Беликова Е.К., Саратовская Л.Б. - The United Kingdom and United States of America in Past and Present (1268141), страница 2
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Today Londonis a great political centre, a great commercial centre, a paradise fortheatre-goers and tourists, but it is also a very quiet place with its parksand its ancient buildings, museums and librariesThere are plenty of other historical and cultural cities and towns inEngland: Kent, Bristol, Bath, Brighton, Bournemouth and many others.Chester is very important town in the north-west of England. In the past it7used to be a Roman fort; its name comes from the Latin word “castra”,meaning «fortified camp».
In Chester there is a famous museum whichcontains over 5000 ancient and modern toys. Oxford is the home of theoldest university of England. The most famous college is Christ Church.It has a great hall which was built during the reign of Henry VIII and itschapel has become the Cathedral of Oxford.
Cambridge is the home ofBritain's second oldest university York was the capital of NorthernEngland. It is one of the best preserved medieval cities of Europe. It wasbuilt by Romans, conquered by Anglo-Saxons and ruled by the Vikings.Birmingham is often called the «City of 1500 trades» because of the greatvariety of its industries.A lot of people and tourists come to the South of England just to seethe ancient circle of stones, associated with sun worship so-calledStonehenge, one of the most famous and mysterious archaeological sitesof the world, built between 2500 and 1500 BC.
It was used by the Druidsfor their ceremonies and has always exerted the British imagination,described by a number of novels, e.g. Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of theD’Urbevilles”.Not far from Stonehenge there stands Salisbury Cathedral. It is asplendid example of an English Gothic Cathedral; inside there is one offour copies of Magna Charta and the oldest clock in EnglandSome information about other parts of the UK.Wales is the region in the west of Great Britain. It is mainly amountainous land with a chiefly agricultural economy and an industrialand coal-mining area in the south. The landscape is really beautiful. Thatis why many English people move to Wales when they retire.
Cardiff, alarge city in the south, was chosen as the capital of Wales in 1955, mainlybecause of its size. Since 1536, Wales has been governed by England andthe heir to the throne of England has the title of Prince of Wales. TheWelsh language is still used in certain parts of the country. Welsh is anancient Celtic language, similar to Breton, spoken in Brittany, France. Inthe 60's Welsh was given equal status with English as an officiallanguage and is used in the law courts. It is taught in school and some TVprograms are broadcast in Welsh.
However, only about 20% of thepopulation speaks Welsh.Scotland is divided into three natural regions: the Southern Uplands,the Central Lowlands and the Highlands. Some of places in Scotland are“a natural paradise”, still untouched by man. Scotland had been8independent and was forcefully joined into the UK after a long struggle in1707. Edinburgh has been the capital since the 15th century, when itsfortified castle was the centre of Scotland’s resistance to Britishemancipation Edinburgh is associated with the names of Lord Byron,Walter Scott, R. Stevenson, Robert Burns and Arthur Conan Doyle.Glasgow is the industrial capital of Scotland. It is the third largest cityin Great Britain. The typical products of Scotland are timber, whisky,salmon.
Golf is the Scottish natural sport and it seems to have originatedin this country. Scotland is also the land of myths and mysteries; everycastle has “its ghost”. Glumes Castle is said to have nine of them. And ofcourse everyone knows about so-called “the Loch Ness Monster”.«Nessie» is said to be about six meters long, with a long, thin neck. Thefirst report of the monster in Loch Ness was in 565 A.D. Since 1934thousands of people claimed to have seen the monster. A lot of scientistshave investigated the Loch Ness and taken pictures but no scientificexplanation of the mystery has been givenOne third of the population of Northern Ireland (Ulster) lives in andaround the capital, Belfast - the most important port, commercial,industrial and cultural centre with theatres, orchestras, ballet and operacompanies.
Two third of the population has remained mainly rural. TheIrish population is divided into two groups: the Catholics and theProtestants. The Catholics are mostly natives of Ireland, whereas theProtestants are descendants of British settlers who came to Ireland in theI6th and I7th centuries, during and after the Reformation. The Protestantswho are the majority of the population dominate the Catholics.
Thehostilities between the two groups of the population continue to this day.A lot of British customs and habits as well as the language phrasesare connected with the English weather.The common ideas foreigners have about the weather in Britain are:"It rains all the time, it's very damp"; "There's a terrible fog in London,just like in Sherlock Holmes'...", 'The sun never shines in July orAugust".
But contrary to popular opinion, it does not rain all the time inBritain. Indeed, the weather changes so frequently that it is difficult toforecast it and people are used to complaining on the “weathermen”.Due to the geographic location of Great Britain the type of theclimate is oceanic.
There are no extreme contrasts in temperature inBritain thanks to the Gulf Stream-the current of warm water flowing fromthe Gulf of Mexico. As Britain does not experience extreme weather9conditions, it is never very cold or very hot. The temperature rarely risesabove 32C (90°F) in summer, or falls below 10°C (l4°F) in winter.Summers are generally cool, but due to global warming they are startingdrier and hotter.
During a hot spell newspapers talk of "heat waves" andan "Indian summer" (dry, hot weather in September and October). Hotweather causes terrible congestion on the roads as Britons rush to thecoastal resorts to the South. Winters are generally mild, with the mostfrequent and prolonged snowfalls in the Scottish Highlands where it ispossible to go skiing. If it does snow heavily in other parts of Britain, thecountry often comes to a standstill. Trains, buses stop and planes are late.England is known to have been “The mother of industrial revolution”.The dirt caused by London and Manchester smoke used to cause terriblefogs and smogs, described by many English classical writers and shownin old films where they added mystery and atmosphere to murder storiesand thrillers. Now they are things of the past.
Since the 1950s, mostBritish cities have introduced clean air zones. Factories and housescannot burn coal and must use smokeless fuel. Thanks to the strongprecipitation and human measures, Britain's countryside is famous for itsdeep green color. Britain in fact looks like one great park with its oldtrees, green meadows and heaths remaining green all the year round.1.
Answer the following questions:I. Which parts does the United Kingdom consist of? 2. What’s the differencebetween the names Great Britain and United Kingdom? 3. What is the climate ofGreat Britain like? 4. Do you know any English phrases, connected with theweather? 5. Have you ever been to England? 6. Which pictures or images do youhave when you think of this country? 7. What do you know of Stonehenge?2. Topics for Discussion:1. Many foreigners say “England” and “English”when they mean “Britain” or the “UK”.
2. Speak on geography of England,Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.3. The weather in British islands and itsinfluence on the English language.CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGERead the words:Intermingle -смешивать( ся. )Contemporary-современникdescendants-потомокto adopt-усваиватьAbout 2.000 years ago the British Isles were inhabited by the Celts whohad been arriving from Europe since the 8th century BC, interminglingwith the peoples who already llived there. During the next 1.000 yearsthere were many invasions.In 43 AD the Romans came there, calling10the country “Britania”.
The history of the English language really beganwith the arrival to the British Isles in the 5th century AD of three Germanictribes: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, who crossed the North Seafrom what today is Denmark and northern Germany. Most of the Celticspeakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into whatis now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles who came to Englandgave birth to the language called “Englisc” - from which the wordsEngland (the land of Angles) and English are derived.The invading Anglo-Saxon tribes spoke similar languages, belonging tothe Germanic language branch, which developed into what is nowcalled Old English (from the 5th century to about 1150).
Old Englishdid not sound or look like English today and. English speakers of todaywould have great difficulty in understanding it. Nevertheless, about halfof the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old Englishroots. The words be, strong and water, for example, are derived fromOld English. Epic Beowulfis an example of Old English ofapproximately 8th century.In 1066 the Duke of Normandy (Northern France), invaded andconquered England after awell-known the Battle ofHastings. As a result of thisthe Norman leader becamethe King of England“William the Conqueror”.The Normans brought withthem the French language,which became the languageof the Royal Court, and theruling classes.
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