с английским
Read and translate the text.

Great Britain.

The island of Great Britain (British Isles), together with the neighbouring minor islands and the northeastern part of Ireland, constitute the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The country is usually called Great Britain.

The total area of the United Kingdom is 244,000 sq. kms. It consists of 1) England (the southern and middle part of the island of Great Britain). 2) Wales (a mountainous peninsula in the west). 3) Scotland (the northern part of the island), and 4) Northern Ireland.

The capital of Great Britain is London.

Great Britain is separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel, the narrower part of which is called the Strait of Dover. The southeastern part of England lies quite close to the continent, the Strait of Dover in its narrowest part being only 33 kms wide.

At one time the British Isles formed an integral part of the mainland. They became segregated in consequence of the sinking of the land surface. It was already in the epoch when man had come into existence that this segregation took place. The very structure of the sea bottom indicated that the British Isles were connected with the mainland: the islands rise from the sea on a kind of submerged continent projection. The sea around the Isles is shallow. If the sea-level had become lower by 70-80 metres, the bottom of the whole southern part of the North Sea would have emerged from the water and become land surface, linking the British Isles with continent.

The climate of Great Britain is typically maritime with frequent rains, cloud-covered skies, continuous fogs and strong winds; the close proximity of the Gulf Stream makes the winter extremely mild; frosts are very rare; it seldom snows and snow covers the ground but for a short time(mountain regions excepted); the summer is cool and rainy.

These climatic conditions are typical of the Western coast.

Климатические условия типичные для западного побережья.

The population of England emerged from an amalgamation of a number of different peoples. In the epoch of the Roman rule, which began in 55 B.C., the British Isles were inhabited by Celts. Later (in the sixth and seventh centuries) South Britain was invaded by the German tribes of Angles and Saxons. The Celt were driven into the Highlands, while a part of them mixed with the newcomers. In the eight, ninth and tenth centuries a new wave of invasions swept over East England, this time the invaders were the Danes. In 1066 England was conquered by the Normans. These were the last invaders. They brought their language and customs which differed from those of the conquered Anglo-Saxons. Only a few centuries later the Normans took up the English language, i.e., the language of the Anglo-Saxons, who, in their turn, received a large number of words from Old French – the language brought by the conquerors. Thus one can understand why words of different origin (French, German and Latin) exist in the English language, which is spoken in many countries including the United States of America and Australia. Many excellent novels, stories, poems and verses have been written in English.

Задание 1. Answer the following questions

1. What does Great Britain consist of? -

2. What is the total area of the United Kingdom? –

3. What city is the capital of Great Britain? -

4. What sea separates Great Britain from the European continent? –

5. What is the width of the Strait of Dover in its narrowest part? –

7. What tells us that the British Isles were an integral of the mainland many centuries ago?

8. What climate has Great Britain? -

9. Why are winters mild and frosts rare in Great Britain? -

10. What language is spoken in Great Britain? –

11. What English writers do you know? –

12. What English writer do you like best? -

13. Is Mark Twain an English or an American writer? -

14. What language is spoken in Australia?

15. Have you any English books? –

16. Have you read many English books? –

17. Have you seen any English films? –

18. What English films have you seen? –

Dindonn    1   29.04.2020 16:28    4