Geographic Position地理位置

Geographic Position(地理位置)

Part 1. Introduction

The People’s Republic of China is located in the eastern part of the Asian continent,on the western Pacific rim.It is a vast land ,covering 9.6 million square kilometers.China is approximately seventeen times the size of France, 1 million square kilometers smaller than all of Europe,and 600,000 square kilometers smaller than Oceania(Australia,New Zealand,and the islands of the south and central Pacific). Additional offshore territory,including territorial waters,special economic areas,and the continental shelf,totalsover 3 million square kilometers,bringing China’s overall territory to almost 13 million square kilometers.

Western China’s Himalayan Mountains are often referred to as the roof of the world.Mount Qomolangma ( known as the West as Mount Everest),over 8,800 metersin height,is the roof’s highest peak. China stretches from its westernmost point on the Pamir Plateau to the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers,5,200 kilometers to the east.

When the inhabitants of eastern China are greeting the dawn, people in western China still face four hours of darkness. The northernmost point in China is located at the midpoint of the Heilongjiang River,north of Mohe in Heilongjiang Province. The southernmost point is located at the Zengmu’ansha in the Nansha Islands, approximately 5,500 kilometers away. When northern China is still gripped in a world of ice and snow, flowers are already blooming in the balmy south. The Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea,and South China Sea border China to the east and south,  forming a vast maritime area.The Yellow Sea,East China Sea,and South China Sea connect directly with the Pacific Ocean,while the Bohai Sea, embraced between the two“arms” of the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas, forms and inland sea. China’s maritime territory includes 5,400 islands,which have a total area of 80,000 square kilometers.The two largest islands,Taiwan and Hainan,cover 36,000 square kilometers and 34,000 square kilometers respectively.

From north to south,China’s ocean straits consists of the Bohai,Taiwan,Bashi,and Qiongzhou Straits.China possesses 20,000 kilometers of land border,plus 18,000 kilometers of coastline. Setting out from any point on China’s border and making a complete circuit back to the starting point. The distance traveled would be equivalent to circling the globes at the equator.

Part 2. Further study.

1. 可能会用的的词汇，短语和相关知识点。

Across，border，continent，face（v），landmark，lie,locate，mountain range，situate

描述方位的用语：in,on between,in the middle of , on the coast of ,off the coast of , on the left, on the right,in front of , behind,near, next to ,opposite, above, below,in the south of , to the east of

2. 以east为例，方位表示方法如下：

①　Inthe east表示我们生活中和地理位置上的绝对方向，如The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

②　On the east表示某事物位于另一事物所朝的方向，这里的方向指相对，如China faces the Pacific on the east.

③　要表示方位“偏向”通常用by，如正南偏东：south by east.

④　In/to/on/at the east of

u A在B范围之内，要表示A在B的东部，用A is inthe east of B

u A在B范围之外，要表示A在B的东部，用A liesto the east of B.

u A与B相接，要表示A在B的东侧，用A ison the east of B.

u 如果把方位词看作是一个整体，或者看成一个地点，就用A is atthe east of B,如：There was a big battle at the north of the Liaodong Peninsula.在辽东半岛的北边有一场大战。

u 如果表示A位于B东面100公里处，既可以说A lies 100km to the east of B,也可以说A lies 100km east of B.