Lesson 2, A nation in brief!!

Lesson 2

1	Nadia's class is at the British Embassy, in Madrid. Mrs Jones, an embassy official, is showing them the map of the United Kingdom (the UK). Look at yours on page 158. Which countries make it up? Circle.

ENGLAND	WALES	DENMARK	SCOTLAND
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND		NORTHERN IRELAND

2	Where are these big cities? Find them on the map. Which ones are capital cities?

3	Which two cities in England are very famous for their universities?

1	Look at these key words. In pairs, write down two things on each topic, related to the UK.

Geography Leisure Time Arts Schooling Sport

e.g. Sports: 1. Football 2. Beckham

2	After their visit to the embassy, Nadia wrote an article about the UK for her e-friends. Scan it to check if any of your ideas from Task 1 are in the article.

Read Nadia's article and answer her quiz questions.

a. How many people live in the UK: 23, 48 or 59 million?

b. A plane travels at 750 km per hour. How long does it take to fly from the south to the north of
Great Britain: 1 hour and 20 min / 15 min / 20 min?

c. How many people use public libraries in the UK: 3 / 6 / 9 out of 10 ?

d. What is Shakespeare's theatre called? ..........................

e. At what age can British children leave school: 14 / 16 / 18 ?

f. Which three subjects do British children spend most time studying? ........................................

g. What is the Grand National? A tennis tournament / a horserace / a golf tournament?

A nation in brief!

The United Kingdom includes Great
Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
and Northern Ireland. It is 500km wide
and 1,000 km long.
It has a population of about 59 million.
Great Britain is the largest island in
Europe and the eighth largest in the
world. English is the official language.

London is one of the biggest cultural
centres in the world. It has around
100 theatres which show musicals,
modern dramas, classical plays and
comedies. At the famous Globe
Theatre, where William Shakespeare
performed, visitors can enjoy one
of his plays and feel the
atmosphere of his time.

Children in Britain must attend schoolfrom the age of 5 until they are 16.Around 93% of children in the UK getfree education. The rest attend privateschools. The average weight of aBritish child's

school bag is 5.5 kilos.There is a National Curriculum for all pupils. English,mathematics and science are ‘core' subjects and students spendmore time on them.

The most common leisure activities among
people in the UK are home-based, like
entertaining or visiting relatives and friends.
Watching television is by far the most popular
leisure pastime. They also like listening to the
radio or to music and reading books (6 out of
10 people are members of public libraries).
Finally, they are good at gardening and do-it
yourself activities.

About 29 million
people over the
age of 16 in the UK
take part in sport or
exercise. Walking is
the most popular
physical activity.

The sport which the British love watching is
football. The Football Association Cup Final,
the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Open
Golf Tournament and the Grand National (a
world-famous horserace over fences) are the
most important sporting events in the UK.

information taken from:The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Britain in Brief; London Crown

Find the following numbers in the article and say what they refer to.

UNIT 5

Lesson 2

5	Compare the British with the Greeks. Find two similarities and two differences.

e.g. In both countries, people love football.
British children go to school at the age of 5 but Greek children go to school at the age of 6.

Guessing words from context

1	Find words in the article that mean:

a. the number of people who live in a country: ^GEOGRAPHY
b. offer food and drink to visitors in your house: ^{LEISURE TIME}
c. something you like doing when you aren't working: ^{LEISURE TIME}
d. about art, music and/or theatre: ^ARTS
e. go to: ^EDUCATION
f. the group of subjects children study at school: ^EDUCATION

..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................

Education

2	Collocations with SCHOOL. Find 5 types of schools in the word-snake and then say what type of school you go to.

A public school in England is a very expensive private school for students of high society.
Public schools in the US, Scotland and Australia are state schools.
What is a public school in your country?

Numbers

3	To talk about a nation, you need numbers. Listen to these numbers and repeat. What do they refer to?

4	In pairs, write simple sentences which will contain different kinds of numbers. Help each other to read them accurately.

e.g. 45% of our classmates play a sport.

5	Listen to Nadia talking to people she knows and circle the numbers you hear.

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A nation in brief!

Gerunds

1	Study the example sentences and complete the Grammar table.

a. They like listening to the radio.
b. Walking is the most popular physical activity.
c. They are good at gardening and do-it-yourself activities.

Gerund

Verb +____
e.g. visiting

Match the sentences (a-c) with the rules (1-3).

A gerund...
1. can be the subject of a sentence: .......
2. can be the object of verbs like love / like / enjoy / hate / prefer: ......
3. comes after expressions like good / bad at, crazy about, interested in: ......

see Grammar Appendix, page 170

2	Teenagers like different things. Get in groups of 4 and talk about:

3	Are there any similarities and/or differences? Tell the class.

1	Nadia's last question is about superstitions in the UK. Which superstitions is Mrs Jones talking about? Listen and tick the pictures (a - f). There is one extra picture.

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2	Listen again and write Good Luck (GL) or Bad Luck (BL) next to the pictures. Do the Greeks have the same superstitions? Are you superstitious?

UNIT 5

Lesson 2

A nation in brief!

About a nation

Choose a nation you want to learn more about.
Find information about these topics:

Use the article 'The UK - Land and People' as a model to write a short
paragraph about each topic.
Find pictures to go with each topic.
Prepare your presentation. You can record it to practise.
Present it to the class.
Put your projects on display.