Curriculum extra Unit 4
Focus on Geography: The course of a river
1 Label the picture with the words below.
banks estuary mouth source tributary waterfall
1 _________________
3 _________________
5 _________________
2 Choose the correct option.
1 The source / mouth of a river is on high land.
2 Water goes uphill / downhill, from the
mountains to the sea.
3 Tributaries / Estuaries join the river as it runs
its course.
4 The land near the sea is quite deep / flat – there
aren't many hills.
5 In the end, the river adds / joins the sea.
6 The river here is five metres wide / small – it's
easy to walk across it.
the / the + geographical features
Large geographical features like seas, rivers, lakes,
and mountains start with capital letters. The Dead Sea
We use the with the names of rivers and seas.
The River Thames, The Mediterranean Sea
We use no article (the) with lakes and mountains.
Lake Superior, Mount Everest
2 _________________
4 _________________
6 _________________
3 Complete the sentences with the correct form of
the words from exercises 1 and 2.
A Near the ________ of the river, where it joins the
sea, the water is wide and ________ . This area
is called an ________. 
B The river starts at its ________ , usually in the
hills. As it moves to the sea, smaller rivers,
called ________ , join it.
C Rivers always run ________ to lower ground.
The land sometimes forms a ________ when the
water erodes the soft rock. 
D Now the river gets nearer to the sea, and the
land on both ________ becomes flat. 
4 Number sentences A–D in exercise 3 in the
correct order.
5 Find out about the Navia River in Spain.
1 Where does the river have its source?
2 Where does the river mouth reach the sea?
3 Write a few sentences about the festival at
Navia.