Lectures of The Linguistic Culture (798449), страница 4
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Among the serious weekly journals are The New Statesman and Society , the Economist (dealing with economic and political matters); The Spectator (a conservative journal); and The New Scientist. The Times publishes influential weekly magazines, such as the Educational Supplement, the Higher Education Supplement) and the Literary Supplement.
The broadcasting media
The broadcasting media consist of radio, terrestrial television and cable/satellite television. Three authorities oversee these services: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority.
The BBC is based at Broadcasting House in London, but has stations throughout the country, which provide regional networks for radio and television. It was created by Royal Charter and has a board of governors who are responsible for supervising its programmes. They are appointed by the Crown on the advice of government ministers and are supposed to constitute an independent element in the organization of the BBC.
The BBC is financed by a grant from Parliament, which comes from the sale of television licences (Ј1.6 billion per year). These are payable by anyone who owns a television set and are relatively cheap in international terms (Ј104 annually for a colour set). The BBC also generates considerable income from selling its programmes abroad and from the sale of a programme guide (Radio Times), books, magazines and videos.
The BBC’s external services, which consist of radio broadcasts in English (the World Service) and 42 other languages abroad, were founded in 1932 and are funded by the Foreign Office. These have a reputation for objective news reporting and programmes. The BBC also began commercially funded television programmes in 1991 by cable to Europe and by satellite links to Africa and Asia; BBC World (news) – now merged with the World Service.
The BBC is not a state organization, but it is not as independent on political pressures as many in Britain and overseas assume. Its charter has to be renewed by Parliament and by its terms government can, and does, intervene in the showing of programmes.. The BBC governors are in fact government appointees. Governments can also exert pressure upon the BBC when the licence fee comes up for renewal by Parliament.
The BBC does try to be neutral in political matters. The major parties have equal rights to broadcast on the BBC and independent television.
There are 5 national radio channels (to be increased by five new digital channels); 39 local stations serving many districts in England; and regional and community services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The national channels specialize in different tastes. Radio 1 caters for pop music; Radio 2 has light music, news, and comedy; Radio 3 provides classical and modern serious music, talks, discussions and plays; Radio 4 concentrates on news reports, analysis, talks and plays; and Radio 5 Live (established 1990) has sport and news programmes.
The BBC was certainly affected by the invention of television, which changed British entertainment and news habits. The BBC now has two television channels (BBC1 and BBC2). BBC1 is a mass-appeal channel with an audience share of 28 per cent. Its programmes consist of news, plays and drama series, comedy, quiz shows, variety performances, sport and documentaries. BBC2, with an audience share of 11 per cent, tends to show more serious items such as news analysis and discussion, documentaries, adaptations of novels into plays and series, operas, concerts and some sport. It is also provides Open University courses. The Labour government has approved (2001) the expansion of BBC television services by the creation of a BBC4 channel (culture and the arts) and two channels for children under six and over.
A large number of the programmes shown on television are made in Britain, although there are also many imported American series. A few programmes come from other English-speaking countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. But there are relatively few foreign-language productions on British television and these are either dubbed or subtitled.
British television has a high reputation abroad. News reports, documentaries and current-affairs analyses are generally of a high standard, as are dramatic, educational, sporting, natural history and cultural productions. But there is also a wide selection of series, soap operas, films, quizzes and variety shows which are of doubtful quality.
Voices have been raised about the alleged levels of sex, violence and bad language on British television. The Conservative government considered that violence, sex and obscenity on television do affect viewers and was concerned to ‘clean up’ television. A Broadcasting Standards Complaints Commission monitors programmes, examines complaints, establishes codes of conduct for the broadcasting organizations.
Reuters News Agency is an international news agency headqutered in London. It operates in more than 200 cities and offers quick and easy access to hot news in about 200 languages.
Translate into Russian:
Circulation, Editorials To hinder Censorship
To eliminate Superficial Illiteracy Allegedly
The Foreign Office Government appointees Availability
Revenue To exert pressure
To merge updated news
To oversee Obscenity
Answer the questions:
1. What does term media include?
2. What is the reason why the British continue to buy newspapers?
3. Which categories are the national British newspapers divided into?
4. Do you know any British newspapers or magazines (journals)?
5. What are the main British t.v. channels?
6. What is the BBC service?
British Society, Customs and Traditions
It is easy to assume that the population and society in Britain is stable, but it is not correct. At the moment it is 58 million but it is unevenly distributed across the land, and there has been a persistent drift to the south.
The British population is already one of the oldest in Europe, and it is currently getting older. A disproportionate number of the old choose to retire to the south coast and East Anglia, is creating regional imbalances.
Britain is also changing ethnically. Since the 1950s, over two million Afro-Caribbean and Asian people have come to live and work in Britain. They have become 5.7 % of Britain population, but concentrated particularly in London and Leicester (where their density is three times the national average), and in Birmingham, Slough and Bradford (where it is twice the national average).
Despite such changes, broad stereotypical views concerning British society persist. Take, for example, the classic stereotypes concerning English Homes and Houses.
Do you remember R. Kipling’ famous expression: My home is my castle?
Is an English man's home really his castle? Though both the role and the look of the home are changing, an Englishman's home is as much his castle is it was 100 years ago. The Conservative party has been long encouraging home ownership and now 82% of British families prefer to live in their own houses and only 15% live in flats. Here are some typical houses owned by Britons: “Detached” houses, ones that stand on their own, are the most desirable. “Semi-detached” houses, consisting of two equal halves and there are also “terraced” ones, joined in a row of more than two.
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Some typical British homes are the smallest in Europe. The report undertaken by the Centre for Economics & Business Research for Bradford & Bingley reveals British living space per home is 12 percent smaller than the average Spanish home, 14 percent smaller than in Germany and 16 percent smaller than in France.
All of know the love of Britons for gardening. There are small gardens in front and behind their houses.
What is inside such houses? What is on the ground floor and the first floor? “England has a wealth of grand palaces, castles and country mansions. Many are located in beautiful countryside, some in towns and cities. Castles dating back to the 1300s, country mansions from the 1600s and four hundred year old palaces. Most of these properties are no longer privately owned. There are a number of family owned mansions dating back to the 1400s which open for private groups.
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Eighty per cent of the British people live in towns or cities. Most of them would prefer to live in the countryside if it were possible. People are moving out of large cities, some are going to the countryside and small towns.In the middle of the 20th century the pressure to move out of London intensified. There were two main reasons for this. The most important was the steep rise in house prices in London area and the second reason for moving was to have a better quality of life. British whites' are the minority in London for the first time as census of 2011 shows number of UK immigrants has jumped by 3million in 10 years. Just 44.9% of Londoners are White British, according to census data. And in general 7.5million residents of England and Wales were foreign-born in 2011
Another typical feature of English life is a great number of “commuters”, as those people who live now in the province retain their jobs in London and big cities and go to and from work every day sometimes for two hours.
The conservative housing policies contributed to the rising number of homeless people especially in big cities. You can see a lot of people sleeping rough in central London each night. They are called “dossers”. Many of them are young school-leavers who come to London to find jobs but failed because it is extremely difficult to get a job without a home address.
Traditional families in England: two children, a dog and a cat.
Marriage rate dips to record low as fewer than half are hitched.
English Traditions
You cannot really imagine Britain without all her traditions. Some British customs and traditions are known all over the world.
What should one know on coming to England? First – a typical English breakfast different from the continental one, a lunch (from 12 o’clock to 1 o’clock), five-o’clock tea, dinner or supper (6-7 o”clock). There are some traditional dishes such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, Cornish pasti Wesker and of course pies.
British people spent less time cooking nowthen they use to do in the pst. Even traditional English breakfast is a bit of a myth today. Many people prefer to have a bowl of cornflakes or a cup of coffee for breakfast. A lot of people unite two meals: breakfast and lunch together (s0-called “ brunch”).When British people go out for a meal, they very often go to their local Indian or Chinese, Italian or Turkish restaurant or buy a “takeaway” food. Very many still go to the pubs.
The word "pub" is short for "public house". Pubs are so popular in the UK that there are over 60,000 pubs there (53,000 in England and Wales, 5,200 in Scotland and 1,600 in Northern Ireland). Pubs are an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there.
English Customs are reflected in popular British Holidays
Should ever be forgotten. 
Guy Fawkes Day - November 5PthP. “Remember, remember the 5th of November Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason in that gunpowder treason”. This popular British rhyme is often spoken on Bonfire Night, in memory of the Gunpowder Plot.Guy Fawkes Day' is also known as 'Bonfire Night' or 'Fireworks Night'.
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