Tools for Society
1 The United Kingdom
GEOGRAPHY
Great Britain
and Ireland
Great Britain
Britain offers constant variations in the natural environment: arable fens , rolling pastures , dales , moorlands , post-glacial mountains, rugged
cliffs and shingle shores.
The country is rich in lakes and rivers, the longest of which
is the Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel. The most
famous of the British rivers is the Thames, flowing through
London. Other rivers are the Tweed in Scotland, the Tyne,
flowing through Newcastle, and the Mersey.
The climate is changeable and largely temperate, that is
mild and damp for most of the year. Being on the edge of
the Atlantic Ocean Britain is a wet country, with most rain
falling in winter rather than in summer. In summer the temperature can get pretty high, with peaks of over 30 degrees.
1
2
3
4
5
6
England is the largest country in Britain
– it has the largest population, hosts the
capital city, London, and occupies more
than half of the UK’s geographical area.
It is separated from France by the English
Channel, although with the Channel Tunnel (or Chunnel) the country is no longer
completely cut off from Europe.
England is divided into different adminis1 fens_paludi
2 rolling pastures_pascoli ondulati
A view of
trative areas or counties, such as Devon,
Patterdale, a small
Kent, Norfolk, while urban areas have
village in the east of
the Lake District, in
their own councils. England’s terrain is
Cumbria.
varied: from hills to sandy beaches, from
flatlands to steep coastline.
In Cumbria, in the north-west the Lake District offers a spectacular cluster of hills and mountains, together with valleys
and lakes, which have inspired the imagination of many
writers and poets.
3 dales_vallate
4 moorlands_brughiere
EXPLORING MEANING
1 Read the texts and answer these questions.
1. How varied is British landscape?
2. What are the Downs?
3. Which islands are located in the English Channel?
4. In what part of the British Isles is
a. the Pennine Range?
b. Ben Nevis?
c. Mount Snowdon?
2 List ten words that refer to the variety of the British landscape.
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5 rugged_scoscese
6 shingle_di ciottoli
Wales is mainly a hilly country. Ranges
of hills dominate much of the landscape,
with two major mountain systems: the
Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons in the
south and Snowdonia in the north, with
Mount Snowdon (1085 m) as the highest
peak in Wales.
The “Valleys” occupy most of the south,
linking the mountains of mid Wales to the
coast. The largest centres of population are on the southern
littoral: Cardiff, the capital city, Newport and Swansea.
Government in Wales changed radically in 1997, when the
nation voted by a narrow majority for the creation of a National Assembly.
In the north and north-central part of England there are still
farmlands and moors, together with a line of large hills, the
Pennine Range, known as the backbone of England. In the
19th century the north-central region was the birthplace of
the Industrial Revolution, with its factories, coalmines and
industrial cities like Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield. In the
last decades the north has suffered a harsh economic crisis,
mainly due to the decline of heavy industry.
A view of Liverpool
old town.
The central region called “the Heart of England” – including the rural Cotswold Hills and the industrial Black Country
– reflects, as deeply as any other, the diverse nature of the
English landscape. It is dominated by Birmingham, the second largest city in the UK.
South-east England is mainly a flatland, sometimes dotted
with small hills, which get higher in the far south-east with
two rows of chalk hills, known as the Downs.
The south-west peninsula (including Cornwall, Devon and
Dorset) is a plateau with heather -covered moors and a beautiful steep coastline.
Cardiff,
capital
of Wales.
The pyramid-like
peak of Mount
Snowdon,
in Wales.
7
T he Seven Sisters
cliffs by the English
Channel. They form
part of the South
Downs, in East
Sussex.
7 heather_erica
3 Summarize the information about England and Wales filling in
the table below.
England
AREA
LANDSCAPE
Far south
hills (the Downs),
South-west peninsula
Cornwall,
North and north-west
Central part
Wales
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Eilean Donan Castle.
Eilean Donan is
a small island in
Loch Duich in the
Western Highlands of
Scotland.
A tlantic
puffins in the
Shetlands.
Scotland consists of a mainland area plus several island
groups (there are about 800 isles), including the Shetlands,
the Orkneys, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides
and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological
areas make up the mainland: from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands, the Lowlands of the Central
Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The Scottish Highlands
in the north are the most remote and least populated part
of the country. Here you will find Ben Nevis (1343 m), the
highest mountain in Britain, while the indented west coast
is rich in lochs (the Scottish word for “lakes”) like Loch Ness.
The majority of the Scottish population (around 5.1 million
people) resides in the Central Belt, which contains three of
the five main cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and
Inverness. The rural population lives in the Lowlands and the
Highlands, often in small, scattered communities.
Scotland has a long history as an independent state. For
centuries it fought bravely to maintain its sovereignty but
in 1707 it had to surrender its independence in the Act of
Union with England and Wales.
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1 scattered_sparse
EXPLORING MEANING
4 Read the text about Scotland and fill in the gaps with the missing information. Use the words from the box.
home • devolution • northern • Parliament • Highlands • Lowlands • Sea • rural • Highlands • Atlantic • Central • Edinburgh •
eight hundred • •1999 • England
Scotland is located in (1)
Great Britain
and is bounded by the North (2)
(3)
Ocean and
(4)
landmass consists of plains, hills,
(6)
, the
inhabit the (11)
. Scotland’s
Since
. and about
(5)
islands. The most populated areas are in the
Belt where both (8)
lie. The (9)
(7)
and Glasgow
(12)
population lives in the (10) and the rest
.
, following a process of
(13)
from Westminster, Scotland has had its own
(14)
which controls most aspects of the country’s
(15)
affairs.
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Today, following the creation of a new Parliament in Edinburgh in 1999, Scotland exercises self-government in most
domestic affairs. The Parliament legislates on such matters
as education, health, local government, rural affairs, housing, the environment, justice, sport and the arts.
The Channel Islands: there are five main islands in
the Channel Islands group, close to the French Normandy
coast: Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm. Their separation from Britain is not only geographical: although British from 1066, the islands are administered locally. Jersey and
Guernsey are the biggest and most populated islands. Pretty beaches, fascinating places and low tax rates have made
these islands a heaven for the residents.
E dinburgh,
city view from
Calton Hill.
uernsey,
G
in the Channel
Islands.
5 Develop the mind map with words from the text and learn
the unknown words.
coast
sea
geography
Writing
6 Google the web to look for more information about one
of the countries which make up the British Isles. Write a
short essay. In particular consider:
a. its location;
b. its composition;
c. its peculiarities.
WEB
QUEST
flatland
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Ireland
Ireland, the second largest
island of the British Isles, lies
on the west side of the Irish
Sea, and is part of British Isles
archipelago (according to the
geographical but not political
distinction). It is composed of
the Republic of Ireland (Eire)
which covers five sixths of the island (south, east, west and
north-west) and Northern Ireland, currently part of the United Kingdom.
The country is divided into four geographical areas: the
north (Ulster), the east (Leinster), the west (Connacht) and the
south (Munster).
Northern Ireland (consisting of six counties in Ulster) occupies the north-eastern corner of Ireland and enjoys a diverse
terrain, with a steep coastline, hills and the Mourne Mountains (848 m), Northern Ireland’s highest point. Lough Neagh
is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. Volcanic activity formed the geometric pillars of the Giant’s Causeway,
in some way uniting Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Much of Ireland’s high lands are close to the coast, and almost the entire Atlantic seaboard, from Cork to Donegal,
is dotted with steep cliffs, hills and mountains: the Wicklow
Mountains in the east, Mount Carrantuohill (the highest peak,
1,041 m high) in the south-west, and the Connemara Mountains in the west.
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Except for the Dublin region, Ireland resembles a basin,
a central plain rimmed with low mountains. This area is
drained by the river Shannon, entering the sea west of Limerick.
The Irish landscape and predominant flora are almost wholly the result of human influence. Before the potato famine
in the 1840s, the pressure on the land was enormous and
even the most inaccessible places were farmed. Foxes and
badgers are the most common native land mammals, together with hares , hedgehogs , squirrels, bats and red deer.
Ireland is famous for its unpredictable and wet weather. This
is because the country is situated right beneath a convergence zone where cold air from the pole, warm dry air from
Asia and wet air from the Gulf Stream meet.
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unluce Castle
D
in Northern Ireland.
1 dotted_punteggiato
2 badgers_tassi
3 hares_lepri
4 hedgehogs_ricci
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A current of warm
water and air that flows
from the Gulf of Mexico
towards Europe.
An anthem for two countries
Ireland’s Call is the official rugby anthem and it is sung by the Irish team (representing both
the Republic and Northern Ireland) when they play abroad. It was composed in 1995 to help
cross sectarian and national divides.
IRELAND’S CALL
Come the day
And come the hour
Come the power and the glory
We have come to answer
Our country’s call...
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
Ireland, Ireland
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We’ll answer Ireland’s call.
From the mighty
Glens of Antrim
From the rugged hills of Galway
From the walls of Limerick
And Dublin Bay
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
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2
3
Hearts of steel
And heads unbowing
Vowing never to be broken
We will fight, until
We can fight no more...
For the four proud provinces of Ireland.
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1 glens_piccole valli
2 Antrim… Galway_
two counties in northeastern Ireland
3 rugged_scoscese
4 unbowing_che non
si piegano
5 vowing_che
promettono, fanno
voto
4. The Irish landscape is the result of human influence.
5. The Gulf Stream brings hot weather to Ireland.
6. Changeable weather is typical of Ireland.
7 Read the text about Ireland on p. 5 quickly through and find:
a. a mountain chain:
b. the highest peak:
9 Complete these sentences.
1 Central Ireland looks like a basin, consisting of
2 The country’s terrain varies, from
3 The Atlantic coast is dotted with
4 The most common mammals are
c. a river:
d. the largest lake:
8 Read the text again and say if the statements are true (T) or
false (F).
1. Geographically Northern Ireland belongs to Ireland. 2. There are no high mountains in Ireland.
3. Most of the coastline is steep.
Tf
Tf
Tf
10 Read Ireland’s Call and answer the questions.
1 What are the four provinces mentioned?
2 What does the song encourage?
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Tf
Tf
Tf