Read and retell the text (min. 12 sentences)
UNIT 4
Lesson
1, Ex. 2 b
1)
The Queen is
Head of State of the UK
and 15 other Commonwealth lands. She was born in 1926 and became Queen at the
age of 25, and has reigned through more than 60 years of great social change
and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and
has four children and eight grandchildren. Surprisingly, The Queen of
England despite all her present majesty and glory, is not allowed to enter the
House of Commons simply because she is not its member!
2)
The official
religion in Britain
is Christianity as practised by the Anglican Church. Its followers are known as
protestants. Until the 16th century Britain was a Roman Catholic
Country. King Henry VIII, who ruled at that time, wanted to have a son, but his
first wife gave birth only to daughters. He decided to divorce her, but the Vatican didn’t
allow him to do it. So he decided to found his own church - Church of England
or Anglican Church, which up till today is country’s major religion.
3)
Eurotunnel is the company
responsible for building the twin railway tunnels under the English Channel
connecting Britain and France. The
Channel Tunnel is often called by the British simply as Chunnel. Eurotunnel
runs its own shuttle service that carries passengers and their vehicles. Trains
run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.The shuttle has now been in operation for
over 12 years and since its first commercial services 177 million people have
travelled through the Channel Tunnel - that's 3 times the population of both France and England!
4)
White
buildings of whisky distilleries is a typical sight of the Scottish Highlands.
The production of whisky started in 1494 and now there are over a hundred
distilleries . No two whiskies can taste the same, and the taste can not be
copied anywhere in the world, because the water is taken from local hills. And
of course one can’t visit Scotland
without trying to find Nessie at Loch Ness.
5)
Wales is a small
country with a colourful history and beautiful landscapes, including 3 National
Parks. At only 170 miles
from north to south and 60
miles east to west, it's no surprise that you're never
far from a mountain or the sea. Welsh - the native language - is spoken by many
people in Wales,
and is one of the oldest languages in the world. Wales is also known as 'the land of
castles', it is home to 641 famous fortresses - more castles
per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Wales is also home to 6 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites, and although Cardiff, the capital
city, dates back to Roman times, it's actually Britain's youngest city!
