SCOTLAND

It is in the central plain and the strip of east coast that more than 80% of the population of Scotland lives. In the late twentieth century, this region had many of the same difficulties as the industrial north of England, although the North sea oil industry helped to keep unemployment down.

Further north, there are the Highlands, consisting of mountains and deep valleys and including numerous small islands off the west coast. Tourism is important in the local economy, and so is the production of whisky.

Scotland’s two major cities have very different reputations. Glasgow, the larger of the two, is associated with heavy industry and some of the worst housing conditions in Britain.. However this image is one-sided. Glasgow has a strong artistic heritage.

Edinburgh, which is smaller than Glasgow, has a comparatively middle-class image . It is the capital of Scotland and the seat of its parliament. It is associated with scholarship, the law, and administration. The annual Edinburg Festival of Art is internationally famous.

WALES

As in Scotland, most people in Wales live in one small part of if, in the south-east. British people would locate the prototype factory of the industrial revolution in the north of England, and they would locate its prototype coal mine in south Wales. Despite its industry, no really large cities have emerged in this area (Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has a population of about a third of a million). It is the only part of Britain with a high proportion of industrial villages. Coal mining in south Wales has now almost entirely ceased and, as elsewhere, the transition to other forms of employment has been slow and painful.

NORTHERN IRELAND

With the exception of Belfast, which is famous for the manufacture of linen (and is still a shipbuilding city), this region is, like the rest of Ireland, largely agricultural.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is London? What are its main parts?

2. What is the oldest part of London?

3. What is said about modern London?

4. What are Cockneys?

5. Why is England often talked about in terms of a north-south divide?

6. What do people say about the differences between the North and the South?

7. What are the characteristic features of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

UNIT FOUR

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1327