What image of Britain do you have?

ACROSS GREAT BRITAIN

Britain has no constant enemies,

Britain has no constant friends,

Britain has only its own interests.

Winston Churchill

How much do you know?

What image of Britain do you have?

2.Which places of Britain would you like to visit? What are your reasons? How do you think you can explore these areas and broaden your knowledge of Britain?

3.What is the difference between British English and American English?

4.What styles of speech in English do you know?

5.Our home is a place which we feel comfortable and at ease. Do you agree? What do you know about the attitude of English people to their homes?

6.What are the peculiarities of British food? Can you name any typically British dishes?

GREAT BRITAIN

Great Britain is an island lying off the north-western coastline of Europe. The English Channel separates it from the mainland in the south. The Strait of Dover, 18 miles wide, divides it from France. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland by the Irish Sea.

The official name of Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and-Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the name of the major island of the United Kingdom including England, Scotland and Wales; the United Kingdom, or the UK comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The UK is often referred to as Great Britain or the British Isles. It is an island state consisting of more than 5000 large and small islands, the most important being the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. England is a part of the island of Great Britain.

Geographically the island of Great Britain is subdivided into two main regions: Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. The highest mountainBenNevis (1343) is in Scotland; the highest peak in Wales is Snowdon (1085).

The greater part of the land is flat. There are plenty of short rivers in Great Britain; the Severn is the longest one, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one.

There is much rain and fog in England. October is usually the wettest month, July is the hottest and January is the coldest one. All over the world Britain is notorious for its fog. English people used to call it smog. An unusually thick smog in London in 1962 caused the death of some 4,000 people. The flora of the British Isles is varied and the fauna is similar to that of the north-west of Europe.

The country is not very rich in mineral resources. Over three-quarters of Britain's land is used for farming; farms produce nearly half of the food that Britain needs. The UK is a highly developed industrial country too, known as a producer and exporter of machinery, electronics, ships, aircraft and navigation equipment.

The capital of the UK is London, in England. The capital of Wales is Cardiff, and the Scottish capital is at Edinburgh; the capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.

Great Britain is a monarchy, but the powers of theQueen are limited by the Parliament, which consists of two Chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In theory, the constitution has three branches:

1. Parliament, which makes laws.

2. Government, which puts the laws into effect.

3. Law courts, which interpret the laws. Although the Queen is officially head of all three branches, she has little direct power.

Parliament has two parts: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Members of the House of Commons are elected by the voters of 650 constituencies. They are known as MPs or Members of Parliament. The Prime Minister, or leader of the Government, is also a MP, usually the leader of the political party with the majority in the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister is advised by a Cabinet of about twentyother ministers. The Cabinet includes the ministers in charge of major government departments or ministries. Departments and ministries are run by civil servants, who are permanent officials. Even if the Government changes after an election, the same civil servants are employed.

Members of the House of Lords (peers) are not elected. About 70 per cent of them are «hereditary peers» because their fathers were peers before them. The other 30 per cent are «life peers», whose titles are not passed on to their children. They are officially appointed by the Queen, on the advice of the government, for various services to the nation.

Britain has been many centuries in the making. TheRomans conquered most part of Britain, but were unable to subdue the independent tribes in the West and in the North.

Further waves of invaders followed: Angles, Saxons, Jutes,Vikingsand Normans. All these contributed to the mixture we call theEnglish.For many centuries this country was known simply as England.

It had a strong army and Navy. It waged numerous colonial wars. England, once «the workshop of the world», was the first tobecome ahighly developed industrial country.

Hadrian's wall, the greatest monument of the Roman occupation of Britain, was built to act as a defence against the Celts from Scotland

LONDON

London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom situated on the Thames river, the largest city in Britain and one of the largest cities in the world.

London manages in a unique way to reflect the past and, at the same time, to live a life of a modern city. There is always something new to be discovered, some fresh approach to a familiar scene, some curious piece of life in the city where the old and the new exist side by side in mutual tolerance and respect.

One of the best ways to acquaint yourself with the city when you first arrive is to take a sightseeing tour on a double-decker bus. Join London Transport's Original Sightseeing Tour in Victoria Street, near Victoria Station, for your introduction to the capital.

The first famous sightto look out for is the Greek-Corinthian Constitution Arch at Hyde Park Corner. The bus runs along the eastern side of the park to Marble Arch, designed by John Nash in the style of a Roman triumphal arch.

Down through elegant Mayfair with its prestigious squares, you come to Regent Street and the statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus.

Bustling Trafalgar Square is dominated by the imposing Nelson's Column, built in honour of Britain's naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson.

Whitehall, location for Horse Guards Parade and Downing Street,

Piccadilly Circus is known for the statue of Eros official home of Prime ministers since

and brightly lit advertisements at night 1731, leads to Parliament Square. The

stately Houses of Parliament, originally a royal palace, house the BigBen clock - still wound by hand and an authoritative time-kеерег. Historic Westminster Abbey is where English sovereigns have been crowned and buried for over 900 years.

The bus takes you across Lambeth Bridge, past Lambeth Palace -the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence - and along the South Bank to the Royal Festival Hall. Crossing Waterloo Bridge, you head via Fleet Street to St. Paul's Cathedral, masterpiece of 17^th-century architect, Sir Christopher Wren, and chosen by Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer for their wedding in 1981.

In the heart of the City of London, founded by the Romans in 43 AD you will see Mansion House, the Lord Mayor's home; the Bank of England, centre of the nation's finances; and towering above everything else, the striking Lloyds of London building.

The tour now crosses two of London's most famous bridges, the modern London Bridge and the majestic Tower Bridge, the 19^th-century drawbridge. The mighty Tower of London, dating back to the 11^lh century, has served as palace, prison, Royal Treasury and Mint, and has a colourful history.

There are two main districts of London - the West End and the East End. These are not merely geographical names. The West End consists of the fashionable houses of the rich, art galleries, famous museums, theatres, palaces and parks. The East End is still a poorer district full of factories and plants, it is a district were poorer people live too, though it can no longer be called a district of the poor as housing conditions have improved.

Piccadilly is a fashionable shopping center. Its famous fountain with a statue of Eros, the Greek god of love, attracts crowds of tourists.

There are many public parks in London: Hyde Park, Regent Park, Kengsington Gardens, to name only a few. Hyde Park is Londoners' favourite resting place, where crowds of people may be seen in the «Speaker's Corner» listening to Hyde Park speakers. During the day a lot of people sit on green grass lawns eating sandwiches, drinking beer or soft drinks and talking and having rest, some in the shade, some in the sunshine. Not only in Hyde Park, all along the Thames side gardens peoples are resting, taking their midday «breath of air». Everything is still and peaceful around. You could hardly imagine that an enormous city with its traffic and noise is but a few paces away.

References

Hyde Park Corner – перехрестя, яке примикає до Гайд парку з південно-східної частини, відоме напруженим рухом.

Marble Arch – тріумфальна арка (яку построїли в 1828 році, як вхід до Букінгемського палацу; виявилася дуже вузькою для королівської процесії та була перенесена в 1851 році на своє сучасне місце, у північно-східній частині Гайд парку)

Mayfair – Мейфер (модний та дорогий район Вест Енду у Лондоні між Оксфорд Стріт, Ріджент Стріт, Піккаділлі та Парк Лєйн; відомий дорогими готелями, ресторанами та магази­нами)

Piccadilly Circus – Піккаділлі (площа у централь­ному Лондоні, перехрестя Піккаділлі Стріт, Ріджент Стріт та Шафтсбери Авеню; відома яскравою рекламою)

Horse Guards Parade – місцевість для проведення параду кінної гвардії під час святкування дня народження Королеви; знаходиться на Уайтхоллі

The Archbishop of Canterburry – архієпископ Кентерберрійський (церковний титул глави Церкви Англії, кот­рий являється одночасно єпископом Кентерберри)

The City of London - лондонський Сіті (адміні­стративний район у центрі Лондону, історичний центр міста; займає площу приблизно в одну квадратну милю та являється центром фінансів та комерції, звідси його назва «London's square mile of money»; у ньому знаходяться банк Англії, фондова біржа та офіси багатьох фінансових компаній; перен. фінанси)

Kensington – фешенебельний район у центральному Лондоні, там знаходяться дорогі магазини, посольства та дома багатих лондонців.

Lloyds of London – лондонський офіс найбільшої страхової компанії у Великобританії.

Lord Mayor – лорд-мер, титул голови муніципалітету, великих міст Англії.

Royal Mint – Королівський монетний двір.

STANDARD ENGLISH AND REGIONAL ACCENTS

Received Pronunciation (RP): the form of British English pronunciation which is used by many educated people in every part of Britain and is typical of many people in the south of England. It is thought of as a standard form and is often used by the ВВС. It is also used in teaching English in many parts of the world.

Received Pronunciation (RP) or ВВС English (so called because it is used by ВВС announcers) is the accent of the South-east of England. It has been associated with power and high social class since the 14^th century.

Accent is the sound of a person's pronunciation of the English language. It is very important in Britain. It shows where a person comes from and, to an extent, what class he or she belongs to. Britain has many different accents. Each of the four countries in the Kingdom, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, has its own accent. Within England most of the counties have a different accent. The sound of someone’s voice will often show the position people hold in society. Today society has changed and regional accents are more acceptable. But an RP accent is still important and will help people to get jobs and a position in society, which might be denied, to them if they spoke in a different way.

Cockney is a way of speaking English that is typical of people who live in the eastern area of London. It is known as the London dialect. Cockney means East End working class.

What does Cockney sound like?

"That ain 't got nothing to do with it "(Cockney) = "That has nothing to do with it. "(Standard English)

Th are pronounced like f as in barf for "bath", or v, as in bruvver for "brother". They neglect the t in words like "butter", "bottle", "rotten", which in Cockney can best be represented by bu! er bo! le, ro! en. Similarly, didn't becomes didn and haven't turns into arn.

The characteristic for which Cockney is famous, of course, is the silent h. "That's an edgeog" means "That's a hedgehog". The g is often missing from -ing endings like: eatin 'and drinkin'. Cockney will drop letters and slur words in many different ways. Old becomes ol. An becomes ern, as in ern afternoon. You is yer, and so on.

Rhyming Slang is a way of speaking, originally popular among cockneys, in which a rhyming phrase, or part of it, is substituted for a standard word.

This form of slang replaces a word with a phrase which rhymes withit:

'loaf of bread' ('loaf) means 'head';

'apples and pears' ('apples') means 'stairs';

'bees and honey' means 'money.

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