Text 21. The Commonwealth of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a self-governing federal state. It has six states: New South Wales, Victoria Queen’s land, South Australia, Western Australia and two internal territories. It is situated in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean. The area of this country has 7,000,000 square kilometers. Australia is the largest island in the world and the smallest continent. The Dutch were the first Europeans to visit Australia. In 1770 the English captain James Cook discovered the East Coast of Australia. Nearly 20 millions people live in Australia.

The capital of the country is Canberra; this city became its capital in 1927. Federal government works in Canberra in the government buildings. The population of Canberra is about 300 000 people. There are many sights in the city. They are the buildings of Australian Academy of Songs, the Australian National University and others.

Australia is situated near the ocean. Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane are the ports of the country.

The Australian climate is dry and warm. Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere and that is why it has summer when we have winter. January is the hottest month in Australia.

Australia is an industrial country. Australia is one of the most important producers of metals and minerals. It is rich in coil, nickel, zinc and gold. It exports wool products, meat, fruit and sugar. There are two big industrial cities in Australia: Sydney and Melbourne.

There are many universities, theaters and museums in Australia.

There are some political parties in Australia: the Liberal party, the Labor party and two Socialist parties.

Answer the following questions:

1. How many states are there in Australia and what are they?

2. What are the area and the population of the country?

3. What is the capital of the country? What is it famous for?

4. What is the hottest month of the year? Why?

5. What products does Australia export?

Text 22. GREAT BRITAIN (1)

In the West of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean there are two great islands – Great Britain and Ireland with many smaller ones. As a whole they are called the British Isles. It is here that Great Britain is situated. It consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are mountainous but England is plain.

The coast line is very broken. The British Isles are washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea in the West, by the North Sea in the East and by the English Channel in the South.

The climate of Great Britain is mild because of the Gulf Stream and winds blowing from the ocean. They are warm in winter and cold in summer. The winter temperature is higher and the summer temperature is lower than in any other country of the same latitude.

The rivers on the British Isles are mostly short and shallow. Only two rivers are of great importance: the Thames and the Severn. There are many ports in Great Britain. The leading ports are London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and others.

Great Britain is a highly developed country with such branches of industry as textile, mining, steel, ship-building, engineering and chemical. Clothing, footwear, drink and food industries are also highly developed. The most important centers are London, Birmingham, Manchester and others. Agriculture plays a secondary role in the national economy of the country. A special feature of English agriculture is cattle breeding in vari­ous forms: dairy breeding, sheep breeding, poultry farming. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. The capital of Wales is Cardiff. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast. The capi­tal of Great Britain is London, situated in the mouth of the Tha­mes. It is one of the biggest cities in the world. Its population is 9 million.

Answer the following questions:

1. Where is Great Britain situated?

2. What are the parts it consists of?

3. By what seas are the British Isles washed?

4. Why is the climate of Great Britain mild?

5. What are the greatest rivers in Great Britain?

6. Is Great Britain a highly developed country? Why?

7. What is a special feature of its agriculture?

Text 23. GREAT BRITAIN (2)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with an area of some 244.000 square miles is situated on the British Isles which are separated from the European continent by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. Britain’s population is over 57 million.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy: the head of the state is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reins, but doesn’t rule: the UK is governed by the Government – a body of Ministers who are the leading members of the political party in power and who are responsible to Parliament. The present Sovereign is Queen Elisabeth II.

The territory of Great Britain is small. Yet the country has a wide variety of scenery. England is the heart of Britain. It is the richest, the most fertile and most populated in the country. The north and the west of the England are mountainous, but all the rest territory is a vast plain. In Northwest England, there are many beautiful lakes with green, wooded or grassy shores and gray mountains all around. It is called Lake District. The national symbol of England is the red rose.

Wales is the smallest land of the UK, but has a considerable variety, from the picturesque mountains of the north (including Snowdonia) to the mining and industrial areas of the south. The capital of Wales is Cardiff, an important industrial centre and port. Most people in Wales live in the coastal plains. The national symbol of Wales is a leek or daffodil.

Scotland is a land of mountains, narrow valleys and plains, famous lakes and large and small islands off the coast. The Highlands of Scotland are among the oldest mountains in the world. The highest of them is Ben Nevis. The lakes in Scotland are called “locks”. The beautiful Lock Lomond with its thirty islands is the largest. One-third of the people in Scotland live in or near its capital, Edinburgh, and its great industrial center, Glasgow. The national symbol of Scotland is a thistle.

Northern Ireland was a part of Ireland as a whole before the early 20^th century and developed in the middle ages as the Kingdom of Ulster, later the Province of Ulster. The territory is small. It is a land of lakes, rivers and a varied sea coast. Some places are known for their wild beauty, the Glen of Antrim among of them. The capital city is Belfast.

The capital of Great Britain, London, stands on the Thames which flows into the North Sea. The Thames is the busiest and the most important river in Great Britain, but it is not very long. The Severn which flows into the Irish Sea is the longest British river. The climate of Great Britain is mild. The Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf-stream affect the weather of the British Isles. The summers are usually cool and rainy. There is much rain and fog in autumn and in winter. Great Britain is a very damp country.

Answer the following questions:

1. Where is the United Kingdom situated?

2. Who is the head of the state?

3. What parts does the UK consist of? What are their capitals?

4. What are the national symbols of Wales, England and Scotland?

5. Why is the climate of Great Britain mild?

Text 24. GREAT BRITAIN (3)

Britain is very small compared with many other countries in the world, yet it is a surprisingly varied land in many different ways: the diversity of landscape in different parts of the country; a long history that is rich in great events, a varied cultural heritage; long-lived customs and traditions; a rich mixture of peoples who live in the country; the great cities of London, Edinburgh, Oxford and Stratford. All together they make the image of Britain fascinating and exiting. All together they make the image of Britain fascinating and exiting.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with an area of some 244.000 square miles is situated on the British Isles which are separated from the European continent by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. Britain’s population is over 57 million.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy: the head of the state is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reigns, but doesn’t rule: the UK is governed by the Government – a body of Ministers who are the leading members of the political party in power and who are responsible to Parliament. The present Sovereign is Queen Elisabeth II.

The territory of Great Britain is small. Yet the country has a wide variety of scenery. Britain is divided into four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

England is often subdivided into three parts: the South, the Midlands and the North. The South. The landscape is varied. The climate is warmer than in the other areas. There are hundreds of miles of sea coast which vary from flat, sandy or stony beaches to high rocky cliffs. The mild and sunny climate makes the south coast popular with holiday-makers. Some coastal resorts are famous, Brighton among them. Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall are rural counties, tucked away with hidden fishing hamlets and Britain’s warmest weather in winter. There are high bare hills, rock and deep wooded valleys. Inland, the landscape is gentle and green; it is famous for its countryside. One of the most beautiful countries in the South of England is certainly Kent. It is known as the Garden of England, because it is famous for it picturesque orchards which produce a lot of fruit and vegetables. Another area which has some of the richest farmland in the country is known as the fens and lies to the east of Cambridge. This land was drained and now the Fen Country consists of miles of flat land with almost no tree or hedges. In general, the South is wealthier than other areas of Britain. Work of all kinds is provided on the land, in trade and industry. British Aerospace has factories building airplanes in several parts of the South. Lots of people are involved in service industries including financial, business and government services, computer services and information systems. There are science-based companies and research organizations.

The Midlands. The Midlands Region has much farming land, but this part of the country is better known as an industrial area, one of the England’s most productive regions. Derby is an engineering centre. Rolls Royce makes aero engines and cars there. Birmingham, which is often called “the Big Heart of England”, is the most important city of the Midlands. It is the second largest city in the UK. It’s famous for engineering, especially car production. The Potteries is another industrial area in the Midlands. It lies around the city of Stoke-on-Trent and produces china, crockery and all kinds of ceramics, some of which are famous worldwide, Wedgwood among them.

The North. The weather is considerably colder. There is almost always snow in winter. This is a region of great natural beauty although industry of some kind has existed here for hundreds of years. There is great contrast in the North between the beautiful open, hilly countryside and the industrial towns and mining villages. In parts of the North – in Yorkshire particularly – there are gentle wooded valleys and green pastures and excellent farming land. West Yorkshire is very good for sheep-farming, and it has long been Britain’s most important area for the wool industry. Coal is one of the few natural resources found in the North of England. Some famous industrial cities in the North are Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle-on-Tyne. The national symbol of England is the red rose.

Wales is the most westerly part of mainland, bordered on the east by England. It is the smallest land of the United Kingdom, but has considerable variety, from the picturesque mountains of the north to the mining and industrial areas of the south. The main areas of settlement are in the southern and coastal areas, where two thirds of the population live. The chief cities are Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. In 1955 Cardiff was declared the capital of Wales. Wales is a principality (a country ruled by a prince). The title of' Prince of Wales is traditionally given by the British sovereign to his or her eldest son, who is heir to the throne. Wales is divided geographically into the industrial south, the central plateaus and lakes, and the mountainous north. South Wales. The economy of Wales is based on coal, iron, and steel which are traditional industries in this part of the United Kingdom. The valleys to the north of Cardiff are the heart of the Welsh coal and steel industries. South Wales remains the principal industrial area. Today Wales is developing as an important centre for electronics, and several new high technology businesses in electronics and related industries have been established. Agriculture occupies about 80 per cent of the land area; the main activities are sheep and cattle rearing in the hill regions and dairy farming in the lowland. North Wales is famous for the wild beauty of its mountains, lakes and waterfalls. The national symbol of Wales is a leek or daffodil.

The ocean bounds Scotland on all sides except for its southern, sixty-mile-long border with England. Most of the country is within forty miles of salt water. On the west coast there are a lot of sea lochs and islands. Most of Scotland’s 787 islands are off the northwest coast. The country may be divided into the Highlands and the Lowlands. However, not all of the Lowlands are really ‘low’. The highest peak in the Highlands and in all Britain is Ben Nevis (4406 feet = 1343 m) with its head in cloud and snow towering above the little town of Fort William. During the winter months there is usually sufficient snow for skiing. The east coast is drier that the west, where even in summer rains are frequent. Scotland is famous all over the world as a land of beautiful scenery – of hills and valleys, of misty lochs and tumbling rivers, beaches and charming fishing villages. Fishing remains an important activity in Scotland. Scotland has about one-third of Britain’s total agricultural land, but 71 per cent consists of hill grazing for cattle and sheep. But modern Scotland is also a land of steel and ship, coal and iron. Some of the traditional Scottish industries, such as coal, steel and shipbuilding, are declining. Other traditional manufactures, such as high quality tweeds and other textiles, and food and drink products, remain important. Much is being done to modernize Scotland industry. The electronics sector has greatly contributed to the country's development. The national symbol of Scotland is a thistle.

The landscape of Northern Ireland is gentle. It is green because it rains a lot. But the rain showers quickly change to sunshine – and back to rain again. The mountains roll down to the sea. Northern Ireland is a land of lakes, rivers and a varied sea coast. It is a great place for tourism. Population and industry are concentrated on the eastern seaboard, while the rest of Northern Ireland remains predominantly rural and relies mainly upon agriculture for its livelihood. The traditional important industries are shipbuilding and linen. Other industrial activities include the manufacture of textile machinery and a wide range of engineering products, tobacco and clothing. There has also been extensive development in oil-well equipment, electronics, telecommunications equipment, and carpets. Britain lives a complex modern life in which traditional values and love of the past go side by side with a desire for change.

Answer the following questions:

1. Where is the United Kingdom situated?

2. What is the political structure of Great Britain? Who is the head of the state today?

3. What parts does the UK consist of? What are their capitals?

4. What are the most distinguishing features of England? And Wales? And Scotland? And Northern Ireland?

5. What is the population of Great Britain?