Почитайте тексты и установите соответствие между текстами и их заголовками. Каждому тексту, обозначенному буквой, подберите соответствующий заголовок, обозначенный цифрой. 1. Times and associations
2. Still the first in the list of destruction
3. Severe and powerful
4. Center of development

A. The fifth longest river in the world is the Yenisei which flows north from Mongolia through Russia to the Arctic Ocean. Originally, nomadic tribes — the Kit and Yugh people — lived along the banks of the Yenisei. Russian explorers first reached its shores in 1605. Much of the Yenisei is ice-bound six or more months in the year. Explosives are used to keep the water flowing, thereby avoiding serious flooding. A series of massive hydroelectric dams provide energy to support Russian industry.

B. Known as the “cradle of Chinese civilization”, the Yellow River in China is the 6th longest river in the world. It’s been a major center of Chinese population and culture since the 3rd century B.C. However, the Yellow River has another name — “China’s Sorrow”. For thousands of years, the river has regularly flooded, destroying the surrounding countryside and populations. Today over a dozen dams control the flooding and also provide electricity for millions.

C. Every year schoolchildren everywhere learn the names of the world’s great rivers. Everyone knows the longest river is the Nile. Or is it? Brazilian and Peruvian scientists now argue that the Amazon should be considered the longest (using complicated measurements only scientists can understand). But for now, the Nile still wins the title of “longest river” in textbooks. The Nile has always been the lifeline of Egyptian civilization. The annual flooding of the river creates rich agricultural soil, ideal for growing wheat and flax and other crops.

D. When people think of the Mississippi River, their first thought is usually of Mark Twain and the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They may not recall from their childhood geography lessons that the Mississippi is the fourth longest river in the world. For thousands of years, Native Americans lived along the Mississippi, mostly living as hunter-gatherers and herders. That life changed forever when Europeans first arrived in the 16th century; today the Mississippi plays a crucial role in the economic life of dozens of cities and small towns situated along its shores.