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Great Britain,
officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland is situated on the British Isles, off Western Europe. It
is separated from France by only 34 kilometres of water. The
country's total area is over 244 thousand square kilometres. The
country is often referred to as Great Britain, Britain or the
UK. But to be precise, Great Britain comprises England, Wales
and Scotland on the island of Great Britain, while the United
Kingdom includes Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on
the island of Ireland. The capital of the United Kingdom is
London, in England. The capitals of Scotland, Ireland and Wales
are Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff respectively. Great Britain
is the fourth most populous country in Europe, it has about 57
million inhabitants. The English are more than 80 % of the
country's population. English is the official language of Great
Britain. The Church of England, also called the Anglican Church,
is the official church in England.
Although a small
island, Great Britain has a remarkable variety of landscapes. To
the north and west are highlands — the mountains of Scotland,
Cambria and Wales, and the Pennine Chain. To the east are flat
plains, and in the south are lowlands broken by low ranges of
hills. To the southwest are the bleak moors of Devon and
Cornwall. A warm ocean current, the Gulf Stream, washes
Britain's western shores and accounts for the mildness of its
climate.
Great Britain is
one of the world's leading industrialized nations. It has
achieved this position despite the lack of most raw materials
needed for industry. The country also must import about 40 % of
its food supplies. The largest industries include machine tools;
electric power, automation, and railroad equipment; ships, motor
vehicle, aircraft; electronic and communications equipment;
metals; chemicals; petroleum; coal; food processing; paper,
textiles, and clothing. By the late 1990s, banking, insurance,
business services, and other service industries accounted for
two thirds of the GDP and employed almost 70 % of the workforce.
The main industrial and commercial areas are the great
conurbations, where about one third of the country's population
lives. The administrative and financial centre and most
important port is Greater London.
The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a
constitutional monarchy. It means that the United Kingdom is
governed by hereditary sovereign, an elected House of Commons
and a partly hereditary House of Lords. The constitution exists
in no one document but is a centuries-old accumulation of
statutes, judicial decisions, usage, and tradition.
The sovereign has
the title of King (or Queen). The Sovereign has very few
functions that really matter, such as the function of the
arbiter of last resort in some matters. The hereditary monarch
is almost entirely limited to exercising ceremonial functions.
These matters can be dissolution of Parliament, and invitations
to form a government where there is no clear majority. The Queen
is Elizabeth II.
The supreme
legislative power is vested in the Parliament, which seats for
five years unless sooner dissolved. The Parliament has two
chambers: the House of Lords with about 830 hereditary peers, 26
spiritual peers, about 270 life peers and peeresses, and the
House of Commons.
The House of
Commons has 650 popularly elected members. The House of Commons
is the real government body of the United Kingdom. In order to
become a law, a new bill proposed by the Cabinet, must be
approved by the both Houses of the Parliament. The Lords cannot
veto a bill, but they can delay it for a maximum of 1 year.
Financial bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords.
The executive
power of the Crown is exercised by the Cabinet, headed by Prime
Minister. Prime Minister, normally the head of the party
commanding a majority in the House of Commons, is appointed by
the Sovereign. Prime Minister appoints the rest of the Cabinet.
All ministers must be members of one or the other House of the
Parliament. They are individually and collectively responsible
to the Crown and the Parliament. The Cabinet proposes bills and
arranges business of the Parliament.
Government in Britain, since 1945 has alternated between only
two political parties: the conservatives (the Tory) and the
Labour Party. No other party has been in office at all since
1945 and there have been no coalitions. The third
long-established party, the Liberals, enjoyed moments of
success, but no member of the Liberal Party has held government
office since 1945.
Translate the
following sentences into English.
1. Великобритания, которую называют Соединенным
королевством или Британией, объединяет Англию, Уэлльс, Шотландию
и Северную Ирландию, является четвертой по плотности населения
страной Европы, там 57 миллионов жителей.
2. Ландшафт Великобритании очень разнообразен, от высокогорий до
низин, изрезанных низкими грядами гор.
3. Великобритания — одна из ведущих промышленных стран мира,
самые развитые отрасли промышленности страны — производство
станков, электроэнергии, автоматизированного оборудования,
оборудования для железных дорог, автомашин, самолетов,
электронного оборудования и оборудования для связи, химической
продукции, нефти, пищевых продуктов, банковский и страховой
сервис.
4. Великобритания — конституционная монархия, это означает, что
управление страной осуществляется наследственным монархом,
выборной палатой общин и частично наследственной палатой лордов.
5. Конституция существует в виде веками складывающейся суммы
статутов, судебных решений, практики и традиций.
6. Наследственный монарх ограничен осуществлением церемониальных
функций, таких как роспуск парламента, приглашений сформировать
парламент в случае отсутствия убедительного большинства, и очень
немногих действительно важных функций, таких как арбитр
последней инстанции.
7. Высшая законодательная власть осуществляется парламентом,
который состоит из двух палат: палаты лордов, в которую входят
наследственные пэры, духовные пэры и пожизненные пэры и пэрессы,
и палаты общин, состоящей из 650 членов, избираемых народом.
8. Законопроект предлагается кабинетом министров, должен быть
одобрен обеими палатами, палата лордов может отложить
законопроект максимум на год.
9. Исполнительная власть монарха осуществляется кабинетом
министров, который возглавляет премьер-министр, являющийся
главой партии, имеющей большинство в палате общин и назначаемый
монархом.
1. Great Britain
which is referred to as the United Kingdom, Britain, comprises
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is the fourth
most populous country with about 57 million inhabitants.
2. Great Britain has a remarkable variety of landscapes, from
highlands to lowlands broken by low ranges of hills.
3. Great Britain is one of the world's leading industrial
nations, its largest industries include machine tools, electric
power, automation, railroad equipment, motor vehicles, aircraft,
electronic and communications equipment, chemicals, petroleum,
food processing, banking and insurance services.
4. The UK is a constitutional monarchy, that is it is governed
by hereditary sovereign, an elected House of Commons and a
partly hereditary House of Lords.
5. The constitution exists in a centuries-old accumulation of
statutes, judicial decisions, usage and tradition.
6. The hereditary monarch is limited to exercising ceremonial
functions like dissolution of Parliament, and invitations to
form a government where there is no clear majority, and very few
functions that really matter like the function of the arbiter of
last resort.
7. The supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament which
has two chambers: the House of Lords which has hereditary peers,
spiritual peers and life peers and peeresses, and the House of
Commons with 650 popularly elected members.
8. A bill proposed by the Cabinet must be approved by the both
Houses, the Lords can delay it for a maximum of 1 year.
9. The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the Cabinet
headed by Prime Minister who is the head of the party commanding
a majority in the House of Commons and is appointed by the
Sovereign.
Из пособия "ЕГЭ. Английский язык.
Устные темы" Занина Е.Л. (2010, 272с.) - Part
two.
Additional topics.
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