Imagine yourself a tour guide in Washington. What would you tell your group of excursionists about the famous sightseeing objects? text b. New york

Pre-reading task:

What do you know about New York City?

What places of interest would you like to visit in New York?

Why is New York called a “Big Apple”?

One day, in the year 1626, a tribe of Red Indians sold a small rocky island to a Dutchman. The island lay at the mouth of the Hudson river, in a bay which was sheltered from the stormy Atlantic by two larger islands. The Indians called it “Man-a-hat-ta”, the Heavenly Land. They sold it to the Dutchman for some colored beads worth about 24 dollars.

Today the island of Manhattan is worth millions and millions of dollars. For it is the heart and the center of one of the biggest and richest cities in the world - the city of New York in the USA.

One of the world’s leading commercial, financial and cultural centers, New York City is subdivided into five boroughs. The boroughs are Queens, Brooklyn, Richmond (Staten Island), the Bronx, and Manhattan. America’s business and culture are in Manhattan. The Empire State Building, Times Squire, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Harlem, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Broadway - all those world famous sights are in Manhattan. What unites them is probably a small street, only a few blocks long, which is the financial center of the whole US - Wall Street. It provides the nation with centralized credit and banking facilities. We can’t but mention that much domestic and international trade was conducted in the twin towers of the World Trade Center. In September of 2001 an explosion destroyed one of the world’s tallest structures and killed thousands of people. One Islamic group and it’s leader Ben Laden are responsible for this terrible act of terrorism.

When you think of New York, you think of skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty.

One of the world’s greatest monuments, 151 feet tall, stands at the entrance to New York Harbour. The people of France gave the Statue to the Americans in 1886. The Statue of Liberty represents a woman with a crown on her head, holding a huge torch of Liberty to welcome all the world. In her left hand is a tablet with a date on it - July 4, 1776. That is the date of the Declaration of Independence.

The USA as a symbol of liberty seems to offer new hope and new opportunity. The city’s population of 8 million people remains more racially and ethnically diverse that many areas in the US.

U n I t 5 Text a. Russian federation

Russia is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/6 of the Earth surface. It is situated in Eastern Europe, Siberia and the Far East. Its total area is over 17 million square km. It’s washed by 12 seas, most of which belong to three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on 14 neighbors. It also has a sea border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in this land. We have numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands, lowlands and deserts. The highest mountains are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over 2 000 rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. We are rich in various lakes, the Baikal included which is the deepest in the world.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. We are rich in natural resources: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The RF is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population is about 140 million people. Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It’s the largest scientific, cultural and industrial center. Russian is the official language in this state. The national symbol of the nation is a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The RF is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The government consists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls the executive branch – the government. The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper chamber) and the State Duma (low chamber). Each chamber is presided 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. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of Russia is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

Exercise 1.

Memorize the following words and phrases.

to occupy занимать

surface площадь

total area общая площадь

to border on граничить с

numerous многочисленный

steppes степи

highlands возвышенности

lowlands равнины

Urals Урал

Caucasus Кавказ

climate климат

moderate умеренный

ore руда

ferrous железный

state государство

to comprise включать

banner знамя

eagle орёл

Federal Assembly Федеральное Собрание

State Duma Государственная Дума

Supreme Court Верховный Суд

foreign иностранный

irrespective независимо

Exercise 2.

Answer the following questions.

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What seas and oceans wash the coast of this country?

3. How many countries border on our country? What are they?

4. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

5. What are the highest mountains here?

6. What is the Baikal famous for?

7. What is the climate in Russia like?

8. What are the national symbols of Russia?

9. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

10. Who is the head of each chamber of the Federal Assembly?

Exercise 3.

Suppose that you are a school teacher of geography. What are you going to inform your pupils of concerning our Homeland?