The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Plan
The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
English language
British culture
Geographical location
Climate in Britain
Political system
Cities in Britain
Work and unemployment
Mass media
Literature
Science
Education in Britain
Health in the UK
Sports in Britain
Ecological problems
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The full name of the country the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland occupies one third of the island of Ireland. It borders on the Irish Republic in the south. The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England (the southern and middle part of the
island), Wales (a mountainous peninsula in the West) and Scotland (the northern part of the island).
England is the largest
and the richest country of Great Britain. The capital of England is London but there are other large industrial cities, such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and other famous and interesting cities such as York, Chester, Oxford and Cambridge.
Scotland is a country
in the north of Great Britain. It is a part of the UK. Scotland is divided into three natural regions: the Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands
and the Highlands and islands. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, well known
for its castle.
Wales is the country
in the west of Great Britain. It is mainly a mountainous land with a chiefly
agricultural economy and an industrial and coal-mining area in the south.
Northern Ireland, also
known as Ulster, is still a part of the United Kingdom. It is made up of six
countries: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. One third
of the population lives in and around the capital, Belfast. . The Irish
population is divided into two groups: the Protestants and the Catholics.
In general the territory of the UK is about 244,000 square kilometers, it takes the 75th place among other
countries in the world. The population is urban. The capital of the country is London. Now Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the
narrowest part of which is called the Strait of Dover. The British Isles are
surrounded by the shallow waters of the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. The rivers of the region are short
and of no great importance as waterways. The longest of them is "the
Father of London", the Thames, which is a little over 200 miles. The surface
of GB varies greatly. The northern and western parts of the country are
mountainous and are called the Highlands. But there are no high mountains in Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the Pennies
stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian Mountains occupy the
greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest of the
British mountains. All the rest (south, east and centre) is a vast plain, which
is called the Lowlands.
The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters
of the Gulf Stream influence the climate of GB. So due to the geographic
location of Great Britain the type of the climate is oceanic. There are no
extreme contrasts in temperature in Britain because of the current of warm
water flowing from the Gulf of Mexico called the Gulf Stream. Fortunately, as Britain does not experience extreme weather conditions, it is never very cold or very hot.
The temperature rarely rises above 32C (90°F) in summer, or falls below -10°C
(l4°F) in winter. The prevailing winds from the ocean to the south-west bring
rainfall throughout the year.
Great
Britain is a highly developed
industrial country. It is known as one of the world’s largest producers and
exporters of iron and steel products, machinery and electronics, chemicals and
textile, aircraft and navigation equipment. One of the chief industries of the
country is shipbuilding. 7 per cent of the population is engaged in farming. GB
is a country with old cultural traditions and customs. The most famous
educational centers are Oxford and Cambridge universities. They are considered
to be the intellectual centers of Europe. The education is not free, it is very
expensive. All state schools in Britain are free, and schools provide their
pupils with books and equipment for their studies. Nine million children attend
35.000 schools in Britain. Education is compulsory from 5 till 16 years.
Children start primer school at 5 and continue until they are 11. Most children
are taught together, boys and girls in the same class. At 11 most pupils go to
secondary schools called comprehensives which accept a wide range of children
from all backgrounds and religious and ethnic groups. At 16 pupils take a
national exam called "GCSE" (General Certificate of Secondary
Education) and then they can leave school if they wish. This is the end of
compulsory education. Seven per cent of British schoolchildren go to private
schools called independent schools. Parents pay for these schools. Some
16-year-olds continue their studies in the sixth form at school or at a sixth
form college. . Universities and colleges of higher education accept students
with "A" levels from 18. . Most students graduate at 21 or 22 and are
given their degree at a special graduation ceremony.
The United Kingdom is a monarchy and the Queen is the
head of the state. But in practice it is ruled by the elected government with a
Prime Minister at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers:
the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It sits in the House of Parliament
in Westminster.
There are three main political parties in Great Britain: the Labour, the Conservative and the Liberal parties. The Labour party with
Antony Blair at the head is the ruling party nowadays. There’s no written
constitution in Great Britain only precedents and traditions.
English language
On the 5th of September 1977, the American spacecraft
Voyager One blasted off on its historic mission to Jupiter and beyond. On board
the scientists who knew that Voyager would one day spin through distant star
systems had installed a recorded greeting from the people of the planet Earth.
A brief message in fifty-five different languages for the people of outer space
plays a statement from the Secretary-General of the United Nations an Austrian
named Kurt Waldheim, speaking on behalf of 147 member states in English. The
rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Today English is used by at
least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue.
Some
estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. Whatever (he total,
English at the end of the 20th century is more widely spoken and written, than
any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the
first truly global language. Three-quarters of the world's mail, and its
telexes and cables, are in English. So are more than half the world's technical
and scientific periodicals: it is the language of technology from Silicon Valley to Shanghai. English is the medium for 80 per cent of the information stored
in the world's computers. Nearly half of all business deals in Europe are conducted in English. It is the language of sports and glamour: the official
language of the Olympics and the Miss Universe Competition. English is the
official voice of (he air and the sea, and of Christianity: it is the
ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches. The largest broadcasting
companies in the world (CBS, NBS, ABC, BBC) transmit in English to audiences
that regularly exceed one hundred million.
English is spoken practically all over the world. It
is spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A lot of people speak English in China, Japan, India, Africa and other countries. It is one of 6 official languages of the
United Nations. It is studied as a foreign language in many schools. England's history helps to understand the present condition of English. Many English words
were borrowed from the language of Angles and Saxons. Hundreds of French words
came into English. These French words didn't crowd out corresponding Anglo-Saxon
words. There exist «act» and «deed», «beautiful» and «pretty», «form» and
«shape». Many new words were brought by traders and travellers. These words
came from all parts of the world: «umbrella» —from Italian, «skates» — from
Datch, «tea» — from Chinese, «cigar» — from Spanish. Some words came into
English directly from Latin, which was the language of the church and the
universities in the Middle Ages. Some of the English words of today are
derivatives. One way of creating new words is to put together two or more older
English
words. For example, the words «railway», «football», “newspaper” are made in
this way. Many of the new English words — especial new scientific
ones
— have been made from Latin and Greek words instead of English ones.
«Telephone» for instance, was made from Greek words “far” and «talk».
Culture
As long as there is peace and
prosperity people will travel.
Broadly speaking, there are tourists and there are
travelers. The first see a holiday as s chance to switch off the brain and
mindlessly follow a guidebook, or to park their bodies on the sand between
clear water and fine restaurant. The second see things differently. They travel
to learn, to discover a new pleasure or to exercise the imagination. The world
is filled with wonderful places to explore, fascinating people to meet and
opportunities to pursue.
Britain is rich in its
historic places which link the present with the past. The oldest part of London is Lud Hill, where the city is originated. About a mile west of it there is Westminster Palace, where the king lived and the Parliament met, and there is also
Westminster Abbey, the coronation church. Liverpool, the «city of ships», is England's second greatest port, ranking after London. The most interesting sight in the Liverpool is the docks. They occupy a river frontage of seven miles. The University of Liverpool, established in 1903, is noted for its School of Tropical Medicine. And
in the music world Liverpool is a well-known name, for it's the home town of
"The Beatles". Stratford-on-Avon lies 93 miles north-west of London. Shakespeare was born here in 1564, and here he died in 1616. Cambridge and Oxford Universities are famous centers of
learning. Stonehenge is a
prehistoric monument, presumably built by Druids, members of an order of
priests in ancient Britain. Tintagel Castle is King Arthur's reputed
birthplace. Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, head of the Church of
England. The British Museum is the largest and richest museum in the world. It was founded in 1753 and
contains one of the world's richest collections of antiquities. The Egyptian
Galleries contain human and animal mummies. Some parts of Athens' Parthenon are
in the Greek section. Madam Tussaud's Museum is an exhibition of hundreds of
life-size wax models of famous people of yesterday and today. The collection
was started by Madam Tussaud, a French modeller in wax, in the 18 century. Here
you can meet Marilyn Monroe, Eiton John, Picasso, the Royal Family, the Beatles
and many others: writers, movie stars, singers, politicians, sportsmen, etc.
Traditionally English people have three meals a day:
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be
a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large
breakfast takes a long time to prepare and is not very healthy. Nowadays, Britain's most popular breakfast consists of
cereal, toast with marmalade, juice and yogurt with a cup of tea or
coffee.
Lunch is a light meal. Most people have no time to go back home for lunch so
they eat at school, cafes, pubs or restaurants. The main meal is dinner, which
is usually between 6 and 7 p.m. A typical evening meal is a meat dish with
vegetables and dessert. The most important meal of the week is the Sunday
dinner, which is usually eaten at 1 p.m. The traditional Sunday dish used to be
roast beef, but nowadays pork, chicken or lamb are more common. On Sunday
evenings people have supper or high tea. The famous British afternoon tea is
becoming rare, except at weekends. Some people criticize English food. They say
it's unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it's chips with everything and totally
overcooked vegetables. The basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of
flavour that British haven't had to invent sauces to disguise their natural taste.
What can compare with fresh pees or new potatoes just boiled and served with
butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream and spices, when with just one
or two herbs it is absolutely delicious? If you ask foreigners to name some
typically English dishes, they will probably say «Fish and chips» then stop. It
is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because the food doesn't lend itself to such preparation.
English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to find a good English
restaurant with reasonable prices. In most cities in Britain you'll find
Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you'll also find
Indonesian, Mexican, and Greek... Cynics will say that this is because English have
no «cuisine» themselves, but this is not quite the true.
You can reach England either by plane, by train, by
car or by ship. The fastest way is by plane. London has three international airports:
Heathrow, the largest, connected to the city by underground; Gatwick, south of London, with a frequent train service; Luton, the smallest, used for charter flights if
you go to England by train or by car you have to cross the Channel. There is a
frequent service of steamers and ferryboats which connect the continent to the
south-east of England. People in Britain drive on the left and generally
overtake on the right. The speed limit is 30 miles per hour (50 km/h) in towns and
cities. When you are in London you can choose from four different means of
transport: bus, train, underground or taxi. The typical bus in London is a red double-decker. The first London bus started running between Paddington and
the City in 1829. It carried 40 passengers and cost a shilling for six km.
The next to arrive were the trains; now there
are twelve railway stations in London. The world's first underground line was
opened between Baker St. and the City in 1863. Now there are ten underground
lines and 273 underground stations in use. The London underground is also
called the Tube, because of the circular shape of its deep tunnels. London is so large that visitors must learn to use buses and the underground to get about.
London taxis are too expensive for any but the rich. You can get a map of the
underground and the bus routes at any ticket office. The word
"Underground" across a large circle shows you where the stations are.
The London underground is called the "tube". Bus stops are marked
clearly. In the suburbs buses do not stop unless there are passengers who wish
to get on or off. These stops are marked "Request Steps". Inside some
buses you will see the notice: "Please, state your destination clearly and
have the exact fare ready." It is easy enough to tell the conductor where
you want to go to, but not always possible to have the exact fare. The
conductor will always give you the change. The London buses are very large.
They have scats both upstairs and downstairs. English children like to sit on
the front seats of a big London bus. They can see everything that is happening
in the streets. Here are some of the things you may hear off a bus in London:
"Fares, please."
"Four pence, please."
"Full up inside; plenty of seats on
top."
"Standing room only."
"No, sir, this bus does not go to
Victoria Station."
"You want a number 11."
"No more seats on top; five seats
inside."
In Great Britain traffic keeps to the left.
Motor-cars, buses and cyclists must all keep to the left side of the road. In
most other countries traffic keeps to the right. There is heavy traffic in London and you must observe traffic rules.
William Turner, a great romantic English landscape
painter. Was born in Devonshire in 1775. He lived with his uncle in Middlesex,
where he began to attend school. His first drawings are dated 1787. When he was
only twelve years of age. His childish sketch-books, filled with drawings, are
still preserved in the British Museum. When he was 21, he began to exhibit oil
paintings as well as water-colours at the Royal Academy. The first, «Fishermen
at Sea» is now in the Gate Gallery. He traveled much in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy But he never lost his interest in his own country. As a
landscape painter Turner was interested mainly in light and colour effects. One
of his famous paintings is even called «Light and Colour». His work is high
praised by great critics. Turner died in London in 1851. His pictures and
drawings became the property of the British nation. William Turner is
considered to be one of the world greatest painters.
Geographical location
The full name of the country the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland occupies one third of the island of Ireland. It borders on the Irish Republic in the south. The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England (the southern and middle part of the
island), Wales (a mountainous peninsula in the West) and Scotland (the northern part of the island). There are no high mountains in Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the Pennies
stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian Mountains occupy the
greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest of the
British mountains. There is very little flat country except in the region known
as East Anglia. Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The Thames is the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Some of the British greatest
ports are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Trent, Tyne, Clyde and Bristol Avon. Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources; it has some
deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were
discovered in the North Sea. The warm currents of the Atlantic Ocean influence
the climate of Great Britain. Winters are not severely cold and summers are rarely
hot.
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