1 Read the following words paying attention to the Indefinite Article:

a unit

a name

a union

a capital

a sea

a river

a European country

an exercise

an ocean

an article

an official

an abbreviation

an industry

an English word

It is an English word. It is a European country. That made Great Britain a commercial and maritime power.

I know it's a constitutional monarchy. It consists of a few counties.

2 Read the following words paying attention to the Definite Article pronounced as [дэ] and [di]:

the UK

the United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland

the country

the county

the list of the counties

the geographical position

the north - in the north

the south - in the south

the east - in the east

the west - in the west

the North Sea

the Atlantic Ocean

the English Channel

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a monarchy.

The country was formed by the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 (eighteen oh one).

Southern Ireland broke away from the Union in 1921 (nineteen twenty one).

3 Match the figures and words:

1801 1921 1284 1707 244,046km 94,201m 1,801m

twelve eighty four eighteen oh one seventeen oh seven nineteen twenty one ninety-four thousand, two hundred (and) one miles one thousand, eight hundred (and) one miles two hundred and forty-four thousand, forty-six kilometres

4 Give answers to the following questions:

(1) What is the geographical position of the UK?

(2) How big is the UK?

(3) How was it formed historically?

(4) What are the other names of the UK?

(5) What is the most official name of the country?

(6) Is it correct to call the whole of the country England?

(7)Which counties seem familiar to you?

5 Sum up what the text says about the administrative division of the United Kingdom.

6 Write down the names of the counties:

ending in shire

ending in land

with the word isle

with the word east

with the word west

with the word mid

7 Write down the names of:

the main rivers of the UK, the three parts of the UK which are located on the same island

Text 2: Industry and agriculture of the uk

In the past English industrial prosperity rested on a few im­portant products, such as textiles, coal and heavy machinery. Now the UK has a great variety of industries, for example: heavy and light industry, chemical, aircraft, electrical, auto­mobile and many other industries. The United Kingdom is considered one of the world's major manufacturing nations. Now high technology industries are more developed than heavy engineering. Heavy engineering and other traditional industries have experienced a certain decline. Certain areas are traditionally noted for various types of in­dustries. For instance, Newcastle is famous for coal industry, the county of Lancashire for its textile industry. The Mid­lands, or the central counties of England, are famous for the production of machinery, coal, motor cars and chemicals. In recent times regional industrial distinctions have become less clear as more and more new factories are built in the different parts of the country.

Speaking about the cities of the United Kingdom the first mention should be made of London, the capital of the UK. It is a big port on the River Thames, a major commercial, indus­trial centre.

Leeds is a centre of clothing industry producing woolen arti­cles. Glasgow is a major port on the River Clyde where ship­building industry is developed. Liverpool on the River Mersey is a flour milling and engineering centre. Birmingham is an iron and steel centre. Manchester is famous for textiles manu­facturing.

Three-quarters of the United Kingdom's land is dedicated to agriculture. About two per cent of the population of the United Kingdom are engaged in agriculture, but the yields of English farms and pastures are very high. Wheat, barley, oats and potatoes are the most important crops grown. Sheep, cat­tle and pigs are the most numerous types of livestock. Sheep is a source of both wool for textile industry and mutton for food industry. Mutton is the best liked English meat.