Exercise 6.1. Translate into English.

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Text A «THE UNITED KINGDOM»

The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, isan island na­tion andconstitutional monarchy in north-western Eu­rope, member of the European Union (EU).

Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. It com­prises, together with numerous smaller islands, England and Scotland, and the principality of Wales. Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, occupies the north-east­ern part of the island of Ireland.

The United Kingdom is bordered to the south by the English Channel, which separates it from continental Europe, to the east by theNorth Sea, and to the west by the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The only land bor­der is between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire­land. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242 sq.km. The capital and largest city is London.

The names «United Kingdom», «Great Britain», and «England» are often usedinterchangeably. The use of «Great Britain», often shortened to «Britain», to de­scribe the whole kingdom is common and widelyac­cepted, althoughstrictly it does notinclude Northern Ireland.

However, the use of «England» to mean the «United Kingdom» is not acceptable to members of the other constituent countries, especially the Scots and the Welsh.

England and Wales were unitedadministratively, po­litically, and legally by 1543. The crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603, but the two countries remained separate political entities until the 1707 Act of Union, which formed the Kingdom of Great Britain with asingle legislature. From 1801, when Great Brit­ain and Ireland were united, until the formal establish­ment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the kingdom was officially named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Hong Kong, which has 200,000 population, was re­turned to China in 1997.

The mainland of the island of Great Britain is 974 km at its longest and 531 km at its widest; how­ever, the highlyindented nature of the island's coast­line means that nowhere is more than about 120 km from the sea.

The climate of the United Kingdom is mild relative to its latitude, which is the same as that of Labrador in Canada. The mildness is an effect of the warm Gulf Stream. This current brings the prevailing south-west winds that moderate winter temperatures and bring the depressions which have the main day-to-day influence on the weather. The western side of the United Kingdom tends to be warmer than the eastern; the south is warmer than the north. The mean annual temperature is 6°C in the far north of Scotland; 11°С in the south-west of Eng­land. Winter temperatures seldom are below -10°C and summer temperatures rarely higher than 32°C. The sea winds also bring plenty of moisture; average annual pre­cipitation is more than 1,000 mm.

Rain tends to fallthroughout the year, frequently turning to snow in the winter, especially in Scotland, the mountains of Wales, and northern England. The west­ern side of Britain is much wetter than the eastern: av­erage rainfall varies is from 5,000 mm in the western Highlands of Scotland, to less than 500 mm in parts of East Anglia in England.

The population of United Kingdom is more than 56 mln people, but it is one of the world's leading commer­cial and industrialized nations.In terms of gross na­tional product(GNP) it ranks fifth in the world, with Italy, after the United States, Japan, Germany, and France.

Vocabulary:

island nation — островное государство

constitutional monarchy — конституционная мо­нархия

European Union — Европейский союз

to comprise — включать

numerous — многочисленные

principality — княжество

North Sea— Северное море

interchangeably — взаимозаменяемо

to accept — принимать, допускать

strictly — строго, зд. строго говоря

include — включать

constituent — составляющий

administratively — административно

entities — зд. субъекты

single — зд. единая

indented — зд. изрезанная

latitude — широта геогр.

prevailing — преобладающий

moderate — умеренный

depressions— зд. циклоны

mean — средний

throughout — на всем протяжении

average annual precipitation — среднегодовое коли­чество осадков

in terms of— говоря (о чем-либо)

GNP (Gross National Product) — валовой нацио­нальный продукт.

1. Официальное название Великобритании — Со­единенное Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии.

2. Соединенное королевство является членом Евро­пейского союза и конституционной монархией.

3. Северная Ирландия занимает северо-восточную часть острова Ирландия.

4. Пролив Ла-Манш отделяет Соединенное Королев­ство от континентальной Европы.

Exercise 6.2. Use the following phrases and word combinations to retell the text:

1. As I understood from the text...

2. According to the text...

3. According to the author...

4. As it is described in the text...

5. As it is said in the text...

6. As the author puts it...

7. According to the figures (data, information, opinions) from the text...

Exercise 6.3. Discuss the following statements. Use the following phrases to express your opinion:

1. It seems to me (that)...

2. I would like to say that...

3. As I see it...

4. I think that...

5. I guess...

6. I suppose...

7. I (strongly) believe that...

8. I am (absolutely) sure that...

Statement A: The United Kingdom is a small coun­try. It is one of the leading countries now because it had many rich colonies in the past.

Statement B: UK will loose Northern Ireland soon and Wales and Scotland later, like it lost Hong Kong in 1997, because of the differences in languages, culture and history.

Statement C: British people don't travel much be­cause they live not too far from the sea (ocean).

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