Topic 6

Britain is a country there sport and leisure life are taken seriously. TV has helped to generate interests in a wide variety of sports. Millions of people all over the Britain take part in sport exercises and competions.

Football and Rugby football. The British invented the rules of many sport and games played all over the world. The rugby football or “rugger” is another popular British sport. The story is told that in 1823 Boys at Rugby school in England were playing football in the normal way? When suddenly one boy picked the ball up and run with it. So a new game was born.

Cricket is sometimes called the English national game? Having been played from 1550s. It’s usually played by a men and boys. Players traditionally wear white clothes.

Bowls it is another outdoor summer game. It was played since 13 centure. It’s played an a specially prepared green/ The players roll large bowls towards a small ball and try to bring them as near as possible.

Mountaineering and rock climbing. There are more than 330 mountaineering clubs in Britain. The most popular areas in Britain are the sea cliffs of Devon and Cornwall, the peak district, the lake district, Snowdonia in North Wales and some others. British climbers often go abroad to climb mountain, such as Alp’s.

Horse racing and Horse riding. Horse racing sometimes called a sport of kings? Because it is very expensive to own a racehorse. There are two kings of h.r. : flat racing (w/o jumps) and steeplechasing (with jumps). Horse Riding is very popular too. Riding a horse used to be means of transport.

Sailing. About 3 million British people go sailing in a small boats every year. The number of small boats owners has increased 1000% in last 10 years. If you live in Britain you are never more then 100 miles from the sea and you have a lot of opportunities for sailing.

In Britain all the year round there are different competitions. In March – April the have got The international boat race, Oxford and Cambridge boat race, The London marathon, The grand national and so on all the year round. The Oxford – Cambridge Boat race is a traditional annual rowing race between teams from Oxford and Cambridge universities. The Grand National is the most exciting steeplechase in Britain, held annually in spring. And as I started to speak about important sporting events I must mention the Wimbledon, the most important event in lawn tennis. Wimbledon tournament draws huge amount of spectators from all over the world. And so at the end I would like to say that English people really fond of different kinds sports. But they do not only watch it on TV or on stadiums, but they also take part in it, they form different clubs and compete with each other. All the schools have their own soccer or cricket teams and even such well-known universities as Oxford and Cambridge have their own rowing team.

Topic 2

Britain has many places of interest which have historic associations. London is one of the cities each reflected the past. Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Sovereign the daily ceremony of the Changing of the Guards takes place in its courtyard. The palace was built by the Duke of Buckingham. Stonehenge a prehistoric complex regarded as one of the most important monuments of its kind in Europe and very popular with visitors. The great circle of standing stones is believed to have had some religious purpose. Windsor is a town on the Thames not far from London. Its castle has been a royal residence for 9centuries. Seen from a distance it’s beautiful beyond imagination. Windsor Castle has a long and fascinating history. Canterbury an ancient city in Kent with a majestic cathedral which dominates it. Canterbury is a religious capital of England. It became a place of pilgrimage in medieval. Stratfort-on-Avon is an attractive town world famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. It holds a priceless collection of Shakespeare relics.

In Wales we can visit times Coventry. It’s now known for its magnificent cathedral, decorated by the best artists and craftsmen in Britain. It was built near the ruins of the old cathedral destroyed during the Second World War in the memory of those who died in the bombings.

Cardiff Castle has colorful and lavish interiors continually suprise and delight visitors who enter a grim fighting castle to find themselves surrounded by exquisite wood carving and sculpture. Cenarfon is an ancient town with a magnificent preserved castle which dominates it.

Places to visit in Scotland. Edinburgh Castle stands high on the massive Grey Castle rock. In the Castle are the Honours of Scotland the Scottish Crown scepter and the sword of state the oldest royal regalia in Europe is an areas. The Burns Country where Scotland national poet wrote many of the world’s most tender love songs. The thatched cottage where Robert Burns was born is the starting point together 40places associated with the poet.

Places to visit in Northen Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is a mass of stone columns standing very near together. The tops of the rocks from stepping stones leading from the cliff foot and disappearing under the sea. This strange geological feature is believed to have been the result of volcanic action. It’s sometimes called the 8^th wonder of the world.

Topic 3

In the UK represents four nations, which are distinct from each other in almost every aspect of live. They have their own dialects, economics, social and legal systems. All of them have got their own stereotypes. The Irish for example are supposed to be good talkers when the Scots are supposed to have a reputation for being careful with money. The Welsh are famous for their singing abilities and English are individualists. The first nation I’m going to speak about is the English. The English are mainly Anglo-Saxon in origin. Since 12-th century the English people have developed their own character and personality. They managed to save their traditions of dance, food and music from mixing with other origins. English people are generally tolerant of new ideas and influences. Traditionally, the English are thought to be reserved, shy of strangers, suspicious of change and slow to accept new ideas. The Scots have a strong sense of national identity, of their own distinct values, and traditions. This is partly due to history. Scotland’s history is a history of endless battles against the English for independence, and Scots have many national heroes who fought in these battles. Scotland is a country with an intense national tradition, with its own songs, its poetry, its own national food and drinks, sports and manners. To many foreigners, the image of Scotland looks a little bit childish. Kilts, tartans, bagpipes, and tweed play an important role in it. Although the part of the UK, Scotland has it’s own laws, which in some are really very different from English ones and Scotland even has got its own pound coin. The Welsh are proud of themselves and they believe to be the true Britons. Nowadays only twenty per cent of them speak Welsh, the oldest language in Europe. Wales was inhabited from ancient times. From the 6-th century the Welsh fiercely resisted the attacks of the Anglo-Saxons into their land. Also the Welsh fought for many years against the English to win their freedom but they were defeated in 1282. The Welsh are proud of their culture, traditions, and their language. They are really gifted in the art of self-expression in words, they are not afraid of being poetic in speech, of using bright and pictorial descriptions of men and events in ordinary conversations. And the last nation I’m going to speak about is the Irish. The Irish are mainly Celtic people. They have maintained their ancient Gaelic language but English is spoken everywhere. To understand the present situation in Northern Ireland it is necessary to know something about the island’s long and violent history. Before the early 20^th century, Northern Ireland was a part of Ireland as a whole. After many English and Scots people had settled there in the 16^th century, Northern Ireland became mainly Protestant, unlike the rest of Ireland which remained, as before, mainly Roman Catholic. By the terms of an Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, Northern Ireland was granted its own parliament in which the protestant government was formed. And also Britain has a lot of immigrants who left their countries because of the political or religious persecution or some other problems. In the UK they form different societies in which they follow their native traditions.

Topic 4

Today English is a major language spoken in the world. In every part of the world English is spoken with different pronunciations, but the original and right pronunciations can be heard only in England and it’s called The King’s or Queen’s English. The King’s or Queen’s English is a good correct English, as it should be spoken. The standard form of English used in England is called the RP – Received Pronunciation and it is also called the BBC English as it is used be the BBC. RP or BBC English is the accent of the South-east of England. It has been associated with power and high social class since the 14^th century. At the time of the King, the Royal court and the government settled in London, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both settled in the Southeast, provided higher education for the whole country. People who wanted to be part of that powerful world had to use the same language and accent. In the 19^th century RP was used in public schools and universities, the government and the army to form small groups who would run the empire. It was even impossible to get any kind of high position if you did not speak the right way. The best advise to those who wish to become proficient in English was given in 1906 by the Fowler brothers in the famous book “the king’s English”. It is still sound advice for any student of English, whether English is his mother tongue or whether it is foreign language: prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched, Prefer the concrete word to the abstract, Prefer the short word to the long, Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance. Above I’ve mentioned accent and now I want to explain the right meaning and the role of it in England. Accent is the sound of a person’s pronunciation of the English language. It is very important in Britain. It shows where the person comes from and, to an extent, what class he or she belongs to. And I also want to mention that in London you can meet another way of speaking English, which is called Cockney. Cockney is typical among people who live in the eastern area of London and it also known as London dialect. Cockney has some differences. For example in cockney TH is pronounced as f and didn’t become didn. And nowadays English is considered to be the major language in the world. To my mind English language has reached such a great popularity thanks to the expansion of British colonial power and the emergence of the US as the leading economic power of the 20^th century. English is the language of the international air traffic control, policing and emergency services. It is also used as the language of international business and academic conferences and the leading language of international tourism. A lot of video games, broadcasting and computers use English language. World famous computer net, I mean Internet is based on English language. So from my point of view English language is the major language and its really great to learn and to know this language as gives you opportunities to travel abroad, to learn more, to get a better job.

Topic 5

England as every country has its own kinds of houses that can be rarely seen in any other countries. In England there are know three main types of houses that people live in. They are: detached houses, semi-detached houses and terraced houses. They all differ from each another by size, price and conveniences in living. A detached house is the most expensive one among those that I mentioned. This house usually stands on its own land and its not attached to any other buildings. Such houses have privacy from neighbors, and they are ideal for keen gardeners who can devote plenty of time to work in their garden. The next house, which is less expensive than a detached one is a semi-detached. A shared wall joins a semi-detached house to the house next door but it still offers a good standard of privacy and comfort. It usually has a small