English-speaking countries

 

 

English-speaking countries

 

Great Britain

Great Britain or United Kingdom, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a parliamentary monarchy in northwestern Europe. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast respectively. The United Kingdom’s flag is the Union Jack. It’s red, white and blue. Each country also has a national ’’emblem’’ or sign. The English emblem is a red rose. The Welsh emblem is a vegetable or flower. The Scottish emblem is a wild plant - a thistle. And the Irish emblem is another wild plant - a shamrock. It’s traditional in Britain to wear your country’s emblem on its saint’s day. The leek doesn’t go in a buttonhole, so the Welsh often wear a daffodil. These are Britain’s patron saints and their days. The Scots, Welsh and English don’t really celebrate their national saint’s days. But St. Patrick’s Day is important for Irish people all over the world. In New York, for example, the Irish people always have a big St. Patrick’s Day parade. Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales and does not include Northern Ireland. But in everyday speech ‘Great Britain’ is used to mean the United Kingdom.

 

 London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre. London is an ancient city. It is more than twenty centuries old. The population of London, including its suburbs, is more than nine million people. London is one of the biggest cities in the world and the largest city in Europe. It is situated on the banks of the River Thames.

The City is the financial and the business centre of the country. There are a lot of banks and various offices here. It is the ancient part of London.

One of the greatest English churches — St Paul's Cathedral — is here. It was designed and built by an outstanding English architect Christopher Wren in 1710. St Paul's Cathedral is the second large church in Europe, Admiral Nelson is buried here.

Not far away is Westminster — the administrative centre of London. The Houses of Parliament are situated here. It is the seat of the British Government. The building is very beautiful with its two towers and a big clock called Big Ben, Big Ben is the name of the huge clock in one of the tall towers of the Houses of Parliament. The Houses of Parliament is the largest modern building in the richest Gothic style completed in 1857. It stands on the left bank of the River Thames and is 940 ft in length. Those who want to get a fine front view of the building should look at it from a boat on the Thames.

The Clock Tower, overlooking Westminster Bridge is 316 ft high and 40 ft square. People are allowed to get inside the Tower so that they can see the works of Big Ben. There is no lift and there are three hundred and forty steps up to Big Ben. The faces of the clock are very large. The minute hand is 14 ft long, the hour hand is 9 ft, the figures are 2 ft long.

Westminster Abbey where kings and queens are crowned is opposite the Houses of Parliament. This ancient building was founded in the eleventh century. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Many famous people are buried here, among them Newton, Darwin, Dickens and Kipling.

The West End is the part of London where the rich people live. Fine houses, wide streets, numerous parks are to be found in this part of the capital. The best cinemas, theatres, concert halls, famous shops, comfortable hotels, restaurants, large museums are situated here. The most beautiful London park — Hyde Park — is in this district too.

The East End includes the port, the docks stretching for miles and the great industrial areas, which depend on shipping.

London is famous for its outstanding places of interest. There are many architectural, art and historic monuments in London such as the British Museum, it was opened in 1753. It grew out of collections of three rich men. George II gave the royal library to the museum in 1757. The collection is enormous, and covers ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, China and Japan, as well as prehistoric times, the Tower of London it is a very old building. It is more than 900 years old. English kings lived in it many years ago, but now it is a museum. People who come to London like to go to the Tower. It was a fortress, a royal palace and later a prison. The ravens are another famous sign. The legend says that without them the Tower will fall., the National Gallery, National Gallery has a collection of Italian, Dutch, German and French pictures. The National Gallery is rich in painting by Italian masters such as Raphael and Veronese. It has pictures of all European schools of art such as works by Rembrandt, Rubens and El Greco. The gallery is open seven days a week and admission is free, Buckingham Palace it is the London home of the Queen. When the flag is flying on the top she is at home., the Nelson Column it is named after the greatest admiral Lord Nelson. It is a very tall column and a figure of Nelson on top of it. Equally famous is the general who led the army at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. This is the Duke of Wellington His house stands at Hyde Park Corner. It is sometimes named as Number One, London. Like admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.. and many others. The London Underground is the oldest one in the world. It was opened in London in 1863.

England was the first country were capitalism was established.

The UK is a highly developed industrial country. It is known as one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of machinery, electronics, textile, aircraft and navigation equipment. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding. The country is a world leader in international trade. In January 1973, Great Britain became a member of the European Community(now called the European Union). A primary question facing in the middle of 1990s is the terms on which it will participate in the on-going financial and economic integration of Europe.

Great Britain is country with old cultural traditions and customs. The Queen is the only person in Britain with two birthdays. Her real birthday is on April 21st, but she has an ’’official’’ birthday, too. That’s on the second Saturday in June. And on the Queen’s official birthday, there is a traditional ceremony called the Trooping of the Colour. It’s a big parade with brass bands and hundreds of soldier at House Guard’s Parade in London.

The most famous educational centers are Oxford and Cambridge Universities. They are considered to be the intellectual centers of Europe. The education is not free, it is very expensive. Cambridge is situated at a distance of 70 miles from London. It is one of the most beautiful towns in England. The dominating factor in Cambridge is its well-known University, a centre of education and learning. A college is a place where you live no matter what profession you are trained for: so students studying literature and those trained for physics may belong to one and the same college. Every college is headed by a dean. Oxford is one of the great English universities too. Cambridge and Oxford are almost identical. They trace their long history back to the same period. By the end of the thirteenth century both universities already had colleges.

Every country and every nation has its own traditions and customs. You cannot speak about England without speaking about its traditions and customs. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up.

The English are stay-at-home people. “There is no place like home”, they say. When they don’t work they like to spend their days off at home with their families.

They say that English people keep to their traditions even in meals. Porridge is the dish Englishmen are very fond of. Мany of them eat porridge with milk for breakfast. As for the Scotch they never put sugar in their porridge, they always put salt in it.

The English are tea-drinkers. They have it many times a day. Some people have tea for breakfast, tea in lunch time. Tea after dinner, tea at tea-time and tea with supper.

Pubs are an important part of British Life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. The word ‘’pub’’ is short for ‘’public house’’. There are thousands in Britain. An important custom in pubs is ‘’buying a round’’. In a group, one person buys all the others a drink. This is a ‘’round’’. Then one by one all the other people buy rounds, too.

Pub names often have a long traditions. Some come from the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Every pub has a name and every pub has a sign above it is door. The sign shows a picture of the pubs name.

Many British costumes and uniforms have a long history. One is the uniform of the Beefeaters at the Tower of London. This came first from France. Another is the uniform of the Horse Guards at Horse Guards’  Parade, not far from Buckingham Palace. Thousands of visitors take photographs of the Horse Guards, but the Guards never move or smile. In fact some visitors think the Guards are not real.

 

 

USA

The United States of America (USA) is one of the largest countries in the world. The population of the USA is about 250 million people. The USA has 50 states. Its capital is Washington, D. C. (the District of Columbia).

It is the highly developed coun* try. People of very many nationalities live in the USA.

The flag of the USA has 13 red and white stripes representing the original 13 states and 50 stars — for each of the 50 states of the country in our days. Each state has its symbol.

In the north the USA borders on Canada and in the south it borders on Mexico. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and by the Pacific Ocean in the west. Hawaii, which became the 50th state in 1959, is situated in the Pacific Ocean. Alaska is separated from Russia by the Bering Strait. It is the biggest state of the country. The area of the USA is over nine million square kilometres. The official language of the country is English.

 

Some of the biggest cities are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and others. -

New York is not a very old city. It was founded some three hundred years ago. New York is the largest city in the USA, it is situated in the mouth of the Hudson River. The centre of New York is Manhattan Island. New York, one of the leading American manufacturing cities, is the home of great firms and banks. There are many sky-scrapers of fifty and more stores in it.

Washington, the capital of the country was named in honour of the first president, George Washington. It is located on the north bank of the Potomac River. Washington is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in the USA. It has little industry. Washington looks different from other cities. No building in the city may be more than 40 meters tall. The Capitol is the tallest building in Washington. This is where laws are made. The White House is home of every president of the United States.

Boston is located on the bank of the Atlantic Ocean. There are three universities in this city. The oldest university in the USA, Harvard University, was founded in Boston in 1636. Boston is one of the America's oldest cities. It was founded in 1630.

There are seven towns called Paris in the United States and six called Moscow, but only four called London. There are two Stockholms, an Oslo and a Copenhagen.

Many places are named after American presidents. Washington is the most popular. Washington is the name of the capital, twenty-one towns, cities, a lake, an island, a river, a mountain and a whole state.

The United States are called a 'melting pot', or a salad bowl/ mixed salad because people from all over the world have mixed together to create modern American society. A typical American family lives in a house outside a big city. Their ancestors came from Europe, but they also have some African, Asian and a little Indian blood. If you ask Mr. Typical American where his family has come from, he will probably say something like, "I'm English-Irish-German-Swedish American." But no one has ever seen a family quite like this. :

 

 

 

Australia

Even in medieval times there were stories about a large continent in the Southern Hemisphere. But Europeans had never seen it. They called this land terra australis incognita or "the unknown southern land" — Australia.

Nowadays when people speak of Australia they can mean three things: 1) Australia as a continent; 2) Australia as an island and 3) Australia as an independent country. Australia is the world's largest island and its smallest continent. Asia is the continent nearest to Australia in the north. The icy shores of Antarctica lie to the south. New Zealand is to the east. To the west of Australia stretches the vast Indian Ocean. In the east the continent is washed by the Pacific Ocean.

Australia is a land of striking differences. In the centre of the continent and in the west more than 50% of the land is desert —  dry and uninhabited. There are three deserts there — the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Victoria Desert and the Gibson Desert, situated between them. Naturally very few people live there. Most of them live on narrow coasts of the east and south-east. Main cities, where people live among tall office buildings, automobile plants' and busy factories, are also situated there.

 

In the north-east tropical forests cover the coast. In the mountains of the south-east the snow lies for seven months of the year. 0

Australia is divided into six states and two territories.

New South Wales is Australia's leading industrial state. Most people live along the east coast, and most of them are in Sydney. Sydney is also the largest city in Australia, it population is over 3,5 million people. Sydney was founded on 26 January 1788, and it is the first European settlement in the country. Nowadays Sydney is Australia’s leading seaport. There are a lot of lovely parks and gardens in Sydney.

In Victoria most people live in the south. Melbourne is the capital of the state and the largest city it’s population is over 3 million people. Melbourne is the financial centre of the nation, from 1901 to 1927 – the seat of federal goverment. Sheep and wheat are the main products here. Citrous fruits, grapes, peaches and apricots are grown along the Murray River.

Queensland is Australia's second largest state. Brisbane, its capital, is situated on the east coast. Queensland has long beautiful sandy beaches. Its coast is a popular place for holidaymakers. The climate along the east coast is hot and humid. It is the tropical corner of Australia. Bananas and other tropical fruits are grown here. Most of the land in the south is too dry for farming. Some of Australia's most unproductive desert lands occupy the bigger part of the state.

The state of Western Australia is dry and inhospitable except the south-western corner of the state. Nearly all of the state's farms, sheep stations' and fruit gardens are situated there. The rest of the state is dry desert land with very few towns or lonely cattle stations.²

South Australia is the third largest state. Most of South Australia's people, farms and industry are in the south-eastern part of the state. Adelaide is the capital and the largest city, it’s population is over1 million people. Adelaide is famous for Adelaide’s Festival of Arts held every two years. Most of South Australia is too dry for farming. Farming very much depends on irrigation or underground water. Some of Australia's most unproductive desert lands occupy the greater part of the state. Wheat and fruit (apricots, pears, peaches, nectarines and grapes) are grown along the lower part of the Murray River.

Tasmania, the island state, is sometimes called the apple isle because, it produces most of Australia's apples. Tasmania is one of the few places in Australia that have enough rain all year. Tasmania is Australia's leading producer of pears and berries of different kinds. Potatoes are also grown in some areas.

Northern Territory is the least populated and least developed part of Australia. Crocodiles still live in some of the swamps along the coast. Darwin is its capital and the only large settlement in the north. Alice Springs, generally called Alice or the Alice, is the only town in the south.

The capital of Australia is Canberra. Canberra was built in 1923 - 1927 It is an important learning centre of the country, here situated the National University of Australia. here is the seat of the federal government. The city doesn't belong to any state. It is situated on the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which occupies an area of 2,432 square kilometres.

 

Великобритания

Великобритания или Соединенное  Королевство парламентская монархия в северо-западной Европе. Соединенное  Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии расположено на Британских Островах. Британские Острова состоят  из двух больших островов, Великобритании и Ирландии, и приблизительно пяти тысяч маленьких островов. Их общая  область - более чем 244000 квадратных километров.

Великобритания состоит из четырех  стран: Англии, Уэльса, Шотландии и  Северной Ирландии. Их столицы - Лондон, Эдинбург, Кардифф и Белфаст соответственно. Их общий флаг называется Union Jack. Каждая страна также имеет свою национальную эмблему. Английская эмблема это  красная роза. Эмблема Уэльса- овощ или цветок. Шотландская эмблема - дикое растение - чертополох. И Ирландская эмблема - другое дикое растение- клевер. Это традиция в Англии чтобы у страны был свой святой. Лук-порей не носят в петлице, поэтому часто вместо него носят бледно-желтый нарцисс. В Великобритании есть святые и в каждой стране празднуются дни святых. Шотландцы, жители Уэльса и

Англичане по настоящему не празднуют свои национальные дни святых. Но День Святого Патрика очень важен для Ирландцев во всем мире. В Нью-Йорке, например, каждый год походит парад в честь Святого Патрика. Великобритания состоит из Англии, Шотландии и Уэльса и не включает Северную Ирландию. Но в каждодневной речи слово Великобритания используется чтобы обозначить все Соединенное Королевство.

Лондон – столица Вликобритании, её политический, экономический и  культурный центр. Лондон – древний  город. Ему уже более 20 веков. Население  Лондона, включая жителей окрестностей, составляет более 9 млн. человек. Лондон – один из крупнейших городов мира и самый большой в Европе. Он расположен на берегах Темзы.

Сити – финансовый и деловой  центр страны. Там находится множество  банков и различных офисов. Это  древняя часть Лондона. десь расположена одна из наиболее крупных церквей Лондона — собор св. Павла, Он был спланирован и построен выдающимся английским архитектором Кристофером Реном в 1710 г. Собор св. Павла — второй по величине собор Европы. В нем похоронен адмирал Нельсон.

Неподалеку располагается Вестминстер — административный центр Лондона. Здесь находится здание парламента. Это место британского правительства. Здание выглядит величественно — с двумя колоннами и большими часами, которые называются «БигБен». Биг Бен — название огромных часов на одной из самых высоких башен здания парламента. Здание парламента — это большое современное сооружение в богатом готическом стиле, построенное в 1857 г. Оно возвышается на левом берегу реки Темзы, и его длина достигает 940 футов. Тому, кто хочет увидеть великолепный фасад здания, надо смотреть с лодки на Темзе.

Часовая башня, выходящая на Вестминстерский  мост, имеет 316 футов в высоту и 40 футов в ширину. Людям разрешается  заходить внутрь башни, где они могут наблюдать, как работают часы. Там нет лифта, и наверх ведут 340 ступеней. Циферблат часов очень большой. Длина минутной стрелки — 14 футов, часовой стрелки — 9 футов, цифр — 2 фута.

Напротив здания парламента находится  Вестминстерское аббатство, где  были коронованы короли и королевы Англии. Это древнее здание построено  в XI в. Несколько раз оно было разрушено и заново восстановлено. Там похоронены многие известные люди. Среди них И. Ньютон, Ч. Дарвин, Ч. Диккенс и Р. Киплинг.

В западной части Лондона живут  богатые люди. Здесь прекрасные дома, широкие улицы, много парков. Здесь  также лучшие кинотеатры, театры, концертные залы, известные магазины, комфортабельные  отели, рестораны, обширные музеи. Самый  прекрасный парк Лондона — Гайд-парк — расположен в этом же районе.

В восточной части Лондона находятся  порт, верфи протяженностью в мили и огромные промышленные районы, связанные  с торговым флотом.

Лондон известен своими достопримечательностями. В нем много исторических памятников архитектуры, таких, как Британский музей, он был открыт в 1753 г. Основу его  составили коллекции трех богатых  людей. В 1757г. Георг II подарил музею королевскую библиотеку. Коллекция громадная, включает произведения искусства Древней Греции, Рима, Египта, Китая и Японии, а также и доисторических времен. Тауэр, это— очень старое здание. Ему больше 900 лет. Английские короли жили там много лет назад, но сейчас это музей. Люди, приезжающие в Лондон, любят ходить в Тауэр. Раньше это была крепость, королевский дворец, а позже — тюрьма. Вороны — это другая знаменитая достопримечательность Тауэра. Легенда гласит, что без них Тауэр падет. Национальная галерея, Национальная галерея — это коллекция итальянских, голландских, германских и французских картин. Национальная галерея богата произведениями итальянских мастеров, таких, как Рафаэль, Веронезе. Там находятся произведения всех европейских школ искусств, работы таких мастеров, как Рембрандт, Рубенс, Эль Греко. Галерея открыта семь дней в неделю, и вход свободный. Букингемский дворец это — лондонская резиденция королевы. Когда над зданием поднят флаг, это значит, что королева дома., колонна Нельсона, Колонна Нельсона названа в честь великого адмирала Нельсона. Это очень высокая колонна, заканчивающаяся скульптурой Нельсона.