English for students of geography

"English for Students of Geography" là cuốn sách tiếng Anh chuyên ngành đầu tiên được biên soạn cho sinh viẽn khoa Địa lý, trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiên thuộc Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội

A-D5/00151

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

I am deeply grateful to HUS Board of Management, and Board of Management

of Foreign Language Department, Dr Nguyen Chi Dung, M.A Tran Nga, who have made every favourable condition and opportunity for the development of this book

I wish to recognize with gratitude valuable advice, suggestions, general assistance in matters of content and emphasis provided by Prof Dr Nguyen Cao Huan and Prof Dr Truong Quang Hai

I am also greatly indebted to M.A Bui Thi Dien, Dr Tran Quoc Binh, M.A Nguyen Hieu, Dr Nhu Thi Xuan, and M.A Nguyen Kim Chi for their provision

of some valuable materials, which are of great importance to the production of this book

Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to all my colleagues who have helped and encouraged me a great deal during the development of this book

Lời cảm ơn

Tôi xin bày tỏ sự biết ơn sâu sắc tới Ban giám hiệu Trường Đại học Khoa hiọc Tự nhiên và Ban lãnh đạo Bộ môn Ngoại ngữ, Tiến sĩ Nguyền Chí Dũng, T hạc sĩ Trần Nga đã tạo mọi điều kiện thuận lợi cho việc biên soạn cuốn sách này

Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn PG S.TS Nguyễn Cao Huần và PGìS.TS Trương Quang Hải đã đóng góp ý kiến quý báu về nội dung và trọng tâm cho cuốn sách này

Tôi cũng xin bày tỏ lòng biết ơn sâu sắc tới ThS Bùi Thị Diẻn, TS Trần Quốc Bình, ThS Nguyễn Hiệu, TS Nhữ Thị Xuân, ThS Nguyễn Kim C h i đã cung cấp cho tôi những tài liệu quý giá sử dụng cho việc thiết kế hệ thống bài trong cuốn sách

Cuối cùng nhưng cùng không kém phần quan trọng, tôi xin gứi lời cảỉm ơn tới tất cả các đồng nghiệp đã giúp đỡ và động viên tôi rất nhiểu trong quá trinh biên soạn cuốn sách này

Rationales for the development of the book:

• There is a lack of suitable and systematic ESP textbooks to meet the demand of ESP learning and teaching at the faculty of Geography, HUS

• The target students of this book have finished their 2.5 terms of General English and a half term of ESP transitional stage, which means that they have accumulated enough language background to be able to start ESPcourse

• The main focus of the book is to improve students’ reading skill whichhas been proved to be of great help in HUS students' future work.However, writing and translation, which are useful for students of natural science, are also included in the book

• The book is an attempt to improve students’ language skills through the means of English materials of Geography rather than teach Geography in English

• The materials used to develop the books are authentic so that studentsare provided with and get accustomed to scientific writing styles ingeneral and writing style of geographical materials in particular

• The contents of the book are chosen based on the specialist subjects the target students are being taught in Vietnamese at HUS

• The units are arranged systematically and logically so that they can be used parallel or after the corresponding specialized subjects the students are being taught in Vietnamese, which makes ESP learning easier thanks

to their background knowledge of the fields

The book is divided into two main parts, each is to be taught in ome term equal to 60 periods.

Part I:

Each unit consists of a reading text and the exercise system usetful for developing and improving students* necessary reading skills such as skirmming, scanning, etc that they will meet in their future real-life work The understanding

of reading text is made easier by grammatical focus followed by some grammatical exercises in the form of writing, which serves two purposes at the same time: (1) to improve students’ writing skill at sentence level as a basic and transitional stage to higher level, that is, context level encountered in pairt II of the book; and (2) to help students understand thoroughly some grammatical points usually met in scientific materials

The additional exercises for translation are also provided to help studeints getfamiliar to translating skills, which is also useful in their later work

i

Glossary is an attempt to provide some basic terms of their specialization met

in the reading text

Fart II:

In part II of the book, task types are designed at higher level such as working out the main idea of a paragraph or a text, working with and analyzing English materials in context, etc., exploiting students’ creativity That is also the reason why grammar is not included in this part Although translation is still second to reading and writing, it is paid more attention in part II to strengthen whiat the students have obtained of translating skills

Due to the limited time allotted for ESP at each term, the writer of the1 book cannot include all that is related to Geography To make the book a betteir one further advice and suggestions from those who concern are highly appreciated

Lời nói đầu

Đối với sinh viẻn thuộc trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiên thì các tài liệu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành là một kho tàng quý giá giúp họ mở mang kiến thức vể lĩnh vực mà họ quan tâm Vấn để đặt ra là làm thế nào đế biết cách khai thác một cách tối đa các tài liệu này theo đúng mục đích sứ dụng "English for Students

of Geography" là cuốn sách tiếng Anh chuyên ngành đầu tiên được biên soạn cho sinh viẽn khoa Địa lý, trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiên thuộc Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội với mục đích đưa ra một khả năng lựa chọn cho câu hỏi này.Cuốn sách được biên soạn trên các cơ sở sau đây:

• Trước đây chưa có một cuốn sách tiếng Anh chuyên ngành nào được soạn thảo một cách phù hợp và hệ thống nhằm đáp ứng nhu cầu dạy và học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành của sinh viên Địa lý thuộc trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiên

• Cuốn sách được áp dụng cho sinh viên đã kết thúc 2,5 kỳ tiếng Anh cơ sở

và 0,5 kỳ chuyển tiếp sang chuyên ngành Địa lý, có đủ kiến thức cơ bản

vể ngòn ngữ để có thể bắt đầu bước sang học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành

• Kỹ nồng trọng tâm của cuốn sách này là kỹ nấng đọc vì đây tỏ ra là một

kỹ năng rất hữu ích cho công việc trong tương lai của sinh viên trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiẽn Tuy nhiên viết và dịch cũng được để cập đẽn trong cuốn giáo trình dưới dạng kỹ năng phụ trợ

• Mục đích của cuốn sách là củng cố các kỹ năng, chủ yếu là kỹ nãng đọc, của sinh viên thông qua tài liệu chuyên ngành Địa lý hơn là dạy chuyên ngành Địa lý bằng tiếng Anh

• Hệ thống bài đọc được thiết kế từ các tài liệu thực thuộc chuyên ngành Địa

lý nhằm giúp sinh viên làm quen với văn phong khoa học nói chung và văn phong của các tài liệu Địa lý nói riêng

• Nội dung của hệ thống bài trong cuốn sách được lựa chọn dựa trên nội dung các môn học chuyên ngành của sinh viên Địa lý, trường Đại học Khoa học Tự nhiẻn

• Các bài được sắp xếp một cách hệ thống và logic theo nội dung sao cho những nội dung này được dạy song song hoặc sau môn học chuyên ngành

mà sinh viên đang được học tại trường, từ đó sinh viên có thế manig kiến thức nền của mình bố trỢcho quá trình học ngoại ngữ chuyên ngành.

Cuốn sách được chia thành hai phần chính, mỗi phần được áp dụng chio một học kỳ tương đương với 60 tiết

Phần I:

Mổi bài trong phần I bao gồm một bài đọc có hệ thống bài tập được thiết kế nhằm củng cố và phát triển những kỹ nãng đọc cần thiết mà sinh viẽin S i ẽ gặp phải trong thực tế công tác sau này như skimming và scanning V V Phần trọng tâm ngữ pháp của bài đọc được đuồ vào nhằm hổ trợ cho quá trình đọc huểu Đi kèm với phần trọng tâm ngữ pháp này là hệ thống bài tập được thiết k ế dưới

dạng kỹ năng viết với hai mục đích: (1) nhằm phát triển kỹ năng viết ờ miức độ

câu, tạo tiền để cho mức độ cao hơn và thực tế hơn - cấp độ ngữ cảnh - được

áp dụng ở phần II của cuốn sách; và (2) nhằm giúp sinh viên hiếu một cách thấu đáo về những hiện tượng ngử pháp thường gặp trong các tài liệu khoa học

I

Các bài tập dịch cũng được đưa vào phần này nhằm giúp sinh viẽn lảm quen với các kỹ năng dịch, một kỹ nàng cũng rất hữu ích cho công việc của sin h viên Sâu này

Mục đích của phần Glossary là cung cấp một số thuật ngữ gặp tironig bài nhằm bổ trợ cho phần bài tập dịch

Phần II:

So với phần I, hệ thống bài tập trong phần II của cuốn sách được thiết kế ở

mức độ cao hơn, yẽu cầu khả năng tổng hợp và đọc hiểu cao hơn, như tìm ý chính của đoan văn hoặc của cả một bài đọc, phân tích ngữ cảnh V.V nhằm khai thác tính sáng tạo của sinh viên Đây cũng là lý do mà phần giải thiích hiện tượng ngữ pháp không được đưa vào trong phần này Phần dịch, mặc diù kihông phải là trọng tâm, nhưng cũng được chú trọng hơn nhằm củng cố nhửmg kỹ năng vể dịch mà sinh viên đã lĩnh hội được trong phần I

Do thời gian dành cho mỏn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành trong mổi học kỳ còn hạn chế nẽn tác giả không thể đưa vào sách toàn bộ nội dung có liên quani đến mọi chuyên ngành Địa lý mà chí chọn lọc nhửng nội dung cơ bản và ti(êu Ibiểu Nhằm hướng tới chất lượng tốt hơn cho cuốn sách, tác giả mong nhặn iđược nhiểu hơn nữa những ý kiến đóng góp quý báu cho cuốn sách từ phíôì nihững người có quan tâm

Table of contents

Part 1 1

1 An introduction to geography 2

2 The solar system and the earth 1 1 3 The earth's structure 20

4 The atm osphere 32

5 The hydrological cycle 44

6 Surface currents 57

7 The earth's surface relief features 66

8 Materials of the lithosphere 77

9 S o il 85

Part II 95

1 The biosphere 95

2 Tropical grassland 104

3 Human population 1 1 3 4 Human impact on the environment 122

5 Categories of economic activity 1 3 1 6 A look into g lo b alizatio n 141

7 Remote se n s in g 1 50 8 General introduction to G IS 160

9 Overlay m apping 169

R efe re n ce s 1 80

Table of abbreviations

Table of figures

Figure 1 Text structure 2

Figure 2 The Solar system 1 2 Figure 3 The Earth’s structure 21

Figure 4: Modern atmosphere chart of composition, temperature and function .35

Figure 5 The hydrological cycle 45

Figure 6 Currents 60

Figure 7 Orders of relief 67

Figure 8 The rock cycle 78

Figure 9 Soil texture diagram 88

Figure 10 World population growth rate 117

Figure 11 Sewage treatment 126

Figure 12 Cross-section .175

Figure 13 Cross-section .176

1 An introduction to geography

A READING

I W ARM -UP A C T IV IT IE S

- Which of the following fields does Geography deal with? What other

fields can you add to the list?

Agriculture Environment Economic activities

Population Medicine Spatial arrangement

Politics Culture History Earth science

- What is the basic tool of Geographers? Describe it

Geography is about people and places The study of geography allows

us to explore different parts of the world, experience different environments

and discover different cultures and different ways of life It helps us

understand how people adapt to living in different parts of the world and the

effect people have on their environment Geography can be studied on a

variety of scales Local Geography can have a serious impact on our lives,

for example, the building of a new by-pass Global Geography deals with

issues such as international trade or climatic change

A ll of us are geographers! We all have an interest in what goes on

around us - whether it is an environmental issue, changes in our town or the

weather Decisions that we make everyday can have far reaching effects on

othei people and the environment

Geography can be split into three sections:

1 Physical Geography is concerned with the natural environment, for example, weather and climate, the processes that shape the land (such as

weathering and the work of rivers, ice and sea), different vegetation patterns,

and earthquakes and volcanoes

2 Human Geography studies people and the activities they are engaged in, for example, population, towns and cities, industry and agriculture, transport and shopping patterns.

3 Environmental Geography is concerned with the impact that huiman activities are having on the natural environment The most common toipics under this heading include pollution and conservation

It is important to realize that each of the three different part* of Geography is linked together A change in one section can set off a clhain reaction which can affect many other areas

The basic tool of any geographer is a map

Maps are used by all types of people in their jobs (e.g travel agents, estate agents, taxi drivers) and in their leisure time (e.g hikers, tourissts) There are many different types of map

It is not possible to label every feature included on a map For this reason, signs and symbols are used to represent the various features we want

to include on a plan or map These symbols are then explained in a key T h e symbols can be lines, small drawings, letters or colored areas

(Text taken from K ey stage 3 -G e o g ra p h y by C lin c h M )

II F L O W C H A R T

Complete the flowchart to show the structure oj the text

Figure I Text structure

Ill COM PREHENSION QUESTIONS

I.What is geography about?

2 Which branch of geography docs the effect of the building of a new by­pass belong to?

3 vVhat docs Human Geography study?

4 “ It's important to realize that each of the three different parts of Geography are linked together” Why?

5 Vhy are signs and symbols used on maps?

6 How are symbols represented?

Complete the follow ing sentences, using one given word fo r each hlitik Sonic words can he used twice.

IV V O C A B U L A R Y S T U D Y

geography geographical geographers

scientific scientifically scientistsenvironmental environmentally environmentalists

sc mice

emmnment

1 The balance o f within any ecosystem dependss onthe complex interaction between millions of species of animals, plants aand micro-organism.

2 Smoke is a mixture o f pollutants (mainly suilifurdioxide gas and particles of soot) and water vapor in still, cold air

3 It i s impossible to eliminate pollution

4 study the locations and distributions of phenomieena(human as well as physical) on the earth’s surface

5 Temperatures vary between day and night, between summer aandwinter, and between different regions

6 Most now accept that CFCs are very bad for ttheenvironment

7 Industries should invest in friendly producttiionmethods

8 The term weather from the term climate in that weattlher

is a word used to denote the state of the atmosphere at a particular place I for

a short period of time and climate be described as a composite of weather

9 Some .argue that governments should ban allproduction of CFCs immediately to prevent an invisible .crisis

10 The language of is full of spatial terms: pattterrn.area, distance, direction, proximity, accessibility, isolation, clustering, aind many others that reflect this spatial focus

5 Even small changes in climate that occur from time to time can have a

negative effect on agriculture

and things - what is done to them - we often use passive verb form s like ‘ was

built’ , 'is being repaired’ , ‘ will be changed.’

The object o f an active verb corresponds to the subject o f a passive

verb

A ctiv e: A ll types of people use maps

Passive Maps are used by all types of people

Active: One can study geography on a variety of scales

Passive: Geography can be studied on a variety of scales.

Active: This event w ill change your life

Passive: Your life will be changed by this event

2. We use have something done’ or ‘get something done' (mait/illy in informal spoken English) to say that we arrange fo r somebody else tin do something fo r us or to say that something happens to somebody or their belongings.

Bob washed his car (= He washed his car himself)

Bob had his car washed (= He arranged for somebody else to wassh hiscar)

3. Infinitive constructions after passive verbs.

Verbs like believe, claim, consider, estimate, say, think, understand,

find, report, know, assume etc can be seen in sentences o f the type

People think/ consider/ know etc that + clause.

These sentences have two possible passive form s: the firsst is introduced by "it ” and the second is introduced by the subject o f the cllause after ‘people think/consider/know etc that.’

Notice the following sentence and the way it is changed into paissive

fo rm s:

that he has information which will be useful to the poilice

that he has information which will be useful to the poilice

police

Active: People say that they bought this shop last year.

Passive: It is said that they bought this shop last year.

They arc said to have bought this shop last year.

C P R A C T IC E

I S E N T E N C E -T R A N S F O R M A T IO N

Pul the following sentences into passive form.

I It is reported that all the glaciers around the Northern Atlantic coast are shrinking

2 Scientists believe that the centre of the earth consists of a mass having a density of about 7

3 It is said that sea temperatures in the North Sea have grown warmer since 1920’s

4 It i'v supposed that the ocean is the great regulator of temperatures

5 It is estimated that more than one-fifth of the whole land surface was covered with ice late in the Pleistocene Epoch

6 One proposes that a star came near enough to the sun so that its

•iiavilalional attraction raises aiant tidal waves on the solar body

7 Scientists think that the core of the earth is mainly iron and nickel

8 It was reported that shore erosion problems were raised at the conference

9 It was not until the sixteenth century that people first realized streams were supplied by runoff and underground water

10 Geologists believe that the heavy minerals sank during the early lui story

of the earth

II S E N T E N C E B U ILD IN G

Complete the following sentences You may make changesv anil additions necessary.

I Several / method / have / use / determine / length / postglacier time//

2 What information / other / planet / have / gather ?//

3 Through / agency / ocean currents / heat / cold / may / distribute / thousand / mile/

4 material / under / surface / earth / call / magma //

5 plans / climate control / being / draw//

III G A P -F IL L IN G

F ill in each gap with one suitable word from the given li.\7

VIETNAM

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a sovereign and reunified(1 ) country, has a high percentage of territorial waters Looking

at the (2 ) Vietnam is located in the centre of Southeast A sia., and

is shaped (3 ) the letter S It lies in the eastern part oil theIndochina peninsula, bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodlia to

tic west, and the Hast Sea and Pacific Ocean to the east and south.Vietnam’s coastline is 3,260 km (4 ) and its inland borderlinerreasure is 3,730 km from the northernmost point to the southernmost Its( i ) stretching from the eastern point to western point (6 )

600 km at the widest point in the north, 400 km in the south, and 50 km at the narrowest part in the Quang Binh province on the central coast Vietnam

is also transport junction from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean

Vietnam is located in tropical region It is characterized

(7) a strong monsoon influence, a considerable amount of sunnyd;ys and a high rate of rainfall and (X) There are fourdistinguished seasons in the northern (9 ) : spring, summer,aitumn, and winter; and two distinguished seasons in the southern ppvinces: dry and rainy seasons

Three quarters of Vietnam’s territory consist of mountains and hills.Vetnam has two (10) deltas: the Red River Delta in the northaid the Mekong River Delta in the south

(Text adapted from Vietnam by Tourism Department.)

2 On a map or globe, lines designating angles of longitude run north aid south at right angles (90") to the equator and to all parallels Longitude

is an angular distance east or west of a point on the earth’s surface, mtasured from the centre of the earth A line connecting all points along the sane longitude is called a meridian, thus longitude is the name of the angle, mtridian names the line, and both indicate distance east or west of an arbitrary prime meridian

(Text taken from Geosystem s by Christopherson, R W )

II V IE T N A M E S E - E N G L IS H T R A N S L A T IO N

Translate the follow illii sciitrnccs into EniịUsh.

1 Lịch s ứ của trái đất dược các nhà địa chất chia t h à n h h ô n g i a i (đdoạn

c h í n h , hay còn gọ i là ký I iguvên, dựa trên n h ữ n g t h ò n g tin thu được tircong

quá trìn h n g h i ê n cứu các loại đá và lioá thạch

2 Khu vực Đòng Nam Á hao gồm rất nhiều bán đáo và đáo

3 Tý lộ của bán đồ dược sử dụng dế biếu thị khoáng cách gi ữa haii địađiểm

E GLOSSARY

climate khí hậu

coastline bờ biến

delta châu thố

environment mõi trườn«C.

equator dường xích dạo

era ký nguyên

fossil hoá thạch

human geography địa lý nhân vãn

(Indochina) peninsula bán đảo

(Đỏng Dương)

latitude vĩ độ

longitude kinh dộ

maritime chart hái dồ

meridian kinh tuyến

monsoon gió mùa

physical geography dịa ly ur nhiiíên prime meridian đườim kinh IU\ Õ.MI

time zone múi giờ

tropical region (the tropics) vùinig nhiệt đới

2 The solar system and the earth

to the sun Mercury, has the fastest orbital motion, and the shortest period of revolution; whereas the most distant planet Neptune, with the biggest orbital circumference, travels slowlier

The earth lies at an average distance from the sun of 93 million miles,

a distance called the astronomical unit (A U ) At that distance it takes the planet one year or 365 days to revolve round the sun Its average orbital speed is 67.000 mph Tilted 011 its rotational axis at an angle of 23" '/:, the earth completes one spin in 23 hours and 56 minutes Its rotation is normal that is west to east Six of the eight planets rotate this way With a diameter

of 7927 miles through the equator, the earth ranks fifth in order of si/e among the eight planets

I he earth has one satellite, named the moon The moon is a sphere of rock 2160 miles 111 diameter orbiting around the earth at an average distance

of 240.000 miles The moon is the largest satellite in the solar system and its

• attraction is the chief of the tides

Shape of the earth - The earth is of almost spherical shape Therce are many ways to prove that the earth is a sphere Here are some If we wattcch a distant ship coming into view we see first of all the masts and then the Ihwll Sim ilarly, if the ship is moving away its lower part disappears first A nnan standing on the seashore can only see a short distance; if he wants to> see further he must ascend a hill There are times when the earth gets betweenthe sun and the moon, so that the earth casts a shadow on the moon, (thisshadow is always circular Now, only a spherical body always throw's a circular shadow and so we know that the earth must be spherical.

(Text adapted from E n erg y in llie natural environm einii by

Bu itu s, T 1 and Y affa, H ; Earth scie n ce by Tarb uck., IE.J and Lutgens I K : and Eng lish for G eo g ra p h ers U 'M S )

II P IC T U R E -C O M P L E T IO N

• F ill in the picture the names o f the planets in the solar system.

III C O M P R E H E N S IO N Q U E S T IO N S

1 Why do planets revolve round the sun?

2 How do planets revolve?

3 What is the difference between a planet and a star?

4 How does the earth rotate?

5 What arc the examples given in the text to prove that the Earth is spherical

in shape?

III T R U E - F A L S E - N O IN FO R M A TIO N Q U E S T IO N S

Deride whether the information in the following statements are true (T) fa lse (F ), or not given (N), according to the l eading text.

_ 1 The sun and eight planets make up the Solar system

2 Meteoroids are parts of the solar system

_ 3 Venus and Mars $re the nearest planets to the earth

_ 4 Mars is the smallest planet in the solar system

_ 5 The earth is always 93 million miles away from the sun whatever its

positions

6 The earth is larger than four other planets in the solar system

_ 7 The earth rotates on its axis at an average speed of 67.000 mph

_ S The tides are caused by the attraction of both the sun and the moon. _ 9 A ll the planets in the solar system rotate the same way as the earth

does

_ 10 The shadow that the earth casts on the moon when it gets between

the sun and the moon is always circular

gravity

sphere

orbital

1 It / us / near / two / hour / get / there / air.

2 take / them / three / year / finish / research

3 Jupiter / take / near / 1 2 / year / go / sun.

4 The solar year / time / it / earth /go / sun / once

5 Financial sector crisis / take / long time / be / fix

as + adj / adv + as + N / clause

as much / many + N + as + N + clause

a The climate in Florida is as mild as that of California

b The effects of increased radiation on animal and plant life maiy be- as important as the direct effects on human health

c David drives as carefully as Alan

d I earn as much money as you do

Even though not as _ as is always correct, speakers and writcers often use so rather than as in negative contexts.

e He is not as/so successful as his sister.

Note:

Hr sides the above slim lures, such structures as the same (+ N +) as sim ilar to + N are also used to express equality

I A ll the planets don’ t all move round the sun at the same rate

si Gold is similar in colour to brass

2 Inequality: less

We can talk about inequality by focusing on the 'lower' end o f the scale, using the following structure:

less + adj / adv / N + than + N/ clause

a Silver is less valuable than «old

b I have less eneruy than I used to have.c J

c Humber played w orse than Tyneside

a He speaks English more fluently than he does Spanish

b Henry participates in more campus activities than Alfred does

c The service of your company is better than that of the other companies

J The errors Alfred made on the test were more serious than those made by Henry

the most + long adj / long adv ( + N )

(lie least + adj / adv ( + N)

a Our Moon is the largest moon in the solar system

b Perhaps the most notable earthquake prediction to date foretold I the

1975 earthquake in the Lainoning Province of China

c Which planet in the solar system rotates the fastest?

d As a means of heat transfer for the atmosphere as a whoole conduction is the least significant

Note: When a group only has two members, the comparative is u.ised instead o f the superlative.

e This summary is the better of the pair (the best-of-the-pai-y)

5 Inequality: more or less

follow ing structures:

half /twice/ three times/ four tim es + as + adj / adv + as

twice/ three times / four tim es + more + adj + N + than

a The diameter of the Earth (7927 miles) is more than twice c j s great! as

( 7927 > 2 x 3030) )

b It took three times as long as I had expected

c Water vapour absorbs roughly five times more terrestrial raduaii on tllian all the other gases combined do

d A major earthquake with a magnitude of 8.5 releases m illions o>f tirmes more energy than the smallest earthquakes felt by human

Note: this, that, these, those, one, ones, mine, yours an ti otUier substitute expressions are often used in comparing structures to> avtoul repetition.

I S E N T E N C E -T R A N S F O R M A T IO N

Rew rite the following sentences without changing tlieir meanings

1 The effect of the sun on the tides is considerably less than that of the moon

- The effect of the moon

2 The diameter of the earth is larger than that of the moon

- The diameter of the moon is not

3 Pluto is the furthest from the sun in the solar system

- No planet

4 Many stars are bigger and brighter than the sun

- The sun is not the

5 The moon rotates on its axis at a much slower rate than the earth

- The earth

6 No machines are as sophisticated as this one

- This m achine

7 The tide generating potential of the sun is less than half that of the moon

- The tide generating potential of the m oon

8 The Earth doesn’ t rotate as rapidly as Jupiter

- Jupiter rotates

9 The gravitational attraction at the lunar surface is one-sixth of that experienced on the earth’s surface

- The gravitational attraction experienced on the earth’s surface

10 Europe had never experienced such severe droughts as those in 1976

- The droughts that Europe

11 G A P -F IL L IN G

C PRACTICE

F ill in each gap with one suitable word from the giveif list.

MOTIONS OF THE EARTH

The (1 ) primary motions of the earth are rotationn anilrevolution (2) .is the turning of a body 011 its axis, and revo lutio n

is the motion of a body around some point in space The main consiequeences

of the earth’ s rotation are day (3) night The earth’s rotationn hasbecome a standard method of measuring time Each rotation equals aboout 24hours We can however, measure the earth’ s rotation 111 two (4 ) Consequently, there are two kinds of days Most familiar is the mean 1 solar day the time interval from one noon to the next, which averages 24 haours.The sidereal day (5) the other hand, is the time it (6) theearth to make one complete rotation with respect to a particular star It is measured from the time required for a star to reappear at the idennticalposition in the ( 7 ) The sidereal day has a period of 23 hour>s, 56(8) and 4 seconds (measured in solar time), which is almoost 4minutes shorter than the mean solar day

The earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit at at (9) of over 107.000 kilometers per hour and at a distance that avenages

150 million kilometers About January 3 the earth is ( 1 0 ) tco thesun - 147 million kilometers (perihelion position), and around Ju ly 4 it is farthest from the sun - 152 million kilometers (aphelion position)

( Text taken from F.arih scien ce by Tarbuck K.J and I Lit gens I K )

D TRANSLATION

I E N G L IS H -V IE T N A M E S E T R A N S LA T IO N

Translate lltc following passages into \ ietnamesc.

1 Venus is the second planet in order from the sun It is the nearest planet to the earth and has about the same size as the earth and at sitmilar mass Its surface can not be observed because of the dense clofiids containing large amounts of sulphuric acid, which surround it

2 Saturn is the sixth planet in order from the sun It is over 700 tiimes larger than the earth and is surrounded by series of rings, which ane in fact icy particles in orbit around it It has an atmosphere made of la.rgehv ol hydrogen, and at least 15 moons

3 Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system, fifth in order firom the sun Its surface is marked by different coloured bands and paiucrti.s

caused by weather system Jupiter lias at least 16 moons.

(Text taken from Ailvim ced ¡.earner's EncYchtpciH c Dictionary Oxford I Iniversitx Press )

II V IE T N A M E S E -E N G L IS H T R A N S LA T IO N

T r a n s í a t e lili’ f o l l o w i i i i f s e n t e n c e s ili to i.iìiịlisli.

1 Sao Hỏa là hành tinh thứ tư tính từ mặt trời và cũng là hành tinh gần trái đất nhất

2 Sao Hái vương và sao Diêm vươn» là hành tinh thứ tám và thứ chín tính lừ măt trời và cũng là hai trorm số những hành tinh xa mãt trời nhất

2 Sao Thiên vưưim là hành linh tliír háy tính từ mặt trời do Herschel phát hiên ra vào năm 17 S 1 Bồ mãt cùa liàiili linh nàv rất lanh

D GLOSSARY

aphelion position vị in' viền nhật

asteroid lieu hành tinh

astronomical unit đon vị thiên vun

motion chu veil clộim

Neptune sao Hái vươn SI

orbit quỹ dạo

perihelion position vị trí cặn nhật

planet hành tinhPluto sao Diêm x ương

revolution sự quay

rotation sự quav quanh trục

satellite vệ tinhSaturn sao Thố

shape hình dạng

sidereal dav ngàv ihiẽn vãn

solar dav • imày c tlưưimctide lliuy trieII

Uranus sao Thiên vương Venus sao Kim

3 The earth’s structure

A READING

I W A R M -U P A C T IV IT IE S

• What does "the earth's structure" mean?

• What is the earth composed of?

A view of the earth from space affords us a unique perspective o:>f our planet At first it may strike us that the earth is somewhat fragile appearing sphere surrounded by the blackness of space In fact it is just a specck of matter in an infinite universe As we look more closely, it becomes apparent that the earth is much more than just rock and soil In deed the i most conspicuous features are not the continents but the swirling clJouds suspended above the surface and the vast global ocean From such a vanntage point, we can appreciate why the earth is traditionally divided into t three major parts: the solid lithosphere, the liquid hydrosphere, and the gasseous atmosphere However the earth is not dominated by rock, water or air ahlone Rather, it is characterized by continuous interaction as air comes into contact with rock, rock with water, and water with air

The solid earth, or lithosphere, may be divided into three prinacipal units: the dense core; the less dense mantle; and the crust, which is the I light and very thin outer skin of the earth The crust is not a layer of unifform thickness: rather, it is characterized by many irregularities It is thimnest beneath the oceans and thickest where continent exits Although the ccrust may seem insignificant when compared with the other units o f the ssolid earth, it was created by the same general processes that were responsibke for the earth’s present structure Thus, the crust is important in understanoding the history and nature of our planet

The hydrosphere is the water portion of our planet Th is dvnaamic mass of liquid is continuously on the move, from the oceans to the air tco the land and back again The global ocean is obviously the most promiinent feature of the hydrosphere, blanketing 71 percent of the earth’s surface and accounting for about 97 percent of the earth’s water However, the

hydrosphere also includes the fresh water found in streams, lakes and glaciers, as well as that found in the ground Although these latter sources constitute just a tiny fraction of the total, they are much more important than their meager percentage indicates, for they are responsible for sculpturing and creating many of our planet’ s varied landforms.

The earth is surrounded by a life-giving gaseous envelope called the

atmosphere This blanket of air hundreds of kilometers thick, is an integral part of the planet It not only provides the air that^ve breathe but also acts to protect us from the sun's intense heat and dangerous radiation The energy exchanges that continually occur between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface and between the atmosphere and space produce the effects we call weather

(Text taken from Earth \ a e n c e by Tarbuck E.J and Lutgens, I K )

II F L O W C H A R T

Complete the flowchart to show the structure o f the earth.

Figure 3 The earth's structure

III C O M P R E H E N S IO N Q U E S T IO N S

1 How is the crust characterized where the oceans and continent occur?

2 What does “ the other units of the solid earth” refer to?

3 How great, in terms of volume, is the crust compared with other unitits ol the lithosphere?

4 Why is the hydrosphere considered a dynamic mass?

1 The phrase "the most conspicuous features" refers to the continent ts.

2 The interaction of rock, air and water determines the features o ff the

earth

3 The density of the core is greater than that of the mantle

4 The crust is irregular because it is not uniform in thickness

5 A ll the processes, which formed the crust were the same as thhose

formimz the mantle

6 The nature of the earth can be determined by studying the eurrth’ s

crust

_ _ 7 About 97 percent of the earth’s water is in the ocean

8 The air that we breathe protects us from the sun’s intense heat and

of the earth, the outer layer of which, called the (7 ) is

not (8) The hydrosphere is the (9) part of the earth,which includes water in (10), lakes, streams, glaciers, and in theground The earth’s various .(11) are created mainly by (12) water The atmosphere is a blanket of air surrounding theearth Weather (13) thanks to the exchanges of (14) between the atmosphere and th e (15) of theearth as well as between th e (16) and the space.

V S T R U C T U R E S T U D Y

not o n ly hut a ls o

Complete the following sentences You may make changes and additions necessary.

1 city / suffer / not / water pollution / but / air pollution

2 Not / geologist / also / geographers / interested / how /earth / form

3 Only / coal / but / oil / be / irreplaceable / natural resource

4 Solar radiation / not / reflect / space / also / absorb / earth

5 A ir / contain / not / oxygen / also / water

VI V O C A B U L A R Y S T U D Y

Use a dictionary, i f necessary, and complete the table:

thin

Adjective Noun Verb

widennarrowdepth

shallow

lengthenlowness

high

solid

liquidizefluid

F ill in each blank with one word from the completed table:

1 When water freezes it becomes and we call iit ic e:

2 The river is 3 m eters

3 The m ixtu re into a hard block

4 In order to .the road they had to thepavement

5 A ir is a fluid but not a liquid, while water is both a aimd a

6 The river is 300 miles i n

7 Wait until the fo g oui

8 The book has a of five centimeters

9 Riverbanks are out by rushing water

10 water made it impossible for us to swim

Noiiii clauses can be divided into three types: ( I ) Noun clauses which

b e ỹ n with a question word; (2) Noun clauses which beíỊÍn with if or

whether; and (3) Noun clauses which bơíỊÌiì with that.

/ N oun clauses which begin with a question word

Question words arc often found at tile beginning o f questions, e.íỊ.

What did they discover?

Why is the earth traditionally divided into three major parts?

How is a wanner atmosphere related to a global rise in sea level?

However, they arc also used l<> introduce a Iioim clause Tliư difference between a C/Iicsiion bciịiiiniinỊ VI i/ll LI question word and II noun clause beiỊÌnniiìíỉ with a question HOld lies ill the order o f the subject; the main verb and its form ; and the auxiliary verb.

The following question words can be used to introduce a noun clause:

when, where, whv, hojv

who, whom, what, which, whose.

a. What they discovered surprised everyone in the country

What they discovered is a IIOIIII clause which functions CIS the subject

o f the sentence whose main verb is ‘surprised’

b From such a vantage point, we can appreciate why the earth is

traditionally divided into three major parts.

vvhv the earth is traditionally divided into three major parts is a

c They want to know how a w arm er atmosphere is related tdo a global rise in sea level.

how' a warmer atmosphere is related to a global rise in sea leveel is

a noun clause which functions as the object o f the verb ‘know’.

2 Noun clauses which begin with if or whether

When a yes/no question is changed into a noun clause, if or whetther

can be used to introduce the clause.

The subject o f the noun clause always stands right after if or w h ctih er

and before auxiliary verb or the main verb o f the clause.

Notice the following questions and their respective noun cla u ses:

a Question: Have beings from outer space ever visited the earth?

Sentence with a noun clause:

Whether beings from outer space have ever visited the earth i or

S

not remains a controversial issue

V

Whether beings from outer space have ever visited the earth i or

not is a noun clause which functions as the subject of the sentence whaose

main verb is ‘remains’

b Question: W ill it rain tomorrow?

Sentence with a noun clause: I w onder if it will rain toiriorrrow

if it will rain tomorrow is a noun clause which functions as the objject

of the main verb ‘wonder’.

Note:

The expression or not is sometimes found in i f I whether noun c lausaes.

When if introduces a noun clause, the expression or not frequeintly

comes at the end o f the clause When whether introduces a noun clauise,

the expression or not can be placed at the end o f the clause or rig ht ajfter

whether.

noun danse which functions as the object o f the verb ‘ appreciate’

c. Whether people can live on other planets or not is a matter of future.

d I don’t know if M ary is at the library (or not)

e I don’t know whether or not M ary is at the library (or not).

3 Noun clauses which begin with that

introducing a noun clause, it has no meaning itse lf It simply marks the beginning o f the clause.

a. That the earth is experiencing a population explosion is true

through, not with, the ocean floor.

that the continent moved through, not with, the ocean floor is anoun clause which functions as the object of the sentence whose main verb

is proposed’.

d It is believed that it’s wrong to judge another person on the

basis of race, religion, or sex.

that it’s wrong to judge another person on the basis of race,

Compare the following sentences:

religion, or sex is a noun clause which functions as the object o>f the sentence’ s main verb 'believed’.

C P R A C T IC E

I S E N T E N C E - C O M P L E T IO N

Complete the follow ing sentences by changing the co nesponuling questions into noun clauses and then determine the function o f each nionn clause in the sentence.

1 How is a warmer atmosphere related to a global rise in sea level?

- interests mianvscientists

2 What are the sources for the vast quantities of salts in the oceans?

- has beenworked out

3 Why are deep-focus earthquakes confined to areas adjacent to occianic trenches?

- The plate tectonics model explains

4 Has the magnetic field weakened about five percent over the past cent utry?

- Recent calculations indicate

5 How does the sun’ s radiant energy interact with the earth’ s atmosphere and surface?

7 Does water vapour play an important role in absorbing heat?

- The student wanted to k n o w

8 Why does rock weather?

- is explained in detail in this book

9 W ill chemical, or mechanical weathering, predominate?

- Climate determines

10 Where does the atmosphere end?

Where does outer space begin?

What phenomena are we studying?

- To say is quite arbitrary and tolarge extent depends upon

11 G A P -F ILLIN G

F ill in each gap with one suitable word from the given list.

THE EARTH’S INTERIOR

The earth’s interior (1 ) just below us, yet its accessibility

to direct observation is very (2 ) Most of our knowledge of theearth’s interior comes (3 ) the study of P and S waves(4 ) travel through the earth and emerge at some distant point.Simply stated, the technique involves accurately measuring the time requiredfor (5 ) waves to travel from the focus of an earthquake ornuclear explosion to a seismographic station Since the time required for Pand S waves to travel through the earth depends upon the properties of the rock materials encountered, seismologists search for variations in traveltimes that cannot (6 ) accounted for simply by differences in thedistances traveled These variations correspond to changes in rockproperties

Based upon these seismographical data the earth has been(7 ) into four major (8 ) The crust, a(9 ) thin outer layer; The mantle, a rocky layer located belowthe crust and having a thickness of 2885 kilometers; The outer core, a layerabout 2270 kilometers (1 0 ) which exhibits the characteristics

of a mobile liquid; and The inner core, a solid metallic sphere about 1216 kilometers in radius

(Text taken from E arth science by Tarbuck E.J and Lutgens I k )

D TRANSLATION

I E N G L IS H - V IE T N A M E S E T R A N S L A T IO N

Translate the follow ing passage into Vietnamese.

The crust is the outermost part of the lithosphere The surface of the crust is where we live Composed mostly of solid rock, the crust at some places is as thick as 40 miles while at others it is as thin as 3 miles The thinner crust predominates, however, and has an average thickness of less than 10 miles The average density of the rocks in the crust is 2.8 grams/cm', whereas the average density of the earth as a whole is 5.5 grams/cm' The difference in the density probably explains why continents are higlher than ocean bottoms and why the crust is thicker below the continents and thinner beneath the occan.

At least two distinct types of crust have been identified - oceanic crust and continental crust As the names suggest, the oceanic crust tends to be found below the oceans, and the continental crust tends to be ub»ovc sea level Although oceanic crustal rocks and continental crustal rocks are both basically composed of the same elements, the percentage composition varies.

(Text adapted from E n e rg y in the natural environment by Burrus, T L and Y a ffa , H )

II V IE T N A M E S E - E N G L IS H T R A N S L A T IO N

Translate llie follow ing sentences into English.

1 Phía dưới vò trái đất là lớp manti Không giông như lớp V'ỏ ngoài của trái đất, lớp manti dày 1800 dặm Các bàng chứng cho thấy lớp manti là một khối rắn nhưng dưới nhiệt độ và áp suất cao nó có khá nãng cháy như chất lóng Lớp manti là phần lớn nhất của thạch quyển, có tý trọng từ 3,3 gam/cm' ớ gần lớp vó ngoài trái đất đến 5.5 gam/cin'ớ gần lõi ngoài,

2 Tại sao nhân ngoài lại ớ dạng lỏng mà lớp manti phía trên nó và nhân trong phía dưới nó lại ở dạng rán vẫn còn là một trong sô những câu hói chưa có lời giải đáp.

3 Tôi không biết liệu trong tương lai con người có thế tìm ira dược phương pháp hiệu quá nhất đê dự báo được tất cả các trận động đất hay không.