Reading Pre-reading activities 1. Decide whether the following statements are True or False. 1.The UK takes tenth place in world population. 2.“British” and “English” are not synonyms. 3.Scotland has the smallest population of the four countries of the UK. 4.Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the North Sea and the North Channel. 5.The waters around Great Britain are dangerous in bad weather. 6.There are not only lakes but also mountains in the Lake District. 7.The Highlands separate Scotland from England. 8. The Thames is the longest and the deepest river in the UK. 9. The most famous wood in Scotland is Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood once lived. 10. There are coal deposits in the south of England. 2. Study the following words and word combinations. Read, translate and retell the text using them. to comprise – to include especially within a particular scope; desolate – devoid of inhabitants and visitors; cliff – a very steep, vertical, or overhanging face of rock, earth, or ice; shallow – having little depth; indentation – an angular cut in an edge; to facilitate – to make easier; to reach – to stretch out; to determine – to fix conclusively or authoritatively; eastward – toward the east; navigable – deep enough and wide enough to afford passage to ships. The British Isles The British Isles consist of two main islands: Great Britain and Ireland. These and over five hundred small islands are known collectively as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Their total area is some 94, 250 square miles. Great Britain proper comprises England, Wales and Scotland. The southern part of the isle of Ireland is the Irish Republic (or Eire). 163

Britain is comparatively small, but there is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found in so small a compass. There are wild desolate mountains in the northern Highlands of Scotland – the home of the deer and the eagle – that are as lonely as any in Norway. There are flat tulip fields round the Fens – a blaze of colour in spring that would make you think you were in Holland. Within a few miles of Manchester and Sheffield you can be in glorious heather-covered moors. Once the British Isles were part of the mainland of Europe – the nearest point is across the Strait of Dover, where the chalk cliffs of Britain are only twenty-two miles from those of France. The seas round the British Isles are shallow. The North Sea is nowhere more than 600 feet deep, so that if St. Paul’s Cathedral were put down in any part of it some of the cathedral would still be above water. This shallowness is in some ways an advantage. Shallow water is warmer than deep water and helps to keep the shores from extreme cold. It is, too, the home of millions of fish, and more than a million tons are caught every year. You have noticed on the map how deeply indented the coast line is. This indentation gives a good supply of splendid harbours for ships; and you will note, too, that owing to the shape of the country there is no point in it that is more than seventy miles from the sea – a fact that has greatly facilitated the export of manufactures and has made the English race a sea-loving one.

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On the north-west the coasts are broken by high rocky cliffs. This is especially noticeable in north-west Scotland, where you have long winding inlets (called “lochs”) and a great many islands. In Scotland you have three distinct regions. There is, firstly, the Highlands, and then there is the central plain or Low-lands. Finally there are the southern uplands, “the Scott country”, with their gently rounded hills where the sheep wander. Here there are more sheep to the square mile than anywhere in the British Isles. In England and Wales all the high land is in the west and northwest. The south-eastern plain reaches the west coast only at one or two places – at the Bristol Channel and by the mouths of the rivers Dee and Mersey. In the north you find the Cheviots separating England from Scotland, the Pennines going down England like backbone and the 165

Cumbrian mountains of the Lake District, one of the loveliest (and the wettest) parts of England. In the west are the Cambrian Mountains which occupy the greater part of Wales. The south-eastern part of England is a low-lying land with gentle hills and a coast which is regular in outline, sandy or muddy, with occasional chalk cliffs, and inland a lovely pattern of green and gold – for most of England’s wheat is grown here – and brown plough-land with pleasant farms and cottages in their midst. Its rich brown soil is deeply cultivated – much of it is under wheat; fruit-growing is extensively carried on. A quarter of the sugar used in the country comes from sugarbeet grown there, but the most important crop is potatoes. The position of the mountains naturally determined the direction and length of the rivers, and the longest rivers, except the Severn and Clyde, flow into the North Sea, and even the Severn flows eastward or south-east for the greater part of its length. The rivers of Britain are of no great value as water-ways the longest, the Thames, is a little over 200 miles – and few of them are navigable except near the mouth for anything but the smaller vessels. In the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Tyne, Clyde, Tay, Forth and Bristol Avon are some of the greatest ports. (From “Essential English for Foreign Students” by C. E. Eckersley, Book 3, 1997. Adapted) 3. Answer the following questions based on text. 1. What do we call the group of islands situated to the north-west of Europe? 2. What are the names of the biggest islands? 3. Do the United Kingdom and Great Britain mean the same? 4. What countries are situated on the British Isles? What are their capitals? 5. What is Great Britain proper name? 6. What are the names of the waters washing the coasts of the British Isles? 7. Why do the English call the strait between Great Britain and the mainland the “Strait of Dover” and the French call it “Pas-de-Calais” (international term)? 8. What are the most important rivers in Great Britain? 9. What are the names of the chief mountain ranges on the island? 10. Where are the Cumbrian and the Cambrian Mountains situated? 4. Find the English equivalents in the text. 166

Складатись з; загальна площа; охоплювати; порівняно малий; різноманітність пейзажу; дикі покинуті гори; поля тюльпанів; за декілька миль від; вкритий вересом; материк; протока Дувр; мілкий; заглибина (виріз); добре забезпечення; внаслідок форми країни; помітний (гідний уваги); бухта; пагорби; блукати; досягати; гирло ріки; займати (територію); правильного контуру; водні шляхи, судноплавний. 5. Work in pairs. Explain in English what the words and word combinations from the text mean. Comparatively small; variety of scenery; wild desolate mountains; as lonely as any in Norway; a blaze of colour; owing to the shape of the country; long winding inlets; Highlands; Low-lands; gently rounded hills; the mouths of the river; the Lake District; gentle hills; regular in outline; plough-land; navigable; vessels; estuaries. 6. Fill in prepositions. Ask each other questions based on the information you have obtained from the text. When asking and answering the questions use the map. Just off the coast ... the mainland ... north-western Europe and only nineteen miles distant ... it ... the nearest point lies the small group ... islands known as the British Isles. The British Isles include Great Britain, Ireland and a number ... small islands. Great Britain consists ... England, Scotland and Wales. The southern two thirds ... Ireland are occupied ... the Irish Republic which borders ... Northern Ireland. Great Britain is a region ... varied lowlands, rolling hills and few mountains. Although the highest peak, Ben Nevis ... the Grampians ... Scotland, rises ... 4,400 feet, such-heights seldom occur. The Pennine Range ... northern England rises only slightly ... 3,000 feet, as do the Cambrian Mountains ... Wales. ... the extreme south ... England are the famed chalk hills some ... which form the Dover Cliffs. The rivers ... the region are short and ... general flow ... the central and southern lowlands ... the surrounding seas. Many ... them are connected ... each other ... canals. The coasts ... the British Isles are washed ... the Atlantic Ocean, the Norwegian, North and Irish seas and two big channels (the English Channel and the North Channel). 7. Correct the wrong statements. 1. There are five different countries in the United Kingdom. 2. Altogether more than 56 million people live in Britain. 3. Northern Ireland is situated in the northern part of Britain. 167

4. The territory of the United Kingdom is about 422 square kilometers. 5. The capital of the country is London.

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