- •The Geography (Location, Climate, Physical Relief)
- •Location
- •Climate
- •Physical relief
- •Highland Britain
- •Lowland Britain
- •Scotland
- •England
- •Northern Ireland
- •History
- •I. Mind the pronunciation of the following words:
- •Prehistory
- •The Roman period (43-410)
- •The Germanic invasions (410-1066)
- •The medieval period (1066-1485)
- •The sixteenth century
- •The seventeenth century
- •The eighteenth century
- •The nineteenth century
- •The twentieth century
- •Identity
- •Ethnic identity: the native British
- •The family
- •Religious and political identity
- •Identity in Northern Ireland
- •Attitudes
- •II. Read the text
- •Stereotypes and change
- •English versus British
- •Conservatism
- •Being different
- •The love of nature
- •Formality and informality
- •Housing
- •Private property and public property
- •The importance of ‘home’
- •Interiors: the importance of cosiness
- •Owning and renting
- •Food and drink
- •I. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following word
- •Attitudes to food
- •What British people eat
- •When people eat what: meals
- •Eating out
- •Alcohol
- •The economy and everyday life
- •II. Read the text.
- •Earning money
- •Finance and investment
- •Currency and cash
- •Spending money: shopping
- •Shop opening hours
- •III. Find in the text equivalents to the given phrases
- •Holidays and special occasions
- •II. Read the text
- •Traditional seaside holydays
- •Modern holidays
- •Christmas and New Year
- •Other notable annual occasions
- •Calendar of special occasions New Year’s Day* (1 January)
- •Monarchy
- •The appearance
- •The house of Windsor
- •The royal family
- •The reality
- •The role of monarch
- •The value of the monarchy
- •The future of the monarchy
- •International relations.
- •I. Pay attention to the to the pronunciation of the following words.
- •II. Read the text
- •The armed forces
- •Transatlantic relations
- •The sovereignty of the union: Europe
- •The sovereignty of the union: Scotland andWales
- •The sovereignty of the union: Northern Ireland
Housing
I. Mind the pronunciation of the following words:
detached [dI`t@tSt] - отдельный, обособленный
privacy [`praIv{sI] - уединение, уединенность
suggestion [s{`dZestS({)n] - предложение; совет, намек
failure [`feIlj{] - неудача, неуспех, провал
demarcation [,di:ma: `keIS({)n] - разграничение
uncertainty [[n`s{:tntI] - изменчивость
dweller [`dwel{] - житель, обитатель
reserve [rI`z{:v] - сохранять за собой, резервировать (право)
domain [d{`meIn] - владения, территория
tenant [`ten{nt] - владелец, жилец
inherit [In`herIt] - наследовать
misfortune [mIs`fO:tS({)n] - беда, несчастье, неудача
interior [In`tI{rI{] - внутренность; внутреннее пространство
ridiculously [rI`dIkjul{slI] - смешно, нелепо
exaggerate [Ig`z@dZ{reIt] - преувеличивать
aesthetic [i:s`TetIk] - эстетический
glow [glou] - светиться, сверкать, блистать
mortgage [`mO:gIdZ] - ипотека
Read the text
Almost everybody in Britain dreams of living in a detached house; that is, a house which is a separate building. A large, detached house not only ensures privacy. It is also a status symbol. Even a small detached house, surrounded by garden, gives the required suggestion of rural life which is dear to the hearts of many British people.
Most people try to avoid living in blocks of flats. Flats, they feel, provide the least amount of privacy. The people who live in them are those who cannot afford to live anywhere else. .
In theory, there is no objective reason why these high-rise blocks (also known as ‘tower blocks’) could not have been a success. In other countries millions of people live reasonably happily in flats. But in Britain they were a failure because they do not suit British attitudes.
Private property and public property
The image of a home as a castle implies a clear demarcation between private property and the public domain. This is very clear in the case of a detached house. Flats, on the other hand, involve uncertainties. You share the corridor outside your front door, but who with? The other residents on the same floor, or all the residents in the building? What about the foyer downstairs? Is this only for the use of the people who live in the block, or for the public in general? These uncertainties perhaps explain why the ‘communal’ living expected of flat-dwellers has been unsuccessful in most of Britain.
Law and custom seem to support a clear separation between what is public and what is private. For example, people have no general right to reserve the road directly outside their house for their own cars. The castle puts limits on the domain of its owner as well as keeping out others. It also limits responsibility. It is comparatively rare, for example, for people to attempt to keep the bit of pavement outside their house clean and tidy. That is not their job. It is outside their domain.
To emphasize this clear division, people prefer to live in houses, a little bit set back from the road. This way, they can have a front garden or yard as a kind of buffer zone between them and the world. Even in the depths of the countryside, where there may be no road immediately outside, the same phenomenon can be seen.