FACTS AND MYTHS ABOUT GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

myth-mit HISTORY In 1603 the king of Scotland became the king of England and this was the beginning of the United Kingdom (UK in short). in short-w skrcie GEOGRAPHY UK consists of four countries, that is England (with the capital city in London), Scotland (the capital city in Edinburgh), Wales (the capital city in Cardiff) and Nortern Ireland (the capital city is Belfast). Northern Ireland is a part of an island called Ireland. The other part of the island is an independent country called the Republic of Ireland (the capital city in Dublin). The channel between England and France is called the English Channel. consist of-skada si z an island-wyspa channel-kana LANGUAGE The language used by the British and the Irish is English, but in Wales the most common language is Welsh, in Scotland people also speak Gaelic and Scottish and in Ireland some people still speak Celtic. There is yet another language spoken in one area of Britain, that is Manx on the Isle of Man. language-jzyk used-uywany common-popularny area-region RELIGION There are protestants in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has both catholic and protestant citizens, whereas Ireland is catholic. citizens-mieszkacy whereas-podczas gdy POLITICAL SYSTEM Great Britain is traditionally ruled by a monarch, nowadays it is Queen Elizabeth II, but in reality all the important desicions are made by the prime minister and the government.

Ireland, on the other hand, is more modern and it has its own government and its own prime minister. ruled-zarzdzana a monarch-monarcha in reality-w rzeczywistoci the prime minister-premier rzdu the government-rzd on the other hand-z drugiej strony own-wasny THE WEATHER The weather on the British and Irish Islands is very changeable. It is windy and it often rains, then it becomes sunny and it changes over and over again. It snows in winter only in the north and summer can be very hot. It is rarely foggy, which is surprising to foreigners visiting the islands. The first topic of typical British conversation is of weather. Therefore the British are called pompous. over and over again-nieustannie surprising-zaskakujce foreigners-obcokrajowcy therefore-dlatego called pompous-nazywani pompatycznymi CULTURE The British and the Irish differ from other Europeans in some spheres of life. Let`s take the left-hand drive traffic on the islands for example. There is a logical explanation for that, in Roman times knights rode horses on the left side of roads because they kept a shield in a left hand and a sword in a right hand to attack an enemy. They also use different measurements than on the continent. This may be due to the fact that prehistoric people living there may have had twelve fingers. They have their typical habits such as tea at 5 o`clock p.m., they drink tea with milk, they have two different taps for cold and hot water, they are very interested in scandals, which are described in tabloids, they like to chat, they are heavy drinkers, outgoing people, they rarely use identity cards and they have very good health service. Their icons are double-decker buses, black cabs, red phone booths and the London Underground, which was the first in the world, to mention a few. Both the British and the Irish are obssessed with their gardens and parks. differ from-rni si od europeans-europejczycy spheres fo life-dziedziny ycia left-hand drive traffic-lewostronny ruch pojazdw for example-na przykad explanation-wytumaczenie in Roman times-w czasach rzymian knights-rycerze kept a shield-trzymali tarcze

a sword-miecz an enemy-wrg use-uywa measurements-system miar i wag due to-z powodu habits-zyczaje such as-takie jak tea-podwieczorek taps-krany described in tabloids-opisywane w brukowcach to chat-plotkowa they are heavy drinkers-pij duo alkoholu outgoing-towarzyscy identity cards-dowody osobiste health service-suba zdrowia icons-ikony double-decker buses -autobusy pitrowe cabs-takswki phone booths-budki telefoniczne the Underground-metro to mention a few-aby wspomnie kilka both-jedni i drudzy obssessed with-maj obsesj na punkcie FOOD The visitors to the islands claim that the British food is awful. 95% of week meals are readymade. They cook themselves only at weekends. This is because these nations are lazy and rich. Their most popular dish is fish and chips, sometimes served in a newspaper. The traditional British and Irish breakfast is very big and nutricious. It consists of bacon rashers and eggs, sausages, baked beans and toasts. visitors-odwiedzajcy claim-twierdzi ready-made gotowe they cook themselves-gotuj sami nations-narody served-podawana nutricious-poywny bacon rashers-plastry bekonu baked beans-fasolka w sodkim sosie pomidorowym CURRENCY In England, Scotland and Wales there is the British pound with symbol, in the Northern Ireland there is the Irish pound and in Ireland there is euro with E symbol. currency-waluta the British pound-funt brytyjski