Project Britain

PART 2.
Get to know geography, points of interest, gastronomy, currency, sports...

1. List five traditional British dishes:
Fish and chips, black pudding, bubble and Squeak, hot dog, Cottage Pie

2. What currency would you use if you were living in London? Have a look at the following correspondences and say whether they are correct or not:
3€ → 2₤, 8€ → 10₤, 15€ → 12₤, 30€ → 20₤, 75€ → 50₤
The first is incorrect, the second false, the third is true, the fourth is incorrect, the fiveth is false.

3. As you know, one of the most representative monuments of England is “Big Ben”, could you mention at least five more?
The others monuments are: Buckingham Palace, the London eye, Trafalgar Square, Golden Hinde and Eros.

4. What sports would you play if you were living there? What do they consist on?
I would like playing polo and football. The Polo constist on they played with four men on horses to a team. A ball is hit with a stick towards the goal, one at each end of a 300 yard long by 160 yard wide field. The football consist


6. What are the main differences between British and American English? Give at least five examples
Most words in American don't use in the United Kingdom.
The accent in Britain is different in American
The words in American have different meaning in Britain.
The vocabulary in Britain is different in American.

7. Could you mention the most famous kings and queens of England? Could you add some dates?
Egbert 829-839, Matilda, John 1199-1216 and Edward the Elder 899-924
Edward the Elder 899-924


8. Is Great Britain a Republic or a Monarchy?
It is Monarchy

9. Why do you think it is called “Great Britain” intead of “Britain”?
Because the British empire was very big and because difference the empire Britain.


10. List the name of five rivers placed anywhere within Great Britain.
The river Thames, the Stour, the Mersey and Tess

THE UNITED KINGDOM: What do you know?

THE UNITED KINGDOM: What do you know?

1. How many independent countries are there in the British Isles?

Two, United Kingdom and Ireland.

2. United Kingdom comprises four nations.
Could you name them and their capitals?
Threre are Scotland its capital is Edinburgh, England its capital is London, Wales its capital is Cardiff , Northern Ireland its capital is Belfast.

3. Which important river goes along Oxford and London?
The more important river is Thames.

4. Where can you find these things? .
1. Egyptian mummies. In a British Museum
2. Dinosaurs. In the Nationally History
3. Pictures by famous painters in the Nationally Gallery

5.Where is the Lake Ness? Why is it famous?
Threre is in a Scotland. It is famous because the history says: there is a monster.

6.Which is the political system in the two countries of the British Isles?
1.United Kingdom: constitutional monarchy
2.Ireland: Republican system.

7.Can a person swim from Great Britain to France? How far is it?(3 / 30 / 300 km)
Yes, you can. It's 30km.

8.Can you find three similarities and three differences between Britain and Catalonia?
Similarities: Technology, whiskys, transports.
Differences: Food, traditions, history.

Healthcare

Most of the time we feel well. We can play sports, go to work and enjoy our lives. But sometimes we just don't feel well.
Some people have medical insurance but most people can't afford it and rely on the National Health Service, the NHS. This is provided by the government in Britain.
The NHS has sent everybody in Britain a Self-Help Guide. This will help you diagnose what is wrong and find the best treatment.
You may need to go to the chemist to buy cough mixture or pills for a headache. There are lost of medicines you can buy.
You can get a prescription from a doctor. Doctors work in surgeries or health centers. The doctor examines you a prescription for medicine to cure you.
Doctors and medical staff can cure lots of illnesses now using surgery and treatment with drugs.
Many people prefer alternative medicine. This can include many kinds of treatments using both very modern techniques. Other alternative treatments is Chinese herbs.
Hopefully these treatments won't be necessary. The best way to avoid getting ill is to have a healthy diet, get lots of exercise and take good care of yourself. You shouldn't then need to use the healthcare system at all!

Computers

Computers are a very important part of our lives. They tell us about delays to transport. They drive trains, analyses evidence and control buildings. Did you know that 60% of homes in Britain have got a personal computer. For many young people, playing computer games is their favorite way of pending spare time.
The smart home is now a real possibility. It will become very common.
A central computer will adjust the temperature, act as a burglar alarm and switch on lights ready for you to come back home. If the temperature outside changes, the smart home will adjust temperature levels inside. The computer will also close the blinds when it gets dark or to stop too much sun from entering a room. 44% of young people between 11 and 16 said their PC was trusted friend. 20% said they were happier at their computer than spending time with family or friends. Another survey found that people in Britain spend so much time on the phone.

Transport in London

Exploring Mars is going to be very exiting, but for now, it's easier to explore our own planet! In particular, London.
Trains travel into London from all over the country. They are very important for people who live in the suburbs or outside London and travel into London for work. 1,8 million people travel into the centre of London by train every day.
For many people the journey by train takes them to a convenient Underground station. London Undergraound, usually called the Tube, was the first in the world when it opened in 1863.
The different kinds of transport link up pretty well but sometimes you have to walk from one point in the journey to the next.
People use lots of other froms of transport in London. Some people use boats on the River Thames to go to work.
The car isn't very good in London because they move very slowly.
The buses and taxis travel more quickly because they have a got special lanes on the road.

Mariteme in Britain

In England no town is more than 170 kilometers from the sea. So it's no surprise that Britain has very important history of ships and the sea.
The British navy was the bigger navy in the world at on time.
In Liverpool there is a great museum of maritime history.
The Cutty Sark is a tea. It was very profitable and made many people very rich.
Between 1830 and 1920 more than nine million people from all over Europe left from the port of Liverpool to start a new life in America or Australia.
The most famous ship was probably the Titanic.
One of the most famous shipping companies is Cunard.
The majority of people do travel around the world by plane.

Horror film

People like to scared. They love reading horror stories and watching horror movies. The firts was published by Mary Sheller in 1818-Frankenstein. Many films have featured Frankenstein over the years.
One of them put two great horror characters together when Frankenstein met Count Dracula. Dracula contra Frankenstein was made by the Spanish director Jesús Fronco in 1970. Count Dracula was a vampire created in 1897 by the Irish writer Bram Stoker.
Dracula is so popular that visitors to London can go on a guided Dracula tour.

The law

The most famous police station in Britain in New Scotland Yard in London, but there are police stations all over the country. They've all got a blue light outside to show they are police stations.
The police can arrest people in the street, but they also give information.
The new police station is in Lewisham an area in south-east London. There are custody room of the police station. A suspected criminal is being charged with a crime.
Next they take fingerprints to check the person's identity. They also take mouth swabs for analysis of DNA.
Next day they vent to court. Here three magistrates listen to evidence from the police and witnesses. The then decide if the person is guility or not guilty.
Police officers go out on horses every day.
The evidence tat the police collect from a crime scene is analysed in laboratories.
The people who work here are callek forensic scientists. They can examine and analyse material from the crime scene.
Fingerprints are a good way of identifying people but DNA is more reliable. Each person has got a unique DNA profile.
The police are the most obvious part of the law in Britain. Their job is to make sure that people don't break the law and to catch them when they do.

Supermarkets

Supermarkets are an important par of daily life in Britain.
The five biggest supermarkets sell 80% of all groceries. Tesco is the biggest. It's got nearly 2,000 shops in Britain and is the third biggest supermarket in the world.
Two of them, Asada and Tesco are also the biggest sellers of clothes in Britain.
In the large supermarkets you can buy just about anything.
The very big supermarkets are usually on the edge of towns and most people drive to them.
This of course means that they can buy more and take in home in the car.
A lot of people now use online shopping.
Small shops in towns and villages are closing because supermarkets can sell the same things cheaper. Many supermarkets are open 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Soap operas

The most popular British soap operas are Eastenders and Coronation Street. These are popular dramas about the lives of ordinary people. There are usually three to five episodes each week. Many people are addicted to soap operas.
Eastenders is set in the east end of London and has been broadcast since 1975. Coronation Street is based in Manchester and it is the oldest soap.
As well as showing everyday life in the village there are sometimes special episodes.

Scotland

There are four main regions in Britain: England, Northeland Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Scotland is in the nord of Britain and has got a lot of wild, mountainous countryside in the Highlands.

It's famous for its lakes which are called lochs in Scotland.
Scotland occupies one third of the land area of Britain.
The majority of Scottish people live in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Scotland has also got its own traditions.For specials occasions some Scottish men wear a kilt rather than trousers. The patterns are called "tartans".
The unusual instrument known as the bagpipes is also a part of Scottish tradition.

Sport is very important in Scotland. There are lots of golf courses.

There are lots of famous Scottish people. One of them is Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
In Scotland there are thousands of different whiskies.

Most of Scotland's income is from turism. They enjoy climbing mountains, fishing and visiting its famous castles and also like going to Loch Ness.

The weather

The weather is a very popular topic of conversation in Britain. That's because the weather changes a lot.
Sixty-fiver per cent of all the days in Britain are overcast - dull, grey and often cold. That's 260 dull days.

The seasons in Britain are fairly clear. Winter last from December to February. It's cold and wet but doesn't often snow. Spring is from March to May. It starts to get a bit warmer and there are more sunny days. The summer months are June, July and August when it can be very hot. Then the autumn - September, October, November - often has foggy, cold wet days and the leaves fall from the trees.

It's not surprising that Britain has got one of the most important weather centres in the world. They provide weather forecasts for radio, television and newspapers - and on the Internet.
Two huge supercomputers analyse information from many sources including satellites, This is very different from some of the early weather forecasts. These instruments were used for the earliest weather forecasts.
The Met Office also looks at environmental issues such as global warming and climate change. The computer can predict the tropical storms and hurricanes that cause so much damage around the world.

Reading

British people read a lot. They read books, newspapers and magazines. And of course they read text messages on their mobile phones. Sixty-five per cent of British people list " reading for pleasure" as a major hobby. A quarter of the population reads more than 20 books each year.

In the library you can borrow books but you can also buy a cup of coffee, look at an art exhibition, sit in a quiet study area of connect to the Internet.
You can also now borrow CDs, videos and DVDs of films and television programmes. Some libraries even let you borrow computer games.
There are often reference rooms where you can go to look something up or go to study.
Libraries are very important in schools and universities both for study and for reading for pleasure.

The British Library is one of the world's greatest libraries.
People predicted that radio, then television, then the Internet would kill reading, but it is still a very popular activity.

British sports

At the weekend in Britain, millions of people take part in some kind of sporting activity. Half of all men over 16 regularly participate in sport.
Even more people spend part of the weekend watching sport- especially football.
The top level of the game is professional football in the Premiership.
Football is played in schools and as a leisure activity. Both girls and boys play.

Cricket in the main summer sport in Britain. Local teams play in towns and villages every Saturday and Sunday from April to September.
Cricket is played between two teams of 11 people.

Tennis is another popular sport, especially in the summer after the famous Wimbledon championships. There are tennis courts all over Britain.
Other popular sports are golf, swimming, cycling, keep fit and walking. But there is no doubt that for most people football is the national sport.

Animals

People love animals. But some of the world's animals are in danger of extinction. There are several reasons for this.
Rhino horn for us in medicine. Shark's fin sop is a favourite in many restaurants. Chimpanzee and whale meat are popular with some people.

Another big problem is the destruction of the rainforests. This is removing the habitat of many animals, like these gorillas, birds and plants. The number of animals in some species is now very small and they may not exist at all for much longer.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature is an international organization.
There are a number of projects in Britain which deal with endangered species. Here at Port Lympne Animal Park there are elephants, lions, African hunting dogs and many others.

Animals born in Britain are now back in the Congo and Gabon in Africa.
This is an African black rhino.
The 23 rhinos here at Port Lympne is the largest collection outside Africa. Lessons learnt from animals in Britain are very valuable in helping to maintain the numbers of rhinos in the world.

British houses

There are lots of different kinds of houses. This is the kind of house you find in British towns. Terraced houses are joined together - sometimes in a long row, but some terraces have only got a few houses.
These are semi-detached houses - just two houses joined together. There are as many semi-detached houses in Britain as terraced houses. Sixty per cent of the population live in terraced or semi-detached houses.
These are detached houses - there aren't any other houses joined on to them. Some detached houses are very large but others can be quite small.
Lots of people live in flats, especially in big towns and cities.

Houses in different parts of Britain can look very different. There are lots of regional variations because builders use local materials. Some houses are very modern and some are hundreds of years old.

A famous traditional saying is "An Englishman's home in his castle". British people spend a lot of time and money on their homes and gardens.

Shopping

People in Britain really like shopping. In a recent survey 56% of women between the ages of 16 and 40 described shopping as their main hobby. They often go shopping every day!

Traditional, local shops exist in some areas. They sell different things like food, medicines and cosmetics, clothes and books.
Many towns have a large shop where you can buy a wide variety of items. They are called department stores.

For a lot of people "going shopping" doesn't mean they are going to buy anything. Many people never spend any money. It's a social event. Shopping centers are open late most nights of the week and from 11 o'clock until five o'clock on Sundays.

School in Britain

Most students in Britain, the school day starts between eight thirty and nine o'clock.
People travel to school using many different kinds of transports. The cycle, they walk and they come in cars.
Each lesson lasts for lasts for an hour. At the end of the lesson a bell ring. Students move to another classroom for the nest lesson.

After two or three lessons there is a break. This is fifteen minutes when students go out into the playground to have fun after all that concentration!
After break it's back to work. Sometimes special subjects like science last for two lessons- a "double period". They can be really hard work

After lunch it's back to the classroom. The main subjects in the school timetable are English, maths and science. It is also popular. Then there's French or Spanish, history and geography.
Students also study art, music and PE.
Students have homework every day.

Food in Britiain

Most schools in Britain provide hot meals and salads every day but many students prefer to take their own lunch to school.
This is a "packed lunch".

A lot of chocolate, crisps, fatty foods and cola isn't good for people.
The British Government is worried that many children are obese - the medical word for being very fat. They want people to eat five pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.

On school in England helps students to eat healthy food with the Green Machine.
Green Machines have got lots of interesting snacks.
These students are enjoying their food and it's good for them too.

British Royal Family

The Queen of England is Elizabeth the Second, the Queen lives in a place in London - Buckingham Palace. These soldiers guard the palace. The Queen's husband is the Duke of Edinburgh. They've got four children. Their oldest son is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. His two sons are Prince William and Prince Harry. The Royal Family's name is Windsor and they've got a castle in the town of Windsor near London. Prince William and Prince Harry are the Queen's grandchildren. They are sons of Princess Diana and Prin.William was born in 1982, Harry in 1984 The Queen and the Duke of Endinburg live in the palace. Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, like to ride Horses. They play a sport called Polo. When they are in ce CharlesLondon, Princes William and Harry live in Clarence House. A lot of People like to see the Royal Family.