Canada is situated in the north part of Northern America. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Baffin Bay and the Davis Straight. It borders on the USA in the south and in the north. The population of the country is about 31 million people, 80 per cent of which live in towns and cities in the southern areas. Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. The territory of the country includes lots of islands, most known of which is the Canadian Arctic Islands. The capital of Canada is Ottawa. There are two official languages in Canada: English and French. The last is spoken by 23 per cent of inhabitants. The majority of the people of the French origin live in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. They maintain their own culture and traditions. The climate of the country varies from temperate in the south to subarctic and arctic in the north. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, such as Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories and is governed as parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. Canada is an industrial nation with a highly developed science and technology sector. It has 18 Nobel Laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine. Canada is also one of the world’s largest suppliers of agricultural products such as wheat, canola and other grains. The country is a major source of natural resources: zinc, uranium, gold, aluminium and lead. Among the country’s main industries are automobiles and aeronautics, concentrated mostly in Ontario and Quebec. It is worth saying that Canada is one of the most highly developed and wealthiest countries in the world.
Science and technology in Canada consists of three distinct but closely related phenomena:the diffusion of technology in Canada,scientific research in Canada, innovation, invention and industrial research in Canada.
ÒÅÌÀ 9 . Environment: real and potential dangers of economic development and scientific discoveries I’m going to speak about the problems of the environment which the world is facing at the moment and what we should do to protect our Earth. Nowadays, environmental problems are the most burning for the society. Air, water, land and nuclear pollution badly damage the nature. People cut down trees and destroy the habitat of thousands of animals. As a result, many species are in danger of extinction. Factories pollute our rivers and lakes with dangerous chemicals. The increasing number of cars in towns and cities has led to the growth of harmful gases in the atmosphere. There is much litter everywhere, our parks and forests are full of rubbish. Scientists believe that the problem of global warming is becoming more and more serious. The results of human activity such as acid rains, greenhouse effect and ozone layer destruction cause the changes of the climate on our planet and destroy it. All these facts have a bad influence on our health. More and more people suffer from allergies and breathing problems. It’s almost impossible to find a healthy person nowadays. People are becoming more and more aware that our planet is under threat and it’s all our fault. Fortunately, it’s not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and the technologies to take care of our planet. There are a number of simple things we can do if we want to help our planet. For example, if we stop wasting paper and start recycling it, we’ll save some of the millions of trees which are cut down every year. We should also stop making unnecessary car journeys to cut down air pollution. Governments can improve public transport so that people could use it more often. They can also pass laws to stop companies from destroying rainforests. We can create parks for endangered species of animals. People should use natural resources in a rational way and look for alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar energy. But the most important thing we must do is to open our eyes and act immediately. The Earth is our home and we should protect and save it for ourselves and for the future generations.
