English project 1

THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY.

This is the British Royal Family. This is the Queen of England - Queen Elizabeth the Second. The Queen's husband is the duke of Edinburgh. They've got four children.
Prince William and Prince Harry are the Queen's grandchildren. They are the sons of Princess Diana and prince Charles. William was born in 1982, Harry in 1984.
When they are in London, Princes William and Harry live here in Clarence House. They don't live in Buckingham Palace. They also live in a house in the country called Highgrove. This is Prince William just before he went to university at St Andrew's in Scotland. Prince Harry wants to be a soldier in the army.

FOOD IN BRITAIN

Most schools in Britain provide hot meals and salads every day but many students prefer to take their own lunch to school. This is a "packed lunch". A lot of chocolate, crisps, fatty foods and cola isn't good for people. But these foods are everywhere. The British Government is worried that many children are obese - the medical word for being very fat. They want people to eat five pieces of fruit and vegetables every day. One school in England helps students to eat healthy food with the Green Machine. Green Machines have got lots of interesting snacks. There are cereal bars, organic crisps, yoghurts, and the drinks in Green Machines are healthy as well.

SCHOOL IN BRITAIN

For most students in Britain, the school day starts between eight thirty and nine o'clock. People travel to school using many differents kinds of transports. They cycle, they walk and they come in cars. After two or three lessons there is a breack. This is fifteen minutes when students go out into the playground to have fun after all that concentration! After breack it's back to work. Sometimes special subjects like science last for two lessons - a " double period". After lunch it's back to the classroom. The main subjects in the school timetable are English, maths and science. IT is also popular. Then there's French or Spanish, history and geography. Students also study art, music and PE. Students have homework every day.

SHOPPING

People in Britain really like shopping. In a recent survey 56% of women between the ages of 16 and 40 described shopping as their main hobby. They often go shopping every day! Traditional, local shops exist in some areas. They sell different things like food, medicines and cosmetics, clothes and books. But in most high streets in Britain the same shop names appear all the time. This is Bluewater near Londar. It's the largest shopping complex in Europe with over 330 different shops and three big department stores. For a lot of people " going shopping" doesn't mean they are going to buy anything. Many people never spend any money. It's a social event. Shopping centers are open late most nights of the week and from 11 o'clock until five o'clock on Sundays. So you can go shopping just about whenever you want.

BRITISH HOUSES

There are lots of different kinds of houses. This is the kind of houses. This is the kind of house you find in British towns. Terraced houses are hoined together - sometimes in a long row, but some terraces have only got a few houses. These are semi-detached houses - just two houses joined together. There are as maiony semi-detached houses in Britain as terraced houses. Sixty per cent of the population live in terraced or semi-detached houses. Houses in different parts of Britain can look very different. There are lots of regional variatn because builders use local materials. These are traditional tatched cottages. A famous traditional saying is " An Englishman's home is this castle". British people spend a lot of time and money on their homes and gardens. This is called DIY, wich means Do it Yourself.

ANIMALS

People love animals. But some of the world's animals are in danger of extincion. There are several reasons for this. But the most serious threat to animals is from man.

Another big problem is the destruction of the rainforests. This is removing the habitat of many animals, like these gorillas, birds and plants. The number of animals in some species is now very small and they may not exist at all for much longer. The Worldwide Fund for Nature is an international organization. Is started in Britain in 1961 and has now got a global network in 90 countries. Animals born in Britain are now back in the Congo and Gabon in Africa. They are surviving and adapting successfully to conditions there. These Asian wild horses are success story. This is an African back rhino. There are only 3,000 wild rhinos and 200 in zoos. The 23 rhinos here at Port Lympne is the largest collection outside Africa. Lessons learnt from animals in Britain are very valuable in helping to maintain the numbers of rhinos in the world.

BRITISH SPORTS

At the weekend in Britain, millions of people take part in some kind of sporting activity. Half of all men over 16 regularly participate in sport. Even more people spend part of the weekend watching sport - specially football. From August to April football is everywhere.Cricket is the main summer sport in Britain. Local teams play in towns and villages every Saturday and Sunday from April to September. Cricket is played between two teams of 11 people.

Tennis is another popular sport, especially in the summer after the famous Wimbledon championships. There are tennis courts all over Britain. Other popular sports are golf, swimming, cycling, keep fit and walking.

READING

British people read a lot. They read books, newpapers and megazines. And of course they read text messages on their mobile phones. Sixty-five per cent of British people list 'reading for pleasure ' as a major hobby. In this library you can borrow books but you can also buy a cup of coggee, look at an art exhibition, sit in a quiet study area or connect to the Internet. Libraries are very important in schools and universities both for study and for reading for pleasure. The British Library is one the world's greatests libraries. The Queen opened its new builing in 1998. It receives a copy of every book published in Britain and adds 3 million new items every year. People predicted that radio, then television, then the Internet would kill reading, but it is still a very popular activity.

THE WEATHER

The weather is a very popular topic of conversation in Britain. That's because the weather changes a lot. Sixty-five per cent of all the days in Britain are overcast - dull, grey and often cold. That's 260 dull days. The seasons in Britain are fairly clear. Then the autumn - September, October, November - often has foggy, cold, wet days and the leaves fall from the trees.

It's not surprising that Britain has got one of the most important weather centres in the world. The Met Office employs over a thousand people. They provide weather forecasts for radio, television and newspapers - and on the Internet. Scientists at the Met Office make weather forecasts for the public and for special purposes - military, shipping, airlines and many others. The trouble is weather changes very quickly and so nobody ever believes the weather forecast.