1- What dates and events are meaningful in your country's history? In small groups, discuss this question and agree on at least five events.

2. Look at the events from the British history described in the text. Copy them out and discuss with a partner what events were the most important for the British history. In small groups compare your choices and say why you think they were important.

1. Read the text and find the correct words for the given definitions.

1. a person living in a place;

2. belief in the existence of a supernatural ruling power;

3. a minister of a Christian church;

4. a place where people settle to live;

5. intellectual development in human society;

6. a member of a community of men living together in a monas­tery;

7. fighting.

2. Read the text and make up a detailed plan of it. Get ready to retell the text using your plan.

Some facts of the british history

Celts and Romans. The first inhabitants of Britain were the Celts. They crossed the English Channel many centuries be­fore the Christian era. The Celts or Britons practised agriculture and dug up minerals such as tin, lead and gold. Their religion was Druidism and their priests, the Druids, were famous for their magic arts. Roman legions led by Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 BC. The Romans eventually conquered much of the island and ruled it for almost 400 years. They built cities, country estates, bridges, and roads. The Romans could not control the entire island. In the northern part of Britain, in the

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Santayana

area known today as Scotland, lived peoples called the Piets and the Scots. They resisted Roman rule and attacked Roman settlements in the south. To keep them out, Roman soldiers built great walls with forts and towers. The greatest monument they left is Hadrian’s Wall, between England and Scotland. The Romans also had difficulties in the area that they did rule. They could not win over the Celts. Most Celts lived in their own villages and were not interested in or influenced by the Roman culture. Roman rule in Britain began to crumble during the fourth century AD. This was because Roman soldiers were called home to defend the empire’s borders against the invasions by the Germans and the Huns.

The Anglo-Saxons. After the last legions left in 410 AD the island was gradually invaded by groups from, northern Germany and Denmark called Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They were strong warriors and by the seventh century AD controlled most of the island. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes united to become the Anglo-Saxons. They built settlements, farmed the land, and set up several small kingdoms. The southern part of Britain soon became known as Angleland, or England. The people became known as the English. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain followed the Germanic religions. Pope Gregory I decided to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. In 597 AD he sent a mission of 411 monks to England under the leadership of the monk Augustine. By 700 AD, all England was Christian. The Pope was the head of the church. Many monasteries were built in England and they became centres of religion and culture. One of the monks, Bede, was a great scholar. He wrote the first history of the English people. Even though they accepted Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons kept much of their old culture. They told and retold old legends about brave war­riors fighting monsters and dragons. One such legend was about a warrior named Beowulf. In the eighth century AD, it was written down as an epic poem Called Beowulf which became known as the most important work of Anglo-Saxon literature.

The Hundred Years’ War. In the early 1300s, the English still held a small part of southwest France. The kings of France, who were growing more powerful, wanted to drive the English out. In 1337, the English king, Edward III, declared himself king of France. This angered the French even more. In 1339, the French and English fought the first in a long series of battles known as the Hundred Years’ War.

The Hundred Years’ War began when the English defeated the French fleet and won control of the sea. The English then invaded France. They defeated the French at the Battle of Crecy in 1347 and again at the Battle of Agincourt in 1417. By 1453, the English held only the French seaport at Calais, and the war came to an end.

The Wars of the Roses. Peace did not come to England after the Hundred Years’ War. In 1455, two noble families, York and Lancaster, began a struggle for the throne which lasted many years. The York symbol was a white rose, and the Lancaster symbol was a red rose. For this reason the struggle between York and Lancaster was called the Wars of the Roses. All rivairy between the Roses ended by the marriage of Henry VII, the Lancastrian with Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV, the Yorkist in 1485.

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^er~ .Hr.?. .I.n.9 1. Around the year 1500, about 5 million people used the English

language — less than the population of England at the time. Today, it is estimated that at .least 600 million people use English regu­larly in everyday life — at least ten times the present population of Britain. Why has the use of English expanded so much in the last 500 years?

2. Have you read any historical novels written by English writers? What were they? What were they about and what period of the British history did they describe?

3. Imagine you have a British pen-friend who has never visited Ukraine. Choose any fact of the Ukrainian history and write a short letter to your pen-friend describing it.

Listening

Comprehension Check , _Answer ,_{he quest|ons}

Were medieval towns just like ours?

How did they differ?

Nowadays in Great Britain some people have surnames like “Baker”, “Butcher”, “Smith” and so on. What reason can you think of for names like these?

2. Describe the old English towns.

3. Find the words from the text in the grid, write them out and make

sentences with these words.

God save our gracious Queen!

Long live our noble Queen!

The British national anthem •*

1. Answer the questions.

Which members of the British Royal Family are best known in Ukraine? Why?

Do you think being a member of the Royal Family is a “proper job”? What sort of work do they do?

Would you like to belong to the Royal Family? Why?

1. . Read the list of events in the procedure of the State Opening of

Parliament below and try to put them in order.

• a) The Speaker of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister and

the Leader of the main opposition party lead the other MPs to the House of Lords.

• b) The Queen puts on her ceremonial dress and crown.

• c) The Queen goes to the throne in the chamber of the House of

Lords.

• d) Members of the House of Lords, in their ceremonial dress, greet

the Queen on her arrival there.

• e) The Queen reads her speech at 11 a. m.

• f) The Queen sends her messenger to the House of Commons to

call Members of Parliament to the House of Lords.

• g) The Royal Family drive from Buckingham Palace to the House

of Lords.

• h) The door is closed as the Queen’s messenger approaches so he

knocks on it three times and then enters.