GREAT BRITAIN, Science

GREAT BRITAIN, Science

GREAT BRITAIN

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland occupies

territory of the British Isles which are situated to the north-west of

Europe. They consist of two main islands: Great Britain and Ireland.

England is in the south of the island of Great Britain, Scotland is in the

north and Wales is in the west. Northen Ireland is situated in the noth-

eastern part of Ireland. It’s western coast is washed by the Atlantic

ocean. In the east the island of Great Britain is washed by the North Sea.

The Irish Sea, the North Channel and the St. George’s Channel separate

Ireland from Great Britain. Great Britain is separated from France by the

English Channel, which is 32 km wide in it’s narrowest part. In everyday

speech “Great Britain” is used to mean the UK.

The climat of Britain is usually described as cool, temperate and

humid. As the weather changes with a wind, and Britain is visited by winds

from different parts of the world, the most characteristic feature of

Britain’s weather is it’s variability. Summers are not hot and winters are

not cold in Britain. The snow never lies for long on the ground. As a rule

there is no ice on the waters of rivers and lakes. So we may say that the

British climat has 3 main features: it is mild, humid and changeble. That

means that it’s never too hot or too warm.

English is the official, but not the only language used in the

country.

Britain has been many centuries in the making. The Romans conqered

most part of Britain, but were unable to subdue the fiercely independent

tribes in the West and in the North. Further waves of invaders followed:

Angels, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings and Normans. All these contributed to the

mixture we call English. For many centuries this country was known simply

as England. It had a strong army and navy. It waged numerous colonial wars.

England, once the “work shop of the world”, was the first to become a

highly industrial country.

There are no big rivers in Great Britain. The biggest are Severn and

Thames. There are a lot of mountain in Great Britain, but they are nit

high. The highest mountain - Ben Nevis - is in Scotland. The flora of the

British Isles is much varied and the fauna is similar to that of the north-

west of Europe. The country is not very rich in natural resourses but there

were suffice for the Industrial Revolution to start.

London is the capital of the UK. It was founded by the Romans. The

population of London is over 8 million people.

The largest cities of Great Britain besides London are: Birmingham,

Glasgo, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh. The

most important seaports are: London, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow and

Cardiff.

Science

The word “science” comes from the latin word “scientia”, which means

“knowledge”. Scientists make observations and collect facts in field they

work in. Then they arrange facts ordelly and try to express the connaction

between the facts and try to work out theories. Then they have to prove the

facts or theory correct and make sufficient and sound evidence. So

sientific knowledge is always growing and improving.

Science has great influence on our life. It provides with base of

modern technology, materials, sources of power and so on. Modern science

and technology have changed our life in many different ways. During the

present century our life changed greatly. Thanks to radio and television we

can do a great number of jobs; it was radio and TV that made it possible to

photograph the dark side of the moon and to talk with the first cosmonaut

while he was orbiting the Earth. On of the wonders og our age is the

“electronic brain”, or giant calculating mashine, which can to some extent

duplicste human sences. The desk computer is expected to function as your

personal librarian, to carry out simple optimization computations, to

control your budget or diet, play several hundred games, etc. further

development of the computer is bellieved to lead to a situation in which

most of the knowledge accepted by mankind will be stored in the computers

and made accessible to anyone with the home computers. It is natural that

the advent of minicomputers with extensive memories and possibilities will

lead to a new higher level in information culture. Among other things, we

shall be able to organise educational process in the country’s colleges and

universities and also in the system of school education on a new basic.

Knowledge is the most valuable wealth, and minicomputers will help us to

make it accessible for everyone. Agrycultiral sientists develop better

varietives of plants. The development of antibiotics and other drugs has

helped to control many diseases. Studies in anatomy and physiology have let

to amazing surgical operations and the inventions of lifesaving mashines,

that can do the work of such organs as heart, lungs and so on. Nuclear

fission when a tremendous amount if energy is setting free is very

important discovery.

Science improved the living standarts, communications, promoted

contact between people and government, knowledge and culture, made it

possible to discover and develop new sources of energy, made it possible to

prolong man’s life.

But science also has some disadvantages. It produces mass culture:

painting, music, literature. Some scientific inventions increase the

ecological problems, provide with new diseases like AIDS, increased the

danger of violent death.

The greatest scientists were very persistent and were sure in their

success. Even without any serious education they made great inventions.

Even during times of disappointing experiments and unacknowledgement by

other scientists, they didn’t give up and went on working out theories.

Also they were always ready to begin everything from the very beginning.

They worked a lot, and this work wasn’t for money.

The aim, the main object of the greatest scientists of all times was

always to find out the trith and no personal prejudices can be allowed. So

the science grows and prospers and is the engine of progress.

The problem of learning languages very important today. Foreign

languages are socially demanded especially at the present time when the

progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge and

has contributed to an overflow of information. The total knowledge of

mankind is known to double every seven years. Foreign languages are needed

as the main and the most efficient means of information exchange of the

people of our planet.

Today English is the language of the world. Over 300 million people

speak it as mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great

Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English

is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, the South

African Republic. As the second language it is used in the former British

and US colonies.

It is not only the national or the official language of some thirty

states which represents different cultures, but it is also the major

international language for communication in such areas as science,

technology, business and mass entertainment. English is one of the official

languages of the United Nations Organisation and other political

organisations. It is the language of literature, education, modern music,

international tourism.

Russia is integrating into the world community and the problem of

learning English for the purpose of communication is especially urgent

today.

So far there is no universal or ideal method of learning languages.

Everybody has his own way. Sometimes it is boring to study grammar or to

learn new words. But it is well known that reading books in the original,

listening to BBC news and English speaking singers, visiting an English

speaking country, communicating with the English speaking people will help

a lot.

When learning a foreign language you learn the culture and history

of the native speakers.