Text A «THE UNITED KINGDOM»

The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is an island na­tion and constitutional monarchy in north-western Eu­rope, member of the European Union (EU).

Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. It com­prises, together with numerous smaller islands, England and Scotland, and the principality of Wales. Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, occupies the north-east­ern part of the island of Ireland.

The United Kingdom is bordered to the south by the English Channel, which separates it from continental Europe, to the east by the North Sea, and to the west by the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The only land bor­der is between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire­land. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242 sq.km. The capital and largest city is London.

The names «United Kingdom», «Great Britain», and «England» are often used interchangeably. The use of «Great Britain», often shortened to «Britain», to de­scribe the whole kingdom is common and widely ac­cepted, although strictly it does not include Northern Ireland.

However, the use of «England» to mean the «United Kingdom» is not acceptable to members of the other constituent countries, especially the Scots and the Welsh.

England and Wales were united administratively, po­litically, and legally by 1543. The crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603, but the two countries remained separate political entities until the 1707 Act of Union, which formed the Kingdom of Great Britain with a single legislature. From 1801, when Great Brit­ain and Ireland were united, until the formal establish­ment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the kingdom was officially named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Hong Kong, which has 200,000 population, was re­turned to China in 1997.

The mainland of the island of Great Britain is 974 km at its longest and 531 km at its widest; how­ever, the highly indented nature of the island's coast­line means that nowhere is more than about 120 km from the sea.

The climate of the United Kingdom is mild relative to its latitude, which is the same as that of Labrador in Canada. The mildness is an effect of the warm Gulf Stream. This current brings the prevailing south-west winds that moderate winter temperatures and bring the depressions which have the main day-to-day influence on the weather. The western side of the United Kingdom tends to be warmer than the eastern; the south is warmer than the north. The mean annual temperature is 6°C in the far north of Scotland; 11°С in the south-west of Eng­land. Winter temperatures seldom are below -10°C and summer temperatures rarely higher than 32°C. The sea winds also bring plenty of moisture; average annual pre­cipitation is more than 1,000 mm.

Rain tends to fall throughout the year, frequently turning to snow in the winter, especially in Scotland, the mountains of Wales, and northern England. The west­ern side of Britain is much wetter than the eastern: av­erage rainfall varies is from 5,000 mm in the western Highlands of Scotland, to less than 500 mm in parts of East Anglia in England.

The population of United Kingdom is more than 56 mln people, but it is one of the world's leading commer­cial and industrialized nations. In terms of gross na­tional product (GNP) it ranks fifth in the world, with Italy, after the United States, Japan, Germany, and France.

Vocabulary:

island nation — островное государство

constitutional monarchy — конституционная мо­нархия

European Union — Европейский союз

to comprise — включать

numerous — многочисленные

principality — княжество

North Sea — Северное море

interchangeably — взаимозаменяемо

to accept — принимать, допускать

strictly — строго, зд. строго говоря

include — включать

constituent — составляющий

administratively — административно

entities — зд. субъекты

single — зд. единая

indented — зд. изрезанная

latitude — широта геогр.

prevailing — преобладающий

moderate — умеренный

depressions — зд. циклоны

mean — средний

throughout — на всем протяжении

average annual precipitation — среднегодовое коли­чество осадков

in terms of — говоря (о чем-либо)

GNP (Gross National Product) — валовой нацио­нальный продукт.

Exercise 6.1. Translate into English.

1. Официальное название Великобритании — Со­единенное Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии.

2. Соединенное королевство является членом Евро­пейского союза и конституционной монархией.

3. Северная Ирландия занимает северо-восточную часть острова Ирландия.

4. Пролив Ла-Манш отделяет Соединенное Королев­ство от континентальной Европы.

Exercise 6.2. Use the following phrases and word combinations to retell the text:

1. As I understood from the text...

2. According to the text...

3. According to the author...

4. As it is described in the text...

5. As it is said in the text...

6. As the author puts it...

7. According to the figures (data, information, opinions) from the text...

Exercise 6.3. Discuss the following statements. Use the following phrases to express your opinion:

1. It seems to me (that)...

2. I would like to say that...

3. As I see it...

4. I think that...

5. I guess...

6. I suppose...

7. I (strongly) believe that...

8. I am (absolutely) sure that...

Statement A: The United Kingdom is a small coun­try. It is one of the leading countries now because it had many rich colonies in the past.

Statement B: UK will loose Northern Ireland soon and Wales and Scotland later, like it lost Hong Kong in 1997, because of the differences in languages, culture and history.

Statement C: British people don't travel much be­cause they live not too far from the sea (ocean).

Exercise 6.4. Which events in the modern history of Great Britain had an impact on world science and technology. Choose five the most important and briefly describe them.

Exercise 6.5. What inventions in UK made life more convenient and safer? What inventions have become dangerous for the mankind?

Exercise 6.6. Use the information below to be able to make a report on the following:

1) Land, 2) Climate, 3) Population, 4) Ethnic groups, 5) Economy.

Text B: "HISTORY OF LONDON"

The Romans were the first to settle and occupy the Celtic fortress of Londinium. Construction of a bridge in 100 A.D. made London an important junction: it soon became a busy commercial and administrative settle­ment, and in the 2nd century A.D. a wall was built round the city.

The Roman Empire fell in the 5th century. London have maintained its trading activity. In the 9th century Danish invaders destroyed much of the city. They were followed by the Saxons led by King Alfred the Great, who entered the city in 886. The Danes remained a powerful force in England, however, and it was not until the reign of Edward the Confessor, which began in 1042, that civic stability was re-established, to be cemented by the Nor­man Conquest in 1066.

William the Conqueror centred his power at the Tower of London, and his White Tower is still the heart of this impressive monument.

The City soon united its economic power with politi­cal independence. Late in the 12th century it elected its own Lord Mayor. From 1351 it elected its own council, and by the end of the 14th century the reigning sover­eign could not enter the City without permission.

In the reign of Elizabeth I had the arts a renaissance with such great dramatists as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Ben Jonson.

In 1665, London had been devastated first by the Great Plague, and then by the Fire of London, which destroyed most of the city the following year. During the recon­struction of the city, following the original street pat­tern, the architect Sir Christopher Wren was given re­sponsibility for the design of a number of State-funded buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral.

The western part of London was developed under the Hanoverian Kings: great squares were laid out such as those of Grosvenor, Cavendish, Berkeley, and Hanover, and more bridges were built across the river. Public services were improved, such as the water supply and sewerage systems, and the streets were paved.

In the 19th century London's population began to rise still more rapidly: it increased sixfold over the century as a whole, thanks to influx from all over the British Isles, from Britain's colonies, and from continental Eu­rope. The Industrial Revolution was creating huge num­bers of jobs, but never enough to satisfy the hopes of all the poor people who came to the capital. The novels of Charles Dickens tell us about the social problems of that period.

The First World War had little effect on London, but the Depression that followed in the late 1920s and early 1930s hit the whole country, including the capital. There were hunger marches and riots. London was to pay far more dearly during World War II. The intensive bomb­ing of London (The Blitz) in 1940-1941 took the lives of 10,000 people and left 17,000 injured. Countless historic buildings were damaged, including the Houses of Par­liament.

After the war London was to re-emerge as a radically different city. The docks had been so severely damaged that reconstruction, a very expensive process, was not reasonable. By the end of the 1950s most of the war dam­age had been repaired. New skyscrapers were built, out­doing each other in height and spectacular design. The 30-storey Post Office Tower was built in 1965. It is 189 m high. Other significant post-war developments include the 183 m National Westminster Bank Build­ing (1979); and Britain's highest building, the 244 m Canary Wharf Tower on the Docklands site, near to a new City airport.

General understanding:

1) What was the original name of London? Why was it so important for Romans?

2) Who was King Alfred the Great? When did he en­ter the city?

3) What is still the reminder of William the Con­queror?

4) How was Britain governed in 12th-14th centuries?

5) How did plague influence the history of London?

6) Who was in charge of the reconstruction of the city? Why did it need reconstruction?

7) Why did the population of London grow in the 19^th century?

8) How did the First World War affect the history of London? What about the WWII?

9) How did London change after the WWII?

10) What are the names of skyscraper buildings in Lon­don?

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