I. Read and translate the text: Geography of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State. Everything today is done in the name of the Queen. The country is governed by the Government in the Queen’s name and the making of laws is done by Parliament. We can say that the Queen reigns with the support of Parliament.
The United Kingdom occupies most of the territory of the British Isles the largest of which are Great Britain and Ireland.
The British Isles are washed by the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and separated from the European continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover.
The United Kingdom consists of four parts. They are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
The land of Great Britain is divided into highland Britain (Scotland. Wales, the Pennines, and the Lake District) and Lowland Britain (the other parts of G.B.). England is mostly a lowland country.
Northern Ireland is the smallest component of the UK. It occupies the northeast of the Island of Ireland which is a plateau.
There are many rivers in Great Britain but they are hot very long.
They are of great importance for communication and especially for carrying the goods.
The longest rivers are the Thames and the Severn, which are each over 200 miles long.
The lakes of the British Isles are mostly too small. The lakes (lochs) in Scotland and those of the Lake District in Northern England, together with a few in North Walles are attractive to tourists on account of the beauty of surrounding scenery.
Once forests covered the greater part of lowland. Now woodlands occupy only 6% of the land of Great Britain The most common trees in Great Britain are oak, elm, ash, beech, pine, birch.
The climate in Great Britain is mild and humid.
The weather is so changeable that the English often say that they have no climate but only weather.
It is not too hot in Summer and it is not too cold in winter. It often rains. Snow falls a few times in winter and usually melts very soon.