Britain is rich in its historic places which link the present with the past. The oldest part of London is Lud Hill, where the city is originated. About a mile west of it there is Westminster Palace, where the king lived and the Parliament met, and there is also Westminster Abbey, the coronation church. Liverpool, the "city of ships", is England's second greatest port, ranking after London. The most interesting sight in the Liverpool is the docks. They occupy a river frontage of seven miles. The University of Liverpool, established in 1903, is noted for its School of Tropical Medicine. And in the music world Liverpool is a well-known name, for it's the home town of "The Beatles"...
Britain is administered from the Palace of Westminster in London. This is also known as the Houses of Parliament. Parliament is made up of two chambers — the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The members of the House of Lords are not elected: they qualify to sit in the House because they are bishops of the Church of England, aristocrats who have inherited their seats from their fathers, people with titles. There has been talk of reform in this century because many Britons think that this system is undemocratic.
The House of Commons, by contrast, has 650 seats which are occupied by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected by the British public. The United Kingdom is divided into constituencies, each of which has an elected MP in the House of Commons...
This university town is very beautiful. The oldest university there is Oxford. The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university now has thirty-five colleges and about thirteen thousand students, many of them from other countries.
There were no women at Oxford until 1878. When the first women's college Lady Margaret Hall, opened. Now most colleges are open to men and women. It is not easy to get a place at Oxford University to study for a degree.
But outside the university there are many smaller private colleges which offer less difficult courses and where it is easy to enrol. Most students in these private school take business, secretarial or English language courses.
Oxford is, of course, famous for its first-class education as well as its beautiful buildings. Some of the most intelligent men and women in the country live and work here. Oxford gives them what they need: a quiet atmosphere, friendly colleagues and the four-hundred-year-old library...
Outstanding Events in the History of Great Britain
There were many outstanding events in the history of Great Britain. Many different tribes tried to control the territory of Britain. England was added to the Roman Empire in 43 A.D. Roman invasion played a very important role in the history of the country. The Roman built the first roads in the country, dug the first walls. The Romans, who were great architects, constructed the first towns in Britain.
But the Normans influenced the British civilization most of all. They came in 1066 under the leadership of William the Conqueror. As the invaders spoke French, their speech influenced the English language.
Once the British had to face the French in 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar. Then Admiral Nelson won a great victory over the French fleet. In order to commemorate this event the monument to Admiral Nelson was erected on this square...
If you get on a bus or catch a train in Britain, especially during the morning and evening «rush hour», you'll see a lot of people reading newspapers. The press tells us about various political views, interest and levels of education.
Papers are usually divided into «quality» papers which are serious with long, informative articles and «popular» which have smaller size. They are less serious and contain more human interest stories than news.
More daily newspapers, national and regional are sold in Great Britain than in most other developed countries.
There are about 135 daily papers and Sunday papers, 2000 weekly papers and about 100 papers produced by members of ethnic groups....
The United Kingdom (abbreviated from "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland") is the political name of the country which consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (sometimes known as Ulster).
Great Britain is the name of the island which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, whereas the British Isles is the geographical name of all the islands off the north-west coast of the European continent. In everyday speech "Britain" is used to mean the United Kingdom.
The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross on a white background is the cross of the 1st George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross on a blue background is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, The red diagonal cross on a white background is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland...
Musical activity in Britain has reached in 20th century its highest level since Tudor times. An unusual amount of new composition has included the operas of Sir Benjamin Britten and the symphonies of Sir Edward Edgar and Ralph Maughan Williams who can be considered as the greatest symphonic composers Britain has produced.
The musical public has grown steadily larger, and can support nightly concerts at London's two great concert halls, The Royal Festival Hall and The Royal Albert Hall, as well as a number of smaller halls. London has five major orchestras.
Choral singing, always a feature of British musical life, remains as popular as ever, particularly in the North of England and Wales.
In London The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, maintains a high standard and draws large audiences. Opera is also performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre...
The British have not been regarded as a particularly musical people and, from the end of the 17th century until the 20th century, there were relatively few British composers of international renown.
Before the 16th century, musical life was centred on the church, especially the cathedrals and the royal chapels. The choral works of John Taverner, William Byrd and Thomas Tallis are still performed today, most notably by the choirs of King's College, Cambridge and Christ Church in Oxford. Secular music in the 16th century included the instrumental work of William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons and the madrigals of Gibbons and Thomas Morley...
London is the main Britain's tourist attraction. The city is known for its ancient cathedrals, churches and particularly for its art museums and galleries.
The British museum is one of the world's greatest treasure stores. It was founded in 1753 on the collections of Sir Hans Sloane. The money to house them was raised by public lottery. Today the museum has two departments — the Museum of Mankind and the Natural History Museum. The Museum of Mankind includes a vast collection of antiquities, including marbles from the Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone that provided the key to Egyptian hieroglyphics, ancient works of art in stone, bronze and gold, a collection illustrating Western Asiatic civilizations. The Natural History Museum contains five principal collections on the history of plants, minerals and the animal kingdom. A series of new permanent exhibitions has been opened in the museum, among them 'Dinosaurs and their living relatives'...
Traditionally English people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large breakfast takes a long time to prepare and is not very healthy. Nowadays, Britain's most popular breakfast consists of cereal, toast with marmalade, juice and yogurt with a cup of tea or coffee.
Lunch is a light meal. Most people have no time to go back home for lunch so they eat at school, cafes, pubs or restaurants.
The main meal is dinner, which is usually between 6 and 7 p.m. A typical evening meal is a meat dish with vegetables and dessert....
