Reading NATURE’S SEVEN GREATEST WONDERS
Part I
The American traveller and scientist Lowell Thomas thinks that there are seven Nature’s greatest wonders. They are the Grand Canyon, Glacier Bay, the Mammoth Cave, Victoria Falls, Baikal, Mountain Everest, and Yellowstone National Park.
The Grand Canyon is quite unusual in colour and architecture. Two hundred and eighty miles long, four to eighteen miles across, more than a mile deep. The Grand Canyon is a fantasy of stones and cliffs. Standing near it, you can watch a wonderful play of colours that no artist could describe. The Colorado River, Nature’s main assistant in creating this work of sculpture, runs through the canyon.
Glacier Bay is in Alaska, where the mountains rise higher from the sea than any other place on earth. It’s a land of glaciers, big fiord sand perpendicular ice walls shining in the sun. Here all varieties of arctic life are present. One can see, for example, whales sending up fountains of water, seals white bears, deer, wolves and a great number of birds. There is nothing static at Glacier Bay. It is a world that changes all the time and is a unique laboratory of each progresses for scientists. The great glaciers grow slowly, become fantastically large and then slide majestically toward the sea leaving behind new soil were the cycle of growing begins all over again.
Vocabulary
Wonder –диво. Grand Canyon – Великий каньйон, Glacier Bay – Льодова Затока, Mammoth Cave – Мамонтова печера, .Victoria Falls –Водоспад Вікторія., Yellowstone National Park – Єлоустонський національний парк, .cliff –стрімка скеля.fiord – фіорд, .variety – різноманітність,.seal –тюлень,.deer – олень, олені.slide – сповзати , majestically – велично.
Questions
- What are Nature’s seven wonders?
- What is the Grand Canyon famous for?
- What river runs through the Canyon?
- What is Glacier Bay famous for?
- What can one see in Glacier Bay?
NATURE’S SEVEN GREATEST WONDERS
Part II
The Mammoth Cave is in Kentucky, ‘Mammoth’ is the right word for this great labyrinth of underground corridors, full of colorful formations made by the centuries. Stalactites drop from the ceiling like New Year tree toys, stalagmites rise from the floor. The formations on the walls are like flowers, trees and animals.
How old is the Mammoth Cave?
Its development began about 240 million years ago, but people discovered it in 1800, when a hunter running after a wonderful bear, suddenly came upon its entrance.
Victoria Falls. It is truly one of the Nature’s most wonderful sights. It is situated between Zambia and Rhodesia. Victoria is more than twice as high as Niagara and almost one and a half times as wide. At Niagara the river goes over the cliffs and into a broad open area, at Victoria the long river Zambezi carries as much as 75 million gallons of water in a minute over one cliff and against another, into a gorge not more than 100 feet wide, known as the Boiling Pot. This created massive clouds of spray, a fantasy of rainbows which can be seen from miles away. Africans call the falls Mossy – oatunya ( The Smoke that Thunders)
Vocabulary
Labyrinth –лабіринт, development –розвиток, discovered – відкрили, hunter –мисливець, entrance – вхід, gallon –галон (4,5 л), gorge – вузька ущелина, Boiling Pot – Киплячий Котел, The Smoke that Thunders –дми, який гримить.
Questions
- What is the Mammoth Cave famous for?
- How old is the Mammoth Cave?
- Where is Victoria Falls situated?
- How do the Africans call Victoria Falls?
NATURE’S SEVEN GREATEST WONDERS
Part III
Baikal, Siberia’s Giant Lake. Imagine a fresh water lake large then Belgium, with high mountains round it. It’s Baikal, 40 miles from Irkutsk in south-eastern Siberia.
More than a mile deep in places, Baikal contains as much fresh water as all the North America Great Lakes taken together. About 1,800 species of flora and fauna live in it, two-thirds of them are not found anywhere else. There is, for example, the golomyanka, a fish so nearly transparent, that one can almost read a newspaper through it.
Unique to Baikal, too, are its 40,000 seals. How did seals get there, 1,000 miles from salt water? Scientists think that they had remained in the lake from the time when Baikal was in some way connected with the Arctic Ocean.
Mountain Everest. The Himalayan mountains are the highest of all the earth’s mountains. Everest is the highest of them. It goes up the sky nearly five and a half miles above sea level. It has always attracted brave mountain climbers. Eight attempts were made, some with tragic results before, in 1953 after months of preparation, thirty-three year old Edmund Hillary from new Zealand, and his companion, Tensing Norgay, from Nepal managed to reach its summit.
Yellowstone National Park, the largest park in the USA. It covers an area of 3,472 square miles. Yellowstone is a world in itself. It was born of volcanic fire and later moulded by glaciers. It has high mountains and cliffs, waterfalls, hot springs, steaming and bubbling, and the world’s greatest concentration of geysers (no less than 10,000), throwing their water from time to time high the air. The wild life of Yellowstone is very rich with bison, moose, elks and bears and a great number of smaller animals and birds. Two and a half million people visit the park each year
Vocabulary
Attracted – .приваблювати, climber –альпініст, attempt – спроба, summit –вершина, moulded – сформований, spring – джерело, steaming and bubbling – що киплять та булькають, bison – бізон, moose – американський лось, elk – лось, contain – вміщувати, species – вид, рід, golomyanka –голом’янка, nearly transpared – майже прозорий, seal – тюлень, remained –залишились, connected –з’єднаний.
Scientific Background
Do you know that…
- About 2 per cent of Earth’s water is found in Glaciers, that is about 2/3 of Earth’s fresh water
- Everest is the European name for Ghomolungma, the highest mountain on earth
- Mammoth Cave has 225 paths, 47 high cupolas, 23deep pits and the length of its caves is 240 km in total
- It has underground rivers which are connected with the Green river, bring crickets and spiders, fish and Cray-fish live in them
- The Yellowstone lake is the largest mountain lake in North America
- The “Bee-Hive” geyser throws its water 70 km high in the air every 20 hours
- Alaska is the seism active region in the world
Exercises
- Match the words from the text to their explanations
Falls, stalactite, bay, canyon, labyrinth, cave, mammoth, stalagmite, glacier
- A deep gorge with a river flowing through it
- A large moving mass of ice and snow
- A part of the sea, enclosed by a wide line of the shore
- A large natural empty place under the ground in the side of a hill
- A place where a river falls down over cliffs
- A network of winding roads, difficult to get through
- A large king of pre-historical elephant
- A sharp painted object hanging down from the roof of a cave
- Mounting upwards from the floor of the cave.
- Choose the right statement
1)…is quite unusual in colour and architecture
- a) The Mammoth Cave
- b) Victoria Falls
с) The Grand Canyon
2)…runs through the Great Canyon
- a) The Zambezi
- b) The Niagara
с) The Colorado
3) Glacier Bay is…
- a) In Africa
- b) In California
с) In Alaska
4) The Mammoth Cave was discovered in
- a) 1900
- b) 1800
с) 1840
5) Victoria Falls is situated between
- a) Rhodesia and Zambia
- b) Canada and Alaska
с) The Zambia and the Niagara
6) The highest Earth’s mountains is
- a) Everest
- b) Hoverla
с) the Himalayas
7) The world’s greatest concentration of geysers is in
- a) Kamchatka
- b) Yellowstone National Park
с) Glacier Bay
3.Translate the Phrases. What are they about?
1) A fantasy of stones and cliffs
2) Nature’s main assistant in creating this work of sculpture
3) The mountain rise higher from the sea than in other places
4) It is the world that changes all the time
5) A great labyrinth of underground corridors
6) Massive clouds of spray, a fantasy of rainbows
7) It goes up the sky nearly five and a half miles above sea level
8) It was born of volcanic fire and later moulded by glacier
9) Contains as much fresh water as all the North American Great Lakes together.
4.Find English equivalents to these words
Across: 1 – лось (американський ), 3 – льодовик, 6 – диво, 7 – альпініст, 10 – вовк, 11 – лабіринт, 13 – скеля, 15 – мисливець, 16 – бізон, 18 – море, 19 – олень, 20 – вузька ущелина, 21 – лось ( звич. ), 22 – галон.
Down: 1 – мамонт, 2 – тюлень, 4 – каньйон, 5 – скульптура, 8 – ведмідь, 9 – творіння, 10 – кит, 12 – котел, 14 – фіорд, 16 – веселка, 19 – глибокий.
The Giving Tree
(After Shell Silberstein)
Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy would come and would gather her leaves … and make them into crowns and play king of the forest. He would climb up her trunk and swing from her branches and eat apples. And they would play hide-and-seek. And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade. And the boy loved the tree very much. And the tree was happy.
But time went by. And the boy grew older. And the tree was often alone. Then one day the boy came to the tree and the tree said, ”Come boy, come and climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be happy”.
“I am too big to climb and play”, said the boy. “I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money. Can you give me some money?”
“I’m sorry,” said the tree, “but I have only leaves and apples. Take my apples. Boy and sell them in the city. Then you will have money and you will be happy.”
And so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered her apples and carried them away. And the tree was happy/ But the boy stayed away for a long time and the tree was sad. And then one day the boy came back and the tree shook with joy and said, “Come, Boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy.”
“I am to busy to climb trees,” said the boy. “I want a house to keep me warm,” he said. “I want a wife and I want children and so I need a house. Can you give me a house?”
“I have no house,” said the tree. “The forest is my house, but you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy.”
And so the boy cut off her branches and carried them away to build his house. And the tree was happy. But the boy stayed away for a long time. And when he came back, the tree was so happy she could hardly speak. “Come, Boy” she whispered, come and play.”
“I am too old and sad to play,” said the boy. “I want a boat that will take me far away from here. Can you give me a boat?”
“Cut down my trunk and make a boat,” said the tree. “Then you can sail away and be happy.” And so the boy cut down her trunk and made a boat and sailed away. And the tree was happy but not really.
And after a long time, the boy came back again. “I am sorry, Boy,” said the tree, “but I have nothing left to give you – my apples are gone.”
“My teeth are too weak for apples,” said the boy.
“My branches are gone,” said the tree. “You cannot swing on them.”
“I am too old to swing on branches,” said the boy.
“My trunk is gone,” said the tree. “You cannot climb.”
“I am too tired to climb,” said the boy.
“I am sorry,” sighed the tree. “I wish that I could give you something but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry…”
“I don’t need very much now,” said the boy, “just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired.”
“Well,” said the tree, straightening her up as much as she could, and “well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.”
And the boy did. And the tree was happy.
Vocabulary
Crown – крона, trunk – стовбур, to swing – гойдатися, hide-in-seek – гра у хованки, shade – тінь, to whisper – шепотіти, to sail – плисти, to sigh –зітхати, stump – пень, to straighten – випрямлятися
Questions
- How could the boy play with the tree?
- Why did the tree propose the boy to take her apples?
- Why did the boy want a house?
- How did the boy use the trunk?
- Why didn’t the boy want to swing on branches and climb up the trunk of the tree after he came back home again?
- Was the tree happy when she was without her apples, crown, and trunk?
- What did the boy give to the tree?
Exercises
- Are the sentences true or false?
The tree loved a little girl.
The boy and the tree often played chess.
When the boy grew up, the tree was often alone.
At first the boy asked the tree for some money.
The boy sold the tree in the city.
The tree was sad without boy.
The tree asked the boy to play with her.
The boy cut down the trunk because he wanted to make a fire.
The boy wanted to find a quiet place to sit and rest because he was very tired.
The tree was very glad to propose the boy her old stump to sit on it.
- Put the sentences in the right order.
The tree missed the boy and wanted him to play with her.
The boy gathered the apples and sold them.
The boy liked to play with the tree.
The boy asked the tree for a boat.
When the boy grew older, the tree was often alone.
The tree proposed the boy to sit down on her old stump.
The boy cut off the branches to build his house.
The boy came back again after a long time, but he was very old and tired.
- Complete the sentences.
Teeth, boat, root, trunk, crown, stump, hide-in-seek, shade
- The boy liked to sleep in the … of the tree.
- The boy wanted a … to sail him away.
- When the boy became old, his … became too weak for apples.
- An old … was good for sitting and resting.
- A tree consists of a …, a …, and a ….
- Fill in the missing prepositions (each of prepositions might be used more than once): on,for, in,
E.g. The boy sold the apples … the city.
The boy sold the apples in the city.
- The boy stayed away … a long time.
- «Cut … my trunk and make a boat. »
- «I am too old to swing … your branches. »
«My teeth are too weak … apples. »
