GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE USA

Classifying emergencies

Emergency situation is defined as a sudden, unexpected, or impending situation that may cause injury, loss of life, damage to the property, and/or interference with the normal activities of a person or firm. It requires immediate attention and remedial action. Urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer help for the aftermath.

The extreme situations are dangerousones, they may be caused by nature or by man. To the hazards caused by nature disasters may belong: earthquakes, storms, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, eruptions of volcanoes, droughts, damages of roads, bridges, buildings, ships sinking, swamping (mashing) soils, avalanches, explosions at chemical enterprises, burning chemical substances resulting in poisonous fumes and smokes, lightning, landslides, glacier slides, ice storms, radiation, drowning, epidemics. To the hazards caused by a man may belong: fires, peril of arable soils in the result of superfluous fertilizes, drying up rivers and other basins, withering plants, crashes of airplanes, poisoning water basins with chemicals, crashes of dwelling houses, disrepair everything connected with electric current, terror acts, strikes, damages of pipelines, clashes of transport vehicles entailing death accidents.

1. How is emergency situation defined?

2. What are natural disasters?

3 What are hazards caused by man?

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President of the USA

President of the USA is the head of the State and the Government, he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. President must be a natural born citizen of the USA, at least 35 years old, and for at least 14 years a resident of the USA. The term of office begins on January 20.

President is assisted by Vice-President and the Cabinet. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected for another term, but no longer than that.

President conducts foreign affairs, signs treaties in the name of the USA, appoints diplomats, Cabinet members, federal judges with the consent and advice of the Senate. Vice-President presides over the Senate, his other duties are indefinite. He takes the President's office if the President can not finish his term.

US President is assisted in Administration by a Cabinet of 12 members. Cabinet secretaries correspond to European ministers. They are heads of different departments. President appoints them for indefinite time. Cabinet officials serve during his term. When the President's service ends, the new President can appoint new chiefs of executive departments. Among the most important departments one should mention the Department of State which ranks ahead of other Departments in prestige and seniority. The political power of the Secretary of State has the duty of trying to maintain peace and negotiate economic and political treaties.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who is the head of the State and Government?

2. Who helps the President?

3. What are the duties of the President?

4. What are the duties of the Vice-President?

5. How many members does the Cabinet consist of?

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Text 1

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Washington is the capital of the United States of America.

When George Washington became the first president he chose the place for the new capital, which was named after him.

Washington is situated in an independent area on the east coast of the Potomac River, named District of Columbia after Christopher Columbus and it was planned by a French artist and architect who had fought in the Revolutionary War, Pierre L'Enfant.

Washington has been described as the most beautiful capital city in the world and the most beautiful American city. As the matter of fact it has nothing characteristically American in it, as its conception is purely French. It has long wide avenues, gardens, beautiful parts and no skyscrapers at all. Many tourists come to Washington every summer to see the nation's capital and get .acquainted with some of its sights.

The Capitol is the seat of the US Congress. Building of the Capitol was begun in 1793. In 1800 the building was partly finished, and Congress removed from Philadelphia.

The Capitol Building dominates all Washington. The Capitol consists of a central building and two wings. The north wing contains the Senate Chamber, and the south wing - the House of Representatives.

Both chambers of the Congress are open to public. They have visitors galleries, there is a special gallery for foreign diplomats. Special places are set aside for press, radio and TV representatives.

Inauguration of presidents and vice-presidents are held in front of the Capitol.

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Text 2

English National Character

British people are said to be good listeners. In other words, it is not considered polite to interrupt the person who is just speaking. Do you?

Understatement is another character trait of the British. It is a very complex concept. George Mikes, a Hungarian by birth, knows a lot about it. Read this funny passage, which he wrote more than forty years ago.

Foreigners have souls; the English haven't.

On the Continent if you find any amount of people who sigh deeply for no conspicuous reason, yearn, suffer and look in the air extremely sadly. This is soul.

The English have no soul; they have the understatement instead.

If a continental youth wants to declare his love to a girl, he kneels down, tells her that she is the sweetest, the most charming and ravishing person in the world, that she has something in her, something peculiar and individual which only a few hundred thousand other women have and that he would be unable to live one more minute without her. Often, to give a little more emphasis to the statement, he shoots himself on the spot. This is a normal, week-day declaration of love in the more temperamental continental countries. In England the boy pats his adored one on the back and says softly: 'I don't object to you, you know.' If he is quite mad with passion, he may add: 'I rather fancy you, in fact.'

In Britain, a twenty-first birthday party traditionally marks 'the coming of age'. Today, this tradition is less important because young people get so many rights before they are twenty-one. For example, in Britain young people have the right to vote at the age of eighteen. Now, the eighteenth birthday is becoming as important as the twenty-first.

There are six and a half million dogs and six to eight million cats in Britain. This means that approximately one in ten people own a dog or cat. Every year the British spend over 1,5 billion pounds on pet food such as tinned dog food. They also support over 380 charities and societies which aim to protect animals. These include donkey sanctuaries, horses' rest homes, and dog and cat sanctuaries. The RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is the largest animal welfare society in Britain. It provides practical help to animals in homes, hospitals and clinics. However, it also campaigns against animal cruelty. It has over 250 inspectors who make sure nobody breaks the laws which protect animals.

In Britain, people give help and money to charity in different ways, and for different reasons.

It is quite common for people to arrive on the doorstep of a favourite charity with a valued possession. For example, someone gave the British Heart Foundation his late father's watch.

КОНТРОЛЬНОЕ ЗАДАНИЕ 1

                                                Вариант 2

I. Перепишите предложения, определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи являются слова, оформленные окончанием “s” и какую функцию выполняет это окончание. Предложенияпереведите.

1. A fire brigade arrived at five minutes past four.

2. We are first-year students of the Civil Protection department.

3. She leaves her agency office at 5.

4. What is today’s news about the airplane crash in Bolivia?

II. Перепишите предложения, обращая внимание на особенности перевода определений, выраженных именами существительными. Предложенияпереведите.

1. Every day we do much of routine and urgent work.

2. Resource saving technologies are of vital importance nowadays.

3. There are five daylight lamps in our study room.

4. A computer system combines hardware elements with software elements.

III. Переведите предложения, содержащие разные формы сравнения и переведите их.

1.This incident poses the mostimmediate threat to life, health and property of people.

2. The more you learn, the more you know about your profession.

3. Greenland, with the area of 2, 175 00 km is the largest island in the world.

4. The danger risk is much higher today than it was last year.

IV.Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на перевод неопределенных и отрицательных местоимений.

1. No student can answer this question at once.

2. Somebody called me yesterday.

3. I read some interesting articles on tornado and hurricanes in this journal.

4. You told me nothing new and urgent.

V. Перепишитепредложения, определитевнихвидовременнуюформуглаголовиукажитевних инфинитив, переведите предложения на родной язык.

1. They have been waiting for a fire brigade for half an hour.

2. He will go on business next month.

3. By the end of next year I’ll have worked for the Ministry of Emergency for 10 years.

4. He didn’t tell me anything important.

VI. Переведите письменно текст и ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

Definition of emergency

In order to be defined as an emergency, the incident should conform to the following:poses an immediate threat to life,health,property, or environment

has already caused loss of life, health detriments, property damage, or environmental damagehas a high probability of escalating to cause immediate danger to life, health, property, or environment.

Most emergency services agree on protecting human health, life and property. The environmental impacts are not considered sufficiently important by some agencies. This extends also to animal welfare, where some emergency organizations cover this element through the 'property' definition, where animals owned by a person are threatened (although this does not cover wild animals). This means that some agencies do not mount an 'emergency' response where it endangers wild animals or environment, though others respond to such incidents (such as oil spills at sea that threaten marine life). The attitude of the agencies involved is likely to reflect the predominant opinion of the government of the area.

1. How should we define incident as emergency?

2. What do emergency services protect?

3. Are environmental impacts considered important?

VII. Переведите текст и ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

NATIONAL EMBLEMS OF the UK

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross on a white background is the cross of 1st George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross on a blue background is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross on a white background is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

The Welsh flag, called the Welsh Dragon, represents a red dragon on a white and green background.

St. George's Day falls on 23 April and is regarded as England's national day. On this day some patriotic Englishmen wear a rose pinned to their jackets. A red rose is the national emblem of England from the time of the Wars of the Roses (15th century).

St. Andrew's Day (30 November) is regarded as Scotland's national day. On this day some Scotsmen wear a thistle in their buttonhole. As a national emblem of Scotland, thistle was first used in the 15th century as a symbol of defence. The Order of the Thistle is one of the highest orders of knighthood. It was founded in 1687, and is mainly given to Scottish noblemen (limited to 16 in number).

St. Patrick's Day (17 March) is considered as a national day in Northern Ireland and an official bank holiday there. The national emblem of Ireland is shamrock. According to the legend, it was the plant chosen by St. Patrick to illustrate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the flag of the UK made of?

2. What does each cross on the flag mean?

3. What does the Welsh flag represent?

4. When is the national Scotland’s day?

5. What plant was chosen by St. Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity?

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 Text 1

The Royal Coat of Arms

The four quarters of the shield contain two repetitions (the first and the fourth gules) of the arms of England, three golden lions passant. The second quarter represents the red rampant lion of Scotland on a gold background. This lion is surrounded by a frame with the inset fleurs-de-lis and other decorations. The third quarter represents a silver-stringed gold harp on a bright blue field symbolizing Ireland. Wales is not represented on the shield.

The shield is encircled with the blue Garter, carrying in gold the motto "HoniSoit Qui Mai Y Pense" ("Shame on Him Who Thinks Evil of it") -the words of Edward HI (1312 - 1377) said in 1348 at the ball.

On the top of the whole rests the imperial state crown - gold, red, enriched with precious stones, and with an ermine headband.

All this is supported by a rampant crowned lion and a rampant unicorn. The lion has been used as a symbol of national strength and of the British monarchy for many centuries. The unicorn, a mythical animal that looks like a horse with a long straight horn, has appeared on the Scottish and British royal coats of arms for many centuries, and is a symbol of purity.

Beneath the coat of arms is the royal motto in gold letters on a white scroll: "Dieu et Mon Droit" ("God and My Right" [Hand]) - the battle call of Richard 1 "Coer de Lion" (1157-1199) when he led his army in the battle of 1198.

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Text 2

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE USA

The United States of America occupy a large area over 9,400 million square kilometers. The USA is situated in the central and southern parts of the continent of North America. The USA is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Gulf of Mexico in the southeast and by the Pacific Ocean in the west. In the north it borders on Canada and in the south - on Mexico. The USA consists of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains. The areas in the middle of the country are called the prairies and the eastern lowlands are called the Mississippi valley. In the east there are the Appalachian Mountains. In the west there are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordilleras, the Sierra Nevada.

When the first miners and hunters returned from the Rocky Mountains, they brought home such tales about the natural beauty that a group of scientists decided to test the truth of these stories. The doubting scientists who visited the Rockies in 1870 wrote reports that sounded more like poetry than like science. Within the Rocky Mountains there are many national parks where trees, plants and birds are protected. The largest of them is the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, with its great Geysers, but the most famous being Old Faithful, which erupts regularly from 30 to 60 meters into the air many times each day to the delight of thousands of visitors. Yellowstone is also known for its brown bears, which like to come down to the roadside and beg for handsout from a passer-by.

The main lakes in the USA are the Great Lakes in the north. The largest of them is Lake Superior, which is the highest above the sea. To the south of it is Lake Michigan, entirely in the US territory; to the east is Lake Huron, from the southern end of which the St. Clair River leads into Lake Erie. From Lake Erie the Niagara River rushes over the famous Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario. Niagara is an Indian word which means "roaring waters". Indeed, the roar of the falling water can be heard within a distance of 25 km. All the lakes are connected by canals or navigable channels, but the Lakes can be used only between months of April and December, as they freeze in winter.

The Great Salt Lake is in the northwest of the state of Utah. It is so salty that the human body cannot sink in it. Its present area is much smaller than the ancient lake. The saltiness of the lake has increased as its area has diminished, and today it is about six times as salty as the ocean. For a long time it was thought, because of the lake's saltiness, that it must be an arm of the Pacific Ocean.

The Mississippi is one of the world's great continental rivers. The waters of the Mississippi are gathered from two-thirds of the United States. Together with the Missouri River, the Mississippi flows some 4,000 miles from its northern sources in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. TheMississippihasbeencalledthe "fatherofwaters".