SPOTLIGHT ON ENGLAND

1) This paragraph tells about_.

Although England is the largest of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom (with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), it is still relatively small in comparison with some other European countries. Its population of 58 million people lives in a geographical area of 93,000 square miles. 85 % of the population lives in towns. The capital is London and other major cities include Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol.

2) This paragraph tells about_.

England traditionally produces textiles, iron and steel, coal mining and car manufacturing. In the hills there are dairy farms and in the lowlands cereals and potatoes are grown. England's farms also produce lamb and beef, although the beef industry is still recovering from the Mad Cow Disease catastrophe of the 1990s when millions of cows had to be slaughtered and sales of beef plummeted.

3) This paragraph tells about_.

The climate in England is moderate with average summer temperatures ranging from 12 °С to 26 °С. However, summers are getting noticeable hotter with recent counts as high as 38 °С in some places. In fact, this changing climate has meant that wine makers in the south of England have recently started to produce a sparkling wine similar to French Champagne. England gets a lot of rain (hence the green hills and valleys) so it's wise to carry a brolly. London is also famous for its «smog», a mixture of smoke from coal fires and fog that existed in the 19th century before steps were taken to introduce smokeless fuels to the city. Nowadays both London air and the water of the River Thames are much cleaner than they were a hundred years ago.

4) This paragraph tells about_.

The English are pleased with their quirky sense of humour (Mr Bean, Monty Python), their food (especially roast beef and Yorkshire pud), their sporting achievements (football, cricket and athletics, to name a few) and more contemporary literary, musical and cultural figures such as J. K. Rowling, Robbie Williams or Jamie Oliver, the cook who recently changed the face of school lunches across the country.

5) This paragraph tells about_.

Although English cooking has a reputation for being uninteresting (or worse), these days culinary standards have been improved. Recently two English restaurants were listed among the top five restaurants in the world.

What new information have you found out about...

— the size of England;

— its population;

— its industry;

— its climate;

— the English;

— English cuisine?

What information was not new for you? What fact about England surprised you most?

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