snowfall.

The alpine meadows are full of wild flowers. Below the meadows, forests cover much of the mountain slopes, and cattle and horses graze on the grassy lower slopes. One of the most important sources of income is tourism, including skiing, fishing and walking in the many national parks.

The Andes are a large series of mountain ranges stretching 8,900 km down the whole west side of South America. There are many snow-capped peaks over 6,700 m. In parts of the Andes, mountain ranges are separated by high plateaux, containing lakes such as Lake Titicaca. From the high, jagged peaks in the south, capped with permanent snowfields, glaciers push down to the Pacific Ocean. The formation of the Andes began about 80 million years ago and the mountains are

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still rising. There are many active volcanoes. The western slopes are desert or semi-desert in much of Peru and Northern Chile, but forested further south.

4.Answer the questions:

1.What are the softer rocks eroded to?

2.What do young mountains look like?

3.How does the atmosphere change with the height?

4.What effect do mountains have on the climate?

5.How are mountains formed?

6.What is the largest volcanic mountain?

7.When are dome-shaped mountain formed?

8.Where are the largest mountain systems in the world found?

9.What are alpine meadows?

10.Describe the Andes.

5.Are the following statements true or false?

1.The soft rocks do not form valleys.

2.Young mountains are flat.

3.Young mountains do not change with the time.

4.The temperature falls as you climb up a mountain.

5.The weather is unchangeable in the mountains.

6.Read aloud the following pairs of words. Name synonyms, and then antonyms:

1.different – various; 2. to affect – to influence; 3. sufficient – insufficient;

4.sufficient – enough; 5. advantage – disadvantage; 6. expensive– inexpensive; 7. cheap – expensive; 8. to determine – to define; 9. stable – unstable; 10. above – below; 11. principal – main; 12. to obtain – to get; 13. suitable – unsuitable; 14. similar – different; 15. permanent – continuous.

7.Match the nouns from A with adjectives from B:

A. 1) methods; 2) output; 3) conditions; 4) character; 5) grade;

6)openings; 7) ores.

B. a) average; b) long; c) general; d) principal; e) hilly; f) mining; g) non-ferrous.