CHAPTER I: COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
SECTION A Quiz
Choose the correct answer.
1 What is the common internet domain address
for
Britain?
A ,br
B .gb
C .uk
2 Which of these is not an acceptable short
name for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland?
A England
B Great Britain
C the United Kingdom
3 Which city is not in the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
A Belfast
B Cardiff
C Dublin
1
4 Which is the smallest of the four nations?
A Ireland
B Scotland
C Wales
5 Which of the following figures is not associated
with Britain?
A Britannia
B John Bull
C Uncle Sam
6 Which of the four nations’ flags is not
incorporated in the flag of the UK?
A Ireland
B Scotland
C Wales
7 By what name is the UK flag often known?
A The Britannia
B Old Glory
C The Union Jack
2
8 What proportion of the population of Britain
lives in England?
A more than 1
B about 60%
C less than 40%
9 What proportion of the population of Britain
answered 'white British’ to the ethnic group question
in the 2001 census?
A more than 80%
B about 60%
C less than 40%
10 What is the largest minority ethnic grouping
in Britain?
A African
B Caribbean
C south Asian
11 A surname beginning with ‘Mac’ or ‘Me’ is
understood to be ...
A ... Scottish or English.
B ... Scottish or Irish.
C ... Scottish or Welsh.
3
12 In which of the following does a ‘Great
Britain’ team compete?
A cricket
B the Olympics
C rugby union
13 Historically and culturally speaking, which country
may be divided into ‘Lowland’ and ‘Highland’?
A England
B Scotland
C Wales
14 Of which country is St. David the patron saint?
A England
B Scotland
C Wales
4
Section B summary
Put the following clauses and phrases into the
correct order to complete a paragraph summarizing
parts of chapter 1 of Britain. The first and last
sentences are provided.
1 Historically, it has also been the richest and
most powerful.
2 Many of these people feel British
3 is never short of supporters
4 which are often referred to as ‘the four
nations’.
5 For both these reasons,
6 whose roots lie in the Caribbean or in southern
Asia.
7 That is why the Pakistani or Indian cricket
team,
8 there are four recognized countries
9 There are also millions of other people in
England
10 or the Irish football team
11 England is by far the largest of these
countries.
12 many Scottish, Irish, and Welsh people live in
England.
13 but they do not feel especially English....
when they are playing in England
Answer: 8, 4 ,1 1 ,1 ,5 , 12, 9, 6, 2, 1 3 ,7 ,1 0 ,3
5
SECTION C British words and phrases
Find the word or phrase in chapter 1 of Britain which
is used to mean or describe:
1 a platform used for public speaking and
presenting prizes - rostrum
2 the flag of England - St. George’s Cross
3 a citizen of the UK - a Briton
4 Britain or England, with the white cliffs of the
south coast in mind - Albion
5 the umbrella organization for employees in the
UK - TUC (Trades Union Congress)
6 the organization which controls the supply of
money in the UK - Bank o f England
7 the Caribbean, especially the English-
speaking parts of it - The West Indies
6
SECTION D Extension
Read this text adapted from a report published on
the internet in 2007 and answer the questions
below.
“Record numbers of people are leaving Britain at
the same time as immigration is slowing down,
according to figures from the Office of National
Statistics. The UK has seen a huge influx of
immigrants since the EU expanded in 2004, allowing
citizens of former Eastern Bloc countries free
movement of labour. Over 683,000 eastern
Europeans, mostly Poles, have applied to work in
Britain. When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU
in 2007, the UK government decided to impose
restrictions on their citizens seeking to work in the
UK and in the first half of that year, only 17,360
arrived.
The overall rate of immigration slowed
considerably after that. In the second quarter of
2007, applications fell to 50,000 - 6,000 lower than
the same period in 2006. At the same time, figures
released in August 2008 suggest that the boom in
immigration from eastern Europe is not permanent.
Some 16,000 people from eastern European states
left the UK in 2007 after living here for more than a
year.
7
Emigration is currently running at the highest
rate since records began in 1991. In total 385,000
people quit the UK in 2007, as the trend was
accelerated by a rise in foreigners returning to
their home countries”
1 According to this text, what were the trends in
rates of immigration and emigration in 2007?
-Immigration was falling; emigration was rising.
2 According to the text, what was the overall
pattern of rates of immigration and emigration in the
years 2004-2007? - Immigration was high (and, it is
implied, emigration was also high).
3 From which country did most immigrants to
Britain come from in 2004-2007? - Poland.
4 What is one reason given in this text for the
rise in emigration? - Recent eastern European
immigrants are returning home.
8
SECTION E Talking points
1 Why is not possible to find an agreed name for
the group of islands off the north-west coast of
Europe? Which of the names suggested in Britain do
you think would be the best? Can you think of any
others?
2 Here is a puzzle: in 1991 UEFA, the governing
body for football in Europe, briefly introduced a
regulation which limited the number of foreign
players who were allowed to play for a football club
in European competitions. For example, an Italian
club team could have only a certain number of
players in it who were not Italian. Under these
regulations, a famous player in the Liverpool team at
that time, Ian Rush, was classified as ‘foreign’, even
though he was born only twenty miles from Liverpool
and had lived in the same area all his life. Can you
explain why? Many people in England thought that
this classification was ridiculous. Do you?
- Ian Rush was born in Wales, whose border
with England is ju st a few miles outside Liverpool,
and played for Wales, not England, in internationals.
(It was seen as ridiculous because in m ost respects
he was a Scouser (see chapter 4); Liverpool had
always been his ‘local’ football team and, like many
people from that part o f north Wales, he spoke with
a Liverpool accent.)
9
3 In the British government, there are ministers
with special responsibility for Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland, but there is no minister for
England. Why do you think this is?
4 Chapter 1 of Britain speaks of ‘divisions’ and
‘crossovers’ of national loyalties among the
people of Britain. Does the same kind of thing occur
in your country?
10
02 History
SECTION A Quiz 9
Choose the correct answer.
1 What is Stonehenge?
A a royal castle
B a prehistoric monument
C a historic document
2 What was Magna Carta?
A a royal castle
B a prehistoric monument
C a historic document
3 Where is Hadrian’s Wall?
A in London ^
B in Edinburgh
C on the English-Scottish border
4 Who won the Civil War in the seventeenth century?
A the Cavaliers
B the Roundheads
C the Vikings
5 In what part o f England is Wessex?
A the north-west
B the north-east
11
C the south-west
6 Which o f these place names is of partly Roman origin?
A Birmingham
B Leeds
C Manchester
7 Which people settled in large numbers in Britain?
A the Anglo-Saxons
B the Normans
C the Romans
8 In which century was there a single parliament for the
whole o f Britain and Ireland?
A the seventeenth
B the eighteenth
C the nineteenth
9. In which century did England and Scotland first have the same monarch?
A the seventeenth
B the eighteenth
C the nineteenth
D the twentieth
10. In which century did England and Scotland first have
the same parliament?
A the seventeenth
B the eighteenth
C the nineteenth
12
D the twentieth
11. Which century saw the greatest extent of the British empire?
A the seventeenth
B the eighteenth
C the nineteenth
D the twentieth
12. In which century was the last battle to be fought on British soil?
A the seventeenth
B the eighteenth
C the nineteenth
D the twentieth
13. In the middle of the twentieth century, a joke history book was published. It
satirized the way history was taught in schools at that time, which typically
involved the memorizing of lots of dates. What do you think its title was?
A. 1066 And All That
B. 1328 And All That
C. 1492 And All That
14. In the 1980s, the BBC compiled a computer video
package o f very detailed information about every
place in Britain. It timed the publication to fall on a
particular anniversary. In which year was it published?
A 1985
B 1986
C 1987
13
SECTION B Quiz on British monarchs
Answer the questions, using the letters from the box.
You will need to use some letters more that once.
A Alfred 2 Who was executed after a formal trial? Charles I
B Arthur 3 Who is famous for burning some cakes? Alfred
C Charles I 4 Who is the longest-reigning monarch in British history so far?
Victoria
D Elizabeth I
5 Whose soldiers murdered the Archbishop o f Canterbury? Henry II
E Henry II
6 Who was forced to sign the Magna Carta? John
F Henry VIII
7 Who is famous for never having married? Elizabeth I
G John
8 Who is famous because o f Camelot and the knights of the round
H Victoria table? Arthur
9 Who is often known as ‘the Great’? Alfred
1 Who is famous for 10 Who was the first head o f the Church of England? Henry VIII
having six wives? Henry
VIII
1-F 5-E
2-C 6-G
3-A 7-D
4-H 8-B
14
9-A
10-F
15
SECTION C British words and phrases
Find the word or phrase in chapter 2 o f Britain which is used to mean or describe:
1 the record of all the people and things in his country compiled by William I (‘the
Conqueror’)
1 The Domesday Book
2 the famous stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer
2 The Canterbury Tales
3 leave behind for your successors after you go or die (verb)
3 bequeath
4 when a group of people refuse to work
4 strike
5 a festival of Welsh music and poetry
5 Eisteddfod
6 being able to make or grow everything you need to live yourself
6 self-sufficient
7 the phrase used by the poet Rudyard Kipling to describe the sense of moral
obligation among
British empire builders
7 the white man's burden'
8 women who campaigned for the right to vote in the early twentieth century
8 the Suffragettes
9 an area of land which used to be available for use by everybody in a village
9 the common SECTION D
16
10 the set of laws passed in the sixteenth century which took away the power o f
the Roman Catholic Church in England
10 the Reformation
SECTION D Extension
Put the following sentences into the correct order to complete the paragraph.
BRITAIN’S DNA MAP
Modern genetic science throws up some worrying
questions. But it is at least producing one very valuable
finding. It is showing that national and ethnic differences
have very little to do with race and much more to do with
culture instead.
10 Take the story o f Britain, for instance, which can seem like one o f repeated
mass killings and mass migrations.
8 Around 700BC, we are told, Britain was invaded by the Celts, who displaced the
indigenous people.
1 Then, the Romans conquered it and stayed for nearly four centuries.
17
6 In the next five centuries, first the Anglo-Saxons and then the Vikings arrived.
9 The story goes that, during this time o f Germanic invasions, the native Celts
were all either killed or driven north and west.
2 This is why in modern times we talk about England on the one hand and the
‘Celtic nations’ o f Scotland, Wales, and Ireland on the other.
4 In 1066, England was invaded again, this time by the Normans from France.
3 And yet all these successive invasions appear to have made little difference to the
modern gene pool.
7 Research has found, for example, that around 60% of all men in southern
England are directly descended from Celts.
5 Moreover, it turns out that the vast majority of people in Britain and Ireland have
maternal genes dating back at least 10,000 years.
The conclusion we must draw from these findings is that history is often less
bloody than we assume it to be and that earlier people in Britain were not all killed
or displaced. Instead, most o f them were assimilated into the newly dominant
culture.
SECTION E Talking points
1 In Britain, as in most countries, history and popular myth are mixed up together.
How many cases can you find in chapter 2 of Britain o f stories which are o f
doubtful historical truth?
2 Which o f the famous names in popular British history could be described as
‘resistance fighters’?
3 At present there is discussion in Britain about the idea of establishing a ‘national
d a / (which it has never had). National days usually commemorate some important
event in a country's history. Which event in British history do you think is most
worthy o f such commemoration?
18
4 How would you describe the changing relations between religion and politics in
British history? Are the changes that have taken place similar to those in your
country?
5 Around the year 1500, about five million people used the English language - less
than the population of Britain at the time. Today, it is estimated that between 600
million and 1,000 million people use English in everyday life - at least ten times
the present population of Britain. Why has the use of English expanded so much in
the last 500 years?
19
