Text 4 The Ukrainian Academy of Sciences

The Academy of Sciences of Ukraine began its activity in1919 during the civil war. Academician V.I.Vernadsky, an outstanding scientist in the field of geochemistry, was elected the first President of the Academy.

At first the Academy had three departments: Department of Historic and Philological Sciences, Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Department of Socio-Economical Sciences. They united three institutes, 26 research faculties, cabinets, commissions and committees.

Nowadays the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences unites more than 80 scientific institutions. There are more than 300 members and corresponding members and about 8000 doctors and candidates of science at the Academy. Academician B.Paton is its President.

Many Ukrainian scientists are world-renowned. Eminent Ukrainian scientist B.Paton was involved in developing a cardinally new method of metal electroslag welding which made it possible to change radically the technique of machine building.

The Academy became an acknowledged center of science of materials and played the lead in synthetic diamonds production which are widely applied in the national economy.

Nowadays great attention is paid to protection of environment from pollution and to rational use of national resources.

Science of Ukraine enjoys great potential. Ukrainian scientists are the authors of many basic scientific works. Such works as “The Theory of General Problems by Linear Elliptical Systems” by V.Lopatinsky, “Cybernetic Encyclopaedia” by a well-known surgeon M.Amossov, and the scientific works by Ukrainian scientists N.Kovalenko, V.Kovalevsky, V.Koroluk and others may serve as examples.

Ukrainian scientists have actively participated in solving important problems of economic and cultural development of the country.

Solving this task the Academy initiates new progressive forms of strengthening ties between science and production, new methods of effective economic management/

The Academy works at enchanting the efficiency and quality of research, at accelerating the practical application of scientific achievements, at improving forms of bonds between science, production, and professional training.

 Expressions to Remember:

metal electroslag welding	електрошлакове зварювання
play the lead	відігравати головну роль
protection the environment from pollution	захист навколишнього середовища від забруднення
“The Theory of General Problems for Linear Elliptical Systems”	“Теорія загальних граничних завдань лінійних еліптичних систем”

Text 5 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is one of the most prominent countries of the world. It occupies an outstanding place within the history of world civilization.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on two large islands called the British Isles. Its territory is about 244.1 thousand square km. The UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is a highly-developed industrial country. The older fields of industry are shipbuilding, coal-mining, textile, metallurgical industries, and the newer ones are: electronics, electrical engineering, chemical, aircraft, spacecraft, automobile industries. The largest cities are: London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Approximately 40% of the whole population live there. Oxford and Cambridge are called university towns.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. The Queen is formally at the head of the state. But in fact the country is ruled by the parliament consisting of two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government.

London, one of the greatest cities in the world, is the capital of Great Britain and the cradle of British traditions and culture. It is also one of the most prominent financial and commercial centers of the world, a big port, a university city and a seat of the British government. The most important parts of London are: the City, the financial and business of the UK; the West End, which is famous for fashionable shopping and entertainment centers; the Eats End, the industrial district; Westminster, the place for government offices; Soho, known for international restaurants and a lot of entertainments.

The world-famous sights of London are Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the House of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey.

London has a number of nice parks ad gardens, such as Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, St. James’ Park, Regent’s Park.

There are very many theatres, concert halls, museums and cinemas in the capital. The best known are Covent Garden and the English National Opera, the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery, the British Museum, and the National History Museum.

Words and Expressions to Remember:

prominent	видатний
outstanding place	визначне місце
highly-developed industrial country	високо розвинена індустріальна країна
textile	текстильний
ship-building	суднобудування
electronic engineering	електронна техніка
chemical industry	хімічна промисловість
aircraft industry	авіаційна промисловість
spacecraft industry	космічна промисловість
to rule	правити
the House of Commons	палата громад
the House of Lords	палата лордів
cradle	колиска
St. Paul’s Cathedral	собор Св. Павла
Westminster Abbey	Вестмінстерське абатство

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