Text A. Great Britain

Every country is interesting in its way. What is Britain? Its official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is often abbreviated to ‘ UK ’ and ‘ GB ’. It is situated on two large islands called the British Isles. Over five hundred small islands belong to the country. Great Britain itself consists of three parts: England, Wales and Scotland. Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. It is separated from Europe by the North Sea and the English Channel (Pas de Calais in French). Also it is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea and North Channel.

As for the English Channel, for centuries it had been Britain’s defence against invaders. At the same time sailors know it as the most dangerous sea channel in Europe: it has the reputation of being very rough. Still there were a lot of attempts to cross the Channel and some of them ended in invasion of the country. Nowadays a great project has been realized to connect GB and France with a help of tunnel built under the sea. The crossing takes only an hour and a quarter. There are actually three tunnels. One is for passenger trains; the other is for trains that carry different cargo and the last one for maintaining the tunnel. The length of each tunnel is about 45 km. This connection is rather fast though it is expensive.

The island is divided into two parts: mountainous and lowland. They and the water around cause changeable climate, rather humid and mild. Winters are not severe as they can be off GB, on the continent, and summers are not warm. Because of the length of British Isles temperatures differ from district to district. The major rivers are the Thames (the deepest) and the Severn (the longest). They seldom freeze in winter. Since there is much rain in the country, typical British houses have high, steep roofs where rain water, and snow can easily melt and flow down. The landscape is rich and often varied even in its 55 counties. When you come to the country, you will enjoy nature which is picturesque everywhere.

Great Britain is more an industrial than an agricultural country. Well-developed industries are the following: the heavy (coal, iron and ore), electrical, electronic, chemical, shipbuilding, woolen, trading and others. Stock-farming is greatly developed. The country lives by industry and trade. Britain is the world’s third largest trading nation. Still it doesn’t produce enough food to feed the population, that’s why it depends much on the import of foodstuffs. The biggest cities of GB are London, the capital of the country, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Each of them is special and annually attracts thousands of tourists.

The UK is a monarchy. It’s a conservative country and it keeps its traditions. The British, for example, preserve the institution of monarchy with pride. Its supreme authority is the Queen and the two Houses of Parliament: the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons. The country is governed by the government in the Queen’s name. Parliament is the oldest in the world. It has existed since 1265. The House of Lords consists of 1000 peers who are not elected by the people. The House of Commons plays the major part in law-making. It consists of 635 elected members. It’s also a tradition.

Geographical position of the country produced an insular spirit among its inhabitants. They regard their community as the centre of the world. May be it explains the fact that the British look at foreigners in general with content. Their conservatism has become their national feature. And they tend to be superior, snobbish, unsociable, etc. But indeed there are two nations in Britain: the ordinary people, for example, are friendly and sociable. The British people are prudent and careful about almost everything. Everything concerning their lifestyle is orderly. Their devotion to animals is also a tradition. Animals are protected by law.

The British sense for law and order is well known. What do you think about the Britons’ habit to do everything in a certain and traditional way?

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Feed one’s curiosity – задовольнити цікавість Neighbour - сусід Abbreviation – скорочення Island – острів Isles – острова Separate – відділяти Defence – захист Invader – загарбник Cargo – вантаж Expensive - коштовний Mountainous – гористий Humid – вологий Severe – суворий District –район Inhabitant – мешканець

Landscape – пейзаж County – графство Picturesque - мальовничий Agriculture – сільське господарство Stock -farming –тваринництво Foodstuff – продукт їжі Annual - щорічний Monarchy – монархія Century – століття Authority - влада Government - уряд Peer – лорд Law-making – створення законів Insular – відлюдний, стриманий Prudent - обережний

Дата добавления: 2015-10-23