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their appearance. When the shortage disappeared, little more was heard of this technology. Its time may come again.

Some alternative sources of energy have served for a very long time. Hydroelectric power stations as recently as the early 1950s contributed as much as 30 percent of all electricity consumed in the United States, but that share has dropped to a mere 7 percent, reflecting the enormous increase in total consumption over the past 40 years. In other countries, such as Japan and Norway, the role of hydroelectric power is much more important in the overall energy picture.

Solar energy (energy from the sun) is another option. Harnessing that energy in quantities that would really help reduce dependence on fossil fuels is a difficult proposition. It can be done directly through glass panels or reflecting (ray-concentrating) mirrors, but this remains a proposition for individual buildings or homes, not for general use. Energy cells capable of collecting and storing solar energy and converting it to electricity remain too expensive for large-scale application.

Wind power also is a long-used source of energy. The Western European landscape once was dotted with thousands of windmills that raised water, drove textile-making equipment, ground wheat, and performed other functions. Huge modern versions of these old windmills have produced electricity, but not as dependably as had been hoped. Again, wind energy is likely to remain a mainly local, supplementary source.

The earth provides energy in the form of tidal power, which is harnessed experimentally in a few places, and as geothermal heat in areas where ground water is heated by volcanic conditions in the upper crust. Geothermal development has met with some success, but none of the alternative sources promises to significantly reduce our dependence on the fossil fuels.

8. Urban Density

The problems of overpopulation are felt in many rural areas: in the countrysides of Bangladesh and Burundi, Haiti and Sudan. However, the quality of life for tens of millions of people – recent arrivals as well as longterm residents – has deteriorated in the world's large cities as well.

Mexico City is on its way to becoming the largest urbanised area in the world. In a country with a 1985 population of 80 million, this city has more than 19 million inhabitants, half of them under 18 years of age. Every year more than 400,000 immigrants from Mexico’s countryside arrive in the city.

Add to this the natural increase, and Mexico City will have more than 30 million residents by the end of the twentieth century.

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Mexico City sprawls over more than 400 sq miles (1000 sq kms) of mountain-encircled highland. Local wells have run dry, and water must be pumped in across the mountains. There is no way to dispose of the city's waste except to pump it across the mountains as well. Air pollution is so severe that the city, when approached from the air, seems to lie in a lake of grey-brown smog on many days. Perhaps half the entire population lives in makeshift housing, a vast expanse of ramshackle dwellings lacking most of the basic cooking, laundering, and sanitation facilities.

Yet the immigrants arrive, more than a thousand each day, hoping that their lives will be better in one of the city’s thousand formal and informal neighbourhoods than they were in the villages left behind. No matter how difficult the new life will be (especially, they know, in the beginning), the arrivals pour their last resources and their highest hopes into the move to the city.

Crowded Mexico City has many urban ills, but there are cities less well off: Lagos in Nigeria (West Africa), with one of the highest urban growth rates in the world but without even a city-wide sewer system; Calcutta, India, with far more homeless people than Mexico City.

Shanghai, China's largest metropolis, also exceeds Mexico City in sheer overcrowding, although its population is smaller (about 16 million in 1985) and its growth rate slower. One out of every 8 inner-city residents of Shanghai is homeless, more than half the people do not have toilet or bathing facilities. Pollution-spewing factories stand side by side with crowded dwellings. Piles of industrial wastes fill empty lots; raw sewage seeps into some streets. Rush hour is a daily nightmare, with three times as many riders as there are seats available on buses and trains. People must spend countless hours standing in line for everything from food to medical attention. Health conditions are dismal, not only as a result of the polluted air, but also from the contaminated water and toxin-affected foods. Medical services are inadequate; there is one fully appointed hospital bed for every 1500 residents.

Yet Shanghai, too, attracts people like a magnet. The city grew by leaps and bounds during the 1950s, doubling its population in just eight years. The government acted to stop immigration in 1960, but during China's political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s, home building in China virtually stopped for more than five years. As a result, Shanghai has been trying to cope with the aftermath of these inappropriate government actions, which launched the present episode of runaway, explosive growth. The city has been described as one of the most uncomfortable places in the world to live and work – a designation it shares with other mushroomed urban giants.

9. Birds’ migration

One of the most mysterious things in nature is the ability of certain creatures to find their way home, sometimes from great distances. Birds are

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not the only ones who can do this. Bees, eels, and salmon are able to return to a particular place after long journey, too.

Most migrations take place between breeding grounds and regions where animals feed. For some animals, such as the lemming, the move is a one-way trip. Some scientists call this movement emigration, because these animals never return to their homes. For other animals, such as birds, the migration includes a return trip home. Birds move in periodic migrations, or at regular times during their lives, and often to the same place year after year.

Many experiments have been made with birds in an attempt to find out what guides them on their way home. In one case, seven swallows were taken 400 miles from home. When they were set free, five of them returned to their nests. In another case, a certain kind of sea bird was taken from its nest off the Welsh coast to Venice by plane. When it was released, it made its way home to its nest, a distance of 930 miles if it flew in a straight line.

Migrating birds offer an even more amazing example of this ability. There are swifts and house martins that migrate from England to South Africa every year. They not only return to England the next spring, but many of them come back to incredible distance of 6,000 miles, one way.

Certain types of butterflies migrate, too, and find their way home over long distances. In the tropics one can sometimes see great mass flights of butterflies all flying steadily in one direction. They may go a thousand miles and more and then return again in another season.

Despite all the efforts that have been made to explain hoe these creatures find their way home, we still have no sure explanation. Since many of the birds fly over great bodies of water, we can’t explain it by saying they use landmarks to guide them. Just to say they have an "instinct" doesn’t really explain the right conditions. The reason they do it may be to obtain food or to reproduce under the right conditions. But the signals and guideposts they use on their flights are still a mystery to man.

10. The limits of the Earth

There will be more than 7.0 billion people occupying the earth as of

2010. The resources necessary for survival of the Earth’s inhabitants, whether produced by nature or by people, are a primary factor in explaining the wellbeing of these billions of people. Some portions of the earth's surface are less suitable for occupation than others because of climatic or other geographical factors. Basic requirements for food and shelter cause the human population to be clustered in more favourable sites. The concentrations of population are the result of past human decisions about obtaining food, shelter, and other needs. Densely inhabited areas, such as the Ganges River plain of India,

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historically were easier to occupy because of the low level of technology required in a warm, humid environment and flat land. By contrast, the Sahara of North Africa has never had more than isolated settlements because of the difficulties posed by a severely restricted supply of water. These simple examples of the role of the physical environment in population distribution mask important causal relationships. The lack of water in the Sahara does not prohibit people from living there, but it does present problems that can only be overcome through application of higher technology or at great cost.

The environment and the resources that confront the human occupants of the earth are a geographical reality, but a reality that also depends on the residents’ assessment of the utility of the set of resources provided at a specific site. Most people view the Arctic lands of Canada and Alaska as less desirable locales, but the Eskimo population developed a suitable technology for utilising the Arctic’s resources. The Bedouin of the Sahara are able to live in a region that most Europeans and Americans would perceive as unsuitable for human occupation. Such examples of resource use in environmental settings with only sparse population illustrate the extent to which resources are a cultural and technological phenomenon. The resources that the Australian aborigines relied upon included rodents, small animals, wild plants, and a host of other naturally occurring foods. The majority Anglo population of Australia today does not recognise any of them as a basic resource. The contrast in assessment of resources between aboriginal and Anglo populations of Australia illustrates the changing relationship between the physical environment and the human use of the world.

The relationship between the human occupants and the physical environment of the earth is complex and difficult to categorize adequately. For some groups with only simple technology, the environment with its naturally occurring resources is a primary factor in affecting the quality of life enjoyed by the inhabitants. For residents of the wealthy industrialized world, the limits presented by the Earth’s physical attributes are more indirect.

Residents of North America or Western Europe are largely insulated from the vagaries of day-to-day climatic phenomena, are insulated from hazards of drought or other food-threatening occurrences by efficient social organizations; but ultimately rely upon the earth because of their almost insatiable demand for mineral resources. The industrialized world contains 30 percent of the Earth’s population, but it consumes 87 percent of all energy resources each year. Consumption of some mineral resources such as aluminum or copper is almost entirely within the industrialized countries, which consume an average of 95 percent of world production.

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The disproportionate share of resources that the industrialized world consumes epitomizes the complex role of the physical environment. Resources that might benefit the residents of a less industrialized country are too often exploited by industrial countries for use beyond the boundaries of the less industrialized region. The overwhelming concentration of resource consumption in industrialized regions suggests that in order to increase the standard of living of residents of less developed areas, residents of developed areas must be willing to curtail their consumption of the earth’s finite resources.

11. The English-speaking countries

English is the second most widely spoken language in the world (the first is Chinese) and it is the most popular. It is the official language of the United Kingdom, Ireland (Eire), the United States of America, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and it is widely spoken in India. It is the language of international business and science, aviation and shipping, computer science, sport and politics. About one third of the world speaks English.

As so many people speak English in so many different countries, there are many different "Englishes". The best form of English is called Standard English and it the language of educated English speakers. It is used by the

Government, the BBC, the Universities and it is often called Queen’s English.

12. Canada

The Dominion of Canada, containing four provinces – Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was established by the British North America Act on July 1, 1867. It combined features of the governments of the United States and Britain. Other provinces joined later.

The National Flag was adopted by Parliament in 1964. It is a red flag containing in the centre a white square with a single red maple leaf. Red and white are the official colours of Canada.

Canada (Indian "kanata" – a village) is a magnificent land. It has an area of nearly 10 million square kilometres and population about 28 million; 23 % of population live in rural areas. Canada has two official languages: English (69 %), and French (24 %), 6 % of Canadians speak Italian, Chinese, German and Portuguese.

Within its borders lies a diversity of life, landscape and climate that few countries can rival. Bordered on three sides by oceans, Canada possesses a variety of terrain, from rainforests to nearly deserts. It is a northern country, but its climate varies dramatically. Winters can be long and cold, summers

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often scorching. Ocean currents moderate these extremes – the south-west coast of British Columbia is labelled Canada’s "banana belt".

Most Canadians are immigrants or are the descendants of immigrants. In fact, about 97 % of Canada’s citizens fir into this category. The first Canadians were Amerindians, who came from Asia.

Canada is a democratic country, it is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the Queen of Canada, who is also Queen of Britain, Australia and New Zealand. All her powers are now exercised by her representative, the Governor General. Canada is a federal state with 10 self-governing provinces and two territories controlled by the central government. The written Constitution of Canada is a collection of 24 documents including Acts of the British and Canadian Parliaments.. Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate can initiate any bills except money bills. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the cabinet. The senators are appointed by the Prime Minister. They hold office till age of 75. They must reside in the province for which they are appointed. The House of Commons is the major law-making body. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General.

Canada is one of the world’s richest countries. A per capita GNP is $ 11,400. Canadians enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living. Canada’s wealth comes from the exploitation of its rich natural resources and from the work of its citizens. Canadians are employed in a tremendous variety of jobs. All of these jobs can be grouped into one of three categories: extractive industries, manufacturing industries, and service industry. Manufacturing and construction employ over 23 % of labour force. Chief industry is petroleum extraction. Canada exports motor vehicles and parts, petroleum and natural gas, food and animals. Canada’s chief trading partner is the USA.

The capital of Canada is Ottawa with the population of about 500,000 people.

The largest and most important cities in Canada are Kingston, Toronto – a big port on Lake Ontario with the population of about 2 million people, Montreal – with its famous universities and Vancouver.

13. Australia

Australia is the 6th largest country in the world. Its territory is about 7 million square kilometres. It is only slightly smaller than the USA. Australia is located to the south of Asia, between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is the only country that occupies a complete continent. Australia is a federal state. There are 6 states and 2 territories: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia, Northern territory and

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Australian Capital Territory with Canberra, the national capital. Each Australian state has its own government and capital.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy. It is a member of Britain’s

Commonwealth and officially recognises Queen Elizabeth as its monarch. A governor – general formally represents the Queen.

A long chain of mountains, the great Dividing Range, runs along the Pacific Ocean. It is also the driest continent in the world. About one third of the land is desert. Australia has 4 main deserts. The Great Barrier Reef is a garden under the sea. It has 400 species of corals. Rivers fill with water only during the rainy season.

Australia has many national parks, where wild life is protected.

Large cities are Sydney (population 3,5 mln) and Melbourne (population 3 mln).

The climate ranges from tropical monsoon in the north to temperate in the south. Wet season is January-April. In the centre the climate is very dry.

Australia has a strong economy and is self-sufficient in food production. Australia exports many minerals, including iron ore, bauxite, diamonds, coal, silver, gold, and copper, as well as wheat, meat, cane sugar, etc. The country is the world’s leading exporter of wool and beef. It also ranks high in sheep production. The country’s manufacturing industry supplies domestic and export demand. Oil and natural gas have helped to build big industries. The main ports are Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide, and Melbourne.

Inflation is about 3 %. The currency is the Australian dollar. Real domestic product per capita is $ 18,220. Poverty does exist but the poor have the potential to earn a decent income.

New Zealand is an island country, 1000 miles of Australia. It covers 268,680 sq. km. This mountainous island nation lies in the South Pacific about 1,600 km south-east of Australia. The longest river is the Waikato (425 km). NZ has hundreds of waterfalls. The two principal land forms are North Island and South Island. Small islands are uninhabited. The more populous North Island has fertile agricultural land, the largest man-made forest in the Southern Hemisphere, and a few isolated snow-capped volcanoes. It also boasts hot springs, mud pools, and geysers in its thermal region.

The climate is temperate, with plenty of sunshine and adequate rainfall. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. Its population is 325,000. British settlers founded Wellington in 1840. The capital was moved there from Auckland, the largest city, because of Wellington’s central location.

Wellington is also a port and manufacture centre. The port handles foreign trade. Factories assemble automobiles. The city is the home of Victoria University of Wellington.

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New Zealand has a modern economy. 5 % of the population is employed in agriculture. The country is the world’s largest producer of kiwi fruit. Chief crops are barley, potatoes and wheat. NZ is the largest exporter of wool. Industries include food processing, textiles, machinery, wood and paper products.

Tourism is a vital economic sector. Real gross domestic product per capita is $ 14,990. Unemployment is low but higher among Maori. A freetrade agreement with Australia has boosted trade. Economic growth has averaged 4-8 %. One of NZ’s major concerns is finding new overseas markets for its diary and wheat production. The currency is the New Zealand dollar.

New Zealand’s population is about 4 million. 80 % are Europeans, 10 % are Maori. English and Maori are both official languages.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II is represented by a governor general. Until 1840 New Zealand had no legal government. Britain gave New Zealand constitution in 1852. The head of the government is the Prime Minister. Parliament is called the House of Representatives. It has 120 seats. New Zealand is divided into 16 regions, 57 districts and 16 towns. There are four main political parties. The voting age is 18. NZ became the first country to give women the right to vote.

15. Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It has an area of 390,245 sq. km. Most of the country is a high plateau of 1500 m high. Zimbabwe lies in the tropics but has a pleasant climate because of the high altitude. Zimbabwe’s beautiful scenery includes the famous Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. The main rivers are the Zambezi, Limpopo and Sabi. Climate of the country is hot and wet. Winters are cool and dry. Temperatures range between +12°C and +29°C.

Harare is the capital and financial centre of Zimbabwe. Harare is one of the most beautiful and developed cities in Africa. New buildings are changing the skyline of the city. It is surrounded by the richest farmland in the country. It has also an industrial area.

An executive president heads Zimbabwe’s government, and appoints a Cabinet. Laws are made by a parliament that consists of 150-member House of Assembly.

Population of Zimbabwe is about 8 million. 98 % of Zimbabwians are black. 1 % are whites.

Zimbabwe is a producer of gold, asbestos and nickel. The country has deposits of chromite, copper, tin, and gems. crops include coffee, corn, cotton,

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peanuts, sugar, sunflower seeds, tea, tobacco, and wheat. Cattle raising on large ranches is also important. The private sector dominates the main stream of economic activities.

Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia) was the first colony to break with Britain without consent. In 1980 Britain recognised the country’s independence. Rhodesia’s name was officially changed to Zimbabwe. It became the member of the UN. In 1990 Mugabe was re-elected executive president of Zimbabwe.

1. Read and complete the following paragraph:

The British Commonwealth of Nations

The British Commonwealth of Nations ……… a free association of independent nations and ……… dependencies. It developed ……… New Zealand and South Africa ……… given the status of self-governing dominions and later became completely independent ……… British rule. During the 20th century almost all British colonies chose ……… to break all connections with the colonial past or remain within the Commonwealth

………independent nations. Most chose to stay for various reasons, mainly economic ……… Nowadays there ……… Canada, New Zealand, India, Sri

Lanka, Kenya, Singapore, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. The Commonwealth is

………unique organisation, and ……… nearly a quarter of the world’s population. It maintains ……… it is ……… only world-wide nationalities, who are united ……… a common bond.

2.Reply to the following sentences with a suitable question.

a.Canada is the United States‘ neighbour to the north.

b.Every four years, Americans participate in the election of the nation’s President.

c.The President is assisted by his Vice-President and his Cabinet.

d. The summer before the election both political parties hold a convention, a huge meeting. where the policy of the party is chosen.

e.In early times the New York area was populated by Indians.

3.Name 5 rights under a democracy and explain what you think each mean.

Right of ……… means that ………

Right of ……… means that ………

Right of ……… means that ………

Right of ……… means that ………

Right of ……… means that ………

16. The United Kingdom of Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is located off north-western coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean and the North

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Sea. It is separated from the continent by the Strait of Dover and the English Channel, 34 km wide.

Its total area of 244,035 sq. km is shared by four constituent units: England, Wales, and Scotland, forming Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland separated from Great Britain by the North Channel.

There are also several island groups, of which the best known are the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

No place in Britain is more than 120 km from tidal water. The seas surrounding the British Isles are shallow, usually less than 90 meters because the islands lie on the continental shelf.

The population of the United Kingdom is about 60 mln people, about 80 % of it is urban.

The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called the Highlands. The South which has beautiful valleys and plains is called the Lowlands. There are a lot of rivers in great Britain but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream make the climate of the UK mild the whole year round.

The United Kingdom is a highly developed industrial country where the earliest developments of modern industry took place. The original basis of British industry was coal-mining. Nowadays it produces and exports machinery, electronics, textile goods. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy with a Parliament and the Queen as head of the State. The legislative power in the country is exercised by the Houses of Parliament has met at Westminster since the 13th century. To debate the nation’s affairs, pass legislation and vote money supply to the government of the day. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons are elected by the people. They are elected from the constituencies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The House of Commons is the real governing body of the United Kingdom. However, changes and modernisation of the state system are under way at present.

The executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The Government is formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party and is appointed by the Queen. The Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers; twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet.

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