And Northern Ireland. ø 1) Read the text and answer the following questions:

Ø 1) Read the text and answer the following questions:

a) How many constituent countries comprise the United Kingdom? b) What are they?

c) Who is the Head of Commonwealth of Nations?

d) What is the official language of the United Kingdom?

e) How is Britannia, a personification of the UK, symbolized?

f) What scientific discoveries were made in the United Kingdom?

g) What world-famous writers and poets of the United Kingdom do you know?

Ø 2) Say whether the following statements are true or false and justify your answer:

a) The official name of the country is the United Kingdom.

b) The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.

c) The UK has the fourth largest GDP in the world.

d) The flag of the UK is commonly known as the “Union Jack”.

e) The image of the lion is depicted on the back of the 10 pence piece.

f) Soccer originated in the United Kingdom.

Ø 3) What comes first to your mind when you hear “Great Britain”?

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain) is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast of mainland Europe.

Its territory is primarily situated on the island of Great Britain and in Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland, with additional settlements on numerous smaller islands in the surrounding seas. The United Kingdom is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and its ancillary bodies of water, including the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. On the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland to the South and West.

The United Kingdom is a political union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom also has several overseas territories, including Gibraltar, Saint Helena and the Falkland Islands. The dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, while possessions of the Crown and part of the British Isles, are not part of the United Kingdom. A constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom has close relationships with fifteen other Commonwealth Realms that share the same monarch - Queen Elizabeth II - as Head of state.

The United Kingdom is a highly developed country with the fifth largest gross domestic product in the world. It is the third most populous state in the European Union with a population of 60 million and is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the United Nations (UN), where it holds a permanent seat on the Security Council. The UK is also one of the world’s major nuclear powers with its own nuclear weapons.

After the dismantlement of the British Empire, the United Kingdom retains influence throughout the world because of the extensive use of the English language today as well as through the world-spanning Commonwealth of Nations, headed by the Queen although legally this is a personal role and not the one associated with the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom has no official language. English is the main language and the de facto official language, spoken monolingually by an estimated 95% of the UK population.

Symbols of the UK. The national anthem of the UK is “God Save the Queen.”

The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (commonly known as the “Union Jack”). It was created from the superimposition of the flags of England (Saint George’s Cross), Scotland (Saint Andrew’s Cross), and Ireland (Saint Patrick’s Cross).

Britannia is a personification of the UK, originating from the Roman occupation of southern and central Great Britain. Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon’s three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding the back of a lion. In modern usage, Britannia is often associated with maritime dominance.

The lion has also been used as a symbol of the UK; one is depicted behind Britannia on the 50 pence piece and one is shown crowned on the back of the 10 pence piece. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Lions have been used as heraldic devices many times, including in the royal arms of both the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Kingdom of Gwyneth in Wales. The lion is featured on the emblem of the England national football team.

The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of Great Britain.

Britain (especially England) is also personified as the character John Bull. He is a national personification of Britain, well-intentioned, frustrated, full of common sense, and entirely of native country stock, created by Dr. John Arbuthnot in 1712.

Science. The United Kingdom contains some of the world’s leading universities, including the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. It has produced many great scholars, scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, Joseph John Thomson, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, and Alexander Fleming.

The nation is credited with numerous scientific discoveries including gravity, the electron, structure of DNA, antibiotics and inventions including the chronometer, the modern railway, vaccination, television, electric lighting, the electric motor, the modern bicycle, the electronic computer, along with the later development of the World Wide Web. In 2006, it was reported that the UK was the most productive source of research after the United States; with the UK producing 9% of the world’s scientific research papers with a 12% share of citations.

Literature. Anglo-Saxon literature includes “Beowulf” which is a national epic. Geoffrey Chaucer is the first great identifiable individual in English literature: his “Canterbury Tales” remains a popular 14^th-century work which readers still enjoy today.

The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the English language.

Other world-famous writers who lived and wrote in the United Kingdom include Daniel Defoe, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry Fielding, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Graham Greene, and others.

Important poets include John Milton, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Rudyard Kipling, Lord Tennyson, T. S. Eliot, R. S. Thomas, Wilfred Owen, and others.

Sport in the UK. A number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football (football, or soccer), rugby football (rugby), golf, cricket, and boxing. Tennis originated in the UK, too. The Wimbledon Championships Grand Slam tournament is held in London every July.

Ø 4) Which of the following summaries renders the content of the text more adequately?

a) The text deals with the description of the country located on the island of Great Britain and the northern part of the island of Ireland. It gives the information of its geographical position, political structure, economy, culture, scientific contribution, and the symbols which personify the country to the world. It also points out the role of Britain in the Commonwealth of Nations and the two most important organizations in Europe and the world, the NATO and the UNO.

b) This text is about one of the countries with one of the most highly developed economies in the world, the UK. It points out the political, economic and cultural role of this country in the world. Special attention is paid to English which is the official language in the UK and fifteen other countries of the Commonwealth all over the world. A short account of the history of the English language helps to understand its uniting role in the Commonwealth.