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ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНТСТВО ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ РФ ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ HUMAN GEOGRAPHY Учебное пособие для вузов по английскому языку Составители: Н.В. Сафонова С.Н. Черникова ВОРОНЕЖ 2007 2 Утверждено научно-методическим советом факультета романо-германской филологии протокол № 3 от 06.03.2007 г. Пособие подготовлено на кафедре английского языка факультета романо-германской филологии Воронежского государственного универси- тета Рекомендуется для студентов второго курса заочного отделения фа- культета географии и геоэкологии, обучающихся по специальности При- родопользование 020802 (013400) ОПД 020802 3 Данное учебное пособие подготовлено на кафедре английского языка факультета романо-германской филологии Воронежского государственно- го университета. Оно предназначено для студентов второго курса заочного отделения факультета географии и геоэкологии. Цель пособия − научить студентов извлекать информацию из текстов при чтении, а также развитие элементарных навыков устной речи по специ- альности. Пособие состоит из девяти разделов (Units), каждый из которых по- священ базовой теме географии. Разнообразный текстовый материал, свя- занный общей тематикой, способствует закреплению у студентов знаний по основам специальности. Каждый раздел состоит из следующих пунктов: предтекстовые упражнения, текст по профессиональной тематике, упраж- нения, выполняемые в процессе чтения, послетекстовые упражнения, блок лексических упражнений, а также упражнения на обсуждение информации, полученной из текста. 4 UNIT I Before Reading I. What do you think these words and expressions from the text mean? • economic system • culture • physical objects • religion • time zones • contact • nonmaterial culture • design • social characteristics • prestige • ethnic groups • communication • nation II. Complete the sentences below with the most appropriate word. Make sure that the sentences are correct according to the informa- tion in the text. 1. Many political boundaries separate groups of people with different ______. a) culture b) languages c) religion 2. Some ethnic groups differ in _______. a) language b) religion c) skin 3. _______ boundaries usually follow physical landforms on the earth. a) national b) cultural c) geographical 4. Some countries extend across continents and cover several different ________. a) exotic landscape b) time zone c) vast territory Reading III. Match the headings below to the paragraphs of the text. a Political boundaries b A spoken language c Classifications of nations d The earth’s cultural variety e Material and nonmaterial culture f A measure of the country’s pride WORLD CULTURES AND POLITACAL BOUNDARIES (1) The study of geography involves much more than a study of the earth's physical features. Just as important is a study of the earth's various cultural fea- 5 tures. The earth's cultural variety finds expression in different population trends, social characteristics, political systems, and economic systems. (2) Humans can be divided into many ethnic groups - that is large groups of people who have more in common with each other than they do with other peoples. Some ethnic groups differ in height, skin, eye and hair color, features of the face and other ways. Other differences between human groups are differences in culture. Culture is the sum of what a human group acquires through living together, including language, knowledge, skills, art, literature, law, customs, and life styles. When studying about a group's culture, it helps to divide cultural characteristics into two categories - material culture and nonmaterial culture. Material culture includes all the physical objects that people make, i.e. build- ings, clothing, tools, paintings, etc. The ideas of a society - expressed in its language, values, political and economic systems, and so on - make up its nonmaterial culture. (3) All human cultures have a spoken language - even though it differs from place to place. Nearly all human groups have developed some kind of art, music, and religion. Language, both spoken and written makes it possible for people to communicate with each other. Scientists have identified over 3,000 different languages in the world today. Some languages are spoken by relatively small numbers of people. Other languages are spoken by millions of people. The thousands of languages spoken today developed from a few common languages. As early people migrated throughout the world and lost contact with other groups, different languages evolved. Like language, art could vary from place to place. The objects out of which different peoples made their art depended on local resources. But the designs could come from people's imagination. (4) The borders between cultures usually, but not always, coincide with political boundaries between countries. Today political boundaries divide the world into more than 160 different nations. Political boundaries usually follow physical landforms on the earth. Many political boundaries separate groups of people with different cultures. The border between Spain and France, for example, separates the Spanish people, with their distinctive culture and language, from the French people, who have their own traditions. In other cases, however, the boundaries are arbitrary lines that include several different, and often oppos- ing, groups. Such countries often have serious difficulties because so many different groups are within their borders. (5) Some countries span continents and cover several different time zones. Years ago size was a measure of a country's pride. Wars were fought to acquire more land and to add to a country's prestige. Large countries are more likely to have a large workforce and an adequate supply of natural resources. Yet they face potential problems concerning food supplies, defense, transportation, communication, and political unity. (6) Countries vary not only in size but also in shape. Political geographers often classify nations according to their shape. Two of the most common classifications they use are compact nations and fragmented nations. Compact are nations that have generally round or rectangular shapes and land areas not sepa- 6 rated by large bodies of water or by the territory of other countries. In a compact nation all points on the country's borders lie about the same distance from the geographic center of the country. This makes communication and transportation easier. Fragmented are nations that have land areas that are geographically sepa- rated from other parts of the country. Fragmented shapes make communication and transportation more difficult than in compact nations. In fact, some fragmented nations have had such serious breakdowns in communication that they eventually divided into two or more countries. IV. Match the beginning of the sentences with their ending. A B 1. This makes differences in culture. 2. Many political boundaries but also in shape. separate groups of people 3. Scientists identify a spoken language. 4. Material culture includes all the with different cultures. physical objects 5. All human cultures have 3000 different languages in the world today. 6. Other differences between hu- communication and transportation man groups are easier. 7. Countries vary in size that people make. V. Find the answers to the questions. 1. Where does the earth’s cultural variety find its expression in? 2. What are ethnic groups? 3. What is culture? 4. What are two categories of cultural characteristics? 5. Where is the idea of a society expressed in? 6. What have all human groups developed? 7. What makes people to communicate with each other? 8. Do political boundaries usually follow physical landforms on the earth? 9. Where are boundaries arbitrary lines? 10. Why was size a measure of a country’s pride? 11. What countries face potential problems? 12. How do political geographers classify nations? 13. What are compact and fragmented nations? Speaking VI. What do you think the difficulties of living in a fragmented nation are? Consider the following examples: Russia, Italy. Give your reasons. 7 VII. Arrange the words to make up a sentence. a own, most, Europe, their, countries, have, of, language b populated, are, the, less, countries, Balkan, densely c people, million, there, with, cities, are, cities, over, of, 2, people, nine, in, Europe d Norway, the, Circle, through, Arctic, northern, parts, passes, of, the e form, in, countries, the, North, peninsulas, also, Scandinavian, the Vocabulary Practice VIII. Find in the text the derivations of the following words. • culture • image • classify • character • distinct • communicate • policy • coincidence • identification • relative • differ IX. Match up the words to make up a word-combination. Explain their meaning. 1. political • classification 2. physical • shapes 3. fragmented • time zones 4. common • language 5. serious • landforms 6. ethnic • difficulties 7. different • boundaries 8. distinctive • characteristics 9. social • groups 10. population • trends 11. material • culture X. Match up the words on the left with the meaning on the right. 1. ethnic dense 2. trend experience 3. common reasonable 4. skill facular 5. material typical 6. make up distinguish 7. identify safeguard 8. relatively characteristics 9. local vital 10. distinctive regional 11. adequate course 12. breakdown native 13. defense comparatively 14. compact determine 8 XI. What is the difference in meaning between the following words? • physical features – cultural features • ethnic groups – race groups • acquire – get • life style – mode of life • spoken language – native language • communicate – socialize • potential problems – urgent problems XII. Use the words from the box to fill in the gaps. • settlers • ancestors • looks • the border • call OLD NEW MEXICO Before the English started colonies on the east coast, the Spanish explor- ers came up from Mexico and Spanish ___(1)____followed them. For a long time the city of Santa Fe, which is now the capital of new Mexico, was the Spanish capital in the new land. Santa Fe still ___(2)___ like a Spanish town. The Spanish families of New Mexico are very proud. In that part of the United States there are many Mexican-Americans who have moved across the ___(3)___ from Mexico during the past hundred years. But the old Spanish families ___(4)____ themselves Spanish-Americans because their ___(5)___ came directly from Spain long ago. Speaking XIII. Do you find it easy or difficult to communicate with people from English-speaking countries? What topics of conversation can you think of? UNIT II Before Reading I. Choose the correct word. 1. Without energy resources a country lacks the power needed to run / to work facilities. 2. A country without a skilled workforce / people may be unable to support heavy industry. 3. Economists classify more than 130 countries of the world as developing / developed nations. 4. Developed nations are nations with high standard / high expectancy of living. 9 5. International trade accounts for much of the wealth of developed / developing nations. Reading II. Look at the headline of the text below and make guesses what this text is going to be about. Read the text and check your guesses. WORLD NATIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (i) The economic features of a country - the way it produces, distributes, and exchanges goods and services - form an important part of its life. The countries of the world today reflect a wide range of economic development. Some countries are highly industrialized, producing a variety of goods and services. Other countries have one-crop economies that specialize in the production of one or a very few products. Most often agricultural products or raw materials make up these goods. Such specialization leads to instability because the whole economy depends on the world price of a single good. (ii) The level of development of a country's economy largely depends on natural resources or raw materials, human resources or labor, and capital resources. Natural resources that are especially important to a nation's economy are its fossil fuels, minerals, trees, and water. Human resources include a country's workers. Capital resources include the money, tools, equipment, and inven- tory used in the production process. (iii) A country lacking any one of the factors of production finds it difficult to reach a high level of economic development. Without energy resources, for example, a country lacks the power needed to run factories. A country without a skilled workforce or technical equipment may be unable to support heavy industries. (iv) Developed nations are highly industrialized nations with high standards of living. Today only about 30 of the world's countries, or about 35 per- cent of the world's people, fit this category. These nations use advanced tech- nology to make their systems of farming, manufacturing, and distribution highly productive. They also have highly skilled workers and good educational systems. (v) International trade accounts for much of the wealth of developed nations. They import goods they lack and goods they cannot produce as cheaply as other countries. They export surplus goods and goods they can produce more efficiently than other countries. (vi) Developed nations offer most of their citizens adequate food, clothing, and housing. Their governments also offer such services as fire and police protection; transportation and communication systems; schools, libraries, and museums. In general, the people have a high standard of living. Per capita gross national product determines a country's standard of living. You can figure per capita gross national product, or per capita GNP, by dividing the total dollar value of all goods and services produced in a country by the number of people living in the country. The per capita GNPs of developed nations tend to be high. 10 (vii) Economists classify more than 130 countries of the world today as developing nations. Developing nations feature agricultural economies and traditional life styles. These countries have little or no industry. Some lack the energy resources to power factories. The per capita GNPs of developing nations tend to be low. As a result, developing nations must depend on the countries of the developed world to satisfy all or part of their needs and wants. III. Find the evidence in the text to prove or disprove the evidence of the following statements. 1 Fossil fuels are especially important to a nation’s economy. 2 All nations in the world import goods they lack and goods they cannot produce. 3 Developing nations feature subsistence farming and traditional life styles. 4 A country without workers is unable to support heavy industry. 5 The per capita GNP’s of many nations in the world is low. 6 Some countries have one-crop economies that specialize in the production of one product. 7 Developed nations are nations with high standards of living. IV. Answer the following question. 1 What forms an important part of a country’s life? 2 What do the countries of the world reflect? 3 What stabilization leads to the instability? 4 Why are natural resources especially important to a nation’s economy? 5 What do human resources include? 6 What countries fit the category of developed nations? 7 How do developed nations use advanced technologies? 8 What does international trade account for? 9 What countries do people have a high standard of living? 10 How many countries do economists classify as developed nations? 11 Why must developing nations depend on the countries of the developed world? V. Ask the appropriate questions to produce these answers. 1 They include a country’s workers. 2 Developed nations. 3 By dividing the total dollar value of goods and services produced in a country by the number of people living in the country. 4 Only about 30 of the world’s countries. 5 A wide range of development. Speaking VI. What are the advantages of living in the developed nations?