Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The country is situated on the British Isles. They are washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea and are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel.

Great Britain attracts millions of tourists because it looks like one great beautiful park. The main rivers are the Thames, the Clyde, and the Severn. The mountains are not high. The highest mountain, Ben Nevis (1, 343 m high) is in Scotland. The climate is mild: summers are not hot and winters are not cold. But the weather is rainy thanks to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Devastating floods happen more and more often.

The capital of the UK is London. Its population is about 60 million people. The country is a member of the European Union. The national currency is pound.

The UK is a highly developed industrial country. It produces and exports machinery, electronics, textiles, ships. The foundation of agriculture is dairy and meat industries, sheep farming. The industrial centers are Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield. The UK is not rich in mineral resources, but it has deposits of oil, gas, coal, chalk, and iron ore.

The UK is a parliamentary monarchy. The Queen (today it’s Elizabeth II) is the head of the state, but the real power belongs to the Parliament, which consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There are 3 main political parties in Britain: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Party. Britain’s flag is called Union Jack.

London

1. London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre.
2. It’s one of the largest cities in the world.
3. Its population is more than 11 million people.
4. London is situated on the river Thames.
5. Traditionally London is divided into several parts: the City, the West End, the East End and Westminster.
6. The City is the oldest part of London, its financial and business centre.
7. The heart of the City is the Stock Exchange.
8. Westminster is the most important part of the capital.
9. The Houses of Parliament, the seat of the British Government, are there.
10. It’s a very beautiful building with two towers and a very big clock called Big Ben.
11. Opposite the Houses of Parliament is Westminster Abbey. It’s a very beautiful church built over 900 years ago.
12. The tombs of many great statesmen, scientists and writers are there.
13. To the west of Westminster is West End.
14. Here we find most of the big shops, hotels, museums, art galleries, theatres and concert halls.
15. In the West End there are wide streets with beautiful houses and many parks, gardens and squares.
16. To the east of Westminster is the East End, an industrial centre of the capital.
17. There are no parks or gardens in the East End and you can’t see many fine houses there. Most of the plants and factories are situated there.
18. London has many places of interest.
19. One of them is Buckingham Palace.
20. It’s the residence of the Queen.
21. The English are proud of Trafalgar Square, which was named so in memory of the victory at the battle.
22. There in 1805 the English fleet defeated the fleet of France and Spain.
23. The last place of interest I should like to mention, is the British Museum, the biggest museum in London.
24. The museum is famous for its library — one of the richest in the world.
25. I’d like to visit London one day.

{ Westminster [wes(t)'mɪn(t)stə] Вестминстер – район Лондона или здание парламента

{ Stock Exchange - Лондонская фондовая биржа

{ Westminster Abbey ['æbɪ] Вестминстерское аббатство

{ Church [ʧɜːʧ] церковь

{ Tomb [tu:m] могила

{ Trafalgar Square [trə'fælgə] [skwɛə] Трафальгарская площадь

{ Fleet [fli:t] флот

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14