Текст 2.

AT OXFORD

Oxford is one of the world known centres of education and learning in Britain. It is not a modern city. When we walk along its clean streets we see at once that this is an ancient town. It is about eight hundred years old.

There are buildings of different architectural styles there, but there is no contrast in- their size and material, because nearly all of them are built of the same soft gray limestone and have the same arrangement.

There are many students in the streets in their traditional black gowns. At Oxford University no student may call on a tutor or attend a lecture without his or her gown, therefore the students wear them in all weather, or carry them over arm or shoulder. A British University consists of a number of colleges. The lectures and examinations for the whole body of students are arranged by the university authorities. The colleges provide for residence and tutoring which, means personal instruction of the students by the Don. A Don is a college instructor who directs the studies of undergraduates, not more than four in number at a time.

The tutorial system of education has many advantages. The tutor is a great help to his students: he decides what lectures they must attend, recommends them books for reading, discusses and criticizes their written work and knows all about their discipline inside and outside the college. The disadvantage lies in the fact that there are many tutors with a reactionary outlook foreign to the way of thinking of the young generation. By means of personal contact the tutor may influence the political and social ideas of the students under his control.

How do the undergraduates live at Oxford? There are resident and non-resident students living in lodgings which are inspected by the college administration.

Let us go up the narrow old wooden staircase at St. John's College, along a corridor and look into a room for 2 students. Both of them, as the majority of the student body, are sons of rich parents. Years ago both their fathers and grandfathers studied at the same college and occupied the same room. Now their sons and grandsons live there, spend as much time on sport, wine and pleasure as their fathers did, and are members of the same club. Since the boys are out we can have a good look at their lodging. The room is square, smallish but cosy. There is a table, 2 or 3 chairs, a pair of armchairs and a bookcase full of books. The floor is covered with a soft carpet. On the wall there are pictures, landscapes and family photographs. A bright fire is burning in the fireplace. In one corner there stands some sports equipment.

Текст 3.

THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is an island nation and constitutional 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 the North 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 used interchangeably. The use of «Great Britain», often shortened to «Britain», to describe the whole kingdom is common and widely accepted, although strictly it does not include 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 united administratively, 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 a single 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 highly indented 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 'C 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 fall throughout 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.

island nation - островное государство

constitutional monarchy — конституционная монархия

European Union — Европейский союз

to comprise - включать

numerous — многочисленнее

principality - многочисленные

North Sea - Северное море

interchangeably — взаимозаменяемое

to accept — принимать, допускать

strictly - строго, здесь строго говоря

include — включать

constituent — составляющий

administratively - административно

entities - здесь субъекты

single - здесь единая

indented - здесь изрезанная

latitude - широта географическая

prevailing - преобладающий

moderate — умеренные

depressions - здесь 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

Exercise 1. Translate into English

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

1. It seem 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 top far from the sea (ocean).