Country Studies. Lesson 3. Today we’ll study the Geography of the United States.

You will learn to pronounce the geographical names & their proper Russian equivalents and to use both in speech. (Study the information carefully: US_physiographic_regions)

1. Study the map in your handouts (About the USA, p.29) and complete the text with proper geographical names.

The United States is the fourth largest country in the world in land area. Forty-eight of the fifty states are in the middle of the ___________________ continent between the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the _________________ on the west. It is about 3000 miles (4800 kilometers) from the east coast tо the west coast and about 1500 miles (2400 kilometers) from the _____________ border on the north to the _____________ border on the south. The island state of __________ is in the Pacific Ocean, and the state of ___________ is northwest of Canada.

The two main mountain ranges run north and south — the _____________ Mountains in the eastern part of the United States and the ___________ Mountains in the west. Between them are the _____________. There is another mountain chain west of the Rockies — the ________________ and the _____________ ranges.

The longest river in the United States is the _____________. The _____________ and _________ Rivers flow into the Mississippi, and the Mississippi flows south into the ________________. The major rivers in the western part of the United States are the ____________ and the _____________. The highest mountains of the Rockies form the __________________. Rivers to the east of the divide flow east, and rivers tо the west of it flow into the _____________.

The Great Lakes on the northern border of the country are Lake ___________, Lake ___________, Lake __________, Lake _______, and Lake __________. The _____________ is in а desert area in the ___________ part of the United States. The Mojave*, the Gila**, and the __________ Deserts are in the _____________ part of the country.

* the Mojave = Mohave [mou´hovə] -1) a member of a North American Indian people who live along the Colorado River in Arizona; 2) the Yuman (юмский) language of this people.

** the Gila [´hi:lə] – the Yuman name that means “salty water”.

2. Pronunciation drill. Divide the geographical names into: a) oceans (write O), b) mountains (М), c) rivers (R), d) lakes (L), and e) deserts (D).

4.Practice small dialogues:

- Where is/are … (situated)? - It is/They are near… in the north/northern part of the country/continent.

- Where does the river … flow? - It flows into … to the west/east.

5. Correct the sentences and then practice back translation in pairs:

1. In land area, the United States is the largest country in the world.
2. It is farther from the Canadian border to the Mexican border than from the east coast to the west coast.
3. The two main mountain ranges in the United States are the Hurons and the Eries.
4. The longest river in the United States is the Gulf of Mexico.
5. The rivers west of the Great Plains flow into the Pacific Ocean, and the rivers east of the Rockies flow into the Atlantic Ocean.
6. The Great Salt Lake is south of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains.

6.Translate into English using the vocabulary you have learnt.

Home task:

Get ready for the TEST: names, transcription, and geographical position.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1219

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