STUDENT’s Country Studies. Lesson 1. The aim of this lesson is to help you to answer the questions ‘What is Britain?’ and ‘Who are the British?’. You will investigate the problem from political and geographical points of view mostly.

1. Pronunciation drill.

the Cotswolds [‘kotswouldz] the Downs the Cambrian Mountains Snowdon the Brecon Beacons [bi:kэnz] Slieve Donard the Pennines [‘penainz] the South Downs	the Cheviots [‘ti:viэts] Ben Nevis the Antrim [‘ǽ] Mountains the Southern Uplands the Chilterns the North York Moors the Lake District the Northwest Highlands Scafell Pike [sko:fel] Exmoor [‘eksmuэ] the Grampians [‘grǽmpiэnz]	Dartmoor Tyne Tees [ti:z] Ouse [u:z] Aire [eэ] Trent Eden Mersey [‘mэ:zi] Spey [spei] Dee Tay [tei] Clyde [klaid]	Tweed Erne Usk [sk] Avon Severn Thames London Edinburgh Cardiff Belfast
Find the English equivalents: Котсуолд, Котсуолд-Хилс; Кембрийские горы; Сноудон; горы Брекон-Биконс; вершина Слив Донард; Пеннинские горы; Саут Даунс (Южная Гряда); горы Чевиот Хилс; гора Бен-Невис; плато Антрим; Южно-Шотландская возвышенность; Чилтерн, Чилтерн-Хилс (возвышенность); нац. парк Норт-Йорк-Мурс; Озерный край; Северо-Западное Нагорье (Шотландского высокогорья); гора Скофел-Пайк; Грампианские горы; р. Тайн; р. Тис; р. Мерси; р. Эйвон; р. Тей; р. Туид; р. Эрн; р. Аск

2. Complete these texts using the map in the handout. Reproduce them by heart (one at a time).

• The British Isles is the geographical name for all the islands off the _________________ coast of Europe. These islands also include the Republic of ______________ (Eire), which is politically independent of the British government. Many people refer to the inhabitants of the British Isles as ‘the English’, but England is only one of the countries. The other countries are _____________, ______________ and ______________.

• The United Kingdom (or the UK) is a short way of saying the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK is the political name for those countries which share a parliament in London. All of them were at one time independent kingdoms with their own monarch. Now they are all part of the same kingdom and share the same monarch. The UK consists of _______________, ________________, _______________ and ________________. The peoples of these countries are British subjects; they hold British passports and therefore their nationality is British.

• Great Britain is the name of the one island which is made up of ______________ , _______________ and ________________. It is called Great because in some languages the word for Britain (Bretagne) is the same as the word for Brittany, which is in France. The word ‘Great’ helps to distinguish the two: ‘Grande Bretagne’=Great Britain, ‘Bretagne’=Brittany.

Find the English equivalents: Британские острова, побережье, независимый, жители, Соединённое Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии, подданный/гражданин, Бретань