Final questions (Список контрольных вопросов для устного собеседования)

1. What great monuments of prehistory still exist in the British Isles?

2. What are the mysteries of Stonehenge?

3. When did the Celts arrive in Britain? What Celtic tribes do you know? Where did they settle?

4. What were the Celts like? How did they organize their family life? What gods did they worship? Who were the druids? What functions were performed by them?

5. What Celtic languages are still spoken in the British Isles? What is the most flourishing Celtic language today? What are its peculiarities?

6. What historical events are these dates associated with? 55 BC, 54 BC, 43 AD, 410 When and why did the Romans leave Britain?

7. What event in the history of Britain is associated with the Iceni people and their queen? How did the Romans try to defend themselves against the Celtic tribes?

8. What is the most spectacular memorial of the Roman presence in Britain?

9. What did the Romans introduce in the life of the ancient islanders? What languages were spoken in Roman Britain?

10. What Germanic tribes invaded Britain from the Continent in the 5^th century?

11. What do you know about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table? What was Merlin famous for?

12. When was Britain converted into Christianity? Why does the tradition of visiting Canterbury Cathedral continue to this day? How did the new faith influence the life of the Anglo-Saxons?

13. Which of the Anglo-Saxon kings deserved the title of ‘Great’? What were his great accomplishments?

14. What languages were spoken in Anglo-Saxon Britain? What is the great mythological poem written in the West Saxon dialect of Old English? What is it about?

15. When did the Scandinavian invasion begin? Who were the Vikings?

16. How did the Viking rule in Britain affect the life of the islanders?

17. Who was the Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman Conquest? What were the reasons for the Norman invasion?

18. Why were the English forces defeated in the Battle of Hastings? Why is it said that the Battle of Hastings changed the course of English history?

19. What marks the place of the Battle of Hastings?

20. What do you know about William the Conqueror?

21. What did the Normans do to make themselves safe in the new lands?

22. What are some famous castles in Britain? What do you know about them?

23. What is ‘Domesday Book’? What was it written for?

24. What languages were spoken in Norman Britain?

25. What were the most important political, economic and cultural changes after the Norman Conquest?

26. Who was the first Plantagenet King? Why was Thomas Becket murdered? How did the Christian world react to Becket’s martyrdom?

27. What role did Geoffrey Chaucer play for the development of the English language? What languages were books written in before Chaucer in England?

28. What do you know about the Magna Carta?

29. How did King Edward I manage to impose English rule on Wales? What is Caernarfon Castle famous for?

30. What were the reasons for the War of the Roses? Who gave the war its name?

31. Characterise Henry VIII as a man and as a king.

32. Why did the English people dislike Queen Mary I?

33. What is the Renaissance? When did it begin in Britain? What spheres of life did the Renaissance influence?

34. Why was the reign of Queen Elizabeth I called ‘the Golden Age’? What were the prominent writers, poets, painters, philosophers and scientists of that period?

35. Why did Elizabeth support many English seamen that caused trouble to Spanish ships? Who were the most famous seamen of the time?

36. What were the reasons and the results of the sea battle between the Armada and the English fleet?

37. What were the reasons for the conflict of the Stuarts with the Parliament?

38. How did the Civil War develop and end? What was King Charles I accused and found guilty of? What was his execution like?

39. What social groups supported Oliver Cromwell? What new kind of army did he create? How did O. Cromwell govern the country?

40. Why did Scotland agree to the union with England in 1707? What was the new official name of the united state?

41. What military heroes glorified Great Britain in the Napoleonic Wars?

42. Why was colonizing foreign lands important? What colonies did Britain have in North America, in the West Indies and India?

43. What did the British government and the American colonies quarrel over? When did the American War of Independence begin? What was the result of the war?

44. What new ideas did the War of Independence bring? What were the revolutionary changes in art in the 18th century?

45. What is the Industrial Revolution? Why did it begin in Britain? What branches of industry were progressing in the 18^th century?

46. What new social classes appeared in the 18^th century? What caused social unrest in the country? What do you know about Chartism?

47. What disasters did Ireland suffer in 1845, 1846 and 1847? What country did many Irish emigrate to?

48. What were the greatest cultural achievements of the Victorian Age?

49. What moral values are called ‘Victorian’?

50. When did the Windsor family come to power? What important events of the 20^th and 21^st century did they witness?

1. What great monuments of prehistory still exist in the British Isles?

In the British Isles scores of amazing prehistoric sites can still be found. Archeologists have theories about who built them and what their purposes were, very little is known for sure. Whoever is responsible for these sites appears to have had more sophisticated astronomical knowledge and construction techniques than generally thought possible for the time. This has lead to theories about help from either aliens or an advanced civilization such as Atlantis. One thing is certain: these sites have sparked imaginations and inspired debate for centuries, and will continue to do so indefinitely.

Functions of such monuments: burial places, to worship ancient Gods, calendars, pilgrimage places etc.

The list of prehistoric monuments:

• Skara Brae [ska:rə brei] is a stone Neolithic settlement on the island of Mainland in the Orkneys. It was inhabited from roughly 3150 to 2500 B.C. It is the most intact (нетронутый) Neolithic settlement in Europe, gaining it UNESCO World Heritage Site status and the nickname of “Scottish Pompeii [ ]”. The settlement is remarkably advanced for its age, with a sophisticated drainage system connecting to primitive toilets in each dwelling (жилище). Many intriguing artifacts were discovered at Skara Brae, including unusual carved stone balls. What is believed to be a form of runic writing appears on artifacts and throughout the site, but successful translation has so far been impossible

• The Loughcrew Cairns ['lʌfkruː ka:nz] in Ireland are a series of tombs dating to 3200 B.C.

• Old Keig is a stone circle in England.

• the Callanish stones

• the Ring of Brodgar

• Avebury contains the largest stone circle in England, and was constructed around 2600 B.C. The entire site consists of a henge, a large circle of stones, and two smaller circles within the larger circle. Archeologists disagree on the original purpose of Avebury: some suggest that it was a key element in religious rituals, while others highlight its potential function as an astronomical calendar system

• Newgrange is a mound constructed around 3200 B.C., in Ireland,

• Stonehenge

2. What are the mysteries of Stonehenge?

Stonehenge is one of the oldest masterpieces of engineering which was built by Neolithic people on the territory of modern Wiltshire in about 3000 BC. Stonehenge is often referred to as the most mysterious construction in the whole of Britain. There`re some questions that nobody can answer exactly.

Firstly, we still don`t know how people transported the stones to their present location. People used sandstones and bluestones to build the circles. The stones couldn`t appear in the valley naturally. So, people transported them from Wales and Marlborough Downs somehow. But their weight is from 2 to 30 tones! Nevertheless, they were both carried via water networks and hauled over land.

Secondly, we can only surmise how people shaped and raised the stones using only simple tools. People used large and small hammer-stones to shape them but it was too complicated to join the roof stone and the standing stone. People had to calculate the intervals between tenons and Mortice holes. How was it possible in The New Stone Age? It`s unknown. Then, after shaping the stones, people had to raise them. They used wooden A-frames, timber platforms and ropes. They dug large holes and put stones into them. It was a dangerous process.

We don`t know whether there were ropes in The New Stone Age or whether people could build these A-frames. What if there weren`t people who built Stonehenge? Maybe some giants built it. It would be simple for them. But where are they now and why did they disappeared?

Too many questions are connected with Stonehenge, the “magical” masterpiece of the Neolithic period.