LOGO
Chapter One
Geography, People
and Language
Contents
I
Geography
II
People
III
The English Language
I Geography
 1. Geographical Feature
 2. Climate
 3. Major Cities
Map of the UK
Read the map to find:
Atlantic Ocean
North Sea
Irish Sea
The English Channel (The
Channel Tunnel )
The Republic of Ireland
Title and Geography
Make up of the UK
The official title of the UK
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The UK is made up of:
 Great Britain (the formerly separate England and Scotland, and
Wales. )
 Northern Ireland
 Numerous smaller islands
Location and territory
Location of the UK:
The mainland areas lie between
 latitudes 49°N and 61°N and
 longitudes 8°W to 2°E
Total territory: 242,910 square kilometers
Interesting Fact: No one in the UK lives more than 120 km
(75 miles) from the sea.
Topography
England: it consists of lowland terrain, with some mountainous
terrain in the north-west, north and south-west.
Scotland: Its geography is varied, with
lowlands in the south and east
and highlands in the north and
west.
Ben Nevis in Scotland
— the highest point in UK
Wales: It’s mostly mountainous. South Wales is less mountainous
than North and Mid Wales.
Northern Ireland: It’s mostly hilly.
Rivers and Lakes
 The longest river: Severn River (354 kilometers long)
 The second longest river: Thames (332 kilometers long)
 The largest Lake: Lough Neagh
Thames
Lake District
Lake poets
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"
---William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Lake poets
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
2. Climate
Main characteristics:
Temperate, with warm summers, cold winters and
plenty rainfall
Three major features:
 Winter fog
 Rainy days
 Instability/changeability
3. Major Cities — London
 the capital of England and of Great Britain
 the political center of the Commonwealth
 a major port
 one of the world's leading banking and financial
centers.
The River Thames
Landmarks & Symbols of London
The palace of Westminster
Landmarks & Symbols of London
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Landmarks & Symbols of London
St. Paul's Cathedral
Landmarks & Symbols of London
Hyde Park
Tower of London
Landmarks & Symbols of London
Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Landmarks & Symbols of London
London Eye
Major Cities—Edinburgh
 Capital of Scotland
 administrative, financial, legal, medical and
insurance center of Scotland
 beautiful scenery
 renowned architecture
Landmarks & Symbols of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Castle
Palace of Holyrood
Major Cities—Cardiff
 Europe's youngest capital city
 has been the capital city of Wales for around 50 years
 home to an enormous amount of urban regeneration
and restoration
 has recently become one of the most fashionable
cities in the United Kingdom.
Landmarks & Symbols of Cardiff
Cardiff City Hall
Landmarks & Symbols of Cardiff
Millennium Stadium
Cardiff Castle
Major Cities—Belfast
 the second largest city
 capital of Northern Ireland
 an important historic city
City Hall
Landmarks & Symbols of Belfast
Belfast Castle
II People
Overall population: over 60 millions
Distribution:




England: about 50 million
Scotland:over 5 million
Wales: around 3 million
Northern Ireland: about 1.7million
Ethnicity
 The majority of this population are descendents of the
Anglo-Saxons
 Most people in Wales and Scotland are descendents of
the Celtic people
 The Irish people were also Celtic in origin
 immigrants
Percentage of total UK Population
Ethinc Groups













White British
White Irish
White (other)
Mixed race
Indian
Pakistani
Bengali
Other Asian (non-Chinese)
Black Caribbean
Black African
Black (others)
Chinese
Other
of total
85.7%
1.2%
5.3%
1.2%
1.8%
1.3%
0.5%
0.4%
1.0%
0.8%
0.2%
0.4%
0.4%
III The English Language
 1.
 2.
 3.
 4.
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Standard English
1. Old English (5th ~ 11th)
Language of Angle-Saxons
Influenced by
 Old Norse
 Latin and Greek words
 Danish words
Beowulf
The most famous work from the Old
English period is the epic poem ”Beowulf”
(approximately AD 900)
Hwæt! We Gar-Dena
þeodcyninga,
hu ða æþelingas
Oft Scyld Scefing
in geardagum,
þrym gefrunon,
ellen fremedon.
sceaþena þreatum
2. Middle English (11th ~ 15th )
Status
French replaced English as the official language, and English
became the Language of lower class

big — pork

sheep — mutton

cattle — beef
Development
English increased in importance after the Black Death
The Canterbury Tales
written by Geofery Chaucer, 14 the
century
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Geoffrey Chaucer
3. Modern English (15th~ )
 The printing press—brought standardization of English
 Samuel Johnson’s dictionary—established a standard
form of spelling
 Renaissance—assimilated foreign words throughout the
Renaissance
 The Industrial Revolution—necessitated the introduction
of new words for new things and ideas
 The rise of the British Empire or the Commonwealth
of Nations—led to the assimilation of words from many
other languages
Othello
by William Shakespeare 1603
La: Tho in the trade of warre, I haue flaine men,
Yet doe I hold it very ftuft of Confcience. To
doe no contriu’d murrher; I lacke iniquity
Sometimes to doe feruice: nine or ten times,
I had thought to haue ierk’d him here, Vnder
the ribbes.
Oth.: Tis better as it is.
Which can be translated as:
La: Though in the trade of war I have slain man,
Yet do I hold it very stuff o’ the conscience.
To do no contrived murder: I lack iniquity
Sometimes to do me service: nine or tem
times I had thought to have yerk’d him here
under the ribs.
Othello: ‘Tis better as it is.
Shakespeare
4. Standard English
 based on the speech of the upper class of
southeastern England
 adopted as a broadcasting standard in the British
media
 also called as Queen’s English or BBC English
 based on the London dialect
 becoming a universal Lingua Franca—the world
language
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