Read the text about Ukraine and do the tasks.

Pre-reading

Look at the map and say which seas border Ukraine.

Name a river, a lake, a mountain.

Say some facts you expect to read in the text.

Look at the map and find your town/ city/ area. Say its name in Ukrainian, and then in English, in the way a foreigner would pronounce it.

While-Reading

Read the text “Ukraine, a European Country” and try to fill in gaps A – I.

Match the words in bold with the definitions 1 – 7.

never very hot or cold
produces good crops
the top of the mountain
low flat land that is always wet and soft
natural features of a country
a river or a canal
nice and interesting

Find all the words in the text that sound the same or similar in the Ukrainian language.

Ukraine, a European country, is the largest country in Europe. The village of Dilove (district if Rakhiv, province of Transcarpathian) is considered to be the geographical centre of Europe.

Ukraine stretches from the mountains in the west to the steppes in the A)_____________, and from the marshes in the north to the B)________________ in the south.

Ukraine’s longest C)_______________ is the Dnipro. It ranks as Europe’s third longest waterway. It divides the country into right-bank and left-bank Ukraine, and flows south to the Black Sea.

Ukraine has picturesque scenery and a temperate continental climate. It has cold winters with show and warm D)______________. The temperature ranges between +35°C in summer and – 20°C in winter.

Ukraine is mostly a flat plain with extremely fertile black earth soil.

Mount Hoverla (2,061) in the Carpathians is the highest E)________________ in the country. There are many treeless summits which are called polonynas.

Ukraine has 5% of the world’s mineral resources. There are 80 different types, including coal, iron, ore, titanium, granite and marble.

Ukraine is famous for its F)_______________ with plantations of pine, oak, beech and birch. Most forests are in the Carpathians and Polissia.

Ukraine has more than 3,000 lakes. In the Shatski lakes in the North-West there are a lot of fish, perch, pike and carp.

The animal world of the Crimean Mountains is G)_______________ from the other zones. Here we can find rare birds and H)________________ (carrion eagle, black griffon, red deer).

The Black Sea is deep and has a wide range of animal life. However, there is no life lower than 1,500m I)________________ . The deepest point of the Black Sea is 2,210m.