Topic: great britain Topical Vocabulary

Continental Europe – Континентальная Европа

County – графство

Currency – валюта

Hereditary – передаваемый по наследству

Invasion – вторжение

Island - остров

Kingdom - королевство

Monarchy - монархия

The House of Commons – Палата Общин (в парламенте Великобритании)

The House of Lords – Палата Лордов (в парламенте Великобритании)

to enrich – обогащать

to inherit – унаследовать

to separate – разъединять

to unite – объединять

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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or UK) Is the political name of the country which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Several islands off the British coast are also part of the United Kingdom (for example the Isle of Wight, the Orkneys, Hebrides and Shetland, and the Isles of Scilly), although the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not. However, all these islands do recognize.

The Union Jack

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross (with the arms going into the corners) is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. David is patron saint of Wales.

Location

The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an island state: it occupies the territory of the British Isles and is composed of some 5.500 islands, large and small. The who main islands are: Great Britain (in which are England, Wales and Scotland) to the east and Ireland (in which are Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland) to the west. They are separated by the Irish Sea.

The UK is one of worlds smaller countries (it is twice as small as France or Spain), with an area of some 244,100 square kilometers.

Geographically, the islands of Great Britain is subdivided into two main regions-Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. Lowland Britain comprised southern and eastern England. Highland Britain consist of Scotland, most of Wales, the Pennines, and the Lake District. The Pennine Chain extends southward from the Cheviot Hills into the Midlands, a plains region with low hills and valleys. England is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills, running from east to west.

The highest mountains are in Scotland and Wales: Ben Nevis is 1,343 metres and Snowdon is 1,085 meters.

The largest cities of Great Britain are: London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds and Eginburgh. The most important ports are: London, Liverpool, Soutgempton, Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Climate

Its climate is generally mild and tempered because of the of the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water and air across the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico. The climate in the UK is usually described as cool, temperate and humid.

The weather is so changeable that the English often say that they have no climate but only weather. Therefore it is natural for them to use the comparison “as changeable as the weather” of a person who often change his mood or opinion about something. The weather is the favourite topic of conversation in the UK.

Sometimes it rains so heavily that say «Its raining cats and dogs».