Listen to the text and complete the gaps

The Union Flag or Union Jack

The Union Flag or Union Jack The famous red, white and blue ________ dates from 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was united with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The flag combines the flags of three countries: the red __________ of St George on a white background (England), the white diagonal cross (saltire) of St Andrew on a blue background (Scotland), and the red saltire cross of St Patrick’s flag (Ireland). There is no reference to Wales in the flag, because England and Wales were united much __________. Australia and New Zealand still incorporate it as part of their national flags. Tower BridgeTower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge in the ________ when it opened in 1894. The bridge opens to allow tall ships to pass through it, and when it was built it would have been opened as many as ______ times a day, but nowadays the bridge only opens a few times a week. There is a high level walkway connecting the two towers, which allowed Londoners to cross the __________ when the bridge was up for long periods of time. The London Underground
The first underground railway was _________ in London in 1863. The first trains were pulled by steam engines and the __________ in the tunnels made the journey very unpleasant. The first carriages had no windows, because people thought windows were unnecessary if the train was only travelling through an underground __________. The train guard called out the name of each station as the train arrived at it. The roundels with the names of the stations first appeared on underground platforms in 1908. The iconic colour-coded tube map was designed in 1931 by Harry Beck, an underground railway ____________. He did it in his spare time and was only paid ВЈ5.25 for it.

ReadingВВВВВВВВВВВВВВВВВВ British Symbols and EmblemsВВВ

Many images associated with England are found on souvenirs. Most commonly depicted are the flag of England (St George's Cross), Royal Guardsmen, Double Deck Buses, Red Post Boxes, Telephone Kiosks, The Royal Family Buckingham Palace, Houses ofВ Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, Policemen, The London Eye,Pub Signs and Tea.

SYMBOLS OF ENGLAND

The three national symbols of England are the St. George's cross (usually seen as a flag), the red rose and the Three Lions crest (usually seen as a badge).

St George's Flag, the England Flag	Three Lions Emblem

The three lions are on the badge of England's cricket team	The three lions are on the badge of England's football team

The red rose is widely recognized as the national flower of England.	The red rose is on the badge of the English Rugby Union team.

ВВ The national tree of England

Конецформы

EMBLEMS OF BRITAIN

Each country in Britain has its own patron saint and floral emblem

	England - St. Georgeand the Rose The national flower of England is the rose. The flower has been adopted as England’s emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses - civil wars (1455-1485) between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose).
	Scotland - St. Andrew- the Thistle and Scottish Bluebell The national flower of Scotland is the thistle, a prickly-leaved purple flower which was first used in the 15th century as a symbol of defense. The Scottish Bluebell is also seen as the flower of Scotland.
	Wales - St. Davidand the Daffodil The national flower of Wales is the daffodil, which is traditionally worn on St. David’s Day. The vegetable called leek is also considered to be a traditional emblem of Wales.
There are many explanations of how the leek came to be adopted as the national emblem of Wales. One is that St David advised the Welsh, on the eve of battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks in their caps to distinguish friend from foe. As Shakespeare records in Henry V, the Welsh archers wore leeks at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.
	Northern Ireland - St. Patrickand the Shamrock The national flower of Northern Ireland is the shamrock, a three-leaved plant similar to clover. An Irish tale tells of how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The Royal Coat of Arms carries the symbols representing England, Scotland and Ireland, the Sovereign's motto and the lion and the unicorn.

What other things are typically English and British?

Here are some ideas to help. Find more information to add.

ENGLAND is famous for many things -David Beckham, Fish and Chips, Big Ben, Red Buses, black cabs, Oasis, Blur, the Beatles, London and tea.
England is famous for its long history.

England is famous for its Royal Family.
England is famous for its Castles and Historic houses
Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence still in use.
England is famous for its educational institutes. It has some of the most famous universities of the world like Oxford, Cambridge and London universities.
England is famous forsome of the world’s greatest pop stars - the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Queen, Phil Collins, the Spice Girls and Oasis.
England is famous forWilliam Shakespeare. Hamlet, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet were written by him.

England is famous forits green hills and fertile lowlands.
England is famous for its rain and the lush green of its countryside
England is famous forits breakfasts.
England is famous forits creams and butters and for its delicious cheeses: Stilton, Cheshire, double Gloucester, red Leicester, and cheddar.
England is famous forits strawberries
England is famous forits pubs. (English pubs are a part of everyday life here. They're pretty much a community gathering place. Many people go there to watch a football game, play pool or just have a beer.)
England is famous forWimbledon.
England is famous foran ancient circle called Stonehenge.
It is the most important prehistoric monument in England.
England is famous forBig Ben
England is famous forthe first parliament in the world, which was established in the thirteenth century in England.
England is famous forthe legend of Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest and its

Notorious sheriff.