BRITAIN

О. А. Колыхалова, К. С. Махмурян 

BRITAIN 

Учебное пособие для обучающихся в бакалавриате  
по направлению подготовки «Педагогическое образование» 

Москва-2012 

УДК 811.111(075.8) 
ББК 81.432.1-923 
К619 

К619  Колыхалова О. А. , Махмурян К. С. BRITAIN: 
Учебное пособие для обучающихся в бакалавриате по направлению подготовки «Педагогическое образование». – М.: МПГУ, 
2012. – 78 с. 

«Britain» – учебное пособие для обучающихся в бакалавриате по направлению подготовки «Педагогическое образование» авторов проф. О. А. Колыхаловой; проф. К. С. Махмурян – 
состоит из 12 разделов, посвященных географии, истории и 
культуре, политической системе, образованию, международным отношениям. Целью данного пособия является развитие у 
студентов лингвострановедческой компетенции как неотъемлемой части социокультурной компетенции. Учебное пособие 
адресуется студентам гуманитарных факультетов педвузов, а 
также школьникам 10–11 классов гимназий, лицеев, образовательных учреждений с углубленным изучением иностранного 
языка. 

Рекомендовано УМО по образованию в области  подготовки 

педагогических кадров в качестве учебного пособия для студентов 
высших 
учебных 
заведений, 
обучающихся 
по 
направлению 

050100.62 Педагогическое образование. 

ISBN 978-5-4263-0117-7

© О. А. Колыхалова, К. С. Махмурян, 2012
© МПГУ, 2012 
© Оформление. Издательство «Прометей», 2012 

Оглавление 

Chapter 1. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE………………………. 
5 
Text 1. England Is a Small Place……………………………… 
5 
Text 2. Britain…………………………………………………….. 
6 
Text 3. The Union Flag………………………………………….. 
7 
Text 4. British Economy………………………………………… 
7 
Text 5. Scotland………………………………………………….. 
8 
Text 6. Wales……………………………………………………… 
8 
Text 7. The English Language…………………………………. 
9 
Chapter 2. CONQUEST AND CONFLICT…………………….. 
12 
 
Text 1. Roman Conquest……………………………………….. 
12 
 
Text 2. Anglo-Saxons and Vikings……………………………. 
12 
 
Text 3. The Norman Conquest…………………………………. 
13 
 
Text 4. The Battle of Hastings…………………………………. 
14 
 
Text 5. The Bayeux Tapestry………………………………….. 
14 
 
Text 6. Old English………………………………………………. 
15 
 
Text 7. Different Languages……………………………………. 
16 
Chapter 3. LITERATURE AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY……. 
18 
 
Text 1. Monasteries and myths……………………………….. 
18 
 
Text 2. Shakespeare's kings…………………………………… 
19 
 
Text 3. Middle and Modern English………………………….. 
20 
Chapter 4. HISTORICAL EVENTS  
   OF MEDIEVAL PERIOD…………………………… 
21 

Text 1. Magna Carta…………………………………………….. 
21 
Text 2. Plague and Poll Tax……………………………………. 
21 
Text 3. The Wars of the Roses………………………………… 
21 
Text 4. The Break from Rome………………………………….. 
22 
Chapter 5. FROM ELIZABETH TO EMPIRE………………… 
24 
 
Text 1. The Elizabethan Age…………………………………… 
24 
 
Text 2. Civil War………………………………………………….. 
25 
 
Text 3. Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) ……………………….. 
26 
 
Text 4. Whigs and Tories……………………………………….. 
26 
 
Text 5. The Bill of Rights……………………………………….. 
28 
 
Text 6. The Great Pretenders……………………………..…… 
28 
 
Text 7. Hanoverian Britain…………………………………….. 
28 
 
Text 8. The Growth of London…………………………………. 
28 
Chapter 6. BRITISH COLONIES……………………………….. 
32 
 
Text 1. Colonial Power………………………………………….. 
32 
 
Text 2. Agriculture and Industry……………………………… 
32 
 
Text 3. The Fear of Revolution………………………………… 
34 

Chapter 7. BRITISH POLITICAL LIFE AND CULTURE  

IN THE 18TH CENTURY…………………………… 
36 
 
Text 1. The Age of Dickens…………………………………….. 
36 
 
Text 2. Shaw and Wilde………………………………………… 
37 
 
Text 3. The Pre-Raphaelites……………………………………. 
38 
Chapter 8. MODERN TIMES……………………………………. 
42 
 
Text 1. The Results of World War I…………………………… 
42 
 
Text 2. The Roaring Twenties…………………………………. 
43 
 
Text 3. The Abdication………………………………………….. 
43 
 
Text 4. World War II……………………………………………... 
44 
Chapter 9. BRITAIN AFTER WORLD WAR II………………. 
46 
 
Text 1. The End of Empire……………………………………… 
46 
 
Text 2. A New Elizabethan Age……………………………….. 
47 
 
Text 3. The Pendulum Swings…………………………………. 
47 
 
Text 4. The Thatcher Era……………………………………….. 
48 
 
Text 5. The Nervous ' 1990s…………………………………… 
49 
 
Text 6. That Fin de Siècle Feeling…………………………….. 
49 
 
Text 7.The American Connection……………………………… 
50 
Chapter 10. BRITAIN IN THE 21 CENTURY……………….. 
51 
 
Text 1. London is Targeted…………………………………….. 
51 
 
Text 2. The Insecure Society…………………………………… 
52 
 
Text 3. British Heritage…………………………………………. 
52 
 
Text 4. Theatre……………………………………………………. 
52 
 
Text 5. Painting the Landscape……………………………….. 
55 
Chapter 11. POLITICAL SET-UP OF THE UK………………. 
61 
 
Text 1. British Monarchy……………………………………….. 
61 
 
Text 2. How Parliament Works………………………………... 
62 
 
Text 3. Parliament……………………………………………….. 
64 
 
Text 4. Her Majesty’s Government……………………………. 
65 
 
Text 5. The Political Party System……………………………. 
65 
 
Text 6. Elections………………………………………………….. 
66 
 
Text 7. Justice and the Law…………………………………… 
66 
Chapter 12. EDUCATION IN BRITAIN……………………….. 
69 
 
Text 1. Schooling: State-maintained Schools……………….. 
69 
 
Text 2. Schooling: Independent Schools…………………….. 
70 
 
Text 3. Higher Education……………………………………….. 
70 
 
Text 4. Young People……………………………………………. 
72 
Chapter 13. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS………………… 
74 
 
Text 1. International Organizations………………………….. 
74 
 
Text 2. The Commonwealth……………………………………. 
74 
 
Text 3. History of British-Russian Relations……………….. 
75 

Chapter 1. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE 
 
Text 1. England Is a Small Place 
 
For all the fuss it has made in history, for all the language it has dis
tributed about the world, England is a rather small place. The largest of the 
four constituent elements that make up the United Kingdom, it covers 
50,331 sq miles (130,357 sq km), about the same size as New York State or 
one of New Zealand's islands. But its population of over 62 million is over 
two and a half times New York State's, and over 15 times both New Zealand's 
islands. 

By far the greater portion of the population lives in the south. The large 

northern towns, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, which grew vast on 
the Industrial Revolution, have struggled to catch up with the post-industrial 
age, while Birmingham, Britain's second city, has benefited from its more 
central location. The country is divided into counties, the old English shires, 
where sheriffs transacted local business. They have provided titles for the 
nation's nobility and though their names and boundaries have been tinkered 
with twice in post-war years, they are redolent of the country's past and continue to inspire local pride. 

At the start of the third millennium, England, due to post-war migra
tions, is a less homogenised nation than ever before – all nations of the world 
can be found in London. Local accents and dialects that not long ago were 
thick on the ground, are now waning, but new cultures, traditions and accents have been added by incoming populations. 

England's ever-changing landscape provides incomparable scenery, in 

the Peak District, in the Pennines, on the South Downs, among the Yorkshire and West Country moors and around the Lake District. The variety of 
architecture characterises every part of the country, from West Country 
thatch to Cotswold stone, weather boarded Kent to half-timbered East Anglia. It doesn't take much effort in England, and not many miles, to feel that 
you have travelled a long way. 
 

Text 2. Britain 

People often refer to Britain by another name. They call it «England». But 
this is not strictly correct. Britain comprises Great Britain (England, Wales 
and Scotland) and Northern Ireland and is one of the member states of the 
European Union. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
the Northern Ireland. Britain constitutes the greater part of the British Isles. 
The largest of the islands is Great Britain. The next largest comprises Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. These two islands are separated from the 
Continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover. The west coast of 
the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The east 
coast is washed by the North Sea. 

Geographically Britain is divided into Lowland Britain and Highland 

Britain. Lowland Britain comprises Southern and Eastern England. Highland Britain includes Scotland, Wales, the Pennines and the Lake District.  

The mountains in Britain are not very high, the highest mountain is 

Ben Nevis in Scotland. The main rivers in Britain are the Thames, the Mersey, the Severn and others but none of them are very long.  

The climate of Britain is mild. The Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters 

of the Gulf Stream influence the weather on the British Isles. The summers 
are cool and rainy; the winters are not very cold. 

Text 3. The Union Flag 

The flag of Britain is officially called the Union Flag because it embodies 

the emblems of three countries united under one Sovereign. It is commonly 
known as the Union Jack: while the origin of the term is uncertain, the following explanation is the most probable. The original Union Flag was designed for use at sea and the term «jack» was first used in the Royal Navy 
during the 17th century to describe the Union Flag, which was flown from the 
jack staff of naval vessels. 

The emblems that appear on the Union Flag are the crosses of three pa
tron saints: the red cross of St. George, for England, on a white ground; the 
white diagonal cross, of St. Andrew, for Scotland, on a blue ground; the red 
diagonal cross, attributed to St. Patrick, for Ireland, on a white ground. 

Wales is not represented in the Union Flag because when the first ver
sion of the flag appeared, Wales was already united to England. 

The first Union Flag was created in April 1606 by combining the crosses 

of St. George and St. Andrew, the national flags of England and Scotland. 
The final version of the Union Flag appeared in 1801, following the union of 
Great Britain with Ireland, with the inclusion of the cross of St. Patrick.  

Text 4. British Economy 

In every country the first resource is land, and densely populated Brit
ain has not much of it. About 2% of the population work on farms, many of 
them tenants of big estates. After 1945 governments encouraged them by 
advice and financial inducements, to use their land effectively, and when 
Britain joined the European Community in 1972 most farms were wellequipped and mechanised. 

Now their efficiency is embarrassing. Environmentalists complain that 

insecticides and fertilisers have polluted air and water. Almost each year 
much good farmland is sold for building, farmers are encouraged to put 
some land to other uses, such as facilities for recreation. 

But agriculture is a small part of the whole economy. For 200 years 

manufacturing has been more important, but by 1970s it was clear that 
British old manufacturing industries were less progressive than the same 
industries in other Western European countries. Newer industries, such as 
car manufacture, were no better than the older ones like textiles. Many steel 
plants were closed. But no industry has suffered so much as shipbuilding. 
In 1979 many of the old industries were owned by the state. Nationalisation 
in 1976 failed to stop the industries decline.  

New «high-tech» industries developed, manufacturing output rose sub
stantially in the 1980s. Two parallel developments have affected Britain 
slightly more than most other European states. One is the increase in the 
service industries, as distinct from the productive ones. The other is the increase in the proportion of people in white collar as distinct from manual 
jobs. More than half of the working people, whether employees or selfemployed, are now providing services. There has been some growth in the 
number of people who work for schools and hospitals, social services, the 
police and in public administration. But the biggest growth has been in finance, banking and insurance, along with «other services», including the 
law, advertising, catering, tourism and entertainment. 

Text 5. Scotland 

England and Wales, as two of three parts that make up Great Britain, 

have much in common legally and politically. Scotland, the third, differs in 
many respects. 

It differs first in its separate history. In 1314 the Scottish King Robert I 

(known as Robert the Bruce) defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn. Fourteen years later, in 1328, he achieved his goal of independence for 
Scotland. Scotland continued as an independent kingdom until 1603. 

Scotland’s natural landscape also distinguishes it from much of Eng
land. The Highlands, in particular, are regarded as typically «Scottish», with 
their mountains, locks, moors, rugged coastline and many coastal islands. 

Equally distinctive is the Scottish educational system. The state 

schools, especially the secondary schools, are known as «public schools» (not 
to be confused with English public schools). Many Scottish schools are 
named «Academy», for example, Edinburgh Academy and Glasgow Academy. 

Scotland has a number of popular national foods and dishes. Among 

the best known are porridge, eaten for breakfast with milk and sugar (or 
salt), haggis, made from sheep’s or calf’s offal with oatmeal, suet and seasonings boiled in a skin from the animal’s stomach, and shortbread, a sweet 
biscuit made with butter.  

Text 6. Wales 

In some ways, Wales is the most «foreign» of the four lands that make 

up the United Kingdom. The word «Welsh» itself is derived from Old English 
«wealh», the term used by the Anglo-Saxon invaders for the original Britons 
or Celts. The Welsh language is spoken by about two of ten people in Wales. 
English people find it very difficult to spell and pronounce Welsh words, especially place names such as Llwchwr or Pwllheli. The Welsh name for Wales 
is «Cymru», and that of the Welsh themselves is «Cymry», meaning «compatriot». 

Wales, although a small land, has considerable diversity. Its largest cit
ies and main industrial centres are in the south, while the much more 
sparsely inhabited north is famous for its mountain landscapes, including 
Snowdonia. 

The chief industries of south Wales were for many years coal-mining 

and iron and steel production. In recent years, however, these have declined, 
and many coal-mines and steel mills have been closed. Even so, Wales still 
produces about a third of Britain’s steel, and its former narrowly-based 
economy has been widened to include electronics and high technology industries.  

Wales is often referred to as «principality», since the heir to the British 

throne, Charles, has the title of Prince of Wales. 

Text 7. The English Language 

There are over 2,700 languages in the world, but English today is the 

most important international language. Four hundred million people speak 
English as their first language. Six hundred million people speak it either as 
a second or as a foreign language. That is 20% of the world’s population. 
80% of all information on the Internet is in English. 

English is the language of England used in Britain, most countries in 

the British Commonwealth, the USA and some other countries. 

The ancestor of modern English was Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. This 

developed into Middle English, which was influenced by French in the period 
after the Norman Conquest. By the 16th century it was recognizable as essentially the language used today. English is now spoken by over 350 million 
people and used by many more as a second language for international communication. 

The first significant step in the progress of English towards its status as 

a world language took place in the last decades of the 18th century. At that 
time, the number of mother-tongue English speakers in the world is thought 
to have been between five and seven million, almost all of them living within 
the British Isles. 

Between the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) and the beginning of 

the reign of Elizabeth II (1952), this figure increased almost fiftyfold, to 
around 250 million, the majority (around four-fifth) living outside the British 
Isles. Most of these people were, and continue to be, Americans.  

Things to do 
1. Complete the following table:  

 
Country 
Capital 
Nationality 
Language 
Person 

 
 
 
 
A Scot 

 
 
 
English 
 

 
Belfast 
 
 
 

 
 
Welsh 
 
 

2. Prove that England is a small place using the text. 
3. Explain the differences between these expressions: Great Britain, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the British Isles.  
4. Speak about England’s geographical position using the facts 
from the text. Use other sources to make your answer interesting.  
5. Find some geographical facts about Scotland and compare the 
geographical position of Scotland and England.  
6. Find some geographical facts about Wales and compare the geographical position of Wales and England. 
7. Say which English cities are mentioned in this text. What do you 
know about them? 
8. Speak about the Industrial Revolution and its role in British history. 
9. Complete the lines: 
– Geographically Britain is divided into two parts…….  
– The main mountain chains in Britain are…….  
– The main rivers of the UK are…… 
– The main cities in Britain are… 
– Scotland differs from England …. 
– The Welsh name for Wales is… 
10. Speak about the structure of the British economy. 
11. Imagine you have a British pen-friend who has never visited 
your country. Choose your favourite city (place) in your country 
and write a short letter to your pen-friend describing it. 
12. Decide which place in Britain you would prefer to live in. 
13. Look at the pictures and label the national emblems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

14. Test 
Choose the correct answer: 
1. Which of these people are British: 
a) аn Englishman, b) a citizen of the Irish republic, 
c) a Scot, d) a Welshman 
2. Which of these capital cities are the capitals of independent states: 
a) Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff, London 
3. Ben Nevis is situated in: 
a) England, b) Scotland, c) Wales, d) Ireland 
4. The Cambrian Mountains are in: 
a) England, b) Scotland, c) Wales, d) Northern Ireland 
5. The Lake District is situated in: 
a) England, b) Scotland, c) Wales, d) Northern Ireland 
6. The eldest son of the king or queen of England has traditionally been 
given this title since 1301: 
a) Prince of England, b) Prince of Scotland,  
c) Prince of Wales, d) Prince of Ireland 
7. The national flag of the United Kingdom has: 
a) crosses, b) stars, c) dragons, d) lions  
8. What is the national emblem of England? 
a) Daffodil, b) Shamrock, c) Thistle, d) Rose 
9. Who is the patron saint of Scotland? 
a) St. Andrew, b) St. Patrick, c) St. George, d) St. David 
10. What does RP stand for? 
a) a learned London society, b) a university degree,  
c) a sports club, d) Standard British English. 
15. Projects  
1. Find some additional information about English as one of the global 
languages and make a report to your group-mates. 
2. Compare Britain with your own country. Which are the most obvious 
geographical differences? 
3. Make a report using the data from the table 

The British Isles: Population 
Country 
Area 
Population 
Density 
per km2 

England 
130,439 km2 
47,112,000 
361 

Scotland 
78,772 km2 
5,137,000 
65 

Wales 
20,768 km2  
2,812,000 
135 

Northern Ireland 
14,121km2 
1,558,000 
110 

Republic of  
Ireland 
70,283 km2 
3,552,000 
51 

Discussion Points 
1. Why is the English language considered to be a global language? 
2. Why is the flag of the United Kingdom called Union Jack? 
3. What do you think the author means when he says «For all the fuss it 

(England) has made in history…»?  

4. What unites and divides the UK?  

Chapter 2. CONQUEST AND CONFLICT 

 
The Romans made their mark, Christianity was 
established, the Normans conquered the country,  
and centuries were spent in warfare. 

Text 1. Roman Conquest 

Recorded history begins with the first Roman invasion in 55 BC. The 

Celtic Queen (Boudicca) Boadicea led a failed rebellion in AD 61, and succeeded in destroying their capital, Londinium. In AD 122, the emperor Hadrian had a wall built across the north of England. Much of it remains, running from Carlisle to Newcastle. Roman control lasted nearly 400 years, leaving behind a series of walled towns – London, York and Bath among them – 
linked by a network of roads so well constructed that they survived for centuries. The remains of Roman baths, amphitheatres and villas can still be 
seen today. The Romans also introduced Christianity, literacy, and the use 
of Latin, but when they left, their influence faded surprisingly fast.  

Text 2. Anglo-Saxons and Vikings 

The next wave of invaders – Angles and Saxons – pushed the native 

Celts westward into Wales and north into Scotland, and established their 
own kingdoms. In the mid-9th century the Danes (Vikings) gave up raiding 
and decided to settle. Alfred of Wessex, «Alfred the Great» agreed that they 
would control the north and east («the Danelaw»), while he ruled the rest. 

(Alfred the Great)