Lowland Britain

Practically the whole south and most of the east of the island of Great Britain are occupied by the lowlands. However, one should not think that there are no hills and mountains there at all. When the geog­raphers use the word "lowland" they just mean that the land is low-lying, but it does not mean that the place is flat. In many parts of Lowland Britain there are groups of rather high hills called the downs. This term is rather misleading for foreigners who tend to think that it refers to the low-lying places. As a matter of fact, the noun "down" used to mean "a hill" in the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons (the Old English). Now the word refers to a rather special kind of hill — consisting of chalk and covered with grass. Where the downs meet the sea, they break off in cliffs. The white chalky cliffs near Dover which the people can see while crossing the English Channel, is the sort of symbol of England. Because of them, the Romans used to call the country Albion (from the word albus which means "white"). There are two great ridges of downs there, which are facing each other: the South Downs and the North Downs. They meet on Salisbury Plain, which isn't really a plain, but a grass-covered chalky upland. For more than a centu­ry it has been the great training grounds for the British Army. Some of the earliest airfields were also built on the Plain, and near its centre, at Boscombe Down, there is the airfield where many new planes are still tested out. These green ridges, usually four or five hundred feet high, were free of shrub and wood even in prehistoric times, and the people used them as highways - or ridgeways, as they are often called.

In the central part of Lowland Britain rise two groups of hills called the Cotswolds and the Chiltems. The Chilterns begin near Oxford (the oldest university town) and stretch in the direction of Cambridge (the other old university town). The Cotswolds are known for the fine lime-stone of which most towns and villages of southeast are built. The Cotswolds also gave the name to the local sheep, which are so big that are jokingly called "Cotswold lions". The western part of Lowland Brit­ain contains another famous group of hills — the Mendips, also made largely of limestone. It is a very picturesque, romantic place with many caves and gorges.

As different as it can be is the scenery of the eastern section of the Lowland Britain, which is usually called East Anglia. It is the place where the flat fields lie below sea level. The region is also called "Little Holland" (or "The Parts of Holland") because it resembles this Euro­pean country where the land lies so low that it has to be protected from the sea by dykes. The scenery of East Anglia is peculiar - the great flat swamps with occasional isles of high places that rise above the level of the surrounding swamp. The largest of these "isles" is called the Isle of Ely, famous for the medieval cathedral and the monastery. Such kind of scenery is called the fens. In the 17th century a big portion of the fens was drained and the places were turned into pasture and farmland.

Where the fens meet the sea, there are about thirty shallow inland lakes called the Broads. The scientists say that the Broads appeared as a result of human activity: the people of the early Middle Ages cut the peat they used as fuel. They cut out millions of cubic feet of the stuff, and then, about the 18th century, the land began to sink and the places of former diggings were filled with water. Nowadays the Broads are often called the great "playgrounds of Southern England". Lots of peo­ple come there to enjoy boating. Every summer thousands of enthusi­asts navigate up and down the shallow channels connecting the Broads, study the abundant bird life through binoculars (this popular hobby is called bird-watching), and sail down to the open sea.

Notes:

to be occupied – быть занятым

as a matter of fact – на самом деле

the white chalky cliffs – белые меловые скалы

below sea level – ниже уровня моря

to resemble – напоминать

medieval – средневековый

human activity – человеческая деятельность

EXERCISES

1. Переведите на русский язык:

the lowlands, the Downs, the Salisbury Plain, the Cotswolds, the Chilterns, the Mendips, East Anglia, the Isle of Ely, the Broads.

2. Выпишите из текста предложения, содержащие следующие словосочетания и переведите их на русский язык:

a misleading term, a training ground of the army, the green ridg­es, limestone, caves and gorges, a dyke, to be drained, peat.

3. Составьте предложения со следующими словами и словосочетаниями:

a down, a cliff, a plain, a ridgeway, Albion, a Cotswold lion, the fens, the playgrounds of Southern England, bird-watching.

4. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What part of the island of Great Britain is called Lowland Britain?

2. What is the exact meaning of the word "lowland"? Is it neces­sary for a place to be absolutely flat, so that we may call it a "lowland"?

3. What term is used to refer to the chains of hills in southeastern England? What is the etymology of this term? Is it used to refer to any hill or a hill of some special type?

4. What is the difference between a down and a cliff? Why did the cliffs near Dover become a symbol of England? Explain the etymology of the name which the Romans gave to the island?

5. In what directions do the South and North Downs stretch out? How have these ridges of hills been used since the people began to live there? What is the name of the place where they meet? How has this place been used for more than two hundred years?

6. What hills are situated in the central and western parts of Eng­land? Do they look exactly like those in the southeast? What are these hills famous for? What explains their being so picturesque?

7. What sort of scenery is typical for the eastern part of Lowland Britain? What term is used to refer to it? What is the name of this region? Are there any hills there? What term do the people use there to refer to the elevated places of land? In what way are they different from hills?

8. What is the name of the lakes situated in the places where the fens meet the sea? When and how did they appear? Why is this place so popular with holidaymakers? What do they do there?