11th grade. Unit 4. The UK

1) The Queen is [blank_start]Head[blank_end] of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth lands. She was born in 1926 and became Queen at the age of 25, and has [blank_start]reigned[blank_end] through more than 60 years of great social change and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and has four children and eight grandchildren. Surprisingly, The Queen of England despite all her present [blank_start]majesty[blank_end] and [blank_start]glory[blank_end], is not allowed to enter the House of [blank_start]Commons[blank_end] simply because she is not its member!

2) The official [blank_start]religion[blank_end] in Britain is Christianity as practised by the Anglican Church. Its [blank_start]followers[blank_end] are known as protestants. Until the 16th century Britain was a Roman Catholic Country. King Henry VIII, who ruled at that time, wanted to have a son, but his first wife gave birth only to daughters. He decided to [blank_start]divorce[blank_end] her, but the Vatican didn’t allow him to do it. So he decided to [blank_start]found[blank_end] his own church - Church of England or Anglican Church, which up till today is country’s [blank_start]major[blank_end] religion.

3) Eurotunnel is the company [blank_start]responsible[blank_end] for building the [blank_start]twin[blank_end] railway tunnels under the English Channel connecting Britain and France. The Channel Tunnel is often called by the British simply as Chunnel. Eurotunnel runs its own shuttle service that carries passengers and their [blank_start]vehicles[blank_end]. Trains run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.The shuttle has now been in [blank_start]operation[blank_end] for over 12 years and since its first commercial services 177 million people have [blank_start]travelled[blank_end] through the Channel Tunnel - that's 3 times the population of both France and England!

4) White buildings of whisky distilleries is a typical [blank_start]sight[blank_end] of the Scottish Highlands. The [blank_start]production[blank_end] of whisky started in 1494 and now there are over a hundred distilleries . No two [blank_start]whiskies[blank_end] can taste the same, and the taste can not be copied anywhere in the world, because the water is taken from [blank_start]local[blank_end] hills. And of course one can’t visit Scotland without trying to find [blank_start]Nessie[blank_end] at Loch Ness.

5) Wales is a small country with a colourful history and beautiful [blank_start]landscapes[blank_end], including 3 National Parks. At only 170 miles from north to south and 60 miles east to west, it's no surprise that you're never far from a mountain or the sea. Welsh - the native [blank_start]language[blank_end] - is spoken by many people in Wales, and is one of the oldest languages in the world. Wales is also known as 'the land of [blank_start]castles[blank_end]', it is home to 641 famous [blank_start]fortresses[blank_end] - more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Wales is also home to 6 UNESCO World [blank_start]Heritage[blank_end] Sites, and although Cardiff, the capital city, dates back to Roman times, it's actually Britain's youngest city!