GREAT BRITAIN

Task 1. Read the text and write out unknown words

SOME FACTS ABOUT THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is sometimes called the United Kingdom, The U.K., Great Britain, Britain or England.

It is situated on two large islands, the larger of which is Great Britain, the smaller is Ireland and over five hundred small islands. Great Britain is the largest island in Europe. But the United Kingdom is one of the world's smallest countries. Its population is about 57 million.

It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the North Sea. So Great Britain is surrounded by water on all sides. The U.K. consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each of the four parts consist of a few countries.

The surface of the British Isles varies very much. England and Northern Ireland has beautiful valleys and plains, but Scotland and Wales are mountainous. Mountains are not very high. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain (1343 m.). The rivers in Great Britain are not long but main of them are deep. The Severn is the longest river while the Thames is the deepest and the most important because the capital of the U.K. London stands on it. Thanks to the Gulf Stream the climate of Great Britain is mild, temperate, and wet. The summer is not very hot and the winter is not very cold. It is often foggy and rainy. Winter temperature seldom falls bellow zero.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. It means that there is a Queen (or a King) and the Parliament. The Queen is formally at the head of the state, her powers arelimited. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and the Parliament.

The British Parliament consists of two chambers: The House of Lords and The House of Commons. There are more than 1000 members in the House of Lords. Many seats are hereditary.

The House of Commons has 635 members. They are elected by a general election.

Here is the list of the counties of the UK:

Antrim Armagh Avon Bedford Berkshire Borders Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Central Cheshire Cleveland Clwyd Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Down Dumfries & Galloway Durham Dyfed East Sussex Essex Fermanagh

Fife Gloucester Grampian Greater Manchester Gwent Gwynedd Hampshire Hereford & Worces­ter Hertford Highland Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincoln Londonderry Lothian Mid Yorkshire Merseyside Mid Glamorgan Norfolk Northampton

Northumberland Nottinghamshire Orkney Oxfordshire Powys South Glamorgan South Yorkshire Salop Shetland Somerset Staffordshire Strathclyde Suffolk Surrey Tayside Tyne & Wear Tyrone West Glamorgan West Sussex Warwickshire Western Isles Western Midlands Wiltshire Yorkshire

 

 

 

 

Task 2. Suggest the Ukrainian for the following words and word combinations from the text

бути розташованим

великі острови

більшийменший

найбільший острів

найменша країна світу

населення

омиватися

бути в оточенні

складатися

декілька графств

поверхня

змінюватися дуже сильно

прекрасні долини та рівнини

гірнистийгори

глибокий

найбільш важливий

столиця

помірнийвологий

на чолі

обмежений

палати

успадкований

вибирати (на виборах)

загальні вибори

 

Task 3. Make up sentences and translate them

Great Britain is   London is

a highly developed industrial country situated on the British Isles divided into 55 counties a parliamentary monarchy washed by the North Sea the Irish Sea known for its fogs and frequent rains situated in the Atlantic Ocean one of the greatest cities in the world situated on the banks of the River Thames the capital of Great Britain the cradle of British tradition and culture divided into four main parts

 

Task 4. Fill in the blanks with the necessary words

1. Great Britain..................................... on the British Isles, (is situated, lies, stands).

2. Agriculture is one of the largest and most im­portant.......................................... in Great Britain. (work, activities, occupation).

3. The language spoken here is English, but Welshmen, Scotsmen, and Irishmen...................................... their own language in addition to English, (talk, say, tell, speak).

4. The British museum is................................... for its library reading-room and the collection of ma­nuscripts, (well-known, famous, marvellous).

5. Big Ben, the famous.................................... is in one of the Towers. (square, monument, clock).

 

Task 5. Make up questions and answer them

What Where

is are is does

the capital of Great Britain? the total area of Great Britain? its population? the climate of Great Britain? the main industrial centres? London situated? Great Britain situated? the Queen live when she is in London?

 

 

Task 6. Complete the following sentences

1. Great Britain is formally known as

2. Coal is the main source for the development of

3. The main centre of cotton and woolen industry is

4. Great Britain is known for its typically maritime climate with

5. The Parliament is the supreme legislative body and consists of two

6. Shipbuilding is one of the principal of Great Britain.

 

Task 7. Translate into English

1. Лондон є важливим адміністративним, промисловим, науковим і культурним центром. 2. Англія славиться своєю історією і красою. 3. Я знаю, що Ви цікавитеся церквами та історичними місцями. 4. Здається, в нас є можливість по­дивитися визначні місця Лондона. 5. Англія поділяється на 55 адміністративних графств. 6. Ця країна відома своїм типовим приморським кліматом з тривалими дощами. 7. Лондон, як і Рим, будувався не один день, i оглянути його за один день неможливо.

 

Task 8. Give synonyms to the words in bold type

1. One of the well-known museums is the British mu­seum with its library and the collection of manuscripts.

2. London consists of four main parts: the City, Westminst­er, the West End and the East End.

3. Westminster is a good place to start sightseeing.

4. Londoners spend their week­ends in the parks.

5. Great Britain has a common border on­ly with Ireland.

6. On the border between England and Scot­land there is the range of hills, called the Cheviot Hills.

 

Task 9. Complete the following dialogue

A: Excuse me. I am a stranger in London. Is it possible to see anything of London in a day or two?

B:

A:What do you think I ought to see first?

B:

A: How long will it take me to get there?

B:

A: Thank you very much.

 

Task 10. Make up your own dialogue tising the following expressions

to consist of, to be situated, a highly developed industrial country, to be washed by the sea, parliamentary monarchy, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, overcrowded houses, places associated with, to go sightseeing, to see as many places of interest as possible.

 

Task 11. Make up sentences and translate them

The guide said The guide mentioned The tourist says The tourist said The tourist ask The passer-by asked The passer-by asks

that London had become a prosperous trading centre during the Middle Ages that he would like to visit the National Gallery that for nearly 1000 years all the kings and queens had been crowned in Westminster Abbey that he will see the sights of Lon­don tomorrow whether he was on the right way tö St. Paul's Cathedral to show him the nearest way to Whitehall whether they will see the ceremony of changing of the Guards near the Buckingham Palace

 

 

Task 12. Translate into English

1. Туристи попросили показати їм якнайбільше визнач­них місць. 2. Екскурсовод відповів, що завтра ми огляне­мо всі визначні місця Лондона. 3. Мій друг повідомив, що матиме нагоду побувати у Великобританії. 4. Мій одно­курсник розповів мені, що бачив церемонію зміни варти біля Букінгемського палацу. 5. Викладач сказав нам, що зараз він пише наукову статтю «Собор Св. Павла —шедевр архітектури XVI століття». 6. Вона говорить, що Лондон було засновано 2000 років тому. 7. Екскурсовод розповідає, що у Вестмінстерському абатстві поховано ба­гато видатних людей. Великобританії.

UNIT 3