9.5 Say whether the following statements are true or false

1. 1. About seventy-one per cent of the earth’s surface is occupied by land.

2. 2. Four oceans form the World Ocean.

3. 3. North America is the biggest continent while Australia is the smallest one.

4. 4. Twenty-nine per cent of the earth’s surface is occupied by the seas.

5. 5. Both North and South America have similar surfaces.

6. 6. The longest river of South America is the Missouri.

7. 7. Mount Chomolungma is situated in Africa.

8. 8. The longest river in the world is the Yangtze.

9. 9. Three dominant landforms of Australia are the highlands, the plateaus and the plains.

9.6 Translate words and word combinations given in brackets

1. 1. (Поверхность земли) can be described as being rough or smooth.

2. 2. (Необозримые равнины) are situated in the east-central part of Australia.

3. 3. South America has older, worn-down mountains (вдоль ее восточных границ).

4. 4. (Самый населенный континент) is Eurasia.

5. 5. (За исключением Атласских гор), the highest mountains are in the east-central part of Africa.

6. 6. (Из всех континентов только Антарктида) is uninhabited.

7. 7. Eurasia and Africa (значительно отличаются) from North and South America.

9.7 Ask questions to which the following sentences are the answers

1. 1. There is more water than land on our planet.

2. 2. The largest and deepest ocean in the world is the Pacific Ocean.

3. 3. No, Antarctica isn’t the largest continent. It’s Asia.

4. 4. Yes, the earth surface can be described as being rough or smooth.

5. 5. The rough lands are the world’s mountains and hilly uplands and the flat lands are its plateaus and plains.

6. 6. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the Ural Mountains.

7. 7. The rivers in Europe are much shorter than the rivers in Asia.

8. 8. The Suez Canal is the shortest waterway connecting Europe with the land washed by the Indian Ocean.

9. 9. Mount Everest is almost 9.000 metres high.

10. 10. Asia is four times the size of Europe.

11. 11. No, Africa is not nearly as mountainous in Asia.

12. Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere.

9.8 Make up the plan of the text “The map of the world”. Retell this text.

9.9 Read the texts. Find the answers to the given questions Why is the sea between Africa and Arabia called the Red Sea?

We all know from our maps that the Red Sea is the part of ocean between Africa and Arabia. At the top of it is the Suez Canal. But does any reader know why it is called red? After all its water is just like the water of any other sea – it doesn’t look like red ink. One of the answers is that much of the bottom of the sea, and much of the land around it is red sandstone. It also has red coral reefs and seaweed. Perhaps it looked red enough to the ancient Greeks and Romans, because it was known as the Red Sea even in those times.

How were the Victoria Falls discovered?

Have you ever seen a really big waterfall? At the Victoria Falls the blue Zambezi River, about two kilometres wide, falls down for over a hundred metres. These Falls were first discovered by an explorer called David Livingstone in 1855. He was trying to follow the Zambezi River to its mouth in a small boat when he came to the fall. At first he did not see the great waterfall from his boat. But the noise of the falling water made him stop at an island in the river and he was saved. He called it “Livingstone island”. Nowadays there is a road and a railway bridge across the river, but in those days it was very difficult even to walk near the fall because of the thick tropical jungle.