1;-- Habitats and homelands

i 2c
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Topic III Natural wonders of America
Countries a USA and Canada
Vocab ulary a Adjectiv es of m easu rem en t
Li nks III 2d . Sf . 7e

I The seven natural wonders

of America

2 Giant Redwood
and Bristlecone Pine Trees <California)
General Sherman, a giantredwood tree in theSequoia National Park
measuring 84metres tall, isthe largest plant intheworld. It isalso 3,000
yearsold,butit isn't the oldest tree inthe worldI That's also in Califomia.The
bristleconepine growsintheWhite Mountains, and it isthe oldest living
thing onearth.Themostfamous, named Methuselah, isover 4,000 years old.

1 Death Valley 3 The Grand Canyon

<California) (Arizona)
Death Valleyisa 250 km valley between two The Grand Canyon,eroded over
Californian mountain o ranges. It isthe hottest thousands of years by the Colorado River
and thelowest place in the USA, and at one and its e trlbutaries, is400 km long. It is
famous point - Badwater Basin - youarrive at 2,000 metres deep at its deepest point
the lowest place inthe western hemisphere and30km wide at its widest point. It is
(86 metres below sea level). Summer one of the mostimportant geological
temperatures inDeath Va lley can reach 54°C, sites in theworld (some of therocks are
and for several months of the yearthe average over 1,800 million years old) and it is
night-timetemperature is over 27"C. home to a great diversity of wildlife.

r
Before y-o u read o Read the texts again. Complete the tables with the correct
D Look at the photos. Do you recognise any of these places? statistics .
Can you locate numbers3, 5, 6 and 7 on the map?
Length Depth
Death Valley: ................. Death Valley: .................
Vocabulary- Grand Canyon: ................. Grand Ca nyon: .................
El Putthe adjecti ves into six pairs of opposites.
deep high large long low narrow shallow short short small Height Width
tall wide General Sherman: ................. Grand Canyon: .................
Old Faithful: .................
Reading Niagara Fa lls: .................
ID illE) Read the texts quickly. Which of the natural w onders: Age Size
1. are partly in Canada? General Sherman: ................. La ke Superior: .................
2. are further north than Ca nada? Methuselah: .................
3. are in California? Oldest rocks in
4. consist entirely of water? the Grand Can yon: .................
 • •• to erupt a to eject something viole ntly sp ri ng a w here water comes up fro m below th e gr ound . f or m ing
ge y se r CI a spr tnq t hat eje cts steam and hot water the start of a riv er
glacier D a large mass of ice tr ibutary a a small river th at flo w s in to a lar ger river
ra ng e D a group of mou nt ains w ilde rness a a w ild . nat ural pl ac e

4 Old Faith ful

(Idaho)
Much of the
Yellowstone National
Park (which extends
into Idaho, Montana
and Wyoming) is
volcanic rock, and
there are over 10,000
ageysersand hot
a springs inthe park
- the biggest
concentration in the
world. The most
famous geyser, called
Old Faithful, aerupts
about every 75 6 Glacier Bay <Alaska)
minutes. The aGlacier Bay is a awilderness of mountains, glaciers, estuaries,
5 The Great Lakes eruptions last for1-5 beachesand lakes which was covered by ice only 200 yea rs ago.
(Michigan, Wisconsin, minutes, and shoot The glaciers of Glacier Bay arestill retreating, revealing new
Minnesota and Ontario, hot water upto 50 landscapes every few yea rs. Glacier Bay is now a nature reserve and
Canada) metres in theair. is used extensively for scientific research.
The Great lakes (la kes Superior, Michigan,
Huron, Erie and Ontario) form the largest
systemof fresh water on earth,containing
18%of the world'ssupply. l ake Superior is
the largest and the deepest. It has the
largest surface area of any freshwater lake
in theworld (81,000 sq. km) and holds
enough water to cover the entirecontinents
of North and SouthAmerica with a third of
a metre of water.

7 Niagara Falls (New York State

and Ont ario , Canada)
The Niagara Falls are formed where the Niagara River flows between
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.There are two main waterfalls:the
Horseshoe Falls in Canada and the American Falls in the USA. The
fallsare 55 metres high, and 160,000 cubic metres of water flows
overthem every minute.

5 eak i ng ~ (I) listen again and answ er the questions.

Ii) How can humans pose a dangerto natural features such as 1. How many people visit the Grand Canyon each year?
the ones in this unit? 2. What two problems can pollution cause in the canyon7
3. Which tw o months does the ranger say are particularly hot
Listening and dry?
o ~ (!) You are going to hear a ranger talking about the 4. What are tw o ways in which visitors start fir es?
5. Why should visitors not feed the animals in the canyon (two
negative effects 01 tourism on the Grand Canyon. Guess which
of the following environmental problems he will talk about, reasons)?
then listen and see il you were right.
o litter Sp-eaking
o fires mDiscuss in pairs. What are the most-visited attractions in
o danger to animals your country (natural or man-made)? Are they being damaged
o erosion of paths by tourism? Is anything being doneto preservethem?
o noise
o traffic
o vandalism
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