VI. Основные экономические регионы страны. Часть 5.

Прочтите текст F и выполните тестовые задания после текста. Тестовые задания включают информацию текстов E и F.

Text f. The rocky mountains

The Rocky Mountain region is made up of the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The most striking feature of this region is the small population compared to other regions of the United States. Large parts of the region have few or no people. This is mainly due to the lack of water, which will continue to influence the development of the region in the future.

Farms in the dry areas of the region are situated along the water-ways or where there is irrigation. The main crops are cotton, potatoes, wheat, barley, and sugar beets. As there is lack of water, many farmers find it more profitable to raise livestock; the cattle and sheep require a lot of land on which to graze. Therefore many of the ranches in the region are very large. Their sizes can be as large as 900 hectares.

Though agriculture in the region has many problems because of lack of water and poor soils, the Rocky Mountains are rich in mineral and energy resources. Gold and silver were the first resources discovered in the 19th century. Today, a number of minerals are mined such as copper, mercury, and molybdenum, which is used to strengthen steel. Coal and iron ore are mined in Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. On this basis a regional steel industry has developed.

Oil, natural gas, and coal are now of major importance to the Rocky Mountains region. It is believed that under much of Wyoming and Colorado there are large deposits of oil shale, that are rocks containing oil. From these rocks oil can be received. The Powder River Basin of Wyoming is now one of the most important coal mining regions of the country.

The major cities of the region are Phoenix and Denver. Phoenix has about 800,000 people in the city and 1.5 million in the metropolitan area. It is an important producer of electronic products, computers, airplanes, steel, aluminium, and chemicals. Denver with about half a million people in the city and 1.6 million in the metropolitan area has an economy based on federal government service including a mint where they make coined money. Food processing and the making of transportation equipment are also important.

Тестовые задания

I. Заполните пропуски:

1. The first American ... of the Great Plains thought that this region was a desert.

2. The ... size of a farm in Iowa is 114 hectares.

3. St. Louis was ... as a trading centre in the 1700's.

4. In order to ... this problem much of the cropland has been converted to grass land.

5. Many people migrate to Texas because of its warm climate and the ... of jobs in the growing cities.

6. Houston is becoming the national centre for technology for ...energy and medicine.

7. The most striking ... of the Rocky Mountains is the small population compared to other regions of the United States.