English, one of the world languages.
1.4.1. With each passing year, English comes closer to being a world language for all educated people, as Latin once was. English Language, chief medium of communication of people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and numerous other countries. It is the official language of many nations in the Commonwealth of Nations and is widely understood and used in all of them. It is spoken in more parts of the world than any other language and by more people than any other tongue except Chinese.
1.4.2. In Great Britain at present the speech of educated persons is known as Received Standard English. An important development of English outside Great Britain occurred with the colonization of North America. American English may be considered to include the English spoken in Canada, although the Canadian variety retains some features of British pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary. The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary.
1.4.3. English also enters into a number of simplified languages that arose among non-English-speaking peoples. Pidgin English spoken in the Melanesian islands, New Guinea, Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii and on the Asian shores of the Pacific Ocean, developed as a means of communication between Chinese and English traders. Estuary English is a name given to the formulation(s) of English widely spoken among the young. Many consider it to be a working-class accent, though it is by no means limited to the working class. Estuary English shares many features with Cockney pronunciation.
LECTURE 02
BRITAIN’S GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
The geographical position.
2.1.1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles — a large group of islands lying off the north-western coast of Europe and separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover in the south and the North Sea in the east. The British Isles consist of two large islands — Great Britain and Ireland — separated by the Irish Sea, and a lot of small islands, the main of which are the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, Anglesea and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Hebrides — a group of islands off the north-western coast of Scotland, and two groups of islands lying to the north of Scotland: the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.
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2.1.2. Historically the territory of the United Kingdom is divided into four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 244 sq km. The name Britain is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole. The capital is London, which is among the world's leading commercial, financial, and cultural centers. Other major cities include Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester in England, Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and Swansea and Cardiff in Wales.
2.1.3. The coastline of Great Britain is greatly indented, especially in the west and north-west where the mountains come close to the coast. The coasts of Scotland, as well as the coasts of the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, are cut by numerous fiords. In the south and east the land gradually slopes down towards the sea, and the coasts are sandy and gentle.
As concerns the relief, England can be divided into: Northern England mostly taken up by the low Pennine Mountains, the Central Plain, lowland Southeast England, and hilly South-west England. The Pennine Chain is sometimes called the backbone of England. Many of England’s major industrial areas lie on the flanks of the Pennine Chain, where there are many coalfields. To the west are the Cumbrian Mountains, a mountainous dome of ancient rocks deeply eroded by glaciers. This region contains the Lake District, famous for its lakes and scenic beauty.
2.1.4. Of the four countries which make up the United Kingdom, England is the largest. It occupies an area of 131,8 thousand sq. km. England borders on Scotland in the north. In the east it is washed by the North Sea. In the south it is separated from the continent by the English Channel. In the west it borders on Wales and is washed by the Bristol Channel and by the Irish Sea. The highest part of England is in the west. The rivers flowing to the east and emptying into the North Sea form deep estuaries well protected from the sea. The greatest port of the country London is conveniently situated in the Thames estuary.
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Britain's relief.
2.2.1. Scotland is the most northern of the countries that constitute the United Kingdom. It occupies an area of 78,8 thousand sq. km. Scotland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west and by the North Sea in the east.
The coastline of Scotland is greatly indented. In many places deep fiords penetrate very far inland. Geographically the territory of Scotland can be divided into three regions: the Northern Highlands, the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands. The Highlands are the highest mountains in the British Isles. Their average height does not exceed 457 m above sea level, though some peaks are much higher, rising over a thousand metres. Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the British Isles, reaches the height of 1343 m. The Lowlands are the cradle of the Scottish nation. They are densely populated.
2.2.2. Wales is a peninsula washed by the sea on three sides: the Bristol Channel in the south, the St. George's Channel in the west, and the Irish Sea in the north. Its territory is 20, 8 thousand sq. km. Geographically Wales may be considered part of highland Britain, the Cambrian Mountains occupying most of the land. It is an area of high mountains, deep valleys, waterfalls and lakes. Wales is a region of heavy rainfall brought by the prevailing west winds from the Atlantic Ocean. The valleys are sheltered by the high mountains from cold east winds. The climate is rather mild.
2.2.3. Northern Ireland occupies the north-eastern part of Ireland, which is separated from the island of Great Britain by the North Channel. In the south-west Northern Ireland borders on the Irish Republic (Eire). Almost all the area of Northern Ireland is a plain of volcanic origin, deepening in the centre to form the largest lake of the British Isles, Lough Neagh. The greatly indented coastline of Northern Ireland is abundant in rocks and cliffs. The largest lake in GB and the biggest inland loch in Scotland is Loch Lomond (70 sq. km). The longest lake is Loch Ness (56 sq. km) which also has the greatest volume of water.
2.2.4. The rivers of Britain are short; their direction and character are determined by the position of the mountains. Most of the rivers flow in the eastward direction since the west coast is mountainous. Due to the humid climate and abundant rainfall, the water level in the rivers is always high. The rivers seldom freeze in winter, most of them remain ice-free. Many of the rivers are joined together by canals. This system of rivers and canals provides a good means of cheap inland water transport.
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The most important rivers are the Severn, flowing from the Cambrian Mountains in Wales into the Bristol Channel, the Thames, flowing across the plains of south-eastern England and emptying into the North Sea, the Tyne and the Trent, flowing from the eastern slopes of the Pennines to the North Sea, the Mersey, flowing down the western slopes of the Pennines and emptying into the Irish Sea at Liverpool, and the Clyde in Scotland, which flows west across the Southern Uplands and on which the port of Glasgow is situated.
British climate.
2.3.1. The Atlantic Ocean has a significant effect on Britain’s climate. Although the British Isles are as far north in latitude as Labrador in Canada, they have a mild climate throughout the year. This is due to the Gulf Stream, a current of warm water that flows up from the Caribbean past Britain. Prevailing southwesterly winds moving across this warmer water bring moisture and moderating temperatures to the British Isles. The surrounding waters moderate temperatures year-round, making the UK warmer in winter and cooler in summer than other areas at the same latitude. Great Britain’s western coast tends to be warmer than the eastern coast, and the southern regions tend to be warmer than the northern regions. The mean annual temperature in the far north of Scotland is 6°C (43°F), and in warmer southwestern England it is 11°C (52°F).
2.3.2. The prevailing winds blow from the south-west. As these winds blow from the ocean, they are mild in winter and cool in summer, and are heavily charged with moisture at all times. As they approach the mountainous areas near the west coasts, they rise up the mountain slopes. Their temperature drops, which causes condensation of moisture in the form of rain. Therefore the wettest parts of Britain are those areas where high mountains lie near the west coast: the western Highlands of Scotland, the Lake District and North Wales. The eastern part of Britain is said to be in the rain-shadow, as the winds lose most of their moisture in their passage over the highlands of the west.
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2.3.3. All parts of the British Isles receive rain at any time of the year. Still autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, except in the Thames district, where most rain falls in the summer half of the year. Oxford, for example, has 29 per cent of its rain in summer and only 22 per cent in winter. As to temperature, Great Britain has warmer winters than any other district in the same latitude. It is the Gulf of Mexico and brings much warmth from the equatorial regions to north-western Europe due in large measure to the prevalence of mild southwest winds.
2.3.4. The climate has affected settlement and development in Britain for thousands of years. The mild, wet climate ensured that thick forests rich in game, as well as rivers and streams abundant with fish, were available to prehistoric hunters and gatherers. Britain was regarded as a cold, remote, and distant part of the ancient Roman Empire, so relatively few Romans were motivated to move there for trade, administrative, or military reasons. Pre-industrial settlements clustered in southern England, where the climate was milder, the growing season longer, and the rich soil and steady rainfall produced bountiful harvests. Successive waves of invaders made the plains of southern England their primary objective. After the Industrial Revolution, populations grew enormously in areas with rich resources beneath the ground, particularly coal, even though these resources were sometimes located in the colder, harsher northern regions of England or the western Lowlands of Scotland.
Mineral resources.
2.4.1. Britain’s mineral resources were historically important, but today most of these resources are either exhausted or produced in small quantities. Britain currently relies upon imports from larger, cheaper foreign supplies. Before and during the Roman occupation, about 2,000 years ago, Britain was noted for its tin mines, which were concentrated in Cornwall. The tin was mixed with copper to produce bronze, an important material in ancient times used for weapons and jewelry. Today nearly every tin mine in Britain has been exhausted and shut down.
2.4.2. Britain’s small deposits of iron ore were critically important to the Industrial Revolution, particularly because iron ore deposits were located close to rich deposits of coal. When iron ore and coal are heated together, they produce iron alloys, such as wrought iron. When iron ore is heated at high temperatures with coke, a derivative of coal, it produces pig iron, a cheaper, softer iron that is more easily purified into the iron and steel essential for constructing machines and railroads. During the Industrial Revolution towns and cities sprang up close to these resources, and they remain among Britain’s leading urban areas.
2.4.3. Great Britain is rich in coal. There are rich coal basins in Northumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, North Wales and near Glasgow. Coal has been worked in Britain for 700 years, and as an industry, coal mining has been in existence for over 300 years, twice as long as in any other European country.
The development of coal mining and metallurgy caused a very troublesome situation in terms of air pollution. It was in Britain that the word “smog” was used to describe a mixture of smoke and fog. As the world’s first industrialized country, its cities were the first to suffer this atmospheric condition. The situation in London reached its worst point in 1952. At the end of that year particularly bad smog, which lasted for several days, was estimated to have caused between 4000 and 8000 deaths. Laws were passed which forbade the heating of homes with open coal fires in city areas and which stopped much of the pollution from factories.
2.4.4. In the end of the XIX century oil and gas began to play the role of the most important source of power and fuel. Up to the early 1960s, over 99% of Britain’s petroleum requirements were imported, primarily from the Middle Eastern countries. Since then considerable discoveries of crude oil and natural gas have been made in the North Sea, and first oil was brought ashore in 1975. It has changed Britain’s energy position, as the country became self-sufficient in energy. With the growth in offshore oil production Britain became an important oil exporter mostly to the USA and Germany. It’s necessary to mention a number of non-metallic minerals. The major of them are: sandstones and limestones (used in house construction); clay (the manufacture of bricks); chalk (is used in cement industry); common salt and rock salt (form the basic raw materials for a variety of chemicals).
LECTURE 03
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