Chapter i the united kingdom of great britain and nothern ireland. Multicultural Britain

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

Федеральное агентство по образованию

Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет сервиса и экономики

Кафедра межкультурных коммуникаций

Английский язык

Страноведение

Практикум

 для студентов 1 курса

Санкт-Петербург

2009

Одобрены на заседании кафедры «Межкультурных коммуникаций», протокол № 3 от 28.10.2008 г.

Утверждены на заседании УМСС, протокол № 4 от 08.04.2009 г.

Т.Н.Английский язык .Страноведение. Практикум  для студентов 1 курса / , , .– СПб.: Изд-во СПбГУСЭ, 2009. – 47 с.

Настоящий практикум по английскому языку предназначен для аудиторной и самостоятельной работы студентов I курса.

Материалом для данного практикума послужили аутентичные тексты из британских и американских источников. Тематика текстов охватывает основные аспекты социально-политической и культурной жизни Великобритании, США  и других англоговорящих стран.   Тексты значительны по объему, информационно и лексически насыщены. Работа с ними и выполнение прилагаемых заданий позволяет обучающимся приобрести навыки всех видов чтения: ознакомительного, поискового и с полным пониманием прочитанного.

Усвоение страноведческого материала содержащегося в текстах способствует расширению кругозора у студентов и обеспечивает в будущем эффективную коммуникацию с зарубежными партнерами в сферах как профессионального, так и повседневного общения.

Составители: доц. , ст. преп. Т.Т. Льонченко, ст. преп.

Рецензент: доц. Н.А. Меркулова

© Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет

сервиса и экономики

2009 г.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN  AND NOTHERN IRELAND.. 4

Text 1 Great Britain. 4

Text 2 Visiting Britain. 6

Text 3 London. 7

Text 4 Multicultural Britain. 11

Text 5 Places to Visit. 13

Text  6 Hotels in Britain. 15

Text  7 The Queen’s Day. 16

Text  8 The Mystery of Wales. 19

Text  9 Celtic rules. 20

CHAPTER  II THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.. 21

Text 1 The United States of America. 21

Text 2 The Presidents of the United States. 23

Text  3 Cities in America. 26

CHAPTER  III CANADA,  AUSATRALIA,  NEW ZEALAND.. 27

Text 1 Canada. 27

Text 2 Canadian Economy. 31

Text 3 Australia. 33

Text 4 New Zealand. 40

CHAPTER  IV READING EXERSISES. 41

Exercise R1. 41

Exercise R2. 42

Exercise R3. 44

LIST OF REFERENCE BOOKS. 46

CHAPTER I THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NOTHERN IRELAND

Text 1 Great Britain

Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom (UK for short), England – these different names are sometimes used to mean the same thing, and they are sometimes used wrongly.

The name used at the United Nations is the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”  Strictly speaking, “Great Britain” should only be used as the name of the country, since England is only a part of Great Britain.

The United Kingdom includes four nations and only the people of England call themselves English. The others refer to themselves as Welsh, Scottish, or Irish. Both in Wales and in Scotland there are strong demands for more recognition of their national distinctions through the system of government. There are distinct Scottish customs and ways of speaking the English language. Scotland has always had a separate educational system as well as a legal system and local administration. Wales has been assimilated administratively. Most Scottish and Welsh people live in small and heavily concentrated areas of coal-mining and heavy industry.

England is highly industrialized and was the country in which the earliest development of modern industry took place. The original basis of British industry was coal-mining, and the early factories grew up not very far from the main mining areas. Glasgow and Newcastle became great centres of engineering and shipbuilding. Lancashire produced cotton goods and Yorkshire woolens, with Sheffield concentrating on iron and steel. Birmingham and the other towns developed light engineering. The world does not go to Britain to buy textiles or ships as it did in the past. A new light industry, much more diversified, has grown up in place of the old.

The central parts of the old industrial areas with their long rows of red-brick houses, are still rather ugly. A hundred years of winter fogs have left their mark. It was in and around Manchester in the middle of the 19th century that F.Engels found such impressive evidence of what he interpreted as the horrors of capitalism.

The British climate has a bad reputation, which is partly justified. What’s the forecast in Britain? It’s mainly showers and sunny