Английский язык. Александрова Г.А. - 28 стр.

                              Unit 4
           Conversational topic The Russian Federation
                                       Text 1
       The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. The vast
territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part
of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. Russia is
washed by twelve seas and three oceans. The oceans are: the Arctic, the
Atlantic, the Pacific, The seas are: the White sea, the Barents sea, the
Okhotsk sea, the Black sea, the Baltic sea and others. In the south Russia
borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, the Ukraine.
It has a sea-border with the USA.
       The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from
high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain chains are the Urals,
the Caucasus and the Altai. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, sepa-
rates Europe from Asia. There are two great plains in Russia: the Great
Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are a lot of great
rivers and deep Lakes on its territory. The longest rivers are the Volga in
Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The Amur in the Far
East flows into the Pacific ocean. Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. Lake
Baikal is the deepest in the world and its water is the purest on earth. It is
smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the
Baltic Sea. Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concen-
trated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.
       A country stretching from the subtropical zone to the Arctic Ocean
naturally has an extremely varied climate. The duration and nature of win-
ter and summer vary in different regions but the contrast between the sea-
sons is distinct everywhere. When spring arrives in Moscow it is already
summer in the South while in the North it is still winter. In the middle of
the country the climate is moderate and continental. In the south-west the
weather is usually mild and wet. Northern Asia is one of the coldest places
on earth.
       The current population of Russia is more than 150 million people.
The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population
live in cities and towns and their outskirts.

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