Unit 5 lexiacal material: Great Britain

I. Read and translate the text

The UK

Hi, my name is Andrew. I am from the UK. The full name of my country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island. It is situated on the British Isles not far from Europe. It consists of the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of Ireland and a great number of small islands. If you look at the map of Europe you will see that Great Britain is not large. It takes 6 hours to travel in a fast train, from London, the capital of England, to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

There are 4 parts of Great Britain: England with the capital is London, Scotland with the capital Edinburgh, Wales with the capital is Cardiff and Northern Island with the capital Belfast. Great Britain lies not far from continent. It is separated from Europe by the North Sea and England Channel.

Great Britain has a very good geographical position, as it lies on the crossways of the sea routes from Europe to other parts of the World. The sea connects Britain with most European countries such as: Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Russia and some other countries.

British climate is mild and damp. It often rains frogs are quit frequent especially in the West and south-west. The Gulf Stream a warm ocean current warms to seas around the British coast moderating the climate, giving it cold summers mild winters. The temperature in winter seldom falls below zero and the field and meadow are green all year round.

Great Britain is my homeland and I like it.

II. Answer the questions

1. What is the full name of the UK?

2. What does the UK consist of?

3. What capitals does each part of the UK have?

4. How is Great Britain separated from Europe?

5. Why does Great Britain have a very good geographical position?

6. What countries does the sea connect Britain with?

7. What is climate like in Britain?

III. Association game. Speak about what associations come to your mind when you hear:

• Great Britain;

• London;

• British people

IV. Read and translate the text “British food” British Food

British food has a bad reputation in Europe. This is not entirely justified. Traditional home-cooked British food is as good as European cooking. A good example is the traditional British Sunday lunch, consisting of roast beef, roast potatoes and pudding. There is also a large variety of excellent British cheeses. British people eat a lot of meat but they rarely eat raw ham. Although not many people in Britain eat rice as a first course, they sometimes eat it as a second course. Wine is expensive so not many people drink it with their meals. Mineral water is not very common either. One of the most popular drink with meals in Britain is tea.

The meal for which Britain is most famous is the traditional breakfast, which usually consists of cornflakes with milk, toast with marmalade or honey and tea. Some people also eat sausages, eggs and bacon with their breakfast.

For lunch they usually have soup, fruit juice, cold meat and salad, or fish, or roast meat and vegetables, and then goes an apple tart, or hot milk pudding, cold fruit salad or ice-cream.

From four to six there's a very light meal called afternoon tea. It consists of a cup of tea and a cake. This became a kind of ritual. At this time 'everything stops for tea' in England. The whole nation is at ease drinking tea. Dinner is much like lunch and is in many families the last meal of the day. For supper they have tea or coffee with biscuits. Almost every meal finishes with tea with or without milk, cheese and butter.

The English people like fish and chips. Everybody seems to have a fish and a chip supper at home at least once a week. There are fish and chip shops in the side streets of every English town.

If you want to eat out in a restaurant in Britain, there is an enormous variety of both British and foreign restaurants to choose from.