Scotland

The ocean washes Scotland on all sides except for its southern border with England. The country may be divided into the Highlands and the Lowlands.

The highest peak in the Highlands and in all Britain is Ben Nevis (1343 m). During the winter months there is usually enough snow for skiing. The east coast is drier than the west.

Scotland is famous the world over as a land of beautiful scenery – of hills and valleys, beaches and charming fishing villages. Fishing remains an important activity in Scotland.

Scotland has about one-third of Britain’s total agricultural land. But modern Scotland is also a land of steel and ships, coal and iron. Other traditional manufactures, such as high quality tweeds and other textiles, and food and drink products, remain important. The electronics sector has greatly contributed to the country’s development.

Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since 1437. It is a wonderful city, situated in one of the most beautiful settings in the world, between the sea and the hills. It is a city of classical architecture and of numerous historic and literary associations.

1. What does the territory of Scotland look like?

2. What climate does it have?

3. What industries is it known for?

4. What is the capital of Scotland?

14. Give the name to the text. Put 10 questions to it:

People abroad often have very fixed ideas about the British – they are cold. Reserved, aristocratic, lazy, etc. Many people believe that half Britain is always on strike, and the other half wears a suit, a bowler hat and carries an umbrella. But the British people are different from any fixed idea you may have.

One thing British people share is a love of politeness. It is important to be polite in Britain, even to people you do not know. But their politeness is not always real.

English people are very tolerant, and you rarely see anyone turning round when a funny-dressed person walks through the streets. They are waiting patiently for buses, for their turn to be served. But the British do not like people who shout loudly in the street or push their way through crowds with their elbows. People don’t put on their best clothes on Sundays, but are relaxed and pleasantly untidy.

Englishmen are rather conservative, they love familiar things. England is full of small-scale and local conservatisms. Municipal corporations, universities, schools and societies have their own private traditions. Englishmen like to think that their private customs differentiate them from the rest of the world.

England is the land of law and order. Part of the English sense for law and order is a love of precedent.

The English are practical and realistic; they are infatuated with common sense. The English people are careful about almost everything. Their flower-beds are primly cultivated, their trees are neatly pruned. Everything is orderly. Drinks are carefully measured, seats in a cinema are carefully assigned, closing hours rigorously observed.

The British people are the world’s greatest tea drinkers. They drink a quarter of all the tea grown in the world each year.

*** Reading for fun

* An Englishmen, even when he’s alone, forms an orderly queue of one. (George Mikes)

* England is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, anomalies, hobbies, and humours. (George Santayana)

* England is a nation of shopkeepers. (Napoleon I)

* The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises eyes above him with anxiety. The Englishman lowers his eyes beneath him with satisfaction. (Alexis de Tocqueville)