Listen to the text, read, translate and retell it. The USA occupies the central part of the North American continent

The USA occupies the central part of the North American continent. The United States of America is a federal republic of 50 states. It borders on Canada in the north and Mexico in the south. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, by the Pacific Ocean in the west and by the Gulf of Mexico in the south.

America has thousands of lakes of all kinds and sizes. The Great Lakes are situated in the north-east of the country and make up the largest group of lakes in the country, as well as the greatest collections of fresh ­water in the world. Only the lake Michigan lies entire­ly inside the United States. Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario form a border between north-eastern United States and Canada. They stretch 1 600 miles from east to west.

The present territory of the USA consists of three separate parts. The USA proper and Alaska are situated in North America. The Hawaii are situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean. The area of the country is about 9 400 000 square kilometres. Its population is about 256 m people.

It is a country of mountains and prairies, valleys and deserts. About one half of the territory in the west is occupied by the Cordilleras. In the east there are the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains extend from Alaska through Canada and the USA to Mexico. Mount McKinley in Alaska at 20 320 feet (6 194 meters) is the highest point in the United States, while part of Death Valley in California is 282 feet (89 meters) below sea level basins and isolated ranges.

The United States has several immensely long rivers. There are a large number of rivers in the eastern part of the country, the longest of which is the Missouri (3 942 km), a tributary of the Mississippi (3 760 km). Other large rivers of the USA are the Missouri, the Columbia, the Colorado, and the Yukon. American rivers have very expressive names: the Snake River, the Milk River, the Green River, the Sweetwater River, the White River.

The USA has rich deposits of coal, oil, iron, zinc, copper, silver, phosphate rock, natural gas, uranium and non-ferrous metals. The country has one fourth of the world’s coal deposits.

The 50 states form an area of 3 615 122 m², making the United States the fourth largest country in the world.

The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie.

Virtually every type of climate can be found somewhere in the United States – from arctic in Alaska to subtropical in Florida.

Most of the country has a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Summers are hot and very humid in this region and rainfall decreases to the west as a result of the rain shadow created by the West Pacific range and the Sierra Nevada.

The Pacific coast is almost rainless in summer, although there is often foggy winter there is frequent drizzle, but the climate remains generally warm and dry, especially in California. The eastern part of the country is moderately rainy.

Most of the United States is marked by sharp differences between winter and summer. In winter, when temperature contrasts between land and water are the greatest, huge masses of frigid, dry Canadian air periodically spread far south over the midcontinent, bringing cold weath­er to the interior and generating great cyclonic storms. Winter temperatures differ widely, depending largely on latitude.

During the summer there is a reversal of the air masses, and east of the Rockies, the change resembles the summer monsoon of southeast Asia.

Over most of the United States, as in most continental climates, spring and autumn are agreeable but disappoint­ingly brief. Autumn is particularly idyllic in the East, with a romantic Indian summer of ripening corn and brilliantly colored foliage and of mild days and frosty nights.