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Iraq

 

Iraq is bounded on the east by Iran and on the west by Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, on the north by Turkey, on the south it is washed by the Persian Gulf. The central geographic factor is the magnificent river system. From the lofty mountains of Turkey come both the Tigris and the Euphrates, each bringing a river system of its own and sweeping in great long loops to irrigate the land.

From the very ancient times of Babylon and even earlier, ca­nals have been run from these two rivers to water the surroun­ding landscapes.

Iraq is very rich in its agricultural, mineral and human re­sources. It possesses two of the greatest rivers in the world. The fertile land floats on a sea of oil, the "black gold" of modern times.

In the mountainous north-eastern area, a comparatively long winter is usual with temperature falling below freezing point, between December and January. In summer temperatures are mode­rate to warm. The mountains are of great heights, covered with snow in winter. The central and south area of Iraq is characteri­zed by a moderate winter and a long dry summer. The hottest weather occurs from June to September. Rain falls mainly in winter.

 

Iran

 

Placed on East-West crossroads, Iran has for long remained a melting pot of two great civilizations. To her west are the lands of the Semitic people – Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan – and to her north and east lie the lands of Indo-Iranian branch of Aryans – Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thus Iran is a buffer of sorts between two major races of the world.

A large part of Iran's territory is covered by the Plateau of Iran surrounded by high mountain ranges. In the north runs the chain of the Elburz Mountains, with its highest peak covered with perennial snow. In the north-west rises the Armenian Pla­teau composed of volcanic rocks. In the south and south-west there is a number of mountain chains.

The climate of the Plateau is continental and dry, with hot summers and cold windy winters. The most favourable conditions for arable farming are to be found in the foot-hill regions of the north and west. Teheran has the mean temperature of 29° С in July and of 1°С in January. The annual precipitation is 25 cm. There are good pastures for cattle in the mountains where the rainfall is much heavier, the rivers running down the slopes feed the oases in which various crops are grown.

The physical features in the Caspian lowland are quite diffe­rent from those of other parts of Iran. This is a region of humid subtropics with the average temperature of 26° С in July. Forests of broadleaf trees grow here. The Caspian Lowland is the only region where arable farming is possible without artificial irrigation.

Iran possesses oil reserves of world importance; oil-fields are located in the south-west and in the north. Besides oil, there is coal, iron, manganese ore, non-ferrous metal ores. Oil extrac­tion is of paramount importance for the economy of the country.

 

Turkey

 

Turkey occupies the western extremity of the sub-continent of Asia — the peninsula of Asia Minor, and the south-eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. In Europe Turkey shares the border with Bulgaria and Greece and in Asia – with Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

The territory of Turkey is washed by the Black Sea in the north, by the Mediterranean in the south and by the Aegean Sea in the West.

The main part of Turkey is formed by the peninsula of Asia Minor. The greater part of the peninsula is occupied by a table­land surrounded by mountain chains. There are many highland plains among mountain ranges and many extinct volcanoes with snow-covered peaks.

The seaboards of Turkey have a subtropical climate; the sum­mer is hot and dry and the winter mild and humid. On the tab­leland the summer is hot and dry and the winter severe. The annual precipitation is rather small, rains occur mainly in spring.

The greater part of Turkey is woodless. In ancient times the wooded area was much larger, but the woods were destroyed. In the valleys alluvial soils which are very fertile are to be found.

The mineral deposits of Turkey have hardly been investigated. There are considerable deposits of coal, oil, copper, iron and man­ganese ores.

II. Translate into English.

Конго (Киншаса)

Большую часть страны занимает обширная впадина Конго, лежащая среди возвышенностей. Центральная часть впадины представляет аллювиальную равнину. С севера, востока и юга к ней прилегает полоса плато, образующая у дна впадины кру­тые уступы. Вдоль восточной границы Конго, с севера на юг тя­нутся горы, среди которых есть потухшие и два действующих вулкана.

Климат в северной части страны экваториальный, влажный, с большим количеством осадков, особенно с марта до мая и в сентябре — ноябре. В южной части климат экваториально-мус-сонный с дождливым летом и сухой зимой. На большей части территории страны средняя температура марта колеблется от +"25° до +28°, июля от +23° до +25°. Более прохладным клима­том отличаются лишь наиболее возвышенные районы на юге и востоке страны. Годовое количество осадков на севере состав­ляет 1500—2000 мм и уменьшается к югу.

Большинство рек страны принадлежит к бассейну реки Конго. Все они изобилуют водопадами. Реки судоходны лишь на отдель­ных участках, разделенных порогами и водопадами.

На севере Конго — вечнозеленые экваториальные леса. Поч­вы, особенно в западной части впадины Конго, заболочены, на юге и крайнем севере преобладают саванны на красных почвах, с лесами вдоль рек. В горах на востоке Конго можно просле­дить различные пояса от влажных экваториальных лесов до вы­сокогорных экваториальных лугов и, наконец, вечных снегов и ледников.

Животный мир страны очень богат и разнообразен. В лесах водятся многочисленные обезьяны, дикие свиньи. В саваннах живут слоны, носороги, буйволы, антилопы, зебры, жирафы, из хищников — львы, леопарды, шакалы, гиены. В реках много бегемотов и крокодилов.

Из минеральных богатств наибольшее значение имеют ме­сторождения медных руд, которые наряду с медью содержат кобальт, цинк и другие ценные компоненты. Имеются запасы урановой руды, олова, марганца, золота, алмазов.

 

Aids: впадина — depression; уступ — projection; многоводный — abounding in water; бассейн — river basin; подавляющее большинство — the overwhelming majority; изобиловать — to abound in; водопад — waterfall; пороги (речные) — rapids; преоб­ладать — to predominate, to prevail; ледник — glacier; дикая свинья — wild hog; буйвол — buffalo; бегемот — hippopotamus (pl.-es или-mi); оло­во — tin.

 

Монгольская Республика

 

В западной и северной части Монгольской Республики расположены горы, че­редующиеся с широкими долинами. Восток и юго-восток стра­ны — плоскогорье Гоби, местами пересеченное горами. Сравни­тельно небольшая площадь покрыта песками. Большая часть территории республики лежит на высоте от 1000 до 2000 м над уровнем моря. Важнейшее минеральное сырье Монголии — камен­ный уголь и урановые руды. Известны также месторождения железных руд, зо­лота, цветных металлов, нефти.

Климат Монгольской Республики — умеренный, резко континентальный. Средняя температура января от —35° на севере до —10° на юге, сред­няя температура июля соответственно от +18° до +26°. Наи­большее количество осадков — в высокогорных районах и на се­вере страны. Осадки выпадают главным образом летом.

Большинство рек Монголии горные; весной, когда тают снега в горах, и летом, во время дождей, реки разливаются. В Монголии 16 озер, площадью более 100 кв. км каждое.

Преобладающие почвы — каштановые. Растительность боль­шей части Монголии, главным образом на севере и северо-востоке, степная. На крайнем севере есть хвойные леса. На юге преобла­дают полупустыни и пустыни.

В лесах Монголии водятся белка, кабан, косуля, волк и лисица.

 

Aids: Монгольская Республика — the Mongolian Republic; чередоваться — to alternate, interchange; резко континентальный — markedly continental; соответственно — respectively; таять — to melt; каштановый — chestnut; косуля — roe, deer; сырье — raw ma­terials.

 

ADDITIONAL TEXTS

Asia

 

Asia is the largest subcontinent. In the north it is washed by the Arctic Ocean, in the east — by the Pacific and in the south — by the Indian Ocean. In the south-west Asia is bounded by Africa and in the west — by Europe. The coastline of the continent is irregular, the eastern coast is fringed by the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow and the East-China Seas; in the south— by the South-China Sea. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are respectively east and west of India.

In the south-west of the continent lies the plateau of Pamir, where India, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China meet, and when­ce great mountain chains run in all directions. The principal mountain system is the Himalayas (the highest point — mount Eve­rest). The chief range extends south-east from Pamir to the bor­ders of China, there breaking into numerous ranges which traverse Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula. The Karakoram and the Kunlun mountains form the northern flank of the system. From Pamir to the Mongolian Republic extend the Tian Shan mountains; further north, the Altai and other ranges extend eastwards across northern Mongolia and eastern Siberia towards the Sea of Okhotsk, forming the northern boundary of the Desert of Gobi. Mountain ranges also ex­tend from Pamir through India and Afghanistan, and towards the Caspian Sea.

The tableland of Tibet lies north of the principal range of the Himalayas, to the south of which is the Indian peninsula with the tableland of Deccan. In the south-west extends the table­land of Arabia. Other notable physical features are the plateau of Iran, the Armenian plateau and the plateau of Asia Minor, and also the great deserts of Syria and Arabia, and the Kirgiz Steppe in Kirgizstan.

The chief rivers flowing north to the Arctic Ocean are the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena. Three great rivers - the Amur, the Hwang Ho and the Yangtse - enter the Pacific, and all the three are navigable for thousands of miles. The Mekong, the Salween and the Irrawaddy, rising in the eastern parts of the high plateau, water the Peninsula of Indo-China. The Indus and the Brahmaputra flow through a high valley in opposite directions along the northern base of the Himalayas, and find their way to the sea. The Tigris and the Euphrates, both rising in the high plateau of Ar­menia, flow parallel to each other.

A succession of great lakes or other inland seas are situated all along the northern slope of the high plateaus of Western and Eastern Asia: the Caspian Sea, Lake Balkhash, Lake Baikal and many smaller ones.

Volcanoes play an important part in Asia's geology; more than 120 active volcanoes are known in Asia, chiefly in the is­lands of the south-east. Numerous traces of volcanic eruptions are found, earthquakes are frequent.

The climate of Asia varies greatly. Around Verkhoyansk in north-eastern Siberia is the coldest part of the eastern hemisphere. Warmth gradually increases southward, the highest tempera­ture being experienced in south-west Asia and India. Winds blow from different quarters, the most important and regular being the monsoons. Rainfall is great where high ground intercepts wet winds, but there are rainless stretches in the centre and on the plateau from Iran westwards.

Vegetation varies according to the climate, latitude, and alti­tude. Dwarf willows and birches occur in tundra districts, north of the Arctic Circle, where also mosses and lichens are found. Chief trees are pine, larch, birch in Siberia, coniferous trees on the Himalayas, oak, teak, deodar, sandal-wood, palm in India and Malaysia. Tropical flowers occur on the lower Himalayan slopes, rhododendrons higher up. In Syria and Asia Minor the flora is Mediterranean in character. Central Asia produces vines, olive, fig, apple, and other European fruit trees, Japan and China pro­duce ordinary type of vegetation, including varieties of Alpine plants, while in the south-east occur many indigenous plants — sugar-cane, cotton, pepper, sago, banana, and coconut palms gro­wing wild here, as well as many fruit trees and drug- and rub­ber-producing plants. Bamboos are abundant in China and India. Cultivated plants include tea, coffee, rice, maize, cotton and date palms.

The fauna of Asia includes the camel, elephant, tiger, leopard, bear, wolf, Arctic fox, ermine, deer, marmot, monkey, some mar­supials, crocodile, python, rhinoceros.

Contributing greatly to the income of the countries of Asia are vital mineral exports: petroleum, tin, coal, manganese, chromite, antimony, tungsten.

 

Africa

 

Africa extends south from the Mediterranean Sea, and is almost bisected by the equator. Africa approaches Europe at the Strait of Gibraltar in the north-west, and touches Asia at the Isthmus of Suez in the north-east. Off the south coast lies the large island of Madagaskar, off the north-west coast — the Canaries. The Afri­can coast-line is singularly unbroken. The principal inlets are in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the west. The land rises rapidly from the coast; from the fairly continuous outer rim of mountains the greater part of the surface spreads inwards in two tablelands. The higher plateau (southern) has a number of rid­ges, and in the equatorial regions there are many craters of extinct volcanoes, such as Kilimanjaro. Along the eastern part of the plateau there are many large lakes. The north-east of the con­tinent is drained by the Nile and its tributaries, the south-west by the Limpopo, Zambezi, etc.; the principal west coast rivers are the Niger, Volta, Congo. Africa also contains the world's most extensive and empty desert regions: the Sahara, the Kalahari, and others.

Rainfall is slight except near the equator and some coastal parts. The rainiest region lies west of the Cameroon mountains. The interior is exposed to dry winds.

Except in the moister parts of the equatorial regions, where dense liana-bound forests occur, the prevailing vegetation, where there is any vegetation at all, consists of treeless, or nearly treeless, grassy steppes. Cacti of all kinds in the south are chara­cteristic. In the desert thorny shrubs and scattered tufts of coarse grass form the principal vegetation.

Among animals the quadrupeds that most abound are antelo­pes, giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, etc. The single-humped camel is found solely as a domesticated animal. Africa possesses a peculiar species of elephant, whose tusks furnish most of the ivory for commerce. Моnkeys and apes, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and crocodiles are also likewise abundant, besides lions, hyenas, and other beasts of prey. Among large birds must be mentioned the ostrich.

Africa's chief resources are: jungle products, such as rubber, oil, timber of various kinds, nuts, fruits, cultivated plants, such as coffee, cotton, sugar, cereals, and tobacco; ivory, hides, ostrich feathers, and other animal products; and minerals, such as gold, diamonds, tin, copper, iron, antimony, phosphates, lead, manga­nese, uranium.

 

Japan

 

The islands of Japan lie off the east coast of the Asian Con­tinent across the Japan Sea and the Yellow Sea. Japan consists of four major islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, with about one thousand smaller islands scattered around them.

The chief feature of Japan is that the greatest area is moun­tainous. The Hida Mountains and the Akaishi Mountains that run across the central part of Honshu from south to north, form the highest part of the land. The land-forms there are very steep with a height of 2,500 to 3,000 metres. The Abukuma Mountains and the Chugoku Mountains are plateaus, which form compara­tively level tablelands, so that parts of these areas are cultivated fields and parts are pastures. The Nii Mountains which occupy the southern part of the Kinki District and the Kyushu Mountains that stretch from north-east to south-west across the southern part of Kyushu are not very high, but because of the fact that they are comparatively newly formed elevations accompanied by active corrosion, they have deep ravines and steep cliffs, which makes traffic in these areas very difficult.

Another thing that gives the Japanese land-forms a special variety is the existence of volcanoes. Japan is often called the land of earthquakes. There are about one hundred large-scale volcanoes which differ from one another in their manner of erup­tion and the rocks that compose them. Among these mt. Fuji is known for its beautiful appearance while Kutcharo and Aso are world-known objects of volcanic researches.

In short, the characteristic point of the Japanese land feature is that mountains occupy most of the land with small plains along the seashore. Such plains are mostly mixed compositions of alluvial lowland, diluvial upland and low hills. The alluvial low­land is the main stage for rice cultivation, the key crop of Japa­nese farming. For this reason, this type of soil is most valuable to the Japanese, but because this was originally made up of the soil and sand deposit carried down by rapid streams in a short period of the alluvial age, the rivers that flow through such lands often leave their courses. In a rainy season or typhoon season, the water rises high and overflows the banks. A huge damage done by floods alone is a tremendous burden, economic and so­cial, under which Japan groans every year.

The Japanese coasts afford harbours for they have many in­lets and the offshore sea is deep. However, settlements do not thrive here, because steep hills rise from the coast, permitting" only small tillable area close by and difficult to travel by land. As for the shores which have plains adjacent to them, the coastli­nes are straight and monotonous. On open shores, there are often seen sand-hills, stretching parallel to the coastline. Huge sand­hills, some of them several kilometres wide, run along the coasts of the Japan Sea. These sand-hill regions are infertile and irri­gation is difficult.

Climate.

Japanese climate is characterized by four seasons. Winter begins with the advent of cold seasonal north-west wind that blows from the Asian Continent. It is bringing snow all along the Japan Sea coast. The winter wind is very strong with a velo­city more than ten metres per second. The sea becomes very rough. Small fishing boats cannot operate on the sea when the wind is strong.

With the advent of March, this winter wind gradually dies down and spring is in the air. But about this time, the weather changes easily. Often a serene blue sky abruptly gives place to a strong wind and even rain.

About the middle of June the rainy season sets in over the whole land except Hokkaido. Then it rains day in and day out. In the western part of Japan heavy rains often cause floods and landslides. When July comes the rainy season is over, but some­times the temperature is low even in summer and fine days are rare. Such weather is specifically harmful to rice crops. After the middle of July, when the rainy season is over, high pressure overlies the whole land and warm, humid but fine days continue. The ground is heated due to strong solar radiation and sends up a great ascending current. This often causes thunder storms.

Towards the end of summer typhoons threaten the land. The storms blow in the South Pacific accompanied by violent wind and rain over an area several kilometres wide as they move north-ward. Typhoons hit Japan between the end of August and the end of September. Tremendous damage is done to crops and means of communication as well as to men and animals.

About the end of September high pressure gradually passes off. Conversely the continental pressure covers the land, bringing refreshing cool air with it. About this time it rains again.

When November comes, the continental high pressure predo­minates. The cold seasonal wind blows and winter sets in again. Such is the change of climate with the seasons.

 

The Arab Republic of Egypt

 

The Arab Republic of Egypt occupies the north-eastern corner of the African con­tinent, with an extension across the Gulf of Suez into the Sinai region. The Suez Canal is of immense importance for the country. The area of Egypt is approximately 386,200 sq. miles (1,000,000 sq. km); but of this only four per cent can be said to be permanently settled, the remainder being desert or marsh. The country lies between Lat. 22° and 32° N; and the greatest distance from north to south is about 674 miles (1024 km), and from east to west 770 miles (1240 km), giving the country a roughly square shape, with the Mediterranean and Red Seas for­ming respectively the northern and eastern boundaries. The Arab Republic of Egypt has frontiers in the east with Israel, in the south with the Su­dan, and in the west with Libya.

The country consists essentially of a narrow, trough like val­ley, cut by the River Nile in the plateau of north-east Africa. The fertile strip of the Nile Valley is isolated in the south by the ca­taracts and by the deserts and swamps of the Sudan; in the North by the Mediterranean Sea; and to east and west by desert plateaus.

West of the Nile stretch the vast expanses known as the We­stern Desert. Though by no means unified in height, the land surface is much lower than that east of the Nile, and rarely ex­ceeds 1,000 ft above sea-level. Parts are covered by extensive masses of light shifting sand that often form dunes; but in addi­tion there is a number of large depressions, some with the lowest parts actually below sea-level. These depressions seem to have been hollowed out by wind action, breaking up rock strata that were weakened by the pressure of underground water, and most hollows still contain supplies of artesian water.

The main feature of the climate is the almost uniform aridity. Alexandria, the wettest part, receives only 8 inches of rain annu­ally, and most of the south has 3 inches or less. In many districts rain may fall in quantity only once in two or three years, and it is fit to recall that throughout most of the country, and even in Cairo itself, the majority of the people live in houses of unba­ked, sundried brick. During the summer temperatures are extre­mely high, reaching 100—110° F at times, and even 120° in the southern and western deserts, owing to the large extent of de­sert, hot dry sand-winds are fairly frequent, particularly in spring, and much damage can be caused to crops.

 

Active vocabulary

Area, arid, aridity, bay, border, alluvial, altitude, annual, archipelago, climate (continental, humid, mariti­me, moderate, markedly continen­tal, tropical, temperate, sub-tropical), coast, coastal, coast-line, crop, delta, deposit, depression, desert, semi-desert, drainage, drought, droughty, equator, equatorial, evaporation, extreme, extremity, fauna, flora, flood, foot-hill, forest (deciduous, broadleaf, coniferous, mixed, swampy), freezing point, frontier, glacier, gulf, habitat, harvest, highland, humid, irrigation, jungle, latitude, lowland, meadow, mineral, monsoon, mountain (-range, -belt, -mass), navigation, navigable, oasis (pl. oases), ocean, oceanic, ore (copper-, iron-, uranium-; of ferrous and of non-ferrous metals), peak, peninsula, plain, plateau, precipitation (heavy, scarce), predominate, predominant, prevail, prevalence, projection, rainfall, rapids, region, river-basin, rock, savanna(h), sea (seaboard, sea-level), slope, soil (black-, chestnut-, red-, barren, fertile), steppe-land, tableland, thicket, tributary, vegetation, volcano (active, extinct, dormant), waterfall.

Active vocabulary

Area, arid, aridity, bay, border (n), border on, alluvial, altitude, annual, archipelago, climate (continental, humid, mariti­me, moderate, markedly continen­tal, tropical, sub-tropical), coast, coastal, coast-line, crop, delta, deposit, depression, desert, semi-desert, drainage, drought, droughty, equator, equatorial, evaporation, extreme, extremity, fauna, flood, foot-hill, forest (coniferous, mixed, swampy), freezing point, frontier, glacier, gulf, habitat, harvest, highland, humid, irrigation, jungle, latitude, lowland, meadow, mineral, monsoon, mountain (-range, -belt, -mass), navigation, navigable, oasis, -es, ocean, oceanic, ore (copper-, iron-, uranium-; of ferrous

and of non-ferrous metals), peak, peninsula, plain, plateau, precipitation (heavy, scarce), predominate, predominant, prevail, prevalence, projection, rainfall, rapids, region, river-basin rock, savanna(h), sea (seaboard, sea-level), slope, soil, (black-, chestnut-, red-, barren-, fertile) steppeland, tableland, thicket, tributary, vegetation, volcano (active, extinct), waterfall.

 

 

PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES

 

The Plateau of Iran

The Plateau of Arabia

The Pamirs

The Tibet