9.10 Read the dialogue and say what it is about. Read the dialogue once again and answer the following question:

What mountain turns out to be the highest one and how has it been proved?

A: I say, can you name the highest mountain in the world?

B: Certainly, it’s Mt. Everest. I’m sure every school-boy knows that.

A: Well, that’s not quite so. The thing is that if you measure from sea level, Everest – at 29,028 feet – still claims the prize. But if you measure from the centre of the earth, the highest point turns out to be the top of Mount Chimborazo.

B: Chimborazo? Where is that?

A: It’s an Andean peak in Ecuador. It lies just 2 degrees south of the equator. Since our planet is not a perfect sphere, it has a measurable bulge around the equator. Having used satellite data, it was calculated that the radius of the earth at this point plus the altitude of Chimborazo makes 20,946,233 feet between the summit and the earth’s centre whereas Everest sits at a comparatively low-lying latitude of 28 degrees north by 7,058 feet.

9.11Read the text and give a title

The largest ocean is the Pacific having a total area of 63,530,000 square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, the next largest, is only 31,530,000 square miles, the Indian Ocean with 28,350,000 square miles comes third. The longest river is the Nile which is more then 4,000 miles longer or about twice the distance by air from London to Beirut. The biggest island is Greenland which belongs do Denmark and is about 840,000 square miles in extent. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea. Geographers consider it as a lake because it is not connected with any of the great oceans. It has an area of about 170,000 square miles. Which is the deepest sea? So far, as we know at present the greatest depth is in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines and goes down to 37,000 feet, which is much more than the height of Everest (20,002 feet). The biggest volcano is in Ecuador, South America. It is still active and 19,612 feet high. There is another one between Argentina and Chile and it is more than 3,000 feet higher.

9.12 Read the text and reproduce it in the form of a dialogue The world’s smallest countries.

The world’s smallest independent state is Vatican City, where the Pope lives. It is only forty-four hectares in area. Next smallest is Monaco, on the south coast of France (about 150 hectares). One of the smallest countries is San Marino, a republic high in the mountains of Italy. It is also the oldest, because it was founded some 1,500 years ago. San Marino covers sixty-one square kilometres and has over seventeen thousand people. Andorra is the mountain state of even thousand people. Andorra is situated high in the Pyrenees, between France and Spain.

9.13 Check yourself. Answer these geographical questions

1. 1. How many continents/oceans do you know?

2. 2. Which is the smallest ocean? Which is the smallest continent?

3. Which is the largest island in the world? Which is the largest sea?

4. Which is the deepest lake in the world?

5. Where are the Caucasus situated? Where are the Appalachians situated?

6. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the Mediterranean sea, is not it?

7. Which countries do you cross if you travel from Moscow to Holland?

8. Is Teheran the capital of Iran or Iraq?

9. Are the Great Lakes in North or South America?

10. Which river flows through Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade?

11. New Zealand is situated to the south-west of Australia, is not it?

1. 12. Of which country is Manila the capital? Where is Bolivia? Where is Senegal?

2. 13. What joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?

3. 14. Why is Ireland often called Emerald Isle?

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