Great Britain: the country and its people

(Part 2).

Ethnic composition: The contemporary Briton is descended mainly from the varied racial stocks that settled in the British Isles before the end of the 11th century. The earliest known people in Britain were of Iberian origin. After about 700 B.C. the Celts invaded. They developed the use of iron, the Druid religion, and the system of tribes. Julius Caesar visited Britain in 55 and 54 B.C., and the Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 A.D., under Claudius. By 80 A.D. the Romans had conquered Britain as far north as the Scottish Lowlands. Britain wаs Romanized, and was given the name Britannia. Christianity wаs first introduced from Ireland in the 4th century. The Romans left early in the 5th century; during the 5th and 6th centuries the Angles and Saxons invaded, driving the Celts into Wales and Cornwall. Christianity was brought back by missionaries from Rome in 598. The Danes invaded in the 8th to 1Oth centuries, and settled in the Danelaw. In 1066 came the Normans, the last of a long succession of invaders, pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norse influences were blended into the Briton of today (the English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish).

Migration: There is traditionally an outflow of people from Britain to other parts of the world. Emigration in post-World War II years, featuring the so-called "brain drain" of skilled professional personnel mainly to the United States has produced negative economic and social effects.

As to the immigration, it radically changed the ethnic and social picture of Great Britain. In the 1950s large numbers began to enter Britain from Commonwealth countries, particularly the West Indies, India and Pakistan (including what is now Bangladesh). In the period 1966 - 1976 some 2.9 million entered Britain from overseas.

The British are accustomed to seeing people of other colors and races. For many years there have been Chinese quarters in Liverpool and London -whole streets where the houses are occupied by people of Chinese descent. In Cardiff, a busy seaport in Wales, for many years foreign seamen of many races have been living in the streets near the docks. Many of them have left the sea, have married and settled down. Sоmе of them still go to seа. There are schools in Cardiff where half the pupils have dark faces - black, brown, yellow. They are all British subjects and know no language but English.

g.d. Tomakhin. Иностранные языки в школе № 2, 1987, с.78

Пояснения к тексту

Druid - друид, жрец у древних кельтов

Julius Caesar - Юлий Цезарь

the Lowlands - южная, равнинная часть Шотландии

Danelaw - часть северной и восточной Англии

brain drain - утечка мозгов

Commonwealth countries - страны британского содружества, в которое вхoдят 36 государств

Слова и выражения для активного усвоения.

contemporary a. - современный, одновременный

contemporary n. – современник

to descend from - происходить

to settle - поселяться, обосновывать

to invade - вторгаться, захватывать

conquest - завоевание, покорение

to introduce – вводить

succession – последовательность

to blend - смешивать, стираться

outflow - утечка, отлив

to change – изменять

descent - происхождение

to marry - жениться, выходить замуж

Questions to the text.

1. What is the contemporary Briton descended from?

2. When did the Celts invade Britain?

3. When was Christianity introduced to Britain-?

4.Did immigration change the social picture of Great Britain?

Text 3