Download Physical Geography

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Physical Geography
Geographical situation:
 The British Isles: Great Britain, Ireland about 5000 little islands – the Isle of Wight,
the Isles of Scilly, Anglesey, Isle of Man, Scotland is fringed by Inner Hebrides, Outer
Hebrides, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands
 The sea surrounding the British Isles – shallow, excellent fishing grounds
o West coast – Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea
o East coast – the English Channel
Climate:
 Is typical insular, the temperature is equable
 Long lasting fogs, cloudy weather, frequent rainfall, strong winds – characteristic
features of the British climate
Mountains, Rivers:
 Two main regions:
 Highland Britain – Scotland, the Lake District, whole of Wales, the south-west
peninsula of England
o Hills - Old hard rocks,
o Valleys and plains – carboniferous rocks – rich in minerals, coal fields lie on
the borderland between Highland and Lowland
 Lowland Britain – plain, chalk and limestone hills, fertile with good soil and valuable
pasture land
 The highest mountains: Ben Nevis (Scotland), Snowdon (Wales)
 The rivers are not long, but rich in water and comparatively deep, not navigable for
large ships
 The biggest rivers – the Thames, the Trent flowing into the North Sea
 Lakes: Lake district in England, Scottish Highlands where there are called „lochs“
Fauna and Flora:
 Diverse pattern of natural vegetation.
o woodlands occupy about 7 % of the surface
o agricultural land – 40 %arable 30.7 % and the rest are pasture and meadow
 Pastures and meadows of England – used for cattle and sheep breeding.
 The sea round the Isles is rich in fish – herrings, codfish, sole
 Animals – like in Europe, but poorer
 Mammals – rabbit, hare, mouse, bat, deer
 460 species of birds
Vocabulary:
fringe – v; to form a border around sth: The beach was fringed by coconut palms.
roughly –adv. approximately but not exactly: Sales are up by roughly 10%. • We live roughly halfway between
here and the coast.
equable – adj. (of weather) keeping a steady temperature with no sudden changes:
an equable climate
soil - n the top layer of the earth in which plants, trees, etc. grow: poor / dry / acid / sandy soil
freight –n, goods that are transported by ships, planes, trains or lorries/trucks; the system of transporting goods
in this way: to send goods by air freight • a freight business • passenger and freight transportation services, to
send or carry goods by air, sea or train
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harbour – n. an area of water on the coast, protected from the open sea by strong walls, where ships can shelter:
estuary –n the wide part of a river where it flows into the sea: the Thames estuary
fenland –n an area of low flat wet land in the east of England
drain - v to make sth empty or dry by removing all the liquid from it; to become empty or dry in this way
breed - ~ sth (for / as sth) to keep animals or plants in order to produce young ones in a controlled way: The
rabbits are bred for their long coats. • Greyhounds were originally bred as hunting dogs.
mammal n -any animal that gives birth to live babies, not eggs, and feeds its young on milk.
shallow - adj. not having much distance between the top or surface and the bottom:These fish are found in
shallow waters around the coast.
peninsula – n. an area of land that is almost surrounded by water but is joined to a larger piece of land
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