Практический курс разговорного английского языка

Ex. 2. Develop your critical thinking.

Explain…

1. why nobody in Europe was interested in exploring other lands before the 16th century;

2. what made European kings encourage and support dangerous and expensive sea voyage;

3. what difficulties the newcomers to the New World might have experienced.

AUSTRALIA.

Vocabulary:

mainland [                                          ] – материк

to serve [                                          ] – служить

mainly [                                          ] – главным образом

tie [                            ] – связь

to administer [                                          ] – управлять

to develop [                                                        ] – развивать(ся)

producer [                                                        ] – производитель

bauxite [                                          ] – боксит, алюминиевая руда

ore [                            ] – руда

amount [                                          ] – количество

farm goods – сельскохозяйственные продукты

income [                                          ] – доход

to enable [                                          ] – давать возможность

Commonwealth of Australia – Содружество наций Австралии

New South Wales – штат Новый южный Уэльс

Queensland – штат Квинслэнд

South Australia – штат Южная Австралия

Tasmania – штат Тасмания

Victoria – штат Виктория

Western Australia – штат Западная Австралия

Canberra – г. Канберра

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

Australia 

Australia is the only country in the world that is also a continent. It is the sixth largest country and the smallest continent. Australia lies between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is situated about 11,000 km south-west of North America and about 8,200 km southeast of mainland Asia.

The east coast of Australia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770. The name of the country comes from Latin word “australis” which means southern. The Commonwealth of Australia is the official name of the country. The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states. Australia has six states. They are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Each state has its own government. There are two territories in Australia. They are the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy like Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of Australia and the head of state. But she serves mainly as a symbol of long historical ties between Great Britain and Australia. The nation is administrated under written constitution. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The capital of the country is Canberra. Australia is one of the world’s most developed countries. It is the world’s leading producer of wool and bauxite. Bauxite is the ore from which aluminium is made. Australia produces and exports large amounts of minerals and farm goods. Income from the export enables Australians to have high standard of living.

Ex. 2. Answer the questions:

1.      Where does Australia lie?

2.      Where does the name “Australia” come from?

What does this name mean?

3.      What is the official name of the country?

4.      The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states, isn’t it? How many states are there in Australia? What are they?

5.      How many territories are there in Australia? What are they?

6.      Who is the country ruled by? Who is the head of state?

7.      What is the capital of Australia?

8.      Australians have high standard of living, don’t they? What does Australia produce and export?

NEW ZEALAND.

Vocabulary:

to belong to – принадлежать

empire [                                          ] – империя

power [                            ] – сила

legislation [                                                        ] – законодательство

brown skinned – темнокожий

descendant [                                                                      ] – потомок

agriculture [                                                        ] – сельское хозяйство

manufacturing [                                                        ] – производство

service industry [                                                                      ] – сфера обслуживания

Polynesia [                                                        ] – Полинезия

California – Калифорния

Wellington [                                          ] – Веллингтон

Maori – Маори

the United Kingdom – Соединенное Королевство

Commonwealth [                                                                      ] – Содружество наций

Auckland [                                                        ] – г. Окленд

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

New Zealand 

New Zealand is an island country in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1,600 km southeast of Australia and about 1,600 km southwest of California. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. The country is situated on two main islands and several small islands. The main islands main are the North Island and the South Island.

The capital of the country is Wellington. The largest city of the country is Auckland. The official language of the country is English. Most aborigines speak English and their own language, Maori.

The country belonged to the British empire. Now it is an independent country. New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. But she has no power. The real power in the country belongs to the legislation, the prime minister and the Cabinet. But the nation has no written constitution.

Maoris were the first people who settled in New Zealand. They were brown skinned. They came from Polynesian islands located northeast of New Zealand. The country was discovered by Europeans in 1642. But they didn’t start to settle in the islands until the late 1700’s. Today, most New Zealanders are descendants of the early European settlers. About 12 per cert of the country’s population are Maoris.

New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living in the world. About 70 per cent on New Zealand people have their own houses. Almost every family has a car. New Zealand is one of the world’s developed countries. The main industries of the country are agriculture, manufacturing and service industries.

Ex. 2. Answer the questions:

1.      Where does New Zealand lie?

2.      What island group does New Zealand belong to?

3.      What are the main islands of New Zealand?

4.      What is the capital of the country?

5.      What is the largest city of New Zealand?

6.      Now New Zealand is an independent country, isn’t it? What country did New Zealand belong to before?

7.      Who rules the country now?

8.      Who does the real power in New Zealand belong to?

9.      Does the nation have a written constitution?

10.  What do you know about Maoris? Where did they come from?

11.  When did Europeans start to settle in the islands?

12.  New Zealand is one of the world’s developed countries, isn’t it?

Prove it.

PART II. TRAVELLING.

Ex. 1.  Read the text. As you read it note down facts to complete the grid bellow. Compare your notes with the rest of the group. Then continue the grid with information about other means of travelling you know well

Different means of travel

I’m extremely fond of travelling and I feel terribly envious of any friend who is going anywhere. I don’t know exactly what method of travelling I prefer.

Somebody says there is nothing like travelling by air; it is more comfortable, more convenient and far quicker than any other method. There is none of the dust and dirt of a railway or car journey, none of the trouble of changing from train to train. And flying is a thrilling thing.

Somebody prefers to travel by train. With a train you have speed, comfort and pleasure combined. From the comfortable corner seat of a railway carriage you have a splendid view of the countryside. If you are hungry, you can have meal in the dining-car; and if a journey is long you can have a wonderful bed in a sleeper. And besides, you can’t find any place that is more interesting than a big railway-station. May be a big sea port…

It’s fine to travel by boat. I love to feel the deck of the boat under my feet, to see the rise and fall of the waves; to feel the fresh sea wind blowing in my face and hear the cry of the sea-gulls. And it’s very exiting to come into the port and see round us all the ships: cargo-ships, sailing ships, rowing boats. But some people don’t like sea trip because they feel sea-sick, when the sea is rough.

I can say a lot about air flights, sea voyages or railway journeys but I want to say a word or two for walking tour. Walker goes along little winding lanes where cars can’t go. He takes mountain paths, he wanders [wondes] by the side of quite lakes and through the shade of woods. He sees the real country, the wild flowers, the young birds in their nests, the animals in the forest; he feels the quietness and calm of nature.

And besides, you save your money travelling on foot. You can’t deny that walking is the cheapest method of travelling.

I don’t know what kind of travelling I like best of all. I’m fond of travelling itself, no matter what method it is.

Ex. 2. Practice reading the following word combinations. Use them in your own sentences

to be extremely fond of smth., to feel terrible envious of smb., there is nothing like, traveling by air (by boat, by train, by car…), to have speed, comfort and pleasure combined, to be more convenient and far quicker than, to be hungry, to have a wonderful bed, to feel sea-sick (air sick), to say a word for, to save time  (money), to deny, no matter.

Ex. 3.  Choose the method you like. Use expressions given above and say some words in favour of.

travelling by air, travelling by train, travelling by sea, travelling  by car, walking tour.

Ex. 4.  Work in group. Choose one of the following topic sentences and develop each into a short piece of two paragraphs (80-100 words).

1.      Travelling is a modern disease.

2.      The purpose of travelling

3.      A change is as good as rest.

Ex. 5. Write an essay about advantages and disadvantages of hitchhiking or any other form of travel. Keep to the following plan:

1.  In my opinion, hitchhiking certainly has some advantages. To begin with, it is

free. Besides, …, also…, particularly if (when) … .

2.  However, hitchhiking has some disadvantages. The main one is … (or firstly,

secondly). As regards … .

3.  I would say, that as you get older you probably wouldn’t like…

4.  In conclusion, I would say, that…

Ex. 6. Read the text and write out all kinds of trains to complete the grid bellow.

Trains

There are different kinds of trains: passenger trains, mail trains and goods trains. Mail trains carry mail, or post that is letters, parcels, newspapers and magazines. Goods trains carry goods. Passenger trains carry passengers. Mail and passenger trains are usually combined: there are some carriages for passengers and a special carriage or two for mail.

Passenger trains can be slow or fast. A slow train stops at every station. Fast trains have few stops: they stop only at very large stations. So we can call these trains respectively stopping trains and non-stopping trains.

There are local trains and long-distance trains. Local trains connect points situated not far away from each other, say, a hundred or two-three hundred kilometers. By a long-distance train you can travel very far – for thousands of kilometers. If you live in a large city like St. Petersburg or Moscow or Kiev, you can go to the suburbs of the city by a suburban train.

Sometimes, when traveling a long distance, you have to change trains (or make a changing), that is get off one train and board another, if there is no through train to the place of your destination.

When you are traveling a long distance, it is very convenient to go by an overnight train. Overnight trains have sleeping accommodation: they usually have “corridor cars”, i. e. carriages with separate compartments (they are called sleeping cars or sleepers). In each compartment there are two lower and two upper berths, on which you can sleep like in bed. Trains which run by day are called day coaches. You cannot sleep in these trains: they have only sitting accommodation – very comfortable soft arm-chairs.

Ex. 7. Look through the text and say what kind of train you prefer and why if you go to.

Volochaevka, Birobidzhan, Komsomolsk, Vladivostok, Nachodka, Novosibirsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev

Ex. 8.  Find the Russian sentence in the right-hand column which is close in the meaning to the English sentence in the left-hand column. Pay attention to the prepositions.