Comprehension

Exercise 1. Fill in the gaps in the following text with proper names.

The archipelago off the West coast of Northern Europe, comprising more than 5,500 islands is called ________. _________ is the largest island of this archipelago; the second largest is called _________. The country which occupies the largest part of these islands is called the UK, which stands for ___________ . The UK consists of four distinct political divisions - ________, ________ , ________ and _______. Unofficially the country is also known as __________.

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions about the state symbols of the UK:

1. What is the flag of the UK usually called?

2. What does the flag consist of?

3. Why is the flag of Wales not represented in the state flag?

4. What is depicted on the shield of the coat of arms?

5. Who are the supporters of the shield? What do they symbolise?

6. What are the mottoes inscribed on the coat of arms? What is their history?

7. How is the Scottish variant of the coat of arms different from the main one?

8. What is the anthem of the UK called?

Exercise 3. Match the parts of the country with their capitals:

1. Scotland	a. London
2. Wales	b. Belfast
3. England	c. Edinburgh
4. Northern Ireland	d. Cardiff

Exercise 4. Which parts of the UK do these plants symbolize?

A

B

C

D

Exercise 5. Match the part of the country with its patron saint and its national day:

England	St Patrick	23rd April
Wales	St George	30th November
Scotland	St Andrew	17th March
Northern Ireland	St David	1st March

Exercise 6. Show on the map:

• The Atlantic Ocean; the North Sea; the Irish Sea; the English Channel; the Straight of Dover; St George's Channel; the North Channel;

• Rivers in England;

• Rivers in Scotland;

• Rivers in Wales;

• Rivers in Northern Ireland.

Exercise 7. Fill in the table:

	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland
The longest river
The largest lake
The highest mountain

Exercise 8. Show on the map:

1. The mountain ranges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;

2. The biggest cities in all the four parts of the country;

3. The islands belonging to the UK.

Exercise. 9. Fill in the missing information about climate in the UK:

The current climate of the United Kingdom is classified as ______. One of the principle factors which influence the climate is the warming of the waters around the British Isles by the ______.The average annual amount of sunshine for the United Kingdom is relatively low and around 50% of days are ______.

Average annual rainfall exceeds 1 100 mm. The mountains of Wales, Scotland, the Pennines and the Lake District are particularly _____, with rainfall reaching 3 000 mm a year. In contrast, the south, south east, east and the southern midlands receive less than 600 mm of _____ per year. The wettest seasons are ______ and _______.

Generally the UK has mild to cool _____ and warm to hot _____ with moderate variation in temperature throughout the year. In England the average annual temperature is about 10 °C, but over the higher ground this can be several degrees lower. _______ and _______ are often the coldest months, with mean winter temperature of 0°C and the recorded minimum _______ °C. ______ tends to be the warmest month and the highest temperature recorded was ______ °C. However, the average for this month is 15-20°C.

Exercise 10. Answer the following questions:

1. What mineral resources does the UK have?

2. What is the population of the UK?

3. What are the major racial and national groups leaving in the country?

4. What languages are spoken in the UK? Is there a state language?

5. What is the population of London?

Exercise 11. Characterize the branches of the country’s economy:

1. agriculture

2. fishing

3. manufacturing

4. services

5. creative industries

6. transport

Exercise 12. What do you know about these places in London?

Buckingham palace; Hyde Park; Houses of Parliament; Trafalgar Square; Tower of London; the City; Oxford Street; Fleet Street; the West End; the East End; Kensington Gardens; Piccadilly Circus; the British Museum; St Paul's Cathedral; the Globe Theatre; Wimbledon; Tower Bridge.

What other places of interest in London do you know?

Exercise 13. Revision. What do the following words, phrases and figures refer to?

Heathrow	Eros	Union Jack	Eire	The Square Mile
Cymru	Channel Tunnel	388 km2	23rd April	Great Britain
Severn	346 km	Slieve Donard	Sir Christopher Wren	St Andrews
1 344 m	Loch Lomond	38,5 °C	rose	harp
Hebrides	sheep	Speaker’s Corner	354 km	the Isle of Man
about 59 million	Dieu et mot droit	Big Ben	Glasgow	William the Conqueror