Inland Waters

Lesson 12

The Influence of Geographical Position and Climate on Agriculture of Great Britain and the USA

Тема	Новоселова	Агрономия	Животновод-ство	Экономика
Английский	Элементарный английский
Present Simple	Урок 6, стр. 46 – 50	§ 1	___	§ 1	Unit 1, стр. 10 – 13
Формы глагола (to be) в Present Simple	Урок 1, стр. 7 – 8	§ 1	___	§ 1	Unit 1, стр. 10 – 11
Пассивный залог	___	§ 1, § 2	§ 20	§ 1	Unit 3, стр. 33, 34, 37
Артикль	Урок 2, стр. 5 – 6	___	___	___	Unit 1, стр. 9
Число существительных	Урок 3, стр. 16 – 17	­­­___	___	___	Unit 1, стр. 9 Unit 2, стр. 19
Наиболее распространен-ные предлоги, союзы, обороты	___	§ 31	___	§ 29	___

1. Прочитайте и переведите тексты о географическом положении, климате и сельском хозяйстве Великобритании и США.

The United Kingdom Geographical Position

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on British Isles – a large group of islands lying off the north-western coast of Europe and separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover in the south and the North Sea in the east.

The British Isles consist of two large islands – Great Britain and Ireland – separated by the Irish Sea, and a lot of small islands, the main of which are the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, Anglesea and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Hebrides – a group of islands off the north-western coast of Scotland, and two groups of islands lying to the north of Scotland: the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.

Historically the territory of the United Kingdom is divided into four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The total area of the United Kingdom is 244 square kilometres.

Coasts

The coastline of Great Britain is greatly indented, especially in the west and north-west where the mountains come close to the coast. The coasts of Scotland, as well as the coasts of the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, are cut by numerous fiords. In the south and east the land gradually slopes down towards the sea, and the coasts are sandy and gentle, here and there interrupted by the ends of hill-ranges, which form low cliffs.

Relief

The general slope of the land is from north-west to south-east.

The mountains cover the greater part of northern, western and middle Great Britain. They can be divided into the following groups:

1) The highlands of Scotland occupy most of the land to the north-west of a line drawn from Glasgow to Aberdeen. Two parts of the Highlands – the North-western Highlands and the Grampians – are separated by a narrow valley, through which runs the Caledonian Canal. At the south-western end of the Highlands rises Ben Nevis, 1343 m, the highest mountain of the British Isles.

2) The Central Plain of Scotland separates the Highlands from the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The Southern Uplands and the Pennines, which stretch in the north-south direction across the northern and middle parts of England, form a practically continuous group.

3) Nearly the whole of Wales is occupied by the Cumbrians. The highest peak of the Cumbrians is Snowdon, 1085 m.

The south-eastern part of England is lowland, interrupted in places by low chalk ridges.

Inland Waters

The rives of Britain are short; their direction and character are determined by the position of the mountains.

Most of the rivers flow in the eastward direction since the west coast is mountainous.

Due to the humid climate and abundant rainfall, the water level in the rivers is always high. The rivers seldom freeze in winter, most of them remain ice-free. Many of the rivers are joined together by canals. This system of rivers and canals provides a good means of cheap inland water transport.

British rivers are not navigable for ocean ships, but they form deep estuaries, and strong tides penetrating into them prevent the formation of deltas. Most of the large ports of Great Britain are situated in the estuaries.

The most important rivers are the Severn, flowing from the Cumbrians Mountains in Wales into the Bristol Channel, the Thames, flowing across the plains of south-eastern England and emptying into the North Sea, the Tyne and the Trent, flowing from the eastern slopes of the Pennines to the North Sea, the Mersey, flowing down the western slopes of the Pennines and emptying into the Irish Sea at Liverpool, and the Clyde in Scotland, which flows west across the Southern Uplands and on which the port of Glasgow is situated.

Owing to the fact that British lakes are rather small and have no outlets, they afford limited economic possibilities in the system of navigable waterways. But most of them, especially those situated in the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and north Lancashire, are famous for their unique beauty and picturesque surroundings. Famous is the English Lake District, occupying a comparatively small area. It is a place of steep ridges and deep valleys, smooth slopes and deep lakes, ravines, waterfalls and green meadows. The Lake District is one of the most popular holiday districts in Great Britain.