Текст к уроку Озеро Байкал

Данный текст о Байкале взят мною из учебного пособия для изучения английского языка (региональный компонент) "Культурологическое образование средствами иностранного языка". Автор-составитель Алексей Михайлович Савченко (Заслуженный учитель Российской Федерации, трижды Победитель Российско-Американских конкурсов - TEA - 1998, SSEP - 2000, SSEP - 2001), Иркутск, 2002. Учебное пособие рекомендовано педагогам, учащимся, студентам, всем изучающим английский язык и региональную культуру. Я использую э...
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You are going to read the text about Lake Baikal. You know Lake Baikal is about 25-30 million years old.

I. PRE-READING TASK

1. What do you know about Lake Baikal?

2. Name the only river flowing out of Baikal.

II. Check in your dictionary that you understand the following words:

cormorant

fluctuating

funnel

hydrofoil

magnified

mitigating

oxygen

pearl

rapids

shallow

большой баклан

колебание

дымоход

«Ракета», корабль на подводных крыльях

увеличенный

облегчённый, смягчающий

кислород

жемчужина

пороги

мелкий

III. Read the text

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is a unique and mysterious natural phenomenon whose untouched and magnificent beauty impresses all who see it. It is often called "the pearl of Siberia". The lake is some 60 kilometres from Irkutsk and can be reached in two ways - by land and river.

One may also travel up river by a Raketa hydrofoil launch. It takes just as long as the land trip - about an hour. First, the launch travels up the Irkutsk Reservoir. Leaving the reservoir, the launch enters the Angara, breasting its powerful current. Then the mountains divide to form a giant funnel - the source of the Angara, the only river flowing out of Baikal. Once can barely see the top of Shaman-Stone - reminder of the rapids that separated the river from the lake before the construction of the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Plant. The rocks of the rapid are now under water. The legend of old man Baikal and his willful daughter Angara tells how Baikal threw the Shaman-Stone after his daughter as she was running away to her hero Yenisei, but he failed to stop her. The river is relatively shallow at its source. The water is warmer here than elsewhere. In winter, when Baikal is covered with a thick layer of ice, the river does not freeze at the rapids but is hidden by clouds of steam. When guts of wind blow away scraps of mist, hundreds of ducks, cormorants, fish ducks and other birds can be seen feeding on the fish.

Where should the story of Lake Baikal begin? With its name, perhaps? Since time immemorial, the Buryats have called it Baigal-dalai, which means "Big Water (that is, sea). The Evenks that lived on its shores called it Lama, which also means "sea". The Russians who first came here also called it a sea. Glorious sea, sacred Baikal, begins an old Russian song, still a great favourite.

How old is the lake? That is also one of its mysteries. It is believed to go back about 25-30 million years, whereas most lakes on earth are not more than 15,000 years old. It is quite probable, though, that the age of different parts of Lake Baikal varies.

The size of Lake Baikal is impressive. Its area is 31,500 square kilometers, its lenth - 636 kilometres, the distance between Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the most striking feature is its depth - 1,637 metres. There is no other lake of such depth on earth. There is more water in Lake Baikal than in the Baltic. It contains one - fifth of the world's fresh water resources - 23,000 cubic kilometers of crystal pure, oxygen rich, almost mineral-free, largest of them being the Selenga.

The transparency of Baikal water is extraordinary. The smallest objects can be seen many metres under water magnified, as it were, by the water lens. Even the famous Alpine lakes are less transparent than Baikal. Particulary striking is the transparency of Baikal in winter. The metre-thick ice is also so clear that it does not seem solid at all. The impression is of dark winter waters covered by a mere film of ice. For beginners, walking on such seemingly thin ice can be quite terrifying.

Baikal water has another interesting property^ it is uncommonly cold. Even on hot summer days, when air temperature is more +25 degrees Celsius, water temperature is never more than +15 degrees Celsius. Only in some shallow bays it is tolerably warm. Only the upper 300-metre layer of water is subject to seasonal temperature which is constant at +3.3-3.7 degrees Celsius.

The enormous mass of water in Lake Baikal has a mitigating effect on the climate, making it less continental. The winter here is milder and the summer cooler than in nearby Irkutsk.

IV. COMPREHENSION CHECK

1.There are four answers after each question. Only one is correct. Choose the correct answer.


  1. The lake can be reached by

  1. Air and on foot

  2. River and air

  3. River and land

  4. Ship and boat


  1. Baikal is often called

  1. "Big River"

  2. "the pearl of Russia"

  3. "the pearl of Far East"

  4. "the pearl of Siberia"


  1. The rocks of the rapids are now

  1. under water

  2. above water

  3. in the mountains

  4. in the open air


  1. In winter Baikal

a) is covered with a thin layer of ice

b) does not freeze

c) is covered with a thick layer of ice

d) is hidden by clouds of steam


  1. The lake contains

  1. one-fifth of world's crystal pure poisoned fresh water

  2. one-fifth of world's crystal pure salt water

  3. one-fifth of world's oxygen rich, pure fresh water

  4. one-fifth of world's salt water resources

2. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F) ?

1. Baikal threw the Shaman Stone after his daughter to stop her.

2. The Angara is relatively shallow at its source.

3. Baikal or Lama means "fast river" in Evenk language.

4. The largest river carrying its waters to Lake Baikal is the Angara.

5. Below the level of three hundred metres the temperature of water is constant at about from plus three to three point seven degrees Celsius.

3. Match a line in A with a line in B

A

  1. One can barely see

  2. The river does not freeze at the rapids

  3. Hundreds of ducks, cormorants, fish ducks and other birds can be seen

  4. The length of the lake is

  5. The metre-thick ice so clear

B

  1. but is hidden by clouds of steam.

  2. that it does not seem solid at all.

  3. equal to the distance from the capital of our country to St. Petersburg.

  4. feeding on the fish.

  5. The top of the Shaman Stone not far from Listvyanka.

4. Put the sentences into the correct order

1. Even the famous Alpine lakes are less transparent than Baikal.

2. The Buryats have called Baikal "Big water".

3. The Angara ran away to her beloved Yenisey and made her father furious.

4. There is more water in Lake Baikal than in the Baltic.

5. The water in the Angara is warmer at the source than elsewhere.


  1. Translate the extract from the text starting from "Baikal water has another interesting property…" up to "in nearby Irkutsk" into Russian.

DISCUSSION

  1. What are the properties of Baikal water?

  2. How does the lake influence the climate?


КЛЮЧ


  1. 1 - c, 2 - d, 3 - d, 4 - a, 5 - d.

  2. 1 - T, 2 - F, 3 - T, 4 - F, 5 - T.

  3. 1 - e, 2 - a, 3 - d, 4 - c, 5 - b.

  4. 3, 5, 2, 4, 1.



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