Economy

Chief products: Agriculture - wool, beef cattle, milk, chickens and eggs, pigs, wheat, potatoes, barley, sugar beet. Manufacturing - foods and beverages, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, electrical and electronic goods, machinery, motor vehicles, textiles and clothing, rubber and plastics goods, iron and steel, metal manufactures, ceramics.

Money: Basic unit - pound, also called pound sterling.

The United Kingdom is an island country in northwestern Europe. More than 70 countries are larger in size, and the United Kingdom has only about 1 per cent of the world's people. It has few natural resources. Yet for hundreds of years, the United Kingdom has been one of the world's most important countries.

The British started the Industrial Revolution. They founded the largest empire in history. They have produced some of the world's greatest scientists, explorers, artists, and political leaders. The United Kingdom is really four countries united under one government. These countries are England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The nation's official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people call the country the United Kingdom, the UK, Great Britain, or simply Britain. London is the capital, and the largest city.

The landscape varies dramatically throughout the UK. Northern Scotland is a wild, windswept region, broken by long arms of the sea that reach far inland. Much of Northern Ireland has low mountains and rolling fields. Wales is famous for its rugged mountains and green valleys. Most of England is covered by rolling plains, laid out in a patchwork of fields and meadows. The coastline is a shifting scene of steep cliffs, golden beaches, jagged rocks, and fishing towns tucked in sheltered bays. The old and the new can be found almost everywhere. The UK has magnificent old castles and atomic laboratories, snug villages and sprawling cities, ancient universities and modern factories.

The English Channel separates the UK from France. This narrow stretch of water has helped shape the character and history of the British people. It has helped protect the UK from invasion, and has given the people a feeling of security. Since 1066, no enemy has crossed the channel and invaded the country.

Crowded together on their "tight little island," cut off from the rest of Europe by the sea, and secure from invasion, the British developed their own character and way of life. They came to respect privacy and to value old traditions. They developed a dry wit, a love for personal freedom, and a high degree of self-criticism. The British have shown themselves at their best - brave and united - in times of crises.

The history of the United Kingdom is the story of how a small island country became the world's most powerful nation - and then declined. In the 1700s, the British began the Industrial Revolution and made the United Kingdom the world's richest manufacturing country. The British ruled the seas, and were the world's greatest traders. By 1900, they had an empire that covered about a fourth of the world's land and included about a fourth of its people. They spread their way of life throughout their empire.

Then came the 1900s and the shock of two crippling world wars. The British Empire began to fall away. The UK faced one economic crisis after another. Today, the UK is still a leading industrial and trading nation. But it is no longer the world power it once was.

Population: The United Kingdom is more thickly populated than most countries. It has an average of 236 people per square kilometre. About 48 million people, or more than four-fifths of the British population, live in England. London and England as a whole have an enormous influence over the rest of the United Kingdom because of their large population.

Most of the British are descendants of many early peoples who invaded Britain. These people included the Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Scandinavians, and Normans. It is difficult to tell which of these peoples are most important in the ancestry of the British.

Since the late 1940s, many immigrants from Commonwealth countries have settled in the United Kingdom.

Ex.3 Match the following words with the corresponding definitions:

1. natural resources a) continue to become smaller, weaker, lower;

2. to produce b) enter a country with armed forces in order to attack;

3. landscape c) quickness of mind;

4. security d) an area of the country-side or land, considered in

terms of how attractive it is to look at;

5. jagged e) state of being away from others, alone, undisturbed;

6. to invade f) manufacture, make, grow, create;

7. privacy g) (smth. that provides) safety, freedom from danger;

8. wit h)its minerals, forests;

9. to decline i) with rough, uneven edges.

Ex. 4 Find in the text the English for:

Острівна країна; район, незахищений від вітру; затишні села; почуття безпеки; ландшафт; спосіб життя; міста, що швидко розростаються; цінувати старі традиції; промислова країна; руйнівні світові війни; густонаселений; величезний вплив; нащадок; предки; оселитись в країні.

Ex.5 Say whether these statements are true or false. If some of them are false, give your version using the following expressions:

I disagree; to my mind; in my opinion; as far as I know; I think; it’s absolutely wrong; etc.

1. The United Kingdom is an island country in western Europe.

2. The UK is a constitutional monarchy.

3. The UK is really three countries united under one government.

4. Much of the Northern Ireland has high mountains and rolling fields.

5. The English Channel separates the UK from Ireland.

6. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 1900s.

7. Today, the UK is no longer the world power it once was.

8. More than four-fifth of the British population live in Scotland.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-21