We can say that the British climate has 3 features: mild, humid and with changeable weather.

 

На семинар: доклад – Типы климата в мире.

- Самые холодные и самые жаркие места в мире.

- Прогноз погоды на любой день на Британских островах и в Москве.

- Британские курорты.

Inland waters.

The rivers of the U.K. are very short and because of the position of the mountains most of the rivers flow into the eastward direction (текут на восток). The water level is very high. Most of the rivers remain ice-free (не замерзают).

Most of the rivers are joined together by canals which are used for chip inland water transportation. Canal – made by people, but channel is a natural object.

 

The most important rivers in England:

The Severn, The Ouse, The Thams, The Trent, The Avon, The Tees, The Tyne/

In Scotland – The Tweed, The Clyde, The Tay.

The Severn is the longest river in the U.K.

One of it`s tributaries (приток) is the Avon. The river Tay is the longest in Scotland.

 

British lakes are rather small. They have no outlets (стоков).

The largest lakes are – Lough Neagh, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond.

Scottish lakes are called lochs.

The most famous place is the Lake District set in the Pennies.

 

Дз: Писатели и поэты Озерного края. Про Лохх-Несское чудовище.

 

09.04.12. Nature. Vegetation (flora)

 

The natural vegetation of the country has been influenced by man. With it`s mild climate and wide variety (разнообразие) of relief and soils the U.K. once had varied vegetation. Forests and marshes (болота) covered the great part of the lowlands.

There were mainly oak (дуб) and beech (бук) forests in the lowlands. And pine (сосна) and birch (береза) forests in the highlands. There were also moors (пустоши).

 

Over the centuries a lot of wood have been cut down to make way for agriculture (сельское хозяйство) and settlement (поселения).

In the 16-18^th centuries the distraction of forests was connected with constriction of factories and roads and with the production of charcoal and timber (древесный уголь и древесина).

 

Today forests occupier only about 6 or 8 % of the territory. Yet much in the U.K. appears to be well-wooded because of numerous hedgerows (живые изгороди) and assaulted trees (отдельно стоящие деревья). Only a few large forests remain - in the North East of Scotland, in some parts of south-east England and on the Wales border.

 

The most common (распространенные) trees are: oak, beech, ash (ясень), elm (вяз).

Scotland still has much pine (сосна) and birch (береза).

Other British trees are – lime (липа), yew (тис), maple (клен), holy (остролист).

36% of wood land belongs to private land owners.

Moorlands (пустоши) cover up-land areas were soils are thin (тонкие) in the Pennins, in the High lands of Scotland, in the Walsh mountains.

Moorlands is covered by heather (вереск), by fem (папоротник) and other hill grasses.

 

Grassland (луга) is green the whole year round and there are many wild flowers – tulips (тюльпаны), poppies and others.

Some of the plants and flowers have become symbols in the U.K:

First – the poppy is the symbol of peace. The red rose is the national emblem of England.

Thistle (чертополох) is the national emblem of Scotland and Edinburg.

The daffodil (нарцисс) and leek (лук) are the emblems of Wales.

The shamrock (кислица) and the clover (клевер) is the emblem of Ireland.

 

Wild life (Fauna)

 

The fauna of the British Isles is similar to the wild life of North-west Europe.

Many large animals have been destroyed – the bear, the wolf, the boar (кабан), the reindeer (северный олень). Other large mammals (млекопитающие) are now protected by low including different deer. There are many foxes in the U.K. Otters (выдры) can be seen along the rivers. Seals (тюлени) live along the sea-coast.

Smaller animals are numerous (многочисленны) – hedgehogs (ежи), hares, rabbits, mice and rats, squirrels and moles (кроты).

Birds are also numerous, about 200 species live in the U.K.and other 200 are regular visitors.

Many are song-birds (певчие) – black bird (дрозд), sparrows, starlings (скворцы). The redbreast or robin (малиновка) is the national bird of the U.K.

Water birds includes ducks and geese (утки и гуси). Many kinds of sea birds live round the coast. British birds are protected by low.

Reptiles are few. Only 3 kinds of snakes. Only the adder (гадюка) is dangerous.

Fish are numerous. Both sea fish and fresh-water fish.

The U.K. gives about 5% of the world`s production of sea fish.

Among the fish are: salmon (лосось), trout (форель), perch (окунь), roach (плотва).

There are many ecological problems in the country. The biggest threat (угроза) is pollution of the seas by industrial waste (промышленные отходы).

To preserve nature (защищать природу) national parks were created in many parts of the country. The first national park was set in the Pennies near the pick district. Now there are 7 national parks in England, including the Lake District. There are also 7 forest parks in the U.K. including the Snowdonia in Wales.

Some places are under the protection of the national trust (национальный трест). The national trust is the British organization for preserving old buildings and beautiful country-side.

 

Задание: - Британские дикие животные (про самых распространенных, например про лис, кроликов или ежей).

- Про Гринпис доклад, чем занимается, в каких странах работает.

- Защита природы в Британии, охрана природы.

- Национальные парки Великобритании

 

Population

How the nation was formed.

The British nation was formed of the different peoples. The first people settled in Britain in pre-historic-times, when Britain was joined to the continent. They were called the Iberians. They came to Britain from the Iberian Peninsula (полуостров), the area of Spain and Portugal between 3000-2000 p.c. They are supposed to have build stone structures called cromlechs (каменные сооружения), the most famous – the Stonehenge in the southern England.

In different periods of it`s history the country was occupied by different invaders (захватчики).

In the period between the 6-4 century’s b.c. (the Celts came from the central Europe and settled in Britain.

In the middle of the first century B.C. the Romans invaded Britain and in the fifth century the Germanic tribes (the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles) came.

The Anglo-Saxons gave the name to the country.

Later Britain was attacked by the Norseman (древние скандинавы) and by the Normans, and by the Vikings at 850 a.d.

The Normans at 1066 were landed by the Duke (герцог) of Normandy, who went on to the history like the William the Conqueror in the battle of Hastings. Thus (таким образом) the British nation was formed of all these peoples. All the invaders have influenced the formation of the English language.

Traditionally Britain gave a lot of immigrants to the rest of the world. In the period between 1836-1936 about 11 million people left the U.K. That was a movement of the ruined peasants and the unemployed (разорившихся крестьян и безработных).

The people hoped to find new opportunities on new territories. They went mainly to North America. Then came to Australia, New Zeeland, South Africa and Asia. They settled there, spreading the economic, political and cultural influence of Great Britain as well as the English language which became the official language of many countries. Mass immigration from the U.K. stopped during and after the First World War. In the 1960^th many immigrants came to Great Britain and settled permanently in the country, especially from the West India, Asia and Africa. Today there are also groups of Americans, Australian, Chinese and various European communities living in the U.K. Therefore British society has become more multiracial (мультирасовое) in recent years.