Land and people

I. Memorize the following words and word combinations:

to extend – to stretch (простираться)

terrain [te'rein] – stretch of land (местность, территория)

to vary – be different, become different

permafrost – perm(a) (informal abbreviation from permanent) – вечная мерзлота

fertile – (of land, plant, etc) producing much (плодородный)

frigid – cold

coastline – edge of the land (побережье, береговая линия)

to border on – граничить с

cradle – колыбель

highland – нагорье, высокогорная местность

scenery – пейзаж, ландшафт

to abandon - иметь в большом количестве, изобиловать

II. Practice the pronunciation of the following geographical names and

their derivatives:

Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Central Asian Desert, Ural Mountains, Siberia, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the North pacific, the Bering Sea, the Barents Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal;

III. Here is a list of countries bordering on Russia. Practice reading them.

Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Ukraine.

Can you name the countries that have sea borders with Russia?

IV. Practice the pronunciation of the following international words. Give their Russian equivalents.

Million, kilometer, section, tundra, steppe, climate, frigid, ethnic, autonomous,

region, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, to emigrate, religion.

V. Read the text; get ready to discuss and to retell it.

The Russian Federation is the largest and the most diverse country in the world. It covers over 17 million square kilometers – almost twice the size of the USA. Russia extends from the Arctic Ocean in the North to the Central Asian desert in the south; from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the North Sea in the West. The Ural Mountains separate the “European” and “Asian” sections of Russia.

Russia is bordered by 14 countries. It also has coastline on 9 seas and oceans.

The population of Russia is 150 million. Eighty three per cent are ethnic Russians with most of the remainder made up of Ukrainians, Belrusians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Tatars, Chuvash, Chechens, Ossetians, and Bashkirs. Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are practiced in Russia by many smaller ethnic groups. The dominant religion is Orthodoxy.

Administratively, the Russian Federation is composed of 20 autonomous republics, 49 regions (oblasts, administrative districts similar to counties), and 6 territories (krays, other smaller regions). There are 1030 towns and cities in Russia. The biggest cities are Moscow, with the population of about 9 million people, and St. Petersburg, with the population of about 5 million people. They are often referred to as the Two Capitals.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. The terrain varies from permafrost in the Arctic and the great tundra and forests in Siberia to the low hills and fertile steppes west of the Urals; the climate changes accordingly, varying from frigid to mild during any given season.

Russia is located on two plains. They are the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others.

Russia is the land of long rivers and deep lakes. There are over two million rivers in the country. The broad Volga River system is of great historic, economic and cultural importance to the country. It became the cradle of such ancient towns as Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod. Volga is Europe’s biggest river. It runs into the Caspian Sea which is in fact the largest lake in the world. The main Siberian rivers – the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena – flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is very clear.

Russia has one sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

The animal world of Russia is also very rich. The world knows the famous Russian furs. The brown bear of the Russian forests is a kind of symbol of Russia.

VI. Give the English equivalents for the following:

Северный, южный, европейский, азиатский, северо-западный, Северный Ледовитый океан, Балтийское море, Сибирь, Восточно-Европейская равнина, Западно-Сибирская низменность, Уральские горы, Амур, Тянь-Шань, горные хребты, возвышенность, равнина, низменность, побережье, Алтайские горы, кавказский, ландшафт, растительность, древний.

VII. Name the seas and oceans washing Russia.

VIII. Answer the following questions:

1. Where is the Russian Federation situated?

2. What countries does it border on?

3. What types of climate are there in Russia? Which is the prevailing one?

4. What plains is Russia located on?

5. What are the main mountain ranges of Russia?

6. Why is the River Volga important for Russia?

7. What other important Russian rivers do you know?

8. What Russian lakes do you know? Which is the most famous?

9. Why are Moscow and St. Petersburg called the Two Capitals?

IX.. Speak on geography and climate of Russia.