History and Religion

Nobody knows what Stonehenge was built for, perhaps Druid temple or perhaps an astronomical calculator. Work started on it in 3100 BC and it was continuously being built, used and modified until 1100 BC. An amazing period of 2000 years - not many other buildings in the world have been used for as long.

After 1100 BC it fell into disuse, again nobody knows why. The stones on the site were used by the local people as a convenient source for building houses and road making. Even up to 100 years ago, local farmers used the stones from Stonehenge for road building and other construction work.

It was given to the nation in 1918, and the government has been responsible for maintaining the monument since then. As Britain's only world heritage site, one can see its importance.

A well planned invasion by 40,000 to 50,000 Roman soldiers took place in the summer of 43AD. A massive force for those days, and the British tribes were no match for them. Within a year or so the Romans had pushed west to a line from Exeter to Lincoln, and by 60AD controlled most of Britain south. They pushed north, and built the network of straight roads across the country, most of which can still be followed today. The country appears to have enjoyed a period of unprecedented peace - "the golden age of the Villa". Around 300 AD the Roman Empire came under sustained attack by the barbarian hordes in central Europe and some troops were withdrawn to help in that area. Northern Britain started to suffer attacks from the Scots and Picts.

But it was until 410 AD that the Roman Emperor Constantine finally removed the whole garrison of Britain to defend the Rhine frontier from attack. The cities of Britain were instructed to look to their own defence. The Romans never returned to Britain.

When Edward the Confessor died, the Vikings led by William of Normandy landed an army in southern England. Within 13 days he had marched his army some 240 miles from Yorkshire to Sussex, where the Normans were camped near Hastings. The ensuing Battle of Hastings was won by the Normans who were fresh, and had better archers and cavalry. Harold died with an arrow through his eye. William was crowned William I in London on Christmas Day 1066.

Henry VIII, who came to the throne in 1509, was a man who left his stamp on history. His six marriages in search of a male heir led to two daughters (Mary and Elizabeth) and a son Edward (who died young). Henry's need for a divorce led to a row with the pope who refused to grant Henry one. Henry countered by dissolving the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, and setting up the Church of England.

A Church of England with Henry at the head could then allow Henry to divorce his wife. Of the Six the pneumonic goes - divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Henry was a tyrant and a despot. Completely ruthless, and he let nothing and nobody get in his way. Cardinal Wolsey was banished, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More were executed.

Henry's elder daughter Mary was a Catholic - and a militant Catholic. Her efforts as queen to restore Catholicism to England made her the most unpopular queen in British history and the means that she used to pursue her aims earned her the nickname "bloody Mary". There were 283 Protestant martyrs burnt at the stake in her reign. A loveless marriage to the King of Spain produced no children. So when Mary died she was succeeded by her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth's reign brought in one of the most glorious eras of British history. Exploration, colonisation, victory in war, and growing world importance. The Arts flourished, this was the age of Shakespeare and Bacon. It was the age of the sea dog, Drake and Raleigh.

Nelson's victory at sea in 1805 and Wellington's on land at Waterloo in 1815, marked the end of major wars for a century. Britain was the dominant power when Victoria aged 18became queen. She became a symbol of her age.

http://www.great-britain.co.uk/history/

UNIT 2
The climate in the British Isles.
The weather in the UK

Part A
Reading and Comprehension

Text 1
Climate

It has been claimed that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography. This may or may not be true, but it is certainly true that the land and climate in Britain have a notable lack of extremes. Britain has mountains, but none of them are very high; it also has flat land, but you cannot travel far without encountering hills; it has no really big rivers; it doesn't usually get very cold in the winter or very hot in the summer; it has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremor which does no more than rattle teacups in a few houses is reported in the national news media.

The climate in Britain is more or less the same as that of the north-western part of the European mainland. The popular belief that it rains all the time in Britain is simply not true. The image of a wet, foggy land was created two thousand years ago by the invading Romans and was perpetuated in the twentieth century by Hollywood. In fact, London gets no more rain in a year than most other major European cities, and less than some. The amount of rain that falls on a town in Britain depends on where it is. Generally speaking, the further west you go, the more rain you get. The mild winters mean that snow is a regular feature of the higher areas only. Occasionally, a whole winter goes by in lower-lying parts without any snow at all. The winters are in general slightly colder in the east of the country than they are in the west, while in summer the south is warmer and sunnier than the north.

Why has Britain's climate got such a bad reputation? Perhaps it is for the same reason that British people always seem to be talking about the weather. This is its changeability. There is a saying that Britain doesn't have a climate, it only has weather. It may not rain very much altogether, but you can never be sure of a dry day; there can be cool (even cold) days in July and some quite warm days in January.

The lack of extremes is the reason why, on the few occasions when it gets genuinely hot or freezing cold, the country seems to be totally unprepared for it. A bit of snow or a few days of frost and the trains stop working and the roads are blocked; if the thermometer goes above 80°F (27°C), people behave as if they were in the Sahara and the temperature makes front-page headlines. These things happen so rarely that it is not worth organizing life to be ready for them.

Britain has neither towering mountain ranges nor impressively large rivers, plains or forests. But this does not mean that its landscape is boring. What it lacks in grandeur it makes up for in variety. The scenery changes noticeably over quite short distances. It has often been remarked that a journey of 100 miles (160 kilometers) can, as a result, seem twice as far.

Much of the land is used for human habitation. This is not just because Britain is densely populated in most areas. Partly because of their habitual concern for privacy and their love of the countryside, the English and the Welsh don't like living in blocks of flats in city centers and the proportion of people who do so is lower than in continental European countries. As a result, cities in England and Wales have, wherever possible, been built outwards rather than upwards. Although this is not so much the case with Scottish cities.

However, because most people (almost 80%) live in towns or cities rather than in villages or in the countryside, this habit of building outwards does not mean that you see buildings wherever you go in Britain. There are areas of completely open countryside everywhere and some of the mountainous areas remain virtually untouched.

/Britain for Learners of English/