A Country Across the Channel

· Full name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

· Population:61.9 million (UN, 2010)

· Capital:London

· Area:242,514 sq km (93,638 sq miles)

· Major language:English

· Major religion:Christianity

· Life expectancy:78 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)

· Monetary unit:1 pound sterling = 100 pence

· Main exports:Manufactured goods, chemicals, foodstuffs

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All these parts of the country are represented in Parliament in London. England is noted for its "high-tech" and car industries. Scotland is a land of mountains, lakes and romantic castles. Wales is famous for its high mountains and pretty valleys, factories and coal mines, music and myths. Northern Island, with farming land, is beautiful too.

The history of the UK dates back to the ancient times. From the sixth to the third centuries BC, the British Isles were invaded by Celtic tribes. They came from central Europe, and settled in southern England. The Celts were pagans. Their priests, known as Druids, had all education in their hands. They administered justice, and made a disobedient layman an outlaw.

In AD 43, the Romans invaded southern Britain. It became a Roman colony called Britannia. The Romans set up their capital in London and built such cities as Bath, Chester and York. The Roman invasion was not peaceful. In AD 60, the Iceni, a tribe led by Queen Boadicea, destroyed three cities, including London. In AD 122, Emperor Hadrian built a long wall to defend the border between England and Scotland. In the fourth century the Roman Empire was collapsing and the Roman legions left Britain.

About AD 790, the Vikings started to invade England. The north and east of England were settled by the Danes. The Vikings were excellent traders and navigators. They traded in silk and furs as far as Russia. In 1016, England became part of the Scandinavian empire under king Cnut. In 1066 England was conquered by the Normans. William Duke of Normandy, known as William the Conqueror, won the battle of Hastings and became King of England. William I established a strong, centralised country under military rule. The Normans built castles all over England to control England better. Norman power was absolute, and the language of the new rulers, Norman French, had a lasting effect on English. Since 1066, England has never been invaded.

For many centuries this country was known simply as England. It had a strong army and navy. It waged numerous colonial wars.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is the head of State, but her power is limited by Parliament. The branches of government are: the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. The legislature is the supreme authority. It comprises two chambers – the House of Lords and the House of Commons - together with the Queen in her constitutional role. The executive consists of the central Government – that is the Prime Minister, Cabinet, and other ministers. The judiciary determines common law and interprets statutes and is independent of both the legislature and the executive.

The Government derives its authority from the elected House of Commons. The Government is formed by the political party in power. The second largest party becomes Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition with its own leader and 'Shadow Cabinet'. In Great Britain there is no written constitution, only customs, traditions and precedents.

Science and technology.

From the time of the Scientific Revolution, England and Scotland, and thereafter the United Kingdom, have been prominent in world scientific and technological development. The Royal Society serves as the national academy for sciences, with members drawn from many different institutions and disciplines. Formed in 1660, it is the oldest learned society still in existence.

Historically, many of the UK's greatest scientists have been based at either Oxford or Cambridge University, with laboratories such as the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford becoming famous in their own right. In modern times, other institutions such as the Red Brick and New Universities are catching up with Oxbridge. For instance, Lancaster University has a global reputation for work in low temperature physics.

Since then, the United Kingdom has continued this tradition of technical creativity. Alan Turing (leading role in the creation of the modern computer), Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell (the first practical telephone), John Logie Baird (world's first working television system, first electronic colour television), Frank Whittle (inventor of the jet engine), Charles Babbage (who devised the idea of the computer) and Alexander Fleming (discoverer of penicillin) were all British. The UK remains one of the leading providers of technological innovations today, providing inventions as diverse as the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and Viagra by British scientists at Pfizer's Sandwich, Kent. Sir Alec Jeffreys pioneered DNA fingerprinting. Pioneers of fertility treatment Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, successfully achieved conception through IVF (world's first "test tube baby").

Culture

The UK has been at the forefront of youth culture since the heyday of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s.

It has a rich literary heritage encompassing the works of English writers such as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, Scot Robert Burns, Welshman Dylan Thomas and Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney.

Traditional music has deep roots across the UK, which has also produced classical composers from Henry Purcell in the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.

Media

In a rapidly-changing digital world, British media providers are looking at new ways of reaching audiences via computers and personal multimedia devices.

The media are free and able to report on all aspects of British life. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion. In recent years, newspaper circulations have been sliding while online readership has surged.

The press

In Britain newspapers differ greatly from each other in the type of news they report and the way they report it.

On the one hand, there are "quality" newspapers: The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph. These papers report major national and international news stories, with the world of politics and business and with the arts and sport. On the other hand, there are "populars" or "tabloids", so called because of their small size. Popular papers (The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Star) pay much attentionto sensational news, extraordinaryevents, catastrophes, accidents, private livesof royalty and nobility, of people of art, ofmusic and movie stars.Popular papers use many photographs andcartoons. It is often said that the popularpress aims to entertain its readers ratherthan inform them. In addition to 12 national daily newspapers there are 9 national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the Sundays papers contain more reading material than the daily papers, and several of them include colour supplements – separate colour magazines which have special supplements with articles on music, TV, sports and a lot of advertisements of consumer goods. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British families. Nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers – in England alone there are around 90 daily papers and over 850 which are published once or twice a week. Local newspapers report local news and advertise local business and events. Newspapers in Britain are privately owned and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerable freedom of expression. The offices of most papers are situated in Fleet Street in the City of London, which is the centre of British journalism. British papers are bought and read not only in the United Kingdom, but also in many other countries.

Television

Television is the most popular entertainment in British home life today. In London people have four TV channels: BBC I, BBC II, ITV=Independent Television (Channel III) and Channel IV. The BBC is known for its objectivity in news reporting. The BBC is financed by payments which are made by all people who have TV-sets. People have to pay the licence fee. In 1932 the BBC World Service was set up with a licence to broadcast first to Empire and then to other parts of the world. There is no advertising on any BBC programme. ITV started in 1954. Commercial television gets its money from advertising. The programmes on this channel are financed by different companies, which do not have anything to do with the content of these programmes. ITV news programmes are not made by individual television companies. Independent Television News is owned jointly by all of them. So it has been protected from commercial influence. There are different types of TV programmes in Great Britain. BBC and ITV start early in the morning. One can watch news programmes, all kinds of chat shows, quiz shows, soap operas, different children's programmes, dramas, comedies and different programmes of entertainment on these channels. News is broadcast at regular intervals and there are panel discussions of current events. Broadcasts for schools are produced on five days of the week during school hours. In the afternoon and early evening TV stations show special programmes for children. Operas, music concerts and shows are presented at various time. A large part of TV time is occupied by serials.

These are the main channels in Great Britain. Only about a fifth of households receive satellite or cable.

Vocabulary

valley ['vælɪ] долина

coal mine [kəυl maɪn] вугільна шахта,

копальня

celtic tribes ['keltɪk traɪbz] Кельтські племена

to settle ['setl] поселятися

pagan ['peɪɡǝn] язичник

priest [pri:st] священик

druid ['dru:ɪd] друїд, жрець

disobedient [̗dɪsə'bi:dɪənt] непокірний,

неслухняний

layman ['leɪmən] мирянин

collapse [kə'læps] руйнування, обвал

legislative ['ledʒɪslətɪv] законодавчий

executive [ɪɡ'zekjυtɪv] виконавчий

judiciary [dʒυ'dɪʃǝrɪ] судова

chamber ['tʃeɪmbə] палата

the House of Lords палата лордів

the House of Commons палата общин

derive [dɪ'raɪv] походити, встанов­лю-

вати походження

authority [ɔ:'θɒrətɪ] влада

precedent ['presɪdǝnt] прецедент

diverse [daɪ'vɜ:s] інший, різний

at the forefront ['fɔ:frʌnt] в перших рядах

heyday ['heɪdeɪ] розквіт

encompass [ɪn'kʌmpəs] включати

spectrum ['spektrəm] спектр

slide [slaɪd] плавно рухатись,

ковзати

tabloid ['tæblɔɪd] бульварна газета,

малоформатна газета

catastrophe [kə'tæstrəfɪ] катастрофа

nobility [nəʋ'bɪlətɪ] благородство,

шляхетність

supplement ['sʌplɪmənt] додаток

advertisement [əd'vɜ:tɪsmənt] реклама

advertise ['ædvətaɪz] рекламувати

editor ['edɪtə] редактор

licence ['laɪsǝns] дозвіл, ліцензія

to broadcast ['brɔ:dkɑ:st] передавати по

телебаченню (по радіо)

quiz show [kwɪz] телевікторина

soap opera ['səυp̗ɒprə] сентиментальна п’єса,

мелодрама

panel discussion ['pænldɪ'skʌʃn] нарада (консиліум),

обговорення

satellite ['sætəlaɪt] супутникове

телебачення

I. Answer the questions.

1. What reminds people of the Romans?

2. How did the Anglo-Saxons effect the countryside?

3. Who invaded Britain in the 8th century?

4. When was a feudal system imposed?

5. When was Parliament split into two Houses?

6. Who was the leader of the parliamentary army in the Civil Wars?

7. In what century was the Britain the greatest economic power?

II. Fill in the gaps.

1. The Roman province of Britannia covered the territory of present-day . . . and . . . .

2. During the 5th century the tribes of . . . settled in Britain.

3. In the . . . century Britain was invaded by the Vikings.

4. Lords were responsible to . . . .

5. The . . . dynasty established a system of government, which depended on the . . . .

6. The conflict between the monarchy and Parliament led to . . . .

7. In the . . . century the increased trade led to . . . .

8. The beginning of the 20th century can't be called . . . .

9. The British empire was made up of . . . .

10. The . . . party replaced the Liberals.