What is the relief of China like?

Activity 2 – One country, three levels of relief

Lesson 11

What is relief [ 地勢 ]? Relief describes the shape [ 形狀 ] an

d height [ 高度 ] of the land.

Do you know about these relief features [ 特徵 / 面貌 ] ?

Mountain range [ 山脈 ] Plateau (Gaoyuan) [ 高原 ] Basin (Pendi) [ 盆地 ] Plain (Pingyuan) [ 平原 ]

1. Mountain range [ 山脈 ] A continuous line of highland reaching great he

ights

2. Plateau (Gaoyuan) [ 高原 ] A large area of high, flat [ 平坦的 ] land

3. Basin (Pendi) [ 盆地 ] A large area of flat land surrounded [ 包圍 ] by m

ountains or highland.

4. Plain (Pingyuan) [ 平原 ] A large area of flat land with low relief

Alluvium [ 沖積物 ]

Rivers carry away soil and rocks.

Soils and rocks rest on the lowland. They are called alluvium.

Fig.1

喜馬拉雅山脈

青藏高原

雲貴高原 四川盆地

長江中、下游平原

華北平原

Fig. 2

1(a) In which location do you think each of the photographs in Fig. 1 was taken? Correctly match these photographs with the location A to F in Fig.2. Write your answer on the answer lines below.

Photograph Location

1 B 2 A 3 D 4 C 5 F 6 E

1. The Himalayas [ 喜瑪拉亞山脈 ]

2. Qingzang Gaoyuan [ 青藏高原 ]

3. Yungui Gaoyuan [ 雲貴高原 ]

4. Sichuan Pendi [ 四川盆地 ]

5. Changjiang Zhongxiayou Pingyuan [ 長江中、下游平原 ]

6. Huabei Pingyuan [ 華北平原 ]

(b) What are the relief characteristics of these locations? Draw lines to join to their respective characteristics.

Answers

1. The Himalayas [ 喜瑪拉亞山脈 ]

2. Qingzang Gaoyuan [ 青藏高原 ]

3. Yungui Gaoyuan [ 雲貴高原 ]

4. Sichuan Pendi [ 四川盆地 ]

5. Changjiang Zhongxiayou Pingyuan [ 長江中、下游平原 ]

6. Huabei Pingyuan [ 華北平原 ]

Photograph 1: B The Himalayas ( 喜馬拉雅山脈 )

It is the world’s largest mountain range ( 山脈 ), and has the highest peak in the world, the Qomolangma Feng ( 珠穆朗瑪峰 ).

Photograph 2: A Qingzang Gaoyuan ( 青藏高原 )

It is the largest plateau ( 高原 ) in China, which rises to over 4500m in height.

Photograph 3: D Yungui Gaoyuan ( 雲貴高原 )

It is a lower plateau ( 高原 ) (about 1000m to 2000m high) found to the east of the western plateaus and mountain ranges.

Photograph 4: C Sichuan Pendi ( 四川盆地 )

It is a large basin ( 盆地 ) located in the southwest of China, which is famous for its agriculture ( 農業 ).

Photograph 5: F Changjiang Zhongxiayou Pingyuan ( 長江中、下游平原 )

Photograph 6: E Huabei Pingyuan ( 華北平原 )

It is a large and flat lowland ( 低地 ) (lower than 1000 m) formed by a large amount of alluvium ( 沖積物 ) brought by the river.

Key words and knowledge

Relief ( 地勢 )Some relief features of China:

- mountain range

- plateau (Gaoyuan)

- basin (Pendi)

- plain (Pingyuan)

Next lesson

Activity 2 – Q.2,3