Учебно-методическое пособие по английскому языку для студентов 1 курса по специальностям
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Geography of the United State of America The vast and varied expanse of the United states of America stretches from the heavily industrialized, metropolitan Atlantic seaboard, across the rich flat farms of the central plains, over the majestic Rocky Mountains to the fertile, densely populated west coast, then halfway across the Pacific to the semi-tropical island-state of Hawaii. Without Hawaii and Alaska the continental United States measures 4.5.5 kilometers from its Atlantic to Pacific coasts, 2.574 kilometers from Canada to Mexico; it covers 9.372.614 square kilometers. In area, it is the fourth largest nation in the world. The sparsely settled far-northern state of Alaska, is the largest of America’s 50 states with a land mass of 1,477,877 square kilometers. Alaska is nearly 400 times the size of Rhode Island, which is the smallest state; but Alaska, with 521,000 people, has half the population of Rhode Island. Airlines service 817 cities throughout the country. A flight from New York to San Francisco takes five-and-a-half hours. Train service is also available; The most frequent service is between Washington, District Columbia, New York and Boston in the East; St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee in the Midwest; and San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the West. A coast-to-coast trip by train takes three days. The major means of intercity transportation is by automobile. Motorists can travel over an interstate highway system of 88,641 kilometers, which feeds into another 6,365,590 kilometers of roads and highways connecting virtually every city and town in the United States. A trip by automobile from coast to coast takes five to six days. America is a land of physical contrasts, including the weather. The southern parts of Florida, Texas, California, and the entire state of Hawaii, have warn temperatures year round; most of the United States is in the temperate zone, with four distinct seasons and varying numbers of hot and cold days each season, while the northern tier of states and Alaska have extremely cold winters. The land varies from heavy forests covering 2,104 million hectares, to barren deserts, from high-peaked mountains (McKinley in Alaska rises to 6193,5 meters), to deep canyons (Death Valley in California is 1,064 meters below sea level). The United States is also a land of bountiful rivers and lakes. The northern state of Minnesota, for example, is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. The broad Mississippi River system, of great historic and economic importance to the U.S., runs 5,969 kilometers from Canada into the Gulf of Mexico-the world’s third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. A canal south of Chicago joins one of the tributaries of the Mississippi to the five Great Lakes-making it the world’s largest inland water transportation route and the biggest body of fresh water in the world. The St. Lawrence Seaway, which the United States shares with Canada, connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, allowing seagoing vessels to travel 3,861 kilometers inland, as far as Duluth, Minnesota, during the spring, summer and fall shipping season. жүктеу/скачать 159,86 Kb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
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