13.2 Practise reading the following words

New World, Tierra del Fuego, Point Gallinas, Colombia, Cape Horn, Chile, Carribean Sea, Antarctica, Drake Passage, Isthmus of Panama, Andes, Guiana, Brazilian, Himalayas, Asia, Argentina, Amazon River, Orinoco, Parana-Paraguay-Rio de la Plata, Sao Francisco, Lake Titicaca, Peru, Bolivia, Peru Current, Atacama Desert.

13.3 Read and translate the text

South America, fourth largest continent and southernmost of the two main New World landmasses. It covers an area of some 17,814,000 sq km, or about one-eight of Earth’s land area. The continent, broad in the north and tapering in the south at Tierra del Fuego, extends about 7,600 km from Point Gallinas (Colombia) in the north to Cape Horn (Chile) in the south. Bounded by the Carribean Sea to the northeast, east and southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west, the continent is separated from Antarctica by the Drake Passage. In the northeast it is joined to North America by the Isthmus of Panama, which forms a land bridge narrowing to about 80 km at one point. Some years ago the population of the continent was estimated to be 302,819,000.

The continent may be divided into three topographic sections: the geologically young mountain chains of the Andes in the west; the ancient, crystalline Guiana and Brazilian continental shields in the east and north-centre; and the sedimentary basins peripheral to the shields. The Andes Mountains stretch north - south for about

8,800 km and are second in average height only to Himalayas of Asia. The Andes region is seismically active and prone to earthquakes. The Pampas of eastern Argentina consists of an immense accumulation of loose sediment brought down from Andes by rivers or dust storms. Covering an area of about 707,000 sq km,

the Pampas and its fertile soils constitute one of South America’s most productive agricultural areas.

South America’s hydrology is dominated in the north by the Amazon River basin, which drains a third of the continent’s land area into the Atlantic Ocean. Three other important river systems, the Orinoco, the Parana-Paraguay-Rio de la Plata, and Sao Francisco, also empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the lakes of South America are mountain lakes in the Andes or along their foothills. Lake Titicaca, lying at an elevation of about 3,810 km between Peru and Bolivia, is the highest freshwater lake in the world.

South America can be divided into four well-marked climatic regions: tropical, temperate, arid, and cold. One of the features that moderates South American climate is the Peru Current along South America’s western coast. The waters of the Peru Current keep temperatures between northern Chile and the equator cooler than average for the low latitudes. The Peru Current also helps to create the Atacama Desert on South America’s western coast. Winds crossing the cold current from the west lose all their moisture over the water. Some people in the Atacama have never seen rain.

Over half the total land area is covered by forest, principally the enormous but steadily diminishing Amazon Rain Forest. About 2,500 different species of trees grow in the rain forests. Almost one-fourth of all the world’s known species of animals live in the rain forests, plateaus, rivers, and swamps. They include such rare and indigenous forms as the llama, jaguar, alpaca, capybara, sloth, giant ant-eater, manatee, and piranha.