The State opening of Parliament. 


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The State opening of Parliament.



Parliament, not the Royal Family, controls modern Britain. But traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. She travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage-the Irish State Coach. At the Houses of Parliament the Queen sits on a "throne" in the House of Lords. Then she reads the "Queen's Speech". At the State Opening of Parliament the Queen wears a crown. She wears other jewels from the Crown Jewels, too.

The Queen's Christmas Speech.

Now here's a modern royal custom. On Christmas Day at 3.00 in the afternoon, the Queen makes a speech on radio and TV. It's ten minutes long. In it she talks to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a large group of countries. In the past they were all in the British Empire. Australia, India, Canada and New Zealand are among the 49 members.

The B.B.C (the British Broadcasting Corporation) sends the Queen's speech to every Commonwealth country. In her speech the Queen talks about the past year.

The Queen doesn't make speech on Christmas Day. She Films it few weeks before.

1. to troop - приходить строем; (проходити);

2. Trooping of the Colour - вынос знамени; (винос прапора);

3. brass band - духовой оркестр; (духовий оркестр);

4. a regiment - полк; (полк);

5. Maundy Thursday - великий четверг (на страстной неделе); (великий
четверг на страстному тижні);

 

 

Text 12: "AUSTRALIA"

The outback1.

70 percent of Australia is hot dry land called the outback. People in the outback often live far from other people. Kids can't go to school because there are no school nearby. They have to listen to lessons on the radio. Visiting the outback can be dangerous. It's easy to get lost because there aren't many people, cars or buildings. It is Usually very hot so you must take lots of water with you, too.

The Aborigines.

Aborigines are the original people of Australia. Some tribes are over 60.000 years old. The outback is their traditional home, but today many Aborigines live in towns and cities. They play the didgeridoo2, a long wooden pipe that makes a strange sound. Boomerangs are also Aboriginal. Aborigines hunt with them.

Ayers Rock.

Ayers Rock is in the outback. It is 3.6 kilometres long and 348 metres high. Tourists like to visit Ayers Rock but they mustn't climb it because it is very important to Aborigine culture. The Aboriginal name for the rock is Uluru. There are caves in the rock and Aboriginal people draw pictures in the caves.

Koala Bears.

Koala bears are marsupials3. This means that they carry their babies in a pouch4. They are very-well known Australian animals but they are in danger. People are cutting down the eucalyptus trees that koala bears need for food. Cars also kill Thousands of koala bears.

Surfing.

There are lots of peaces to go surfing in Australia, because it has many beaches. The most popular place for surfing is Bondi Beach in Sydney. There are usually big waves here but sometimes the waves are dangerous. Surfers must look at the flags on the beach to see if the water is safe. A red flag means that surfing is very dangerous.

Australia is thirty times bigger than Great Britain. Only seventeen million people live there. 90% of them live on the coast, therefore the centre is almost empty.

The first British settlement in Australia was a prison settlement. The British killed plants and animals that were important to the Aborigines. They also killed many of the Aborigines and took their land. The Aborigines became very poor and had many problems. They weren't able to adjust to white man's life. Today things are getting better. The population is rising and the government has given some land back to the Aborigines.

Australia has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The beach is a way of life for many Americans. Sydney has one of Australia's most famous beaches. Bondi Beach is famous for surfing and is a popular place for many tourists and inhabitants to go on Christmas Day. Australians are a nation of sportsmen and women. Every year they look for children who might be good at a particular sport. Then they spend millions of dollars training them. They test most schoolchildren and tell them what sports to practise in future.

 

 

Questions to the text:

1. How is 70% of Australia land called?

2. Who are aborigines?

3. Where is Ayers Rock?

4. What are koala bears?

5. Why are there lots of places to go surfing?

6. What was the first British settlement in Australia?

 

1. outback - малонаселённая местность; (малонаселена місцевість);

2. didgeridoo - музыкальный инструмент; (музичний інструмент);

3. marsupials - сумчатые; (сумчасті);

4. a pouch - сумка; (сумка);

 

Text 13: "SYDNEY - THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY ON EARTH"

Sydney is the most beautiful city on earth. Sydney lies on beautiful hills beside one of the best harbours in the world near 60 km of wonderful beaches. It has a perfect Mediterranean climate fresh air and exciting people from all over the world. In fact, a quarter of Sydney's population weren't even born in Australia.

Sydney is Australia's oldest city. Captain Cook stopped near here at Botany Bay in 1770. The first Europeans who came to Australia put up their tents at Sydney Cove1. Soon the first houses were built, and in only 200 years the city grew from nothing into a home for 3.5 million people.

Despite the history, Sydney is the most modern place in Australia. Its buildings are the highest, its fashions are the newest and its colours are the brightest. A lot of Australia's exciting cultural life is found in Sydney. Artists, writers, opera singers and film makers all live here. So some people call the city "the Paris of the Pacific". But that sea, sand, sun and surf. Sydneysiders, as well as many visitors to Australia, come to Bondi Beach to relax and take a rest. Some of them really relax. Other are too busy-they're jogging, swimming, or riding the great waves on their surfboards.

Paddington is an area of beautiful houses one hundred years old near the center of Sydney. For a long time, Paddington was unfashionable, and the houses looked old and dirty. Now it is fashionable again, and the houses have been painted and repaired. It's a good place to live in. There's only one problem. The houses are very expensive.

The Australians in films like to think of themselves as strong, hard people who can cross deserts, hunt crocodiles and kill snakes with their hands. But most Australians never go near the "outback", as they call the land far away from town. Most of them live in cities. They go to work every day in offices and factories, and return every night to their homes in the suburbs, just like the people of New York, London, Tokyo or Rome.

Australian cities have the same problems as other cities of the world. There are poor people, homeless people, people with drinking problems, and people with no hope. The problems are big ones, but at least the cities are small. Sydney, the largest city, has only 3.5 million people.

Some people think that you won't find the "real" Australia in the big towns. You must go to the smaller, country places. In the smaller towns, there's plenty of land. Houses and gardens are big, and the streets are wide. The friendliest people live in the smallest towns, Melbourne has beautiful parks and gardens, and some fine old buildings, but it is not like Sydney. Sydney is full of exciting new ideas, Melbourne is perhaps a little old-fashioned

 

Questions to the text;

1. Where does Sydney lie?

2. Where did the first Europeans put up their tents?

3. What is Paddington?

4. How do Australians like to think of themselves in films?

5. What problems have Australian cities?

6. How do smaller country places in Australia look like?

 

Cove – бухточка

 

Text 14: "CANADA"

Canada is over 3.8 million square miles in area. It is the second-largest country in the world, covering nearly half the North American continent.

Canada has over 15 per cent of the world's known freshwater volume. Fresh water forms over 7.6 per cent of the total area of the country.

Four of the live Great Lakes lie partly in Canada. The largest river in Canada is the Mackenzie (2.635 miles), Which flows into the Arctic Ocean.

Canada's climate is greatly influenced by its mountain ranges, plains and water surfaces. The mountain ranges of the Cordilleran region prevent humid pacific air from reaching the interior, and also prevent the westward flow of cold Arctic air from reaching the West Coast.

Canada was first inhabited by Asian tribes believed by archaeologists to have migrated across the Bering Strait many Thousands of years ago. The descendants of these people are today's Eskimos and Indians.

The name "Canada" is believed to have originated with its first inhabitants, Since the Huron-Iroquois Indians used the word kanata to describe a settlement. The term is thought to have been picked up by European discoveries, who changed it to its present spelling.

The story of modern Canada began about 500years ago, when a Genoese navigator, John Cabot, claimed a large portion of the Atlantic seaboard in England's name, though no settlement occurred at that time.

The true founder and settler of French Canada, however, was the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who impressed by the rich furs, established, between 1604 and 1634, tiny settlements of French pioneers along the Bay of Fundy and along the shores of the St. Lawrence at Quebec.

Following the years of early settlement, both French and English pioneers lived off the land and engaged in the fiercely competitive fur trade. The furs they trapped or bartered for with the Indians were sent to France and England, where government-chartered companies reaped large profits.

Though an independent nation, Canada, like Australia, has close links with Britain. Formally the head of state is the King or Queen of England.

Canada has a Parliament. The parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leader of the party that wins the largest number of seats in the House of Commons is asked to form the government.

Despite its small population, Canada is a great industrial nation. It is a Main supplier to the USA of oil, gas, paper, petroleum and coal products, wood products, textiles, machinery, non-metallic minerals and furniture

Agriculture is of major importance to the economy as a whole and is basic to any areas. It produces wheat, oats, sugar, beet, tobacco, potatoes.

The country has also the largest ports in the world, they are Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Canada has an Academy of Sciences. It conducts research in science and technology

 

Questions to the text:

1. What is Canada's climate influenced by?

2. Who was Canada First inhabited by?

3. What does the word Canada mean?

4. When did the story of modern Canada begin?

5. Who was the true founder of French Canada?

6. What is the Parliament made up of?

 

TEXT 15

Part 1

BRITAIN IN BRIEF

Land Use and Agriculture.

Although Britain is an industrialized nation, much of the country is under cultivation. Agriculture, which meets over 50 per cent of Britain's food needs, accounts for 74 per cent of land use.

Woodland and forest account for 11 per cent, and urban land and other areas for 15 per cent. About 67 per cent of agricultural land is under crops and grass, the rest being used for grazing farm animals. There are about 234.000 farmholdings, with an average size of 73 hectares.

Education.

All children in Britain up to the age of 16 must by law receive full-time education. Around 93 per cent of Britain's 9.8 million pupils receive free education from public funds. The others attend independent schools financed by fees paid by their parents. National curricula ensure that pupils study a balanced range of subjects. About 70 per cent of 16-year-olds choose to continue in full-time education to achieve vocational or advanced academic qualifications.

One-third of young people now enter higher education, compared with one-sixth in 1989. there are over 1.7million home and overseas students at universities and other higher education institutions. Almost 3.6 million people are enrolled on largely vocational further education courses.

HousehoIds.

The average size of British households has fallen to 2.4 people. A greater number of people are living on their own (12 per cent of adults) or in one-parent families, and there is a preference for smaller families. About 67 per cent of householders in Britain own their homes. Four-fifths of British householders live in house rather than flats. The average weekly household expenditure in Britain in 1996-97 was nearly 309. Food and housing costs constituted 34 per cent of this. Transport and leisure accounted for about 16 per cent each. Over 90 per cent of households have a colour television, telephone, washing machine and deep-freezer.

Health and Welfare.

On average British men live for over 74 years and women for nearly 80 years. People are living longer because of a better diet, improved medical treatment and care, and better living conditions.

Britain's National Health service provides a full range of medical services, which are available to all residents. Local authority personal social services and voluntary organizations provide help and advice to the most vulnerable members of the community, such as the elderly and disabled. The social security system provides financial help for people who are unable to work or cannot find work. A state pension is payable to women at the age of 60 and to men at 65. A major overhaul of social security is planned, based on the objectives of promoting incentives to work, reducing poverty and welfare dependency, and strengthening community and family life.

 

Religion.

Everyone in Britain has right to religious freedom. Religious organizations and groups may own property, run schools and actively promote their beliefs. Britain is mainly Christian but most of the world's other religions are represented-there are large Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Jewish communities. Recently there has been significant growth in a range of independent churches and in new religious movements. Many Britons though would describe themselves as agnostic.

There are two established churches in Britain: in England the Anglican Church of England and in Scotland the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Other Anglican churches are the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of Ireland. About 10 per cent of the population are Roman Catholic. Free Churches include the Methodists, Baptists and United Reformed Church.

Media.

There are five terrestrial channels in Britain (of which two-ВВС I and BBC2-are publicly funded) and also sattelite and cable channels. BBC World Service broad casts by radio in English and 45 other languages world-wide. BBC World-wide Television is a major international broadcaster. British television productions have won many international awards. More daily newspapers, national and religional, are sold for every person in Britain than in most other developed countries. On an average day, nearly 60 per cent of people over the age of 15 read a national morning paper; over 65 per cent read a Sunday newspaper. There are 10 national morning daily newspaper, 9 Sunday, about 1.400 regional and local newspapers, and over 6.500 periodical publications on sale. There is no state control or censorship. Access to the Internet, a global computer network linked by the international telephone system, has grown rapidly-there are an estimated 5 million Internet or on-line users in Britain.

 

Part 2

Leisure Pastimes.

Watching television and visiting or entertaining friends or relatives are among the most popular leisure activities in Britain. Nearly every household has a television set and about 82 per cent of household have a video recorder. People spend, on average during the week, 25 hours watching television and over 16 hours listening to the radio. Listening to recorded music, increasingly on compact disc (CD), is also popular, and 59 per cent of households have a CD player. Other regular pastimes include reading, gardening, sporting activities, and going out for a meal, to a pub or bar, or to the cinema.

Sport and Exercise.

Many sports were first played in Britain. The most popular participation sports or activities are walking, swimming, cycling. Football is the largest spectator sport. Major British sporting events include the Football Association Cup Final at Wembley, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, cricket Test matches. Britain has over 100 sportsman and women who hold world championship titles.

 

Diet and Food.

Although some traditional meals in Britain, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and fish and clips, remain popular, there has been a significant shift in eating habits over the last decade or so. This is in part due to a greater emphasis on health and convenience considerations. Consumption of red meat has declined, while poultry consumption has been growing. Demand for "fast-food" restaurants is high. Beer is the most popular drink among male drinkers. Consumption of table wine has been growing.

Architecture.

Britain's architecture reflects its history. It includes prehistoric monuments, castles and town walls, cathedrals and churches, stately houses, royal palaces and industrial sites, as well as modern urban architecture. Contemporary architectural trends are evident in the varied range of housing and office developments. Innovative designs are found in many new buildings, for example, in the City of London and Docklands.

Museums and Libraries.

There are over 2.500 museums and galleries open to the public in Britain, receiving about 110 million visitors a year. The national museums and galleries, many of them located in London, have some of the world's most important and exciting collections. The most famous ones include the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Science Museum. The British Library has over 150 million individual items, including books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, stamps and recorded sound. Its new London headquarters has been built at a cost 511 million. Other prominent libraries include the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales and the university libraries of Oxford and Cambridge. There are 5.000 free local public libraries throughout Britain.

The Arts.

Britain's artistic and cultural heritage is one of the richest in the world. Around 650 professional arts festivals take place in Britain each year. London is one of the leading centers for drama, music, opera and dance. Britain's symphony orchestras are internationally famous, and British pop and rock music maintains its world-wide appeal. Jazz also has a strong following. British films, actors and producers, as well as the creative and technical staff supporting them, are acclaimed. There are about 2.200 cinema screens in Britain.

Tourism.

Noted for its scenic countryside and coastline, historic houses and buildings, and for its cultural, artistic and sporting events, Britain is one of the world's leading tourist destinations, receiving around 25.3 million overseas visitors. Of British residents who choose to take their main holiday in Britain, around half choose a seaside destination such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which attracts an estimated 7.5 million visitors each year.

 


 

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11. Цветкова Т.К. English Grammar Guide. – М.: Иностранный язык, 2000

 

 


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