Ex. 6. Speak about our native town

Topic: Great Britain

 

Ex. 1. Read the following text and say, what you know about the capital of Great Britain.

 

London

London is the capital of Great Britain. London is an ancient city. It grew up around the first point where the Roman invaders found the Thames narrow enough to build a bridge. London was founded in 43 A.D. and was called Londinium. In 61 A.D. the town was burnt down. When it was rebuilt by the Romans it was surrounded by a wall. The area within the wall is now called the City of London.

Now modern London lies in the South East of England on both banks of the river Thames. It is one of the biggest and most interesting cities in the world. London is more than twenty centuries old.

Traditionally it is divided into the West End and the East End. The West End is famous for its beautiful avenues lined with plane trees, big storeys, rich mansions, expensive restaurants, hotels, theatres and night clubs. The East End used to be a poor area filled with warehouses, factories, slums and miserable houses.

The heart of London is the City – its commercial and business centre. Here is situated the Tower of London that comes first among the historic buildings of the city. The Tower of London was founded by Julius Caesar and in 1066 rebuilt by William the Conqueror. It was used as a fortress, a royal residence and a prison. Now it is a museum of armour and also the place where the Crown Jewels are kept. In present days, just as many centuries ago, the Ceremony of the Keys takes place at its gates.

A walk from the Tower will take you to St. Paul's Cathedral, the greatest of English churches. St. Paul's Cathedral is the work of the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren. From far away you can see the huge dome with one of the largest golden bells in the world and a cross on the top.

Not far away is Westminster Abbey. It contains the memorials of many famous English sovereigns, outstanding statesmen, painters and poets.

Across the road of Westminster Abbey is Westminster Palace, the seat of the British Parliament. Its two graceful towers stand high above the city. The higher of the two contains the largest clock in the country Big Ben that strikes every quarter of the hour.

Another famous place of interest in London is Trafalgar Square. It was so named in memory of the victory in the battle of Trafalgar. The victory was won at the cost of Nelson's life, who was commander of the English fleet. That is why, in the middle of Trafalgar Square stands Nelson's monument – a tall column with the figure of Nelson at its top. The column is guarded by four bronze lions.

London is the centre of the country's cultural life. There are many picture galleries and museums there. The national Gallery houses a priceless collection of paintings. The famous British Museum is one of the best museums in the world.

London is also famous for its green parks. The greatest and the most popular of them is Hide Park or “the Park” as Londoners call it. It seems almost unbelievable that all around there is a large city with its heavy traffic.

Over 8 million people live in London. The city dominates British life. It is the home of the nation's commerce and finance, the main centre of its legal system and press. London has the largest university and the greatest possibilities for entertainment and for sport in the country. Every year the city attracts crowds of visitors from home and abroad.

 

Ex. 2. Speak about London and its places of interest.

Ex. 3. Retell the following texts using the questions.

 

The United Kingdom

The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom (the UK) is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and a great number of small islands. The total area is over 244,000 sq. km. The UK is one of the world's smaller countries (it is twice smaller than France or Spain).

The British Isles are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

The island of Great Britain consists of three parts: England (the southern and middle part of the island), Wales (a mountain peninsula in the west) and Scotland (the northern part of the island).

The population of the United Kingdom is about 60.5 million people. English is not the only language which people use in the UK. English is the official language. But some people speak Gaelic in western Scotland, Welsh – in parts of northern and central Wales.

There are no high mountains in Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the Pennines stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian mountains occupy the greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest of the British mountains. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis, in Scotland (4,406 ft)

Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The Thames is the deepest river while the Severn is the longest one. The British greatest ports are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Trent, Tyne, Clyde and Bristol Avon.

Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources, it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.

The UK is a highly-developed industrial country. The main industrial centres are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Bristol. Great Britain produces and exports machinery, vessels, electronics, motors and other goods. One of its main industries is the textile industry and a lot of British textiles are exported. The UK buys more goods than she sells because she has to import food products and raw materials from many countries of the world including Russia.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy. In law, the Head of State is the Queen. In practice, the Queen reigns but doesn’t rule. The country is ruled by the elected government with the Prime Minister at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There are three main political parties in the UK: the Labour, the Conservative and the Liberal parties. The Conservative party is a ruling party nowadays. The Prime Minister is David Cameron.