Text 1. Great britain Geographical Position

Great Britain, which is also known as the United Kingdom, is one of the leading developed countries of the capitalist world. It consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Norhern Ireland. Geographically the British Isles are made up of two large islands off the northwest corner of Europe and a group of small islands.

The British Isles are washed by the North Sea in the North, the English Channel, which separates Great Britain from the continent of Europe, in the south, and the Irish Sea, in the west. The climate of Great Britain is greatly influenced by a stream of warm water, Gulf Stream, from the Atlantic Ocean.

It is neither cold in winter nor hot in summer there. Even in the most northern parts of Scotland snow never lies very long in winter, while in the South of England snow falls only a few times during winter. The rivers there hardly ever freeze.

As a rule there is much rain and fog in Britain in winter with very few sunny days. The fog gets mixed with smoke of London to form smog. On the whole, Britain is a very damp country.

Though there are many rivers in Great Britain, none of them can be compared in size with those of the continent. But the largest, the Thames, on which London .is situated, is deep enough to let sea shi ps reach the London docks. The Severn is thé only river which flows southwest into the Irish sea. Many of the rivers have been joined to one another by means of canals so that it is possible to travel by water from one part of England to the other.

The mountain ranges of Great Britain, mainly in Scotland and Wales, are not very high and the highest peak, Ben Nevis, is 4,296 fèet. The Welsh mountains are very rocky.

Great Britain occupies a total area of 244,000 square kilometres with the population over 55 million. Great Britain being an industrial country, the greater part of the population is occupied in industry. Yet there are people occupied in agriculture, especially in sneep-bre'eclirfg and dairy-farming.

Nowadays the country is not as rich in minerals as it was, but coal, iron ore, chalk and other minerals are still mined. The most important branches of industry in Great Britain are: textile, chemical, aviation, motor-and s’ni p-building. The biggest industrial cities are London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgo, Edinburgh.

Political Structure

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. The Queen or the King of Great Britain is the head of the state. Since 1952 Elizabeth II (the second) has been the Queen of Great Britain.

Yet her powers are not absolute they are limited by Parliay., ment. The Queen’s power is nereditary, not elective.

The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland }ias a Parliament which consists of two Houses:’ the fiouse of Commons having 630 members and the House of Lords with approximately 800 peers.

There are several political parties in the country. The most important of them are: the Conservative, which started as Royalists in the 17th century, the Liberal, which began its activity as anti-Royalists in the 17th century, and the Labour party, which was established at the beginning of the 20th century.

The party whiqli obtains the majority of seats in the Parliament is called the Government, and the others ~ the Opposition.

The Prime Minister is usually th^ leader of the jpajty that has a majority in the House of Commons. All the affairs of the state are conducted in the name of the Queen (or King), but it is the

Prime Minister who is the ruler of the country, presiding over XX the meetings of the cabinet, which are always secret. The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister and ministers.

Any M.P. may introduce a bill to the Parliament. Every bill has three readings at first in the House of Commons. There is no qebate allowed after the first reading. After the second reading there may be a discussion. After the discussion the voting is done, but not by show hands. TJiere are two corridors — «Division Lobbjes» - at each side of the House. The one on the right is for the Yes». the one on the left is for the «No». When voting is announced, the members go out into the Lobbies, to the right or to the left. As they re-enter the House, they are qbunted at the door, one by one.

After the third reading the bill goes before the House of Lords. If Lords agree to the bill, it will be placed before the Queen for signature. The Queen having signed it, it becomes an Act of Parliament.