It’s interesting to know

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II's full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. She was born on June 20, 1926. She is the elder daugh­ter of the late King George VI. She never went to school and was taught by home tu­tors. In 1944 she served as a councillor of state while her father was on the war front in Italy. In 1947 she married Prince Philip, her distant rel­ative, a great-great-grand­son of Queen Victoria. Philip adopted his mother's surname Mountbatten. Later he was created Duke of Edinburgh. A year later she gave birth to a son, Charles. In 1950 she gave birth to a daughter, Anne. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on the death of her father in February 1952. The second son, Andrew, was born to Elizabeth in 1960 and the third, Edward, in 1964.

Queen Elizabeth is very popular and much respected all over the world. She is one of the richest persons in the world. She acts as a pa­troness for a number of charities and other organizations. She is a sym­bol of unity and continuity within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The royal family has also undergone changes during Eliza­beth's reign. Since the 1980s the public has become much more informal about the lives of the royal fam­ily due to the press. Two of Queen Eliza­beth's sons, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew, separated from their wives in 1992. Both separations were much discussed in newspapers. These divorces were surrounded by accusations of infidelityand damaged the reputation of the royal family.

In 1992 the Queen and Prince Charles agreed to pay income taxes on their personal income, the first time the monarchy has done so. The same year, part of Windsor Castle was seriously damaged by fire. In 1993 Buckingham Palace was opened to tourists to help pay the repair at Windsor Castle.

Quiz “British Monarchs”

1. What were the reasons for the Roman invasion?

2. The strength of Anglo-Saxon culture is obvious even today, isn’t it? Prove it.

3. When the Vikings invaded Britain he was the only king who held out against them. According to a certain document the Vikings ruled in the east and north of England and he was recognized as king in the rest of the country. Who was that king? What was the document?

4. What king imposed a tax on people called Danegeld? Why was the tax called so?

5. Why was Edward known as “the Confessor”?

6. In 1086 William I sent a team of people all through England to make a complete economic survey. Why did he do that? What was the survey called? Why?

7. Magna Carta is known as an important symbol of political freedom. But in fact it gave no real freedom to the majority of people in England. Why did the nobles write it?

8. What forced the nobles to act as a class in 1258 and what was the outcome?

9. In 1337 Edward III declared war on France. His excuse was a bold one: he claimed the right to the French Crown. What was the actual reason?

10. Though the life of the poor had always been hard the Peasants’ Revolt took place during Richard II’s rule. Why? How did he manage the situation?

11. What caused the Wars of the Roses? Why were they called so?

12. When Henry Tudor, a challenger with a very distant claim to royal blood, landed in England with soldiers to take over the throne, many lords, both Lancastrians and Yorkists, joined him. Half of the English army changed sides and the battle ended very quickly. Henry Tudor was crowned king immediately, on the battlefield. What is the explanation for such a succession of events?

13. What were Henry VIII’s personal and political reasons for the break from Rome?

14. What did Elizabeth I’s foreign policy aim at? What country became the main enemy? Why?

15. In 1641 Ireland exploded in rebellion. The Irish rebels claimed to be rebelling against the English Parliament but not against Charles I. Why?

16. Why was Charles I defeated in the Civil War?

17. After Charles’s execution most people realized that they didn’t want Parliamentary rule and were sorry that Charles was not still king. Why?

18. Why did Richard Cromwell rule only one year?

19. In 1660 Charles II was invited to come back to England. The republic was over. How did he treat the Parliamentarians?

20. Why was William of Orange invited to invade Britain? Who invited him? Why was that fact considered revolutionary?

21. Robert Walpole was determined to keep the Crown under the firm control of Parliament. He knew that at the time it was more possible than it had been before. What made him think so?

22. How did George III differ from his father and grandfather?

23. Why was George III strongly criticized by John Wilkes?

24. In 1851 Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition of the Industries of All Nations in London. What was it meant to show?

25. What made Queen Victoria greatly loved by the British?

26. How did George V put an end to the political crisis in 1909?

27. Why was George V called “a people’s king”?

28. Why did Edward VIII give up the throne?

29. What king gained much popularity during the Second World War? Why?

30. Why didn’t the French President General de Gaulle allow Britain to join the European Community?

LITERATURE

1. Рум А.Р.У., Колесников Л.В. и др. Великобритания: Лингвострановедческий словарь. М.: Рус. яз, 2002.

2. О’Driscoll J. Britain. Oxford University Press, 1995.

3. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman, 2003.

4. David McDowall. An Illustrated History of Britain. Longman, 2004.

5. www. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Wiki

CONTENTS

Chapter I. EARLIEST TIMES.............................................……... 4

Chapter II. The Early Middle Ages...........................……... 11

Chapter III. THE LATE MIDDLE AGES..............................…….. 17

Chapter IV. THE TUDORS....................................................…... 24

Chapter V. The Stuarts...................................................…….. 30

Chapter VI. The Eighteenth Century................................ 36

Chapter VII. The 19^th Century. The years of

power and danger............................................................ 41

Chapter VIII. The 20^th century............................................... 48

Quiz “British Monarchs” ………………………………………. 53

Literature....................................................................................... 54

Contents ………………………………………………………….. 55

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Дата добавления: 2015-11-14