Прочитайте текст, расскажите на английском языке об особенности растительного мира разных зон нашей страны.

 

Let’s cross our country from south to north.

The central part of Russia lies in the temperate zone. Here everything seems balanced: the four seasons fall into the classical three-month periods, each with their own clearly-defined features. This is a zone of forests with mingling spruce and pine, oak and linden, of softly-changing lands-capes, slow rivers and unhurried dawns. It takes several hours for dusk¹ to set in here. The annual heat budget is half what it is in the extreme south. As we move northwards it becomes smaller and smaller affecting every aspect of nature and life.

The balanced character of the temperate zone changes; the summer twilight² grows longer till it merges into ‘white nights’. The vast expanses of fertile fields give way to industrial landscapes.

Coniferous forests take the place of deciduous forests. This is the taiga, or rather southern taiga. A boundless stretch of coniferous forests. Deciduous trees, including linden, maple and oak wholly disappear and only birch and aspen crop up in areas that have been swept by fires. In low, damp places the taiga is a dark coniferous forest made up of spruce and fir-trees. Light coniferous – pine and larch – forests predominate on sandy soils.

The middle taiga gives way to the northern-taiga zone. The ground is covered with mosses. There are less trees and more marshland. Giant firs disappear. The North bends the remaining trees into fantastic shapes, their branches stretching towards the earth. Vegetation becomes more sparse – this is the beginning of the forest-tundra zone. Here one comes across fir trees with all branches growing only on one side, in the direction of the prevailing wind, or trees with branches growing in two tiers³: fierce ground winds carrying sharp particles of snow denude the middle part of the trunks of buds⁴ leaving only those at the top and the very bottom where they are protected by snowdrifts.

We reach the Arctic Circle. Beyond this boundary lies the zone of short polar days and long polar nights and the farther north one goes the longer they are.

To a certain extent the tundra is bounded by the Arctic Circle. The tundra is a treeless stretch of land with dwarf⁵ birches and willows⁶ growing close to the ground as if seeking shelter from the violent winds and blizzards.

Still farther north shrubs give way to mosses and lichens and then to the Arctic tundra. Even further lies the zone of rocky, ice-covered polar wasteland bounded by the frozen sea extending to the North Pole.

1. dusk – сумерки

2. twilight – сумерки / полумрак

3. tier – ряд, ярус

4. bud – почка (растения)

5. dwarf – карликовый

6. willow – ива

 

9. Прочитайте и письменно переведите текст на английский язык, пользуясь следующими словами:

 

crusaders – крестоносцы

to inundate – наводнять

fastidious – изощренный, изысканный

amateurs – любители

gothic – готический

heavenly – божественный, небесный

to create – создавать

to display – выставлять

 

Многие поэты и художники посвятили этому удивительному цветку свои произведения. Имя ему – роза.

Розы выращивали в парках и садах Ассирии, Вавилона, Древней Греции, Рима. Полагают, что местом рождения розы является Персия. В Европу розу привезли крестоносцы из Дамаска в 12 веке. К концу 18 века торговцы, путешественники, исследователи наводнили Европу огромным количеством различных видов кустов роз из Индии, Китая, Японии. Изощренный процесс селекции продолжается с тех пор. В начале 20 века 10000 видов роз уже были известны в Европе. И профессионалы и любители прилагают усилия, чтобы получить новые. Они выставляют результаты своей работы на ежегодных выставках. Дизайнеры используют этот цветок в создании изысканных ландшафтов. Розу можно увидеть в элементах архитектуры. Она играет важную роль в готическом символизме. Для христиан роза – божественный цветок.

 

Расскажите о своей специальности.

ECOLOGY

1. Прочитайте, запомните следующие слова и словосочетания:

nature	['neICq]	природа
dry up	[draI Ap]	высыхать
source	['sLs]	источник
rare	[rFq]	редкий
environment	[In'vaIrqnmqnt]	окружающая среда
animal	['xnIml]	животное
interaction	["Intqr'xkSn]	взаимодействие
destruction	[dI'strAkSn]	разрушение
increase	[In'krI:s]	возрастать
disaster	[dI'za:stq]	несчастье, беда
by-product	[baI-'prodAkt]	побочный продукт
damage	['dxmIG]	вред
pollute	[pq'lHt]	загрязнение
consequence	['kOnsIkwqns]	последствие
breathe	[brJD]	дышать
explosion	[Ik'splquZn]	взрыв
harmful	['ha:mfl]	вредный
protection	[prq'tekSn]	защита
careless	['kFqlqs]	небрежный
concern	[kqn'sq:n]	забота
substance	['sAbstqns]	вещество
security	[sI'kjuqrItI]	безопасность
upset	[Ap'set]	нарушать
research center	[rI'sq:C 'sentq]	научно-исследова-тельский институт
save	[seIv]	спасать
to take measures	[teIk 'meZqs]	принимать меры
to take care of	[teIk 'kFq qv]	заботиться
oxygen	['OksIGqn]	кислород
prevent	[prrI'vent]	предотвращать

Прочитайте, переведите текст на русский язык.

It is not an easy thing to choose a profession out of more than 2000 existing in the world. As for me I made my choice long ago. During all school years biology and chemistry were my favourite subjects. That is why last year I entered the Bratsk State University to become a student of the Natural Sciences Faculty. Now I am a second-year student.

At the University we are taught different subjects, but the future ecologist should clearly know and understand ecological problems of our planet.

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousand of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man’s interference in nature began to increase.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables. Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burnt in fire. Their disappearance upset the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world’s ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man’s careless interaction with nature, a sign of ecological crisis.

As a result of Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986 the most horrible ecological disaster befell Belarus and it’s people. About 18 per cent of the territory of Belarus were polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the republic’s agriculture, forests and people’s health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power station are tragic for the Belarusian nation.

Environment protection is a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has already been made in this direction. In many countries environmental protection agencies and research centres are set up. The international environmental research centre has been set up on lake Baikal. Such organizations as “Green Peace” and “Friend of the Earth” are also doing much to preserve the environment.

These are only the initial steps and they must be carried forward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generation. And I think that having received the Diploma in Higher Education in the sphere of Ecology I shall be able to do my best in this struggle for clean environment.

3. Научитесь правильно произносить следующие интернациональные слова: