Петербургский Государственный Университет

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Кафедра “Иностранные языки”

United kingdom

Книга для чтения на английском языке

для студентов II курса

Санкт-Петербург

1996

A historic land

«Britain is a world by itself…»

William Shakespeare

England, Scotland and Wales

Britain’s past reaches back not only to he Roman Empire and the ancient settlement of Londinium, but also to unrecorded prehistory and the Bronze Age mysteries of standing stones and burial mounds.

This is a land that, since 1066, has never been invaded, a land that can trace a line of descent from the Anglo-Saxon Egbert of Wessex (an ancient Saxon Kingdom in southern England) through 62 monarchs to Queen Elizabeth II today. And this land is the Birthplace of democracy, whose citizens, since the signing of the Magna Carta¹ in 1215, have built on that foundation for individual freedom.

Above all, Britain boats the riches of what were once three distinct nations: England, Scotland and Wales.

Though Wales was conquered by the England King, Edward I, seven centures ago, and the Scottish union with England occurred at the beginning of the 17-th century, the three countries of Britain still retain the substantial legacy of their separate pasts.

Britain’s history has made its impact felt around the world. The circumnavigation of the globe by Francis Drake in 1577 inaugurated a great tradition of cultural exchange, of expansion and of widening objectives. Britain’s history is the history of an Empire whose influence extended to all corners of the globe. Even today Britain plays a leading role in the Commonwealth of nations.

And Britain culture, whether it be the anonymous lines of the Anglo-Saxon poets, the plays of Shakespeare or the lyrics of the Beatles, has entered into the imagination of many throughout the world.

Britain’s landscape is one of the most celebrated in the world. It is also one of the most diverse. It was made most memorable perhaps by Tomas Hardy in literature and by Jonn Constable in painting.

The words and images in the pages that follow show you Britain at its best.

¹ Magna Carta – Великая хартия вольностей

General Information

The United Kingdom is very small compared with many other countries in the world. Its area is over 244,000 square miles. However, there are only 9 other countries with more people, and London is the world’s seventh biggest city. The United Kingdom (UK) is an abbreviation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the political name of the country, which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is the name of the island, which is made up of England, Scotland and Wales, and so it does not include Northern Ireland. The origin of the world «Great» is a reference to size, because in many European Languages the worlds for Britain and Brittany in France are the same. In fact, it was the French who first talked about Grande Bretagne. In everyday speech «Britain» is used to mean the United Kingdom.

The British Isles is the geographical name that refers to all the islands of the north-west coast of the European continent: Great Britain, the whole of Ireland (Northern and Southern), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. But it is important to remember that Southern Ireland – that is the Republic of Ireland – is completely independent.

The population of the UK is over 56 million. Many foreigners say «England» and «English» when they mean «Britain», or the «UK», and «British». This is very annoying for the 5 million people who live in Scotland, the 2.8 million in Wales and 1.5 million in Northern Ireland and England are all British.

The British, like most nations, are a complicated mixture which, together with numerous regional differences, makes it hard to generalize about the British «character». It is equally hard to generalize about the weather, that perennial topic of conversation. Like so much else in Britain, it’s highly variable.

Yet the climate in most of Britain can be regarded as almost ideal – mild winters, cool summer, regular rainfall. But what is good for, say, the farmers is not necessarity what suits the tourist. A little more sunshine would generally be welcome, but Britain – or at any rate most of England – is not as wet as its reputation suggests. It does not rain all the time.

The flag of the United Kingdom is called the Union Jack. It is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The Welsh flag is called the Welsh dragon. St. David is the patron saint of Welsh.