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THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
The United Kingdom (abbreviated from "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is the official name of the country which consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (sometimes known as Ulster).
Great Britain is the name of the island which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, whereas the British Isles is the geographical name of all the Islands off the North West coast of the European continent (Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). In everyday speech "Britain" is used to mean "The United Kingdom" (U.K.).
The flag of Great Britain is known as the Union Jack. The flag has the red cross of St. George of England, the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland, and the red cross of St Patrick of Ireland, all on the blue background.
The anthem of the country is "God Save the Queen/ King".
The formation of U.K. took centuries, and a lot of armed struggle was involved. During 1,000 years there were many invasions. The Romans who had come from Italy gave the country its name. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from Germany. The Vikings arrived from Denmark and Norway. The Normans invaded from France. The English are the descendants of all the invaders. These factors explain many differences to be found between 
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The differences in education, religion and the legal systems, but most obviously, in language.
If you look at the map of the world, you'll see the British Isles lie off the North-West coast of the continent of Europe. The biggest island is Great Britain. It is about 600 miles from the South to the North, and 300 miles across in the widest part. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the North, by the Irish Sea on the West, and is separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The Thames, the Severn, the Clyde, the Trent, the Mersey are chief rivers of the country.
The island of Great Britain can be roughly divided into two main regions — Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. The most well-known mountains and chains are the Pennine Chain, the Northern Highlands which contain Ben Nevis, the highest point of the British Isles.
Britain has a temperate climate due to the. influence of Gulf Stream. The weather is very changeable and it is the favourite topic for conversation in Britain.
The population of the United Kingdom is 56.2 mln people. Greater London, the South-East and the South are the most densely populated areas of Britain. Four out of every five people live in towns.
The United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy. The legislative body is the Parliament which consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The executive body is the Cabinet of Ministers which is the government. It is headed by the Prime Minister. The head of the state is a king or a queen since 1952. In general the queen reigns but does not rule. She has many duties, among them she has to make regular visits to foreign countries, to signify the formalities of the monarchy and many others.
I think, it is necessary to add some words about British character. Englishmen are naturally polite and are never tired of saying "Thank you" and "I'm sorry". They are generally disciplined, you will never hear a loud talk in the street. Englishmen do not show their emotions even in tragic situations. They seem to remain good-tempered and cheerful under difficulties. They like animals very much. There are 4 mln dogs, 6 mln cats, 8 mln caged birds and lots of other animals in Britain.
The inhabitants of Great Britain are famous for their customs and traditions. "Custom is almost a second nature", said Plutarch. It's true as for the British.
to abbreviate - сокращать; to mean - значить; isle - остров; coast— побережье; wide- широкий; to wash - омывать; to separate from - отделять от; chief - главный; roughly -грубо; mountain chain - горный хребет; influence - влияние; frequent - частый; densely-populated - густонаселенный; cross - крест; background - фон; anthem - гимн; god-бог; to save- спасать; queen - королева; king — король; currency- валюта; pound- фунт; - invasion- вторжение; descendant- потомок; legal - юридический; royal - королевский; to head— возглавлять; to make a visit — наносить визит; to signify - означать,сообщать; monarchy - монархия; polite— вежливый; loud- громкий; inhabitant - житель; customs - обычаи
СПИСОК ИМЕН СОБСТВЕННЫХ
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Объединенное Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии; England - Англия; Scotland - Шотландия; Wales
- Уэльс; Northern Ireland - Северная Ирландия; Ulster - Ольстер; Britain - Британия; Italy- Италия; Germany - Германия; Denmark - Дания; Norway - Норвегия; France - Франция; British Isles - Британские острова; Great Britain - Великобритания; Europe - Европа; the Atlantic Ocean - Атлантический океан; the Irish Sea — Ирландское море;
the North Sea - Северное море; the English Channel - Английский пролив (Ла-Манш); the Thames - Темза; the Severn - Северн; the Clyde - Клайд; the Trent - Трент; the Mersy -Мерси; the Pennine Chain - Аппеннины; Ben Nevis - Бен Невис
УПРАЖНЕНИЯ
I. Ответьте на вопросы.
1. What is the official name of the country?
2. What is the anthem of the country?
3. What is the population of the UK?
4. What are the longest rivers in Great Britain?
5. What are the well-known mountains and chains of Great Britain? ,
6. Has Britain a temperate climate or a tropical one?
7. Who is the head of the state?
8. Englishmen are polite, aren't they?
9. Why do you think that the English are fond of animals?
II. Переведите следующие словосочетания на русский язык.
Abbreviated from, official name, geographical name, in everyday speech, red cross, anthem "God save the King", currency, many invasions, descendants of the invaders, legal system, most obviously, north-west coast, to be washed by, to be separated from the continent, chief rivers, can roughly be divided, highest point, due to the influence of, to be changeable, favourite topic for conversation, the most densely populated area, four out of every five people, royal family, to be headed by, duties, among them, at last, to be naturally polite, to be never tired of saying, to be generally disciplined, a loud talk, to show emotions, caged birds, to be famous for customs and traditions, custom is almost a second nature.
III. Подберите подходящие по смыслу слова, используя подсказку внизу.
1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of E... , S... , W... and N... I...
2. The most d... populated a... of Britain are G… London, the South ... and the S...
3. The island of Great Britain can be r... divided into two main regions - L... Britain and H... Britain.
4. The a... is "God Save The Queen".
5. The flag has the red c... , the white c... all on the blue b...
6. The Severn, the Thames, the Clyde, the Trent, the Mersy are c... rivers in the country.
7. Britain has a t... climate due to the i... of Gulf-Stream.
8. The Queen r... but does not r...
(anthem, England, cross, chief, temperate, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, reigns, areas, densely, Greater, East, influence, rule, South, roughly, Lowland, Highland, background).
IV. Дополните части предложения конкретными фактами. Как это будет звучать по-английски?
1. Если вы посмотрите на карту мира, вы увидите, что Британские острова лежат на ...
2. Гимн страны - ...
3. Наиболее известные горы и горные хребты - это ...
4. 
Погода часто меняется и поэтому является любимой темой для ...
5. Население Великобритании составляет ....
6. В настоящее время королевскую семью возглавляет ...
7. Власть королевы ограничена парламентом, состоящим из Палаты лордов и Палаты общин, вот почему принято говорить, что королева царствует, но не ...
8. Англичане никогда не устают говорить ...
9. Англичане не любят показывать своих чувств даже в ...
10. Плутарх сказал , что обычай-это ...
V. Предлоги потерялись, помогите восстановить предложения.
1. The Romans who came ... Italy gave ... the country its name. . .
2. The English are descendants ... all the invaders.
3. These factors explain many differences to be found ... England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
4. If you look,... the map ... the world, you'll see the British Isles He ... the north-west coast... the continent ... Europe.
5. The Island of Great Britain can roughly be divided ... two main regions.
6. The weather is the favourite topic ... conversation - Britain.
7. ... present the British royal family is headed ... Queen Elizabeth who has many duties.
8. There are 4 mln dogs, 6 mln cats, 8 mln caged birds and lots ... other animals ... Britain.
9. The inhabitants ... Great Britain are famous ... their customs and traditions.
10. It's true as ... the British.
VI. Прочитайте текст.
THE ROYAL FAMILY
At present tine British Royal family is headed by Queen Elizabeth. When the Queen was born on April 21, 1926, her grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle was his heir. The death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle brought her father to the throne as King George VI.
As a child she studied constitutional history and law as well as art and music. In addition she learned to ride and acquired her enthusiasm for horses. As she grew older she began to take part in public life, making her first broadcast at the age of 14.
The marriage of the young Princess Elizabeth to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh took place in November 1947. She came to the throne after her father's death in 1952 and was crowned in Westminster Abbey in June 1953.
Regular visits to foreign countries are among Queen Elizabeth's many duties. The Queen has done much to signify the formalities of the monarchy, including allowing the BBC to make a documentary film about the everyday life of the royal family. She also started the tradition of the "walk about", an informal feature of an otherwise formal royal visit, when she walks among the public crowds and stops to talk to some people.
The Queen's heir is Charles, Prince of Wales, who was born in 1948, married Lady Diana Spenser and has two children, Prince William and Prince Harry. The Prince of Wales is well-known as a keen promoter of British interests. It was a shock to the public when Diana divorced her husband.
The Queen's other children are Princess Ann (born in 1950), Prince Andrew (born in 1960) and Prince Eduard (born in 1964). Ann, Princess Royal, has acquired a reputation of being arrogant, but in, recent years has become quite popular 'with the general public.
The Queen Mother, the widow of the late King George VI, celebrated her ninetieth birthday in 1990 and continued to carry out many public engagements every year. The Queen's only sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snow-don, is one of the most unconventional members of the royal family. She is well-known for her charity work, including her support of Barbados, the Girl Guides association, and the St. John Ambulance Brigade.
heir - наследник; abdication- отречение (от престола); enthusiasm - восторг, энтузиазм; to grow older - повзрослеть; to make one's broadcast - выступать в радиопередаче; duke - герцог; to crown - короновать; welfare- благосостояние; tо signify —значить, означать; feature— важная примета; keen promoter - ярый защитник; to carry out - выполнять
VII. Выполните следующие задания.
1. What's your attitude to the Royal power? Why do Englishmen say that their Queen reigns but doesn't rule? Prove your point of view.
2. What do you know about the geographical position of U.K.?
3. How does the climate of the British Isles influence the so-called (так называемый) British character? Prove your point of view.
4. Ask your friend about the history of Great Britain and the reasons that influenced a lot of differences between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Text 4
LONDON
Oh, I'd like to say that my dream is to visit London, the capital of the United Kingdom. I have read a lot of books about different countries and their capitals, and about London in particular. Sometimes I simply close ray eyes and start travelling.
A visit to London is full of surprises. The moment your plane touches the ground you feel that the English you had been learning or had been taught is not the English that is generally spoken because the Englishmen speak very fast and sometimes ignore grammar rules.
London is very different, it has many faces. You can find there beautiful red brick buildings and dirty ones that look like prisons, busy squares and narrow streets, big shops and small ones, full of old clothes. Past and present, old and modern, richness and poverty, beauty and ugliness. Even the traffic keeps to the left. You need time to get used to it.
London is full of customs and traditions. It was founded as a Roman fortification on the Thames river. In 1665 there was a terrible plague in London, so many people left the city. In 1666 the Great Fire of London put an end to the plague but 
destroyed much of the city. A new city rose from the ashes. The reconstruction culminated in the completion of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1711. From then the population rapidly increased in the capital.
Today the metropolis of Greater London Covers 610 square miles (1580 sq.km) and has a population of over 6, 7 million. One of its distinctive features is that it has a number of centres: the financial and business centre called the City, the shopping and entertainment centre, in the West End, and the government centre in Westminster.
There are many interesting places in the capital of Great Britain. Those who visited London advised to begin with the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. They are the" musts'".
Westminster Abbey is the crowning and burial place of British Monarchs. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, the Bronte sisters, Burns, Dickens and many others were buried there. One more touching symbol of nation's grief is the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. Trafalgar Square where the famous Nelson Column stands is the memory about Nelson's great victory. It's interesting to know that the column is situated in the geographical centre of the city. This square is always open for public meetings and demonstrations.
In London people like to take the tube or the famous red double deckers, that have two platforms (or decks) for passengers. Bright-red, they look very nice in the grey streets of London. There are also green one-storeyed buses, they run from London to the countryside. You can also see brown buses in the streets of London, which belong to British railway, Only one quarter of the, mileage of the underground is actually underground. The rest is on the surface. The underground network is the most confusing for a stranger even with a map.
London is a big cultural centre. There are many theatres, among them the Covent Garden, cinemas, dancing halls and clubs. There are also street musicians in London. By law, buskers (as they are called) are not allowed to sing or play in the streets of London. But many of the policemen allow the buskers to entertain people.
"It's all part of London", they say.
At last, our time for visiting London is coming to an end. To my regret, I need to return from my trip to the city of my dream. But I believe that one day my dream to visit London will come true.
dream - мечта; in particular - в частности; to touch - прикоснуться; brick - кирпич; dirty — грязный; prison - тюрьма; narrow - узкий; poverty - бедность; ugliness - уродство; fortification - укрепление; plague - чума; to destroy - разрушить; ashes - зола, пепел; metropolis - столица; distinctive feature — отличительная черта; entertainment - развлечения; "musts" - здесь то, что обязательно нужно посетить; to crown - короновать; to bury - хоронить; grief - горе; grave - могила; column - колонна; tube - метро; double decker - автобус в два этажа; to belong to - принадлежать; surface— поверхность; network - сеть; confusing - запутанный; busker - уличный музыкант; to allow – позволять