Say whether these statements are true of false as in the example.

The UK is situated on the European Continent.

F

1. GB is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.

2. The Gulf Stream separates Great Britain from the European Continent.

3. Elizabeth II is the Queen of the UK now.

4. There are three chambers in the British Parliament.

5. The powers of the Queen are limited.

6. The Parliament is the executive power in GB.

7. The residence of the Prime Minister is Downing Street.

8. There are 650 members in the House of Commons.

9. Great Britain is divided into 3 parts: England, Scotland and Wales.

Answer the questions on the text.

1. What country occupies most of the territory of the British Isles?

1. What countries does GB consist of?
2. What channels separate GB from the continent?
3. What is the population of the UK?
4. What washes GB in the west?
5. What is it washed by in the northwest?
6. What is the capital of the UK?
7. What kind of country is the UK?
8. Is the Prime Minister the legislative power in the UK?
9. What is the legislative power in the UK?
10. Who is the head of the country now?
11. What is the Prime Minister responsible for?
12. Where does the Prime Minister live and work?
13. How many members are there in the House of Commons.
    How many members are there in the House of Lords?
14. What is judicial power exercised by?

Speak on Great Britain.

 

RUSSIA

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas and 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic. In the South Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norwey, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia, the Ukraine. It has a sea border with the USA.

There are two million rivers in Russia. The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It flows into the Caspian Sea. Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world (1800 metres) is situated in Russia.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a Presidential Republic. It was set up by the Constitution in 1993. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

The legislative power is vested in the Federal assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. The Lower Chamber is the State Duma. To become a law a bill must be approved by both chambers and signed by the President. The President is also Commander-in-Chief of armed forces.

The executive power belongs to the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister.

The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and regional courts.

The members of the Federal Assembly are elected for a four-year period.

Today the state symbol of Russia is a three-coloured banner. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle.

Notes:

Commander-in-Chief	главнокомандующий
Council of Federation	Совет Федерации
set up v (syn. establish)	основывать, учреждать
State Duma	Государственная Дума
Supreme Court	Верховный суд

 

Vocabulary

approve v	одобрять
banner n	флаг, знамя
belong (to) v	принадлежать
border n	граница
border (on) v	граничить (с)
China n	Китай
coal n	уголь
copper n	медь
court n	суд
deep a	глубокий
eagle n	орел
flow v	течь
iron n	железо
lake n	озеро
natural a	природный
oil n	нефть
ore n	руда
sign v	подписывать(ся)
state n	государство
vest (in) v	наделять

 

Exercises

Define the part of speech and translate the words.

to cover, border, river, the deepest, natural, mineral, to consist, to approve,
sea-border, judicial, member, regional, executive, to sign.

Combine the words from the two columns.

square	river
the Arctic	lake
borders on	oil
natural	Duma
rich in	Ocean
the Council	kilometres
headed	by the President
state	by the Prime Minister
executive	eagle
the deepest	gas
the longest	China
the State	of Federation
signed	symbol
two-headed	power

Match the synonyms.

1. large	a) country
2. Chamber	b) place of interest
3. state	c) well-known
4. sight	d) memorial
5. located	e) residents
6. build	f) territory
7. area	g) construct
8. citizens	h) big
9. monument	i) situated
10. famous	j) House

Match the antonyms.

1. be born	a) southern
2. large	b) the shortest
3. true	c) false
4. hereditary	d) poor
5. centre	e) unknown
6. rich	f) connect
7. the longest	g) elected
8. famous	h) be buried
9. northern	i) small
10. separate	j) suburb