Text for written translation. Answer the following questions

Answer the following questions

Read the text and reproduce it in the form of a dialogue

Complete the following sentences

1. North America is connected with South America by ………..

2. ………. separates North America from Russia.

3. The Canadian Shield, made of ………., lies in ………. of continent.

4. The Rocky and Appalachian mountains are situated ………..

5. ………. joins the five Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

6. Tropical savanna climate can be found in ………., while polar tundra occupies ………..

7. The wild life of the deciduous forest includes ………..

8. ………. dwell the North American deserts.

***

Originally inhabited by Indians, North America long remained a sparsely settled and economically undeveloped land in global terms, but with the coming of Europeans (particularly the Spanish, French and British) and the Africans they introduced as slaves, the continent underwent a profound transformation.

The process of removing the Indians from their lands led to bitter disputes and to the creation of Indian “territories” that were eventually reduced to small isolated “reservations”. In Canada the system of reservations was adopted early and protected Indian settlements throughout the eastern part of the country. Intermarriage between whites (notably the French) and Indians was much more common in Canada than that in the USA and produced the sizable French-and-Indians Metis community. In Mexico, racial admixture went much farther; mestizos, of mixed Indian and white descent, now account for some three-fifths of the population. European immigration to Central America has been negligible since the Spanish conquest, and the Indians make up much of the population there (as high as 50 percent in Guatemala).

1. Where is North America situated?

2. What are the total area? the population of the continent?

3. Which is the largest island of the world?

4. Has North America any adjacent islands? What are they?

5. How are the mountains systems encircling the Shield and Interior Lowlands called?

6. In what direction does the Cordilleran system extend?

7. Where is the region of Great Lakes located?

8. What are the peculiarities of North American climate?

9. What animals dwell the American continent?

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, and with its far-reaching tributaries one of the major systems of the world. Long ago Ojibway Indians, roaming the forests of Wisconsin, called it Missisipi, or “Great River“. Other tribes termed it the “Father of the Waters”. Both names were appropriate, for the scope and volume of this vast stream have made it almost a synonym for great rivers everywhere: even the Volga has been termed the Russian Mississippi. The length of the Mississippi has been variously interpreted. The Mississippi River Commission calculates the length at 6,415 km from the headwaters of the Missouri to the delta outlet on the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi system cuts a wedge of 3,220,000 sq. km out of the heart of the continent. Geographically, the true source of the Mississippi lies in western Montana. There, three streams unite to form the Mississippi. Fed by the melting snows and gushing springs of the Rockies, it sweeps on through the Northwest. Some 320 km to the south the rivers of the north unite with their eastern branch, the Ohio. The Ohio and its many tributaries drain the ridges and valleys of the Appalachian Mountain. Father south the Mississippi attracts other tributaries, chief among these are the Arkansas and the Red River. The Mississippi is quite deep, its channel ranging usually from 15 to 30 m or more. It would be difficult to exaggerate the influence of the Mississippi on the development of America.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03