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Этого звука в русском языке нет. В английском языке он встречается только перед гласным и на слух представляет собой легкий, едва слышный выдох. В отличие от русского [х] английский [h] образуется без всякого участия языка, поэтому необходимо следить за тем, чтобы задняя спинка языка не поднималась близко к мягкому нёбу.
Exercise A
year — hear — ear
here — near — fear
tear — peer — beer
rear — leer — mere
Exercise В
mile — pile — kite
site — side — ride
height — light — fight
might — right — tight
pike — hike — hide
Exercise С
hope — heap — hat
heal — heel — heal
health — height — hear
hood — his — ham
her — here — hate
Exercise D
hit — heat — head
hall — hollow — hammer
hand — happy — hard
harm — hair — hazard
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; 11С 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.
| Table: Modern history of Great Britain | |
| 1914 | World War I begins. |
| 1918 | World War I ends. |
| 1919 | First regular London-Paris air service instituted. |
| 1926 | John Logie Baird demonstrates television system. |
| 1927 | British Broadcasting Corporation chartered. |
| 1928 | Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. |
| 1936 | First regular television broadcasts from Alexandra Palace. |
| 1947 | Independence for India and Pakistan. Nationalization of coal mines and railways. |
| 1949 | Foundation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization. |
| 1952 | Britain explodes atomic bomb in Australia. |
| 1955 | Irish Republican Army begins terrorist campaign. |
| 1960 | Independence for Cyprus and Nigeria. «The Beatles» form. |
| 1969 | Oil discovered off Scottish coast. |
| 1980 | North Sea oil makes Britain self-sufficient in certain petroleum products. |
| 1986 | Trident ballistic missile system ordered from US. |
| LAND Area 241,752 sq km Highest Point Ben Nevis 1,343 m above sea level Lowest Point Holme Fen 3 m below sea level |
| CLIMATE Average Temperatures London January 4C July 18C Edinburgh January 3C July 15C Average Annual Precipitation London 590 mm Edinburgh 680 mm |
| POPULATION Population 58,395,000 (1994 estimate) Population Density 242 persons/sq km (1994 estimate) Urban/Rural population 92% Urban 8% Rural Largest Cities London (Greater) 6,933,000 Birmingham 1,017,000 Leeds 724,500 Glasgow 681,000 Ethnic Groups 94,5% English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish 5,5% Other Languages Official Language English Other Languages Welsh, Scots-Gaelic, other minority languages Religions 54% Anglicanism 13% Roman Catholicism 33% Other including other Protestant denominations, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism |
ECONOMY
Gross Domestic Product
US$1,023,900,000,000 (1994)
Chief Economic Products
Agriculture
Wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, oilseed rape, livestock, animal products.
Fishing
Mackerel, herring, cod, plaice
Mining
Coal, limestone, petroleum and natural gas.
Manufacturing
Machinery and transport equipment, food products, chemical products, minerals and metal products.
Employment Statistics
58% Trade and Services
23% Manufacturing and Industry
16% Business and Finance
2% Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
1 % Military and Defense
Major Exports
Industrial and electrical machinery, automatic data processing equipment, road vehicles, petroleum.
Major Imports
Road vehicles, industrial and electrical machinery, automatic data processing equipment, petroleum, paper and paperboard, textiles, food.
Major Trading Partners
Germany, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan
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.
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