1. Canada. Part I
Geographical Map, Population
Of all English-speaking countries Canada is the largest. In size it ranks second in the world
after Russia. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the
west, and from the United States border almost to the North Pole. It comprises the northern half
of North America and the adjacent islands, excepting Alaska, which belongs to the USA. Halifax
in the East Coast is further from Vancouver on the West Coast than it is from London.
These vast distances make Canada a land of great contrasts. There are large differences
in its natural features, climate and vegetation, languages and customs of its people. If you travel
along Canada, you will see huge mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks, dense forests,
valleys, waterfalls and glaciers, mighty rivers and cool forest streams, picturesque islands and
vast lakes, wide prairies covered with wheat or dotted with cattle.
In the centre of the country there is a great plain called the Canadian Shield. The plain
extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains but narrows along the Arctic
Coastal Plain.
Canada shares the Great Lakes with the USA. The Niagara Falls on the Niagara River,
between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are one of the most splendid sights in the world. Besides
there are also Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg and many smaller ones.
Canada’s many rivers include the St. Lawrence, the Mackenzie, the Saskatchewan, the
Columbia and the Yukon. They have a great hydroelectric energy potential. With them Canada
is rich in fish. It is exceptionally rich in forest, minerals and fur-bearing animals.
Canada has a range of weather conditions. It has an Arctic climate in the north, and a
temperate one in the south.
Canada’s population is rapidly growing. Now it amounts to 26 million. Over a half of it is of
British origin, a third – of French. The rest are descendants from different nationalities
immigrated to Canada. The two official languages of Canada are English and French. Of the
former inhabitants of the land only 150,000 Indians and about 10,000 Eskimos have survived.
As white men gradually took over the country the Indians were confined to reservations, where
they could only practice agriculture, trapping or act as guides and camp assistants for the
tourists in the lake-covered shield region.
Canada. Part I. Exercises.
1. Translate into Russian: To stretch, dense, dotted, rapidly, origin, shield, to survive, gradually, former,
to take over.
2. Find in the text the English for: оно достигает, путешествовать по Канаде, из всех англоязычных
стран, большие различия, живописные острова, исключая Аляску, огромные расстояния,
население быстро растет, постепенно захватить страну, больше половины, горные цепи с
заснеженными вершинами.
3. Choose the proper words and word combinations for the following definitions.
1. To extend; to spread a. Prairie
2. A person in later generation b. Trapping
3. To specialize in; to work at c. To practice
4. A wide area of level land with grass but no trees d. To confine
5. Scattered here and there e. To take smth. over
6. Boundary; frontier f. To survive
7. To keep body and soul together; to remain alive g. Descendant
8. To be composed of; to contain; to include; to consists of h. To amount
9. Very close; lying near but not necessarily touching i. Dotted
10. Quickly; swiftly j. Dense
11. Catching animals for food and fur k. To stretch
12. To keep or hold; to restrict within limits l. Border
13. To be equal to; to add up to m. Rapidly
14. To assume; to gain control of something n. Adjacent
15. Thick; not easily seen through o. To comprise
4. Answer the following questions: 1. Where is Canada situated? 2. What are the coasts of Canada
washed by? 3. What countries does Canada border on? 4. Why is Canada called a land of great
contrasts? 5. Who was the first to appear on Canadian land? 6. From what countries did people come to
Canada? 7. What is the fate of the Canadian Indians? 8. Is it similar to the fate of American Indians?

2. Canada. Part II. Political System
Canada is often called “the Land of the Maple Leaf”. The maple leaf is the national
emblem of Canada. The national flag adopted in 1965, consists of a white field, flanked by a red
vertical field on either end with a red maple leaf on the white field.
Canada is a federative state consisting of ten provinces and two territories. It is a
member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Though an independent nation, Canada has close
institutional links with Britain. Formal executive power rests in the hands of the Governor
General, who represents the sovereign of Great Britain. It is a constitutional monarchy.
Legislative power is represented by Parliament which consists of a Senate numbering
102 members who are appointed for life by Governor General, and a House of Commons
numbering 265 members who are elected by the people for 5 years. The leader of the party that
wins the largest number of seats in a newly elected House of Commons becomes Prime
Minister. He is asked to form the government and to choose the cabinet.
The main political parties are Le Party Quebecois, the Liberal Party and the New
Democratic Party.
Canada (Part II) Exercises
1. Translate into Russian: To extend, executive power, to represent, sovereign, to appoint, elected,
legislative power, the representative of the crown, to number, for life
2. Find the English for: Исполнительная власть, находиться в руках, генерал-правитель
(губернатор), монарх, законодательная власть, пожизненно
3. Complete the Word Chains.
Head of state - … …
…- Prime Minister …
...
Legislative body - …
…
4. Answer the questions: Who is the formal and the real head of the state? What is the supreme
legislative body in Canada? How many Houses does the Canadian Federal Parliament consist of? Which
House of the Federal Parliament is elected by the people?
5. Fill in the missing parts of the sentences:
Canada is divided into … The Governor General … Legislative Power…
Canada. Part III. History
Long before the arrival of Europeans on North American shores in the late 1400s, the ancestors
of our present native peoples (Indians and Eskimos) had established themselves for centuries in every
corner of the country. It happened in the middle of the last Ice Age, 27,000 years ago.
The Vikings sailed across the Atlantic to Newfoundland around 1,000 AD. They did not settle
permanently. Some were probably killed by the Native peoples, others returned home.
After C. Columbus’s first voyage the news of his discoveries reached many European countries.
An English sea captain John Cabot sighted Nova Scotia and discovered the Island of Newfoundland in
1497. The English claim to Canada was founded on his and his son’s voyages. Then many temporary
settlements of Spanish, Portuguese, English and French fishermen began to appear on the coasts of
Newfoundland.
In 1534 a French expedition under Jacques Cartier entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the
following year sailed up the river as far as the spot where the city of Montreal now stands.
In 1603 Samuel de Champlain began the settlement which was named Quebec, and from that
time on he worked to develop Canada as a French colony. The 60,000 French settlers had become truly
North Americans with their own incipient nationalism.
There was a century-long struggle between France and England for the riches of the new land
and then, from 1763, after the Seven Years War, Canada fell into the hands of Britain.
Not only once did the USA make an attempt to capture Canada. But in the end the US invasion
failed and the treaty made in Ghent in 1814 left previous position unaltered.
Canada became independent on July 1, 1867 (a public holiday), when a federation was formed
out of the four provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec into a Dominion. Later
British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Newfoundland entered the Dominion
and Canada attained its present day form.
Although Canada has a relatively prosperous economy and ranks high in the health and well
being of its people, its future is threatened by increasing dissension. Two problems, with deep historical
significance, have risen to the surface in the last 30 years. After years of domination by English Canada,
many French Canadians began to consider breaking away from the federation to form their own nation. A
second broad problem concerns native peoples who have questioned, increasingly, their administrative
arrangements with the Federal and Provincial Governments. In summary, modern Canada has been and
remains a highly diverse country.

3. Do the crossword puzzle:
Across: Down:
1 8
1. The French explorer who founded Quebec; 1. The French navigator who lived in the XVI century
2. A formal agreement, especially one between nations; and discovered the St. Lawrence River;
7 4
3. A place where people have come to live and build 7. A place, location;
2
homes; 8. The entrance of 5 armed force into a country in order
an 9
4. A long journey made by ship;
3 to conquer;
5. The land along the edge of an ocean, lake or large 9. The capital6of Canada.
river;
6. The largest city of Canada on the St. Lawrence River;
Exercises
1. Translate into Russian.
Shore, spot, from that time on, permanently, struggle, claim, temporary, attempt, to capture,
incipient, invasion, to fail, treaty, previous, unaltered, to attain, relatively, prosperous, to rank high, well
being, to threaten dissension, significance, surface, to break away, to concern, in summary
2. Find in the text the English for:
До того места, где сейчас стоит город Монреаль; оставить положение неизменным; столетняя
битва за богатства новой земли; основать поселение; плыть вверх по реке; в следующем году;
делать попытку захватить; заключить договор; достичь берегов Канады; зарождающийся
национализм; возрастающий разлад; в итоге.
3. Fill in the missing parts of the sentences:
1. There was a century-long…
2. Although Canada …
3. Long before the arrival …
CANADA. BIG CITIES. ECONOMY. EDUCATION. SPORTS. Part IV.
Ottawa, in the south - east, is the capital city of Canada. It has a population of 800,000 but it is not the largest Canadian
city. It became the capital on Queen Victoria's orders, as a punishment to the city of Montreal where a rebellion against the
Sovereignty frightened the ruler of Britain.
Many notable public organizations, the national government and several educational and cultural organizations are
situated
in Ottawa. There are two universities in the city. The city is perched on a cluster of hills, crowned with magnificent pile of
Parliament Buildings.
The largest city of Canada is Toronto (population over two million), the capital of the province of Ontario and
an ocean port. It is situated on the shore of Lake Ontario. It is a leading manufacturing, trade and financial centre. The city has
excellent transportation connections, and so it is an ideal distribution point. The University of Toronto is the largest
university in the British Empire. It is also an artistic and musical centre.
Montreal is the biggest French - speaking city in the world after Paris. It is often called the "Paris of the Western
Hemisphere." It is indeed a beautiful city with its parks, avenues and streets, the distinguishing feature being Mount Royal.
Actually the mountain is a large park at the foot of which rich mansions and apartment houses are situated. Its subway system is
so handsome that it's been called the longest underground art-gallery in the world. The Montreal port is the largest inland
seaport in the world. Most of the factories and plants have been built close to the port so as to ease transportation. The city is
world-famous. It hosted Expo-67, the 1976 world Olympics.
The other important cities are Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec, Vancouver and Hamilton.
Canada is a great industrial nation, and manufacturing is the foremost sector of its economy. Canada is a supplier
of oil, gas pulp and paper. The leading industries are foods and beverages, primary metals (iron and steel), transportation
equipment, petroleum and coal products, textiles, clothing, machinery, non-metallic minerals and furniture. Most of the
companies belong to the US capital; they are "daughter" companies of the big concerns.
Canadian agriculture produces wheat, oats, sugar, beet, soya-beans, tobacco, potatoes and livestock
products.
As for educational system of Canada, it is very much like the school system of the United States, but at the same time one
would find education traits of European influence. There is a marked difference of education in French-speaking Canada.
Canada is said to be a sportsman's paradise. Canadians love water sports (water-skiing, canoeing, rafting and sailing). In
Montreal people go jet boating on the rapids. In winter Canadians mostly play ice hockey but they also do skating, skiing,
snowboarding, ice boarding, ice fishing, and bowling.

4. I. Translate into Russian: II. Find in the text the English for:
To perch, cluster, magnificent, pile, Город возвышается на группе холмов;
punishment, rebellion, sovereignty, to frighten, величественная громада зданий парламента; по
distinguishing, actually, mansion, apartment house, to приказу; в наказание; мятеж против верховной
ease, distribution, supplier, pulp, beverages, foremost, власти; у подножия; разгрузить транспорт.
oats, trait, rafting, rapids.
III. Choose synonyms for each of these verbs:
1. To frighten 2. To To land, to comfort, to freeze one’s blood, to rest, to lighten, to
perch 3.To ease shock, to terrify, to rest, to calm, to startle.
IV. Answer the questions: 1. Where is the capital of Canada situated? 2. Why did Ottawa become the
capital? 3. What is the largest and the most important city of Canada? 4. What is its distinguishing feature?