Ex. 2 b, p. 99

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 cannot 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!