Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the most ancient lake on the earth, its great age is more than 25 million years. So, it is the oldest body of fresh water.

It is the deepest lake, measuring 1,635 metres from top to bottom, more than a mile.

It holds one-fifth of the planet’s fresh water and 80 per cent of the former Soviet Union’s – more water than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined.

Baikal extends for 635 kilometres from north-east to south-west, covering the area of 30,500 square kilometres.

Baikal sits in the planet’s deepest land depression (впадина). Its depression formed of hard, fixed rocks holds 23,000cu km of chemically very pure and extraordinary clear water.

Its cold waters move vertically, carrying oxygen to the bottom, where 1,500 endemic species (эндемичные, т.е. свойственные данной местности, виды) were spotted. Lake Tahoe has two endemic species, Lake Superior – four endemic species.

Fifty-two species of fish inhabit these waters.

Baikal owes its longevity (долговечность, долголетие) to the tectonically active rift (разлом земной коры) it occupies, which may cause it to widen by as much as 2.5 centimetres each year.

The Buryat – ethnic Mongols – settled its shores long before the 13^th century conquests (завоевания) of Genghis Khan. Russian fur (мех) traders arrived in the 1640s.

(From Брунова Е.Г., Латфуллина И.Д., Фомина Е.В.

Английский язык: Учебное пособие. – Тюмень: Изд-во ТюмГУ, 2012)

4.14 National cuisine is part of national culture, isn’t it? Match the dishes with the cuisine, description and ingredients and fill in the table

Borshch / bliny / manty / shashlyk / okroshka / chak-chak

Russian / Tartar / Caucasian

Thin pancakes / a sweet dessert, made of honey and pastry / a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries / Cold soup of mostly raw vegetables like cucumbers, spring onions, boiled potatoes, with eggs, and a cooked meat such as beef, veal, sausages, or ham with kvass, topped with sour cream / Marinated lamb skewers; sometimes with vegetables / Dumplings of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb or ground beef, in a dough wrapper, either boiled or steamed.

Flour, eggs, oil, honey / Beef or pork, onion, cabbage, carrot, beetroot, tomatoes, potatoes, water / Lamb or beef, salt, pepper, onion, flour, water / Flour, eggs, oil, milk, sugar, salt, yeast / Cucumbers, spring onions, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, sausages, kvass, sour cream / Lamb, vinegar, salt, pepper, onion, tomatoes

Dish	Cuisine	Description	Ingredients

4.15 Write a letter to Susy and describe your favourite national dish.

4.16 Project work. Chose a Russian tradition and make a presentation. Use the hints below