The coldest and the highest place in the world

Yakutsk is well-known to fans of the board game Risk as that funny country between Siberia and Kamchatka. It's also known as the coldest city in the world. The world's coldest temperature outside of Antarctica was recorded not far from Yakutsk in the basin of the Yana River. During the winter, average lows drop below freezing in September and don't climb back out until May. In January the average high is minus 34 degrees F; the record low for the month is a bone-blasting minus 81.4 degrees

We all know that Mount Everest, at 29,035 feet above sea level, is the highest spot on our planet. Sir Edmound Hillary taught us that, right? Well, yes… that is unless we think about the word "highest" in a different way.

The winner of the highest point of Earth is Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. Mount Chimborazo, in the Andes, is a 20,000-plus-foot peak sitting on top of a bulge on the Earth. Mount Everest is a 29,000-plus-foot peak sitting lower down on that same bulge. Because Chimborazo is a bump on a bigger part of the bulge, it is 1.5 miles higher than Everest!

Text 25.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

“Are you looking for a really special present?”

 

a. Do you like buying presents? Who’s the easiest person in your family to buy presents for? Who is the most difficult?

 

b. Read the advert. Match the Experience presents with paragraphs A – F.

 

Do you know somebody who would like to drive a real Ferrari, salsa dance, or fly in a balloon? There are more than 40 ‘experience presents’ to choose from. Each Amazing Adventure comes in an attractive box including a book and video.

A Do you like singing in the shower? Would you like to be a pop star? Now you can record the song of your dreams at a real recording studio? Price £ 249.99

 

B Do you like seeing historic cars and planes? Would you like to go back in time and learn to fly an authentic World War II plane?

 

* For people of maximum weight 102 kg, maximum height 1.92, with driving license.

C Do you like cooking? Would you like to spend a day with a famous chef and learn new recipes and techniques? Then this is the adventure for you. The day includes a delicious lunch (with wine).

Price £ 149.99

D You like driving fast, but your car is very slow. Now you too can drive this famous Italian sports car.

Price £ 229.99

E It’s easy! It’s fun! Everybody is doing it! Wouldn’t you like to learn, and be the star of the dance floor?

Price £ 39.99

 

F would you like to have the experience of a lifetime and go up into the sky in a hot-air balloon? The flight lasts about one hour, and the adventure ends with a glass of champagne.

Price £ 189.99

Text 26.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is a group of waterfalls on the border between the United States and Canada. The Falls are a favorite tourist attraction. The Niagara River drops here and although the Falls are not deep, they are very wide and the amount of water is enormous. So it is very noisy near the Falls. That's why the Iroquois tribe, who used to live here, called the falls Niagara (meaning “thunder of waters”).

 

Text 27.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

discovered, has banned, received, has completed, advertised

Five-year-old banned from bungee jumping

PARIS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17 (REUTERS) - A French agency (1)___ _____ a 5-year-old boy from bungee jumping. Mike Traut from Grenoble (2)___ already _____ 30 jumps.

A local child protection agency (3) ______ the boy’s liking for bungee jumping after his father (4)______ for sponsors to support a jump that could have put the boy in the record books, French daily Liberation reported on Friday.

The boy’s father, who holds a world record in bungee jumping, (5)______ a letter warning him that he might have to pay a big fine and spend two years in prison if he allowed children under 16 to compete in such dangerous sports.

Text 28.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

Books

Many, many years ago a town crier ran through the streets and shouted out all the news. But now we live in the Atomic Age. Too many things happen too quickly for us to learn about them in the old-fashioned way. That is why we have to read more and more in order to find out what is happening in the world. Reading is rarely a waste of time. Have you ever thought about the kind of books people used long ago? It is only in the last 500 years that books have been printed on paper. Before that time the only way of making books was to write them out by hand. No one knows when writing first began, but we have found drawings on the walls of caves and scratching on bones which are at least 25,000 years old. The invention of paper played a very important part in the development of books. In the 11^th century the art of papermaking reached Europe but no trace of printing was found in Europe until 1423. It is known that Johann Gutenberg secretly tried out ways of printing in Strasbourg, Germany, in 1440.

The knowledge of the methods of printing spread so quickly over the Continent of Europe that by the year 1487 nearly every country had started printing books. Later people began to learn how to make paper more quickly and cheaply and of better quality. As a result of this, books became much lighter and smaller. The first person to print books in the English language was William Caxton, in Russia — Ivan Fedorov. The first book printed in the Russian language appeared in Moscow on the first of March, 1564. Up to that time there were only handwritten books in Russia. The house built for printing books was not far from the Kremlin. At that time it was one of the best buildings in the Russian capital. Ivan Fedorov and his assistants were the first to use Russian letters. By the 16th century books looked very much as they do today and since then very little change has been made in their appearance.

Text 29.

1. Read and make up your own questions according to the text. (10 questions)

2. Translate the first paragraph of the text without dictionary.

Our academy

After passing my Single National Test I entered one of the best Universities in our Republic. It is the Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The students study special subjects, three languages, computer graphics, knowledge and skills of Auto-Cad, 3 D max and etc. There are a lot of experienced teachers and professors. There are 6 Departments in our academy. They are Department of Architecture, Department of Design, Department of General Construction, Department of Building Technologies, Infrastructure and Management, Department of General Natural and Scientific Training, Department of General Humanitarian Training. I study as a freshman at the department of Architecture. The academy has several libraries, a large canteen for students and teachers and big gym for sport activities. Many students live in Student Hostel. Our students are very happy to study here. When our students finish academy they can be specialists in architecture, design, civil engineering, environmental engineering, economy and management.