Great britain

Official name - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Status - Parliamentary Monarchy

Area - 244,100 square kilometres

Population - 56,000,000

Capital - London

Language - English

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on two large islands called the British Isles. Great Britain consists of Eng|and, Scotland and Wales. Ireland consists of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

No place in Great Britain is far from the sea. This little country has eastern, southern, and western coasts. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern Sea and the Irish Sea. It also has many good harbours within easy reach of any part of the country. England's fisheries are famous. West winds from the Atlantic Ocean bring rain and make English winters mild. They are the reason why the climate of the British Isles is normally mild.

Great Britain is a highly-developed industrial country. The old fields of industry are shipbuilding, coal-mining, textiles and metallurgical industries and new ones are electronics and electrical engineering, chemicals, aircraft, and automobile industries. All of them are very important for Great Britain. The largest cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Oxford and Cambridge are University cities.

Great Britain has 55 counties.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. The Queen is formally the head of the state. But in fact the country is ruled by a Cabinet headed by P.M. - responsible to Parliament which consists of two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government.

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LONDON

London, one of the greatest cities in the world, is the capital of Great Britain and a cradle of British tradition and culture.

London, with a population of more than 8 million people, is the largest city in the world after Токіо and New York. It stands on the banks of the river Thames. The historical center of London is the City.

The City is the financial centre of the United Kingdom. Here you can

find St. Paul's Cathedral. Not far from it is the tallest column which was

built by Sir Christopher Wren in memory of the Great Fire of London in

1666. it is 61 meters high. Fleet Street is famous for the newspaper

offices of the "Financial Times", the "Daily Telegraph" and others.

The Houses of Parliament stretch along the Thames's North Bank. The Union Jack (the Flag of the U. K.) flies from Victoria Tower only when Parliament is in session. Big Ben, the famous clock, is also in one of the Houses of Parliament's Towers. Near Parliament, in Westminster Abby, is Poet's corner containing the tombs and monuments of famous poets, writers and musicians: Chaucer, Milton, Dickens, Handel and many others.

One of the best known museums is the British Museum, with its library, reading room and collection of manuscripts.

The National Gallery, which has one of the world's greatest art collection is in Trafalgar Square. Nelson's Column is also in this square.

The biggest department stores can be found in Oxford Street. Bend Street is famous for its elegant shops.

There are some parts of London which have distinctive features. For example, the West End is famous for fashionable shopping and entertainment centres; the East End is an industrial district; Westminster is the place for government offices; the City is a financial centre; and Soho is known for international (Greek_s Italian, lndian) restaurants and many entertainments.

London has a number of fine parks and gardens, such as Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Covent Garden. There are very many theatres, concert halls and cinemas in the capital.

The world's oldest underground railway system called the "Tube", is still one of the largest in the world. It has more than 275 stations. The famous red "doubledeckers " are also an important part of the

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public transport system, London, rich in history and culture, parks and shops, always welcomes its visitors.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Official name - The United States Of America (the USA)

Status - A Federal Republic; a Union of 50 States

Area - 9,364,000 square kilometres

Population - 232,000,000

Capital - Washington

Language - English is the official and predominant language

The United States is one of the largest countries in the world. The United States and Canada are almost twins in size. But Canada is a little bigger.

The whole name of the United States is the United States of America. For short, the country is often called the USA. There are fifty states and the District of Columbia.

The United States of America lies in the central part of the North American continent between the two oceans, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific to the west. Thus ships can sail from the United States ports to the Indian Ocean by way of either the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean. Canada to the north and Mexico to the south are the only countries bordering on the United States.

The USA consists of three separate parts. These are the Hawaiian islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by Canadian territory and the rest, the major part of the USA. The states differ very much in size, population and economic development.

The USA is a country of great diversity. This is due to its geographical features, weather, landscapes and the ways of living.

The Great Rocky Mountains run north and south. Some of them form a divide between rivers that flow westward and those that flow towards the Atlantic or its arm, the Gulf of Mexico.

On the East of this divide there are two world's longest rivers. One is the famous Mississippi. The Missouri, one of the Mississippi's many long tributaries, is about as long as the Mississippi.

There are many big cities and towns in the USA. New York, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles are the biggest.

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The United States was developed from a number of English colonies. After a long eight-year struggle (1775-1783) the colonists gained their independence. The American colonists were led by a talented soldier, George Washington, who later became the first president of the USA. The capital was named after him.

The USA is a highly developed industrialized country. It has very powerful industries, advanced technologies and science. Electronic and electric engineering, transport, communication and machine-tool industries can be found almost in all large cities of the USA.

The USA is a federal republic.

The Government of the US is composed of three branches -

executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch sees that

laws are carried out. The legislative branch makes new laws. And the

judicial branch makes sure that the laws and actions of other

branches agree with the Constitution.

In the White House the president carries out his many duties as the head of the executive branch of the government. He appoints cabinet members, each of whom becomes the head of a very important governmental department.

Not far from the White House stands the Capitol. Here Congress, the legislative branch of the government, meets to make laws to govern the country. The Senate and the House of Representatives form the Congress.

WASHINGTON

The beautiful city of Washington D. C. is the capital of the United States and the centre of its government. In white stone and marble buildings surrounded by green parks, thousands of people work there for the national government.

The city was founded in 1790 and named after the first US president. !t was built according to a preliminary plan.

The city's' industry is not well developed because its maintain output consists of laws and government decisions. Washington is the residence of the President and the seat of the Congress of the United States and of all government departments arid other institutions.

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Washington is a large scientific and cultural centre where there are many research institutes, five universities, the National Academy, of Science and the Library of Congress. There are also two very important buildings in Washington: the Capitol (the seat of the Congress) and the White House (the President's residence).

The third well-known building - Pentagon, the residence of the US military Department, is situated in the suburbs to the south of the Potomac. It has the shape of five huge concentric regular pentagons. Because of its size it could not be built in the city.

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TESTS

TEST 1

1. Прочитайте текст та дайте відповідь на питання. POLITICAL PARTIES OF GREAT BRITAIN

1. Britain has a two-party system. From 1832 \o 1918 the dominant parties were the Conservatives on the one hand and the Whigs or Liberals on the other. Later the Labour party backed up by trade unions replaced the Liberals as the main party of reform, and since 1924 the political scene has been dominated by the Conservative and Labour parties.

2. The Conservative party of the Tories is the party supported traditionally by the rich and the privileged - the monopolists and landowners. It expresses the interests and views of the propertied class.

3. The formation of the Labour party at the beginning qf the century was a victory of the labour movement. But Labour Government showed no radical change in the policy from the Tories. From the very beginning there were two main trends within the party -the left socialist trend represented by the party's rank-and-file members, and the right-wing trend represented by the party's top leadership, in fact, it's sometimes extremely difficult to tell the difference between the Labour and the Conservative policies.

4. At the present day political scene is a combination of various political partias: the Conservatives, the Labours, the Social-Democratic party, the Liberals and the Communists. The membership and parliamentary representation of the Liberal party today is almost insignificant, although it does play a certain role in tipping the scales between the two largest parties: the Labour and the Conservatives.

5. The main way in whjch people exert influence over government is through political parties. These parties organize opinion on national issues, formulating policies which they feel will meet the wishes of as many people as possible.

1. What are the main political parties in Great Britain?

2. What are the dominant parties in modern Britain?

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3. Is the role of the Liberal party today insignificant?

4. There is little difference between the Labour party and the Conservative policies, isn' there?

5. What is the ruling party in Great Britain now?

II. Письмово перекладіть текст.

III. За суфіксом визначте і виберіть 1) Іменники;

2) прикметники; 3) дієслова; 4) прислівники.

traditionally, landowner, formation, radical, movement, leadership, exactly, conservative, combination, political, powerful, influential, membership, representative, insignificant, social, strengthen.

IV. Визначте видо-часові форми дієслова в данних реченнях.

1. The Queen has opened the session of Parliament with a throne speech.

2. The Cabinet was developed from the Queen's Privy Council. 3. The Cabinet consists of 16 to 24 ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. 4. Members of the House of Commons are passing into the lobbies to show which way they are voting. 5. If a bill has a majority of votes in the House of Commons it will go before the House of Lords.

V. Перетворіть речення з пасивного стану в активний.

1. The Liberals were replaced by the Labour party. 2. Since 1924 the political scene of Great Britain has been dominated by the Conservatives and the Liberals. 3. The Conservatives are traditionally supported by the rich and the privileged. 4. Finally a bill will be signed by the Queen. 5. A bill is being discussed in the House of Commons now.

VI. Перекладіть речення з модальними дієсловами та їх еквівалентами.

1. A broad democratic alliance must be built. 2. The sitting is to take place in 10 Downing Street. 3. They should participate in the movement aiming to bring about fundamental change. 4. The Liberals couldn't prevent the establishments of the Labour party. 5. Every right enjoyed by the British working class had to be won in the course of bitter struggle. 6. Each constituency is able to elect only one member to Parliament.

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VII. Виберіть необхідні займенники з даних у дужках.

1. I have not seen him for (some, any) years. 2. Is (something, anything) wrong with my papers? 3. (Everybody, somebody) should know his rights and enjoy them. 4. For more than seventy years we knew (anything, nothing) about the true history of our country. 5. You can take this book at (some, any) library.

VIII. Поставте присудок в додаткових реченнях в необхідну видо-часову форму, вважаючи на правило узгодження часу.

1. Newspapers reported that session (to begin) its work two weeks later. 2. He wondered if the committee (to discuss) ail the questions on the agenda. 3.She said she (to phone) from the office then. 4. I thought it (to-be) a financial bill.

TEST II

І. Прочитайте текст та дайте відповідь на питання.

ELECTIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN

1. The maximum life of the House of Commons has been restricted to five years since the Parliament Act 1911. The franchise (right to vote) became universal for men in the nineteenth century. Women's suffrage came in two stages (1918 and 1928).

2. For parliamentary elections the United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies of roughly equal population. The average constituency contains about .60,000 registered votes. Any British citizen from the age of 18 registered as an elector for the constituency elects a single member to the House of Commons.

3. Voting is on the same day (usually on Thursday) in all constituencies, and voting stations are open from 7 in the morning till 9 in the evening. Each voter ha! only one vote, if he knows that he will be unable to vote, because he is ill or has moved away or must be away on business, he may apply in advance to be allowed to send his vote by post. Voting is not compulsory. But in the autumn of each year every householder, is obliged by law to enter on the register of electors the name of every resident who is entitled to vote. Much work is done to

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ensure that the register is complete and accurate. It's only possible to vote at the polling station appropriate to one's address.

4. As in Britain the political scene is dominated by the Conservatives and the Labour Party, in every constituency each of these parties has a local organization which first task is to choose the candidate and which then helps him to conduct his local campaign. Any British subject can be nominated as a candidate, there is no need to live in the area, though peers, clergymen, lunatics and felons in prison are disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons.

5. There are usually more than two candidates for each seat. The candidate who wins the" most votes is elected. This practice is known as the majority electoral system.

1. How often are the elections held in Great Britain?

2. How many constituencies are there in the United Kingdom?

3. Are electors allowed to vote by post?

4. Is voting compulsory?

5. Who can be nominated as a candidate at the election?

6. What's "the majority electoral system"?

II. Письмово перекладіть текст.

III. За суфіксом визначте і виберіть 1) іменники; 2) прик-­ метники; 3) дієслова; 4) прислівники.

Restriction, universal, parliamentary, elections, roughly, population, equally, constituency, Parliament, station, voter, compulsory, householder, elector, accurate, appropriate, organization, conservative, local, majority, electoral, broaden.

IV. Визначте видо-часові форми дієслова в данних реченнях.

1. People did not realize the importance of this problem few years ago.

2. Only by the beginning of the 20th century "the actual evidence of the strength of the British labour movement had appeared. 3. I think he has achieved' great success in his studies. 4. Economic cooperation with foreign countries is gaining a growing importance now. 5. We shall discuss new aspects of privatization at the next seminar.

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V. Перетворіть речення з активного стану в пасивний.

1. The Parliament Act 1911 has restricted the life of the House of Commons. 2. Electoral law divides the United Kingdom into 650 constituencies. 3. Each constituency will elect a single member to the House of Commons. 4. The authorities allowed their electors to send votes by post. 5. The committee is still discussing the bill.

VI. Перекладіть речення з модальними дієсловами та їх еквівалентами.

1. Any British citizen from the age of 18 can be registered as an elector for the constituency. 2. if a person is unable to vote because he is ill he may be allowed to vote by post. 3. To be a candidate a person needn't live in the area. 4. Every householder must enter on the register of electors the names of all residents who can vote. 5. During the cold war Europe had to choose between another war or peaceful coexistence. 6. Each member of the General Assembly is to vote only once.

VII. Виберіть необхідні займенники з даних у дужках.

1. At present (some, any) person Knows almost everything about this phenomenon. 2. He is absent today, I'm afraid (something, anything) has happened to him. 3. (Some, any) centuries ago people did not know (anything, nothing) about electricity. 4. I'm sorry, I could not find (something, anything) in this article.

VIII. Поставте присудок в додаткових реченнях в необхідну видо-часову форму, зважаючи на правило узгодження часу.

t. She said she (to be) a first-year .student of the Law Faculty. 2. They hoped they (tor become) qualified specialists in the future. 3. My friend told me he already (to translate) the article. 4. I knew he (to be going) on a business trip.

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ПЕРЕДМОВА ....З

UNIT 1 ……….............. 4

UNIT 2..... ……………………………………11

UNIT З . . 18

READING MATERIAL... ..25

TESTS…. ...... 30

Навчальне видання

Англійська мова

Навчальний посібник для студентів-заочників 1 курсу Частина II

Укладачі Почуева Валентина Вікторівна Сазаноаа Лариса Сергійовна

Редактор С.О.Осятмнський

Підп. до друку 06.09,97. Формат 60x90/16, Папір газетний. Друк офсетний. Ум. друк. арк. 2,0. Обл.-вид. арк. 2,2. Тираж 500 прим. Замов.

Дільниця оперативного друку Університету внутрішніх справ. '310080, Харків, пр.50 річчя СРСР, 27.

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