Lesson 15

Ex.1: Read and translate the text into Russian:

The towns of great britain

The centre of everything in Great Britain is the city of London.  It is situated at the centre of a vast national and international network of communication. London consists of four main districts, which differ from each other. These are the City, Westminster, the West End and the East End.

London's industries are extremely varied. Among them an extensive system of docks and port industries, electrical engineering, the motor car industry and others.

The other towns, situated to the north of the Thames are Oxford and Cambridge.

Oxford was first mentioned in recorded history in the tenth century and later became an important trade centre in medieval times, then it developed into leading educational centre.

Cambridge is also best known for its ancient university. Its industries are mostly concerned with electronics which has an international reputation.

Bristol dominates South-west England, both as the region's largest seaport and as its largest city. It is a major centre of metallurgy, aircraft and chemical industries.

Of the towns situated in the south of England the largest ones are Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton.

Southampton is primarily a seaport, the most important on the south coast.

Brighton is one of the most popular seaside resorts of Britain. It has mild climate, warm sea and wonderful beaches.

            Manchester is a city of ancient origin. By the 17th century it was great commercial city, a centre of textile industry. Now engineering along with clothing manufacture are most important industries there.

Sheffield, situated in South Yorkshire, produces almost two-thirds of the country's alloy steel, it is famous for its-tools and cutlery. Other industries include paper making machinery and food processing.

In North Yorkshire the largest town is York. Its leading industries are engineering and manufacture of confectionery. York attracts many tourists because of its famous medieval city walls.

QUESTIONS:

1. Are London industries varied? 2. Oxford is an important trade centre, isn't it? 3. What can you tell about Bristol? 4. Where is Sheffield situated? 5. What other cities of Great Britain do you know?

Vocabulary:

extensive - обширный recorded history - письменная история resort - курорт alloy steel - нержавеющая сталь

Lesson 16

Ex.1: Read and translate the text into Russian:

Great britain

There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The smaller one is called Ireland. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland – by the Irish Sea.

There are two states in the British Isles. One of them governs of the most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called the Republic of Ireland. The other state has authority over the rest of the territory.

The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is usually known by a shorter name – «The United Kingdom». The total area of Great Britain is 244,000 square km.

They say that the British love of the compromise is the result of the country’s physical geography. This may or may not be true, but it certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn’t usually get very cold in the winter or very hot in the summer. It has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremos which does no more than rattle teacups in a few houses which is reported in the national news media. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.

QUESTIONS:

1.     Where is Great Britain situated?

2.     What is total area of Great Britain?

3.     What is the official name of this country?

4.     Is Great Britain a mountainous country?

5.     What’s the result of the country’s physical geography?