Task 2] Read the following texts and do the tasks that follow them

(1) The British Isles is the geographical name for all the islands off the north-western coast of Europe. These islands also include the Republic of Ireland (Eire), which is politically independent of the British government. Many people refer to the inhabitants of the British Isles as “the English’’, but England is only one of the countries. The other countries are Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(2) The United Kingdom (the UK) is a short way of saying the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK is the political name for those countries which share a parliament in London. All of them were at one time independent kingdoms with their own monarch. Now they are all part of the same kingdom and share the same monarch. The UK consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The peoples of these countries are British subjects; they hold British passports and therefore their nationality is British.

(3) Great Britain is the name of the one island which is made up of England, Wales and Scotland. It is called “Great” because in some languages the word for Britain (Bretagne) is the same as the word for Brittany, which is in France. The word “Great” helps to distinguish the two: “Grande Bretagne”= Great Britain, “Bretagne” = Brittany.

Correct the statements below that are false:

A. The people of Eire hold British passports.

B. Scotland is part of the UK.

C. Wales is part of the Irish Republic.

D. Brittany is also known as Great Britain.

E. All people living on the British Isles are British subjects.

(4) Britain is divided into 53 areas called counties. The counties around the capital, London, are known as the Home Counties. Some large cities have become highly populated and have expanded into the surrounding countryside. These large urban areas are known as conurbations. Greater Manchester is one of them and included the industrial city of Manchester, all its suburbs and the surrounding towns which form a single urban mass.

(5) Different parts of Britain are often described in terms of compass points. A person may say, ‘ I’m from the North-east’ or ‘ I’m form the Midlands’. Alternatively, it is possible to refer to an area in terms of geographical features, for example, ‘ The Lake District’ or ‘ the Welsh Valleys’.

1. Divide these words into country or county:

Kent Scotland Wales Essex England Cornwall Yorkshire Ireland Surrey Sussex

2. Which of these are Home Counties:

Kent Surrey Norfolk Berkshire Buckinghamshire Lancashire Sussex Essex

3. Match each of these towns with its correct area:

AREA TOWN/CITY

The Midlands Brighton

The North-east Inverness

The Highlands Birmingham

The South-East Newcastle

4. Read the clues and identify the city.

This Scottish city is on the river Clyde

This large port is in southwest England, on the river Avon

This is the capital city of Wales

5. Write some more clues to test your group-mates.

6. Match the following geographical names with their Russian equivalents and find them on the map:

[Task 3] Use the following brief notes and the FACT FILE to speak about England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:

England: a predominantly lowland country, although there are upland regions in the north and in the south west, in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset;

Greatest concentrations of population: London and the southeast, West Yorkshire and north-west industrial cities, Birmingham, north-eastern cities and towns and those along the Channel coast;

Established church: The Church of England (C of E);

Industries: various – including traditional industries of coal-mining, manufacturing of iron and steel (though these have declined in the last century), car manufacture, electronic industries and a wide range of consumer goods.

Wales: a country of hills and mountains, the highest of which are in Snowdonia (tallest peak – Snowdon); The Welsh name for the country is Cymru;

No established church. Methodism, however, is widespread;

During the 19^th century economy was based mainly on coal, iron, steel and tin. Now almost all coal mines have been closed. Agriculture occupies 80% of the land area – sheep and cattle rearing are important;

A musical nation, well known for its choral singing.

Scotland: over half of the country consists of sparsely populated highlands and islands in the north with wild unspoilt landscape;

Contains the majority of Britain’s mountains including the tallest peak – Ben Nevis;

Established church - the church (kirk) of Scotland (Protestant);

Oil and gas are important industries as are textiles and tweeds and food and drink products (whiskey, etc). Timber production and fishing are also important;

FACT FILE:

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 3076