Vocabulary.

strait – пролив

adjacent islands- прилегаюшие острова

settlers-переселенцы

isthmus-перешеек

to be much in demand- быть востребованным

merchant-купец

to occur to smb-приходить в голову,осенять

to mutiny- бунтовать

to enslave-брать в рабств

to raze to the ground-сравнять с землей

Translate into English:

1. Америка - единственная часть света, которая полностью находится в Западном полушарии.

2. Америка отделяется от Азии Беринговым проливом.

3. Америка протянулась от Полярного круга до Антарктики.

4. Америка занимает территорию в 42.100.00 кв.км и является второй по величине частью света после Азии.

5. Америка состоит из двух континентов- Северной Америки и Южной Америки.

6. Когда-то отделенные друг от друга, эти континенты сейчас соединены Панамским перешейком ,где был проложен Панамский канал , соединяющий Атлантический и Тихий океаны.

7. Америка оставалась неизвестной Европе до конца 15 века.

8. В то время большое значение имела торговля с Индией, родиной специй, которые были очень востребованы в Европе.

9. В 1492 году Колумб на трех небольших судах возглавил экспедицию и вышел в Атлантический океан.

10. Колумб был уверен , что открытые им острова были частью Индии.

11. Местное население занималось земледелием-выращиванием хлопка, кукурузы и табака.

12. Некоторые народы, населявшие Америку, имели очень высокий уровень культуры к моменту прибытия туда европейцев.

13. Страны Америки долгое время являлись европейскими колониями.

14. Русские мореплаватели были первыми, кто достиг северо-западного побережья Америки.

15. Русские переселенцы были первыми, кто обосновался в северо-западной Америке.

Questions and Assignments

1. Find on the map the northernmost point of America (on the Boothia Peninsula) and the southernmost point (Cape Horn on an island near Tierra del Fuego). Determine their latitudes. How many degrees of latitude is America from north to south?

2. Which continent stretches farthest north? Which farthest south: Africa, South America or Australia?

3. What strait separates America from Asia?

4. Is the area of America large in comparison with other parts of the world?

5. What part of America is called Central America?

6. Why is America favourably placed for trade?

7. Speak about discovery of America.

8. What do you know about Russian explorers of North-Western America?

9. What happened to American possessions of Russia in the second half of the 19^th century?

2. Coast lines.

America's coastline is not as indented as either Europe's or Asia's. Especially regular is the coastline of South America, where there is not a single large peninsula or deep bay. In this part South America is much like Africa. Only at the southernmost point of the continent does there lie the island of Tierra del Fuego, separated from the mainland by the narrow and winding Strait of Magellan.

This strait was named after the European navigator Magellan, who was the first to sail around the world. During his voyage, which took place at the beginning of the 16th century, he passed through it from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the southern coast he saw the flames of bonfires and named the place: Tierra del Fuego.

On a small island close to Tierra del Fuego is С a p e Horn, a dark cliff standing at the very junction of the two oceans. It is often beaten by stormy weather which, together with the dense fogs, make rounding the cape dangerous. In the sailing-ship days many vessels found their graves here.

Between South and North America lie the West Indies. They include the Greater Antilles and a number of smaller islands, and separate the Atlantic from the deep Caribbean Sea.

More indented is the northern coastline of North America. Here lies the Arctic Archipelago, consisting of a great number of large and small islands as well as the greatest island on earth, Greenland. The latter has an area of 2,200,000 square kilometres and lies mainly within the Arctic Circle.

The northern coast is deeply indented by the H u d s о n В a y. This is a large but shallow arm, almost ten times the size of the White Sea in Europe.

Straits connect it with the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Floating ice closes both straits and bay to navigation in winter. Though it extends as far south as parallel 50°, Hudson Bay may be regarded as an Arctic sea, for it is frozen two-thirds of the year and is not free of ice even in summer. Floating ice, frequent storms and dense fogs hinder shipping.

East of Hudson Bay lies the large Labrador Peninsula and close to it, the island of N e w f о u n d 1 a n d in the Atlantic.

In the north-west of North America is the peninsula of Alaska. Together with the Aleutian Islands it separates the Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean.

Southward there are two peninsulas: long, narrow, mountainous California in the west, separated from the mainland by the Gulf of California, and low-lying Florida in the south-east, separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean Warm waters from the Equator penetrate through the Caribbean Sea into the Gulf of Mexico. From here a warm current, called the Gulf Stream, flows into the Atlantic through the strait lying between Florida and the island of С u b a (one of the Greater Antilles group). It joins another powerful warm current flowing east of the Antilles. Here the Gulf Stream reaches a width of 500 kilometres and a depth of several hundred metres. This enormous current carries more water than all the rivers of the globe combined. It moves northward, but under the influence of the earth's rotation and westerly winds, it is driven north-eastward towards the shores of Europe, where it is called the North Atlantic Drift Current. Off the eastern coast of North America flows the cold Labrador Current from Greenland. It skirts Labrador and moves southward in a narrow stream. The icebergs' brought down to the Atlantic by the Labrador Current are a danger to shipping on the trade routes leading from Europe to America.