GREAT BRITAIN Great Britain (official name – the United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is situated on two large islands: Great Britain and Ireland. In addition to these two islands Great Britain includes over five thousand small islands. The total area of Great Britain is 244,820 square kilometers; its population is over 63 million people.
In the north-west and west the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea wash the country, in the east the North Sea does. The English Channel separates the island of Great Britain from France. Northern Ireland is the part of Great Britain and is situated on the island of Ireland.
The island of Great Britain is divided into two parts: mountainous (in the north and west of the island) and lowland (in the south and east). In the north of England and in Scotland there are many mountains, but they are not very high. The highest is Ben Nevis. There are many lakes in Scotland. The most beautiful and popular is Loch Ness. The rivers in Great Britain are not very long. The most important rivers are the Thames (the deepest) and the Severn (the longest). The rivers seldom freeze in winter. Due to moderating influence of the sea Great Britain has an insular climate, rather humid and mild, without any difference between seasons.
A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. In 1603 King of Scots inherited the throne of England. In 1801 Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in 1922.
Nowadays the UK consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The capitals of these parts are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. Administratively Great Britain is divided into 55 counties. The biggest cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
England is the largest part of Great Britain. Wales is a peninsula in the south-west of the island of Great Britain. Scotland is the most northern part of Great Britain. Northern Ireland occupies the north-east part of the island of Ireland. The main cities of Northern Ireland are Belfast and Londonderry.
The UK is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of the state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and the Parliament. There is no written constitution in Great Britain. The main principles of the British legislation are expressed in other documents, like “Magna Charta”, “Habeas Corpus Act”, “Bill of Rights”, the Parliamentary Act which decided the position of the House of Lords, the Judicature Act, etc. The British legislation does not provide written guarantees of individual political rights.
The Parliament in Great Britain exists since 1265 and is the second eldest Parliament in the world. It consists of two Houses – the House of Lords and the House of Commons. After the general election the Queen appoints the head of the government – the Prime Minister. As a rule, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that wins the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to compose the government.
There are two main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. The Conservative Party came into being in the 19th century as a result of the evolution of the Tory Party. The Labour Party was founded in 1900.
Great Britain is a highly-developed industrial country. The main fields of British industry are machine-building, ship-building, metallurgy, electronics, etc.

2.1.3. Определите являются ли утверждения, данные ниже, правдивыми – соответствуют тексту про Великобританию (True) или ложными – не соответствуют тексту (False).

1) Officially the head of the state is the President.(False)
2) Great Britain is washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Irish Sea.
3) The UK consists of five main parts.
4) The Parliament of Great Britain consists of one House – the House of Commons.
5) The island of Great Britain is divided into two parts: mountainous and lowland.
6) The official name of Great Britain is the United States of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
7) Administratively Great Britain is divided into 75 counties.
8) There is only one important river in Great Britain, the Thames.
9) Great Britain is not a highly-developed industrial country.
10) Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy.
11) There is no written constitution in Great Britain.
12) There are two main political parties: the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.

Alexander0prokof    1   14.02.2021 17:58    25