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Task 2. Read and translate the following text.
Text 2 Landforms
Landforms are natural features of the landscape, natural physical
features of the Earth’s surface, for example, valleys, plateaus,
mountains, plains, hills, loess, or glaciers.
Figure 4.1. A valley
A valley is a hollow or surface depression of the earth bounded
by hills or mountains, a natural trough in the Earth’s surface, that
slopes down to a stream, lake or the ocean, formed by water and/or ice
erosion. Systems of valleys extend through plains, hills, and
mountains. Rivers and streams flowing through valleys drain interior
land regions to the ocean. At the bottom of many valleys is fertile soil,
which makes excellent farmland.
The form of a valley depends upon the rate at which deepening
and widening goes on. V-shaped valleys are caused by forces such as
erosion and rivers. Valleys are not at all formed by rivers. Valleys that
are not V-shaped were formerly occupied by glaciers and are
characteristically U-shaped, formed by the huge bodies of ice that
moved along; they carved the valleys as they passed, carrying away
giant boulders and huge amounts of debris. Narrow deep valleys are
sometimes called canyons.
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