Exercises
Great
Britain
"Great
Britain" has several different names. Some people say "Britain",
or "the United Kingdom", or just "UK". There are four different
countries in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland.
Everyone from Britain is British, but only people from England
are English. People from Scotland are Scottish, people from
Wales are Welsh, and people from Northern Ireland are Irish.
Don't call a Scottish or Welsh person English. He won't like
it!
Altogether more than 56 million people live in Britain, many
of them in big industrial cities like London, Liverpool and
Manchester, but people are often surprised by how much of
Britain is open country, with lovely hills and woods, quiet
rivers, lakes and farmlands.
Everyone in Britain speaks English. But in some parts of Scotland
and Wales people speak an older language as well. The Welsh
are especially proud of their language, and you can see road
signs in Welsh all over Wales.
Everyone speaks English, but they do not all speak it in the
same way. A Scottish person has to listen carefully if he
wants to understand a Londoner. And when a Welsh person speaks,
everyone knows at once where he comes from!
Many people think that the weather is cold and wet in Britain
all the year round. But it isn't! True, it sometimes rains
and even snows for days and days, but every year there are
weeks of beautiful sunny weather when the British put on their
and go out to sunbathe.

Britain is only a small country, but every part is different.
Scotland is a land of mountains, lakes and romantic castles.
The winters are cold, with plenty of snow, but the summers
are often warm and sunny. Most farmers keep sheep, and there
are many small factories which make fine sweaters from their
wool. In some parts of Scotland, there are very few people.
Deer live in the hills, and the rivers are full of fish. But
Glasgow and Edinburgh are both large and busy, with all that
is good (and bad) in modern cities.
Northern Ireland has its problems, but it
has beauty too. In the warm, wet climate, the grass grows
a brilliant green, and much of the land is farming country.
Belfast is a large industrial city with many fine buildings
and a big port from which ships come and go to Scotland and
England. But Belfast has had many difficult years, and it
is not the busy place it once was.
In the north of England there are many old
industrial towns. Now, a great number of factories have closed
and thousands of people have no work. Some have moved to the
new towns, built in the 1960s and 1970s, where the industries
are more modern. Outside the towns, much of this part of England
is beautiful countryside, with green hills, lakes and sandy
beaches. Fishing is an important industry in the North East,
and every night (except Sunday) the fishing boats go out to
sea.
The centre of England (the
"Midlands") is
also an important industrial area, especially near the huge
cities of Coventry and Birmingham, the centre of the car industry.
But everywhere, even in the heart of a modern city, there
are buildings from an older Britain — cathedrals, castles,
and houses built hundreds of years ago.
Wales is a special place, a country of high
mountains and pretty valleys. But Wales has plenty of industry
too, with many factories and coal mines. The people of Wales
are very musical. Every year they have a festival of Welsh
music and poetry called an "Eisteddfod".
The west of England is rich farming country.
It produces milk, cream, butter, cheese and apples, which
go to make cider, a popular drink. In the villages, country
people often grow their own fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Some areas of Britain are very crowded. Around
Manchester, in northwest England, and Glasgow, in Scotland,
are large city areas of houses and factories. The southeast
of England, too, has many towns and cities, including London,
the giant capital. But quite near London there are still some
quiet villages and peaceful farms.
Britain is an island, of course, and you are
never far from the sea. Some of the coast, especially in the
west, is wild and rocky, with small, sandy beaches, and romantic
old harbours. Other parts are industrial. The east coast of
Scotland, for example, is busy with oil
and fishing boats. The most popular beaches are near the many
holiday towns on the south coast, where the weather is usually
warmer. It is here that Londoners come to relax.
London London has been a capital city for
nearly a thousand years, and many of its ancient buildings
still stand. The most famous of these are the Tower of London,
Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, but most visitors
also want to see the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace
(the Queen's London home) and the many magnificent museums.
Once,
London was a small Roman town on the north bank of the Thames,
but slowly it grew into one of the world's major cities with
more than nine million people. Fewer people live
in the centre now, but the suburbs are still growing.
Places now in the heart of London, like Westminster,
once stood in the middle of green fields. Many small villages,
like Hampstead, Chelsea and Mayfair, became part of London,
but they still keep some of their old atmosphere. Different
areas of London seem like different cities. The West End is
a rich man's world of shops, offices and theatres. The East
End is the old working people's district, where there are
many small flats and houses, some old, some new.
London is always changing. New buildings go
up and old ones come down. Poorer areas become fashionable
and people with more money move into them.
A hundred years ago, the river was crowded
with ships, leaving for Java and Japan, New Zealand and New
York, but now the port is nearly empty. People travel by air,
and London's main airport, Heathrow, is one of the busiest
in the world.
Like all big cities, London has streets and
buildings, but it also has many big parks, full of trees,
flowers and grass. Sit on the grass (you're allowed to!) in
the middle of Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens, and you will
think that you are in the country miles away.
Many people live outside the centre of London
in the suburbs, and they travel to work by train, bus or underground.
Every day, nearly half a million office workers travel into
the "City", the business centre of London, a small area full
of banks and offices. Some people come from far out of London,
even from the coast, and spend up to four hours travelling
every day.
Working hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. From
8 until 10 every morning, and 4.30 to 6.30 every evening,
the trains are crowded with people, and after the morning "rush
hour" the shoppers come.
By day the whole of London is busy. At night,
the City is quiet and empty, but the West End stays alive,
because this is where Londoners come to enjoy themselves.
There are two opera houses here, several concert halls and
many theatres, as well as cinemas, and the pubs, restaurants
and night clubs are busy half the night.
Many people think that London is all grey,
but in fact red is London's favorite colour. The buses are
red, the letter boxes are red, and the mail vans are all bright,
bright red.
Then the
flags, the soldiers' uniforms, the cheering crowds and the
carriages and horses all sparkle in the sunshine —if it's
not raining, of course!
Edinburgh Edinburgh is Scotland's capital, and one of the
most beautiful cities in Britain. The heart of Edinburgh is
the thousand-year-old castle, where the kings of Scotland
lived for centuries.
From Edinburgh castle you can see for miles,
north over the beautiful old streets, an arm of the sea that
pushes inland. Far away are the mountains of central Scotland,
often covered with snow.
Edinburgh has a busy cultural life. Every
year, in September the International Festival takes place.
Musicians, actors and singers come from all over the world
and thousands of visitors fill the city. In the evening, the
opera house, the theatres and the concert halls are full.
In cafes and pubs, small groups sing, act and read poetry.
The castle is at its best in festival time.
Every night there is a magnificent military "Tattoo". Highland
soldiers wearing
play the bagpipes, and march to the music.
Tartans, the patterns of the kilts, have an
interesting history. Since the fifteenth century, each Scottish
family has worn its own tartan as a kind of badge. It was
a useful way of recognising people, especially in times of
war. Many tartans date only from the nineteenth century, but
some of the old patterns still exist. "Dress" tartans, worn
on special occasions, have light, bright colours. "Hunting"
tartans are usually green, blue or brown.
Oxford What is so special about Oxford and
Cambridge, the two oldest universities in England? Why do
so many students want to study there?
Both of these university towns are very beautiful.
They have some of the finest architecture in Britain. Some
of their colleges and libraries are three, four and even five
hundred years old, and are full of valuable books and precious
paintings. Both towns have many lovely gardens, where the
students can read and relax in the summer months.
Oxford is the older university of the two.
The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university
now has thirty-four colleges and about twelve thousand students,
many of them from other countries. There were no women students
at Oxford until 1878, when the first women's college, Lady
Margaret Hall, opened. Now, women study at most colleges.
Oxford is, of course, famous for its first
class education as well as its beautiful buildings. Some of
the most intelligent men and women in the country live and
work here. Oxford gives them what they need: a quiet atmosphere,
friendly colleagues, and the four-hundred-year-old Bodleian
library, which has about five million books.
It is not easy to get a place at Oxford University
to study for a degree. But outside the university there are
many smaller private colleges which offer less difficult courses
and where it is easy to enroll. Most students in these private
schools take business, secretarial or English language courses.
(1,772 words)
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