QUẢNG BÌNH

KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ

----------------------------

GIÁO TRÌNH
(Lưu hành nội bộ)

VĂN HÓA ANH

(Dùng cho hệ đại học)

Lecturer: Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, Ph.D

2016 - 2017
 INTRODUCTION

Giáo trình văn hóa Anh được biên soạn nhằm cung cấp cho người học kiến thức
cơ bản về đất nước con người, địa lý, lịch sử; bản sắc dân tộc, hệ thống chính trị,
tôn giáo, kinh tế, xã hội và giáo dục của hai quốc gia Anh-Mỹ. Kết thúc học
phần, sinh viên có kỹ năng đọc hiểu, phân tích, nghiên cứu các vấn đề văn hóa,
xã hội Anh-Mỹ và so sánh, liên hệ với văn hóa Việt Nam.

2
 UNIT 1: THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

An Overview of Britain: Not One, but Four in One

Off the north-west coast of mainland Europe between latitudes 50° North and
61° North is a group of about 5000 big and small islands collectively called the
British Isles. Among them are two large islands. The larger is Great Britain,
which is made up of Scotland, England and Wales. The other is Ireland,
consisting of Northern Ireland (Ulster) and the Irish Republic (Fire). The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (The United Kingdom or The
UK for short) is the name given to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Such
islands as the Scilly Isles, the Isle of Wight, the Orkney Islands, the Outer
Hebrides and the Shetlands. belong to the UK. However, the Isle of Man and the
Channel Islands are self- governing with their own parliaments, although they
do recognize the Queen. Britain is a unitary state but the four constituent
countries have distinctive national identities, some minor different physical
characteristics and variations in culture and tradition.
Britain is rather small, only 242000 sq km. It is 500 km wide and nearly 1000
km long.
Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the eighth largest in the world.
Although Britain is an industrialized country, much of the land is under
cultivation. National Parks and conservation areas cover 20% of the land.
Geographically, Britain can be divided into two parts, Highland Britain and
Lowland Britain. The highest mountain of Britain is Ben Nevis in Scotland, one
of the mountainous of regions of the UK. It is 1343m high. The Pennine Range
is called the “backbone of England” and extends 224km. The longest rivers are
the Severn (354 km), which flows from northeast Wales into the Bristol
Channel, and the Thames (338 km), rising in southwest England and flowing out
into the North Sea. The largest lake is Lough Neath in Northern Ireland (388 sq
km). The vast majority of Britons live in urban areas. The largest cities in
Britain are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. A large part
of population is English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish, but there are also Indians,
West Indians, Africans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Chinese. People
emigrated from their homelands to Britain for different reasons. Some wanted to

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escape religious persecution, poverty, wars or natural disasters. Others went in
search of jobs and a better life and still others came as political refugees.
Britain is rich in energy resources, especially oil and natural gas. Coal played an
important
role in the Industrial Revolution. Lots of coal has been mined in Britain and it
was the cheapest source of energy. Formerly, oil was imported from the Middle
East but after oil and natural gas were discovered in the North Sea. Britain
became self-sufficient. Nuclear power stations provide a large part of electricity
supply. Nowadays, with the increasing concern about environmental pollution,
the British government is encouraging people to look for other energy sources
that are cleaner, safer and renewable.
Great Britain is industrial and commercial country. It was the first industrialized
country of the world in the mid-19th century. The manufacturing sector has been
developing and still play an important role in the economy. Britain especially
excels in high-technology industries like electronics. pharmaceuticals, aerospace
and offshore equipment. Other industries such as
transportation, petroleum, coal, gas, steel and communications, are also well
developed. Crude oil has always been a primary source of power and Britain
ranks among the largest oil producer in the world. Nowadays, with the fast
growth of the service sector, such branches as finance, tourism, retailing and
other business services contribute considerably to the gross domestic product
and employ a great part of workforce. Britain is also a world leader in
international trade. Britain is just a small country, but it is considered the fifth
largest trading nation and an influential member of European Union. Britain
exports a lot of things, mainly to the European Union. Major exports include oil,
manufactured goods, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, chemicals
and aerospace equipment and pharmaceuticals.
Conservation is one of the top priorities of British and the government has
initiated manyimportant policies and laws to protect the natural environment.
Among measures taken are declaring particular areas National Parks and Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).which are carefully protected Global
environmental concern like “green - house effect” and ozone depletion are
given priority. Many sites all over Britain, both natural and historic, are
recognized by the World Heritage Convention and listed in the World Heritage

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List including Canterbury Cathedral, Averbury, and Hadrian's Wail. The Giant's
Causeway, the Palace of Westminster, Stonehenge, the Tower of London,
Westminster Abbey and so on.
English, developed from Anglo-Saxon, is the official language in Britain. With a
long history of invasion, the language was influenced and changed. Although
virtually all the people in Britain speak English, the separate counties have their
own accent and dialects. Sometimes people cannot understand one another well
due to this variety of accents and dialects. However, Home Counties English is
accepted as Standard English and is understood more easily all over Britain.
Britain is divided into 53 counties. The counties around the capital London are
called Home Counties. Britain is an influential member of the Commonwealth,
the European Nations and the European Union.
The major religion is Christianity, represented predominantly by the Church of
England (Anglican Church), Roman Catholicism, and the Presbyterian and
Methodist churches. Besides, there exist Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

The Four Lands

People often refer to Britain by another name. They call it “England”. But this is
not strictly correct, and it can make some people angry. England is only one of
the four nations of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland).
Their political unification was a gradual process that took several hundred years.
It was completed in 1800 when the Irish Parliament was joined with the
Parliament for England, Scotland and Wales in Westminster, so
that the whole of the British Isles became a single state - the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland. However, in 1922, most of Ireland became a separate
state.
At one time the four nations were distinct from each other in almost every aspect
of life. In the first place, they were different racially. The people in Ireland,
Wales and highland Scotland belonged to the Celtic race; those in England and
lowland Scotland were mainly of Germanic origin. This difference was reflected
in the languages they spoke. People in the Celtic areas spoke Celtic languages:
Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. People in the Germanic areas spoke
Germanic dialects (including the one which has developed into

5
modern English). The nations also tended to have different economic, social and
legal systems.
Today these differences have become blurred. But they have not completely
disappeared. Although there is only one government for the whole of Britain,
and people have the same passport regardless of where in Britain they live, some
aspects of government are organizeds eparately (and sometimes differently) in
the four parts of the United Kingdom. Moreover, Welsh, Scottish and Irish
people feel their identity very strongly.

The Union Jack

Although the formal and traditional name of the British national flag is the
Union Flag. It is more commonly known as the Union Jack. The flag is a
combination of crosses. The red upright cross represents St.George, the patron
saint of England, St Andrew's cross of Scotland is the while diagonal one, and
the red diagonal cross is of St.Patrick of Ireland (now representing Northern
Ireland)

National loyalties
When you are talking to people from Britain, it is safest to use “Britain” when
talking about where they live and “British” as the adjective to describe their
nationality. This way you will be less likely to offend anyone. It is, of course,
not wrong to talk about “people in England” if that is what you mean - people
who live within the geographical boundaries of England. After all, most British
people live there (Populations in 1995). But it should always be remembered
that England does not make up the whole of the UK.
There has been a long history of migration from Scotland, Wales and Ireland to
England. As a result, there are millions of people who live in England but who
would never describe themselves as English. They may have lived in England
all their lives, but as far as they are
concerned, they are Scottish or Welsh or Irish - even if, in the last case, they are
citizens of Britain and not of Eire. These people support the country of their
parents or grandparents rather than England in sporting contests. They would
also, given the chance, play for that
country rather than England. If, for example, you had heard the members of the

6
Republic of Ireland World Cup football team talking in 1994, you would have
heard several different kinds of English accent and some Scottish accents, but
only a few Irish accents. Most of the players did not live in Ireland and were not
brought up in Ireland. Nevertheless, most of them would never have considered
playing for any country other than Ireland!
The same holds true for the further millions of British citizens whose family
origins lie outside the British Isles altogether. People of Caribbean or south
Asian descent, for instance, do not mind being described as 'British' (many are
proud of it), but many of them
would not like to be called 'English'. And whenever the West Indian or Indian
cricket team plays against England, it is certainly not England that they support!
There is, in fact, a complicated division of loyalties among many people in
Britain, and especially in England. A black person whose family are from the
Caribbean will passionately support the West Indies when they play cricket
against England. But the same person is quite happy to support England just as
passionately in a sport such as football, which the West Indies do not play. A
person whose family are from Ireland but who has always lived in England
would want Ireland to beat England at football but would want England to
beat (for example) Italy just as much. This crossover of loyalties can work the
other way as well. English people do not regard the Scottish, the Welsh or the
Irish as “foreigners” (or, at least, not as the same kind of foreigners as other
foreigners!). An English commentator of a
spotting event in which a Scottish, Irish or Welsh team is playing against a team
from outside the British Isles tends to identify with that team as if it were
English.

Climate
The climate of Britain is more or less the same as that of the north-western part
of the European mainland. The popular belief that it rains all the time in Britain
is simply not true. The image of a wet, foggy land was created two thousand
years ago by thein vading Romans and has been perpetuated in modern times by
Hollywood. In fact, London gets no more rain in a year than most other major
European cities, and less than some.

7
The amount of rain that falls on a town in Britain depends on where it is.
Generally speaking, the further west you go, the more rain you get. The mild
winters mean that snow is a regular feature of the higher areas only.
Occasionally, a whole winter goes by in lower-lying parts without any snow at
all. The winters are in general a bit colder in the east of the country than they are
in the west, while in summer; the south is slightly warmer and sunnier than the
north.
Why has Britain's climate got such a bad reputation? Perhaps it is for the same
reason that British people always seem to be talking about the weather. This is
its changeability. There is a saying that Britain doesn't have a climate, it only has
weather.It may no train verymu chal together, but you can never be sure of a dry
day; there can be cool (even cold) days in July and some quite warm days in
January.
The lack of extremes is the reason why, on the few occasions when it gets
genuinely hot or freezing cold, the country seems to be totally unprepared for it.
A bit of snow and a few days of frost and the trains stop working and the roads
are blocked; if the thermometer goes
above 80°F (27°C), people behave as if they were in the Sahara and the
temperature makes front-page headlines These things happen so rarely that it is
not worth organizing life to be ready for them.

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 UNIT 2: THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN

The Early Inhabitants of the British Isles

It is known that the earliest people in the British Isles were Old Stone Age men.
These people used hard stones called flint to make their tools and weapons.
They lived in caves and killed wild animals for meat.
Between about 3000 and 2500 B.C. the Iberians came to Britain from Iberia.
They were called New Stone Age men, because their stone tools were polished.
They grew crops, raised cattle and tamed dogs for hunting.
One of the most remarkable remains of the early inhabitants is Stonehenge. It is
a great circle of stones in Wiltshire. Stonehenge is believed to have stood on
Salisbury Plain for about 4000 years. No one knows exactly for what purposes it
was built, but one theory is that it was a place where people could observe the
movements of the sun for the purpose of agriculture. By keeping watch on the
sun, people would know the right time for planting and harvesting.

The Celts
Between about 500 and 600 B.C. the Celts came to Britain from central Europe.
They settledin Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland and used iron to make
their tools and weapons. They also built villages and farms, and started a
communal life. They spoke the Celtic language. Their religion was Druidism
and their priests were called Druids.

The Romans
In 55 B.C. the Romans tried to invade Britain. The famous Roman general,
Julius Caesarand his army managed to land on the shores of Kent, but the Celts
resisted bravely and Caesar was driven away. In 54 B.C. Caesar returned but
again he was forced to withdraw.
Nearly a hundred years after the first invasion, in 43A.D. the Romans attacked
Britain again. This time the Roman army was so powerful that the Celtic tribes
were soon defeated and the area that is now England was occupied by the
Romans.
For nearly 400 years what is now England was part of the Roman Empire as the
province of

9
Britannia and many things were learned from the Roman civilization. The main
Celtic town became Londinium, the capital and trading centre of Britannia.
Many towns were developed, including Winchester, Colchester, Lincoln, York,
and Canterbury. The town of Bath became famous for its natural hot springs.
Large houses and villas were built, and long straight roads were made. The
Romans were good road builders. Some modern roads in England have Roman
roads as their foundations such as Ermine Street, Watling Street, and the Fosse
Way. The Celtic nobles adopted the Roman way of life. They lived in villas and
spoke Latin. The Romans introduced new kinds of animals and plants into
England, including geese and hens, and cherry and pear trees.
Today the remains of Roman cities, baths, houses, villas and theatres can still be
seen. One of the most impressive remains of the Roman time is the wall built by
Emperor Hadrian in 122 A.D. to defend England from attacks by the Picts and
the Scots from the north. Parts of Hadrian's Wall still stand on the Scottish
border.At the beginning of the 5th century, the Romans had troubles in their
empire and in 407 Roman troops began to withdraw from Britain.

The Anglo-Saxons
After the Romans left, Britain was soon attacked and conquered by Germanic
tribes. They were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes from Denmark and the
northern Germany. The Anglo-Saxons invaders drove the Celts to the
mountainous areas of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.

The Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain and a number of small kingdoms were

established. East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex and
Wessex. They called Britain Angle land (or England) spoke Anglo-Saxons (or
Old English).
The Anglo-Saxons were pagan. In 597 a Roman missionary, St.Augustine was
sent to Britain to bring Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons and Ethelbert, the king
of Kent, was converted to Christianity. The first church was built in Canterbury,
the capital of Kern. Christianity spread and had a great influence upon the
learning and culture of Britain.
The Anglo-Saxons kingdoms usually fought and competed for predominance
over the whole country. The greatest and most powerful kingdoms were

10
Nothumbria, Mercia and Wessex. At the beginning of the 9th century, Wessex
became the strongest. Its king, Egbert, was acknowledged by the other kingdoms
and he became the first king of The United Kingdoms of England in 829.

The Danes or Vikings

At the end of the 8th century, the Danes or Vikings began to come from Norway
and Denmark. These sea-raiders came by boat to the coast parts of northern and
southeastern Britain. They attacked and killed people, burnt villages, robbed the
churches and sailed away with treasure.King Alfred - the Great of England
defeated the Danes in many battles, but in 836 a treaty
was signed and the Danes were given a section of England called Danelaw. The
Danes settled in Danelaw and gradually inter-married with Anglo-Saxons.

The Normans
In 1066, the king of England, Edward the Confessor, died. Harold was chosen to
be King but in northwestern France, William, Duke of Normandy, claimed that
both Edward the Confessor and Harold had promised him the throne. Therefore,
William gathered an army and fought for his claim. The Norman invasion was
an important event in the history of Britain, and it was the last foreign invasion.
The Norman conquest began with the battle of Hastings where Harold was
defeated and killed by an arrow in the eye. On Christmas Day, 1066, William
was enthroned as William I. The coronation took place in Westminster Abbey,
and since then all the coronations of English monarchs have been held there,
William I is known as William the Conqueror.
Under Norman rule, England was brought into closer contact with continental
Europe. Great changes were made in English society. Feudalism was
established. A system of laws and law courts were organized. The method of
land cultivation was improved and many castles and cathedrals were built.
In 1086, William I ordered the Domesday Book to be compiled. It is the record
of as urvey of the economic life of England. Williams officials measured the
land and recorded the names of the holders as well as the number of animals that
they kept. The Domesday Book provided the necessary information for a tax
purpose.

11
It has been shown that the British are descended from Stone Age men and
various later invaders.

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 UNIT 3: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

Britain is unique in the fact that there is not constitution in the shape of a single
formal
document. Instead, the government system, which has evolved over centuries, is
defined by statutes, habits and customs rather than by law. These habits and
customs become rules and conventions, some of which are unwritten. The
British legal system is based on common law and precedent. The Legislature is
the two Houses of Parliament, the Executive is the Government and the
Judiciary is only theoretical.

The Monarchy
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional
monarchy (of
parliamentary democracy) with either a king or queen as Head of State. The
Monarchy is the oldest institution of government. At the moment, Queen
Elizabeth II who succeeded to the throne in 1952 is Head of State. The Queen's
royal title in Britain is “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and
Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”. By
tradition, the Queen is also the Head of the Church of England and the
Commander - in - Chief of the armed forces.
There are interesting contradictions in the role of the monarch. According to the
written law,
the Queen has absolute power. Judged from the appearance, it would seem that
the Queen is above the law with the government belonging to her. The Queen
has the right to choose anyone to be the Prime Minister, but in reality, she
chooses the head of the party that wins in the general election so that she can
enjoy the majority of support. She can also appoint other ministerial positions
and if she wants, she can dismiss them. But in practice, it is the Prime Minister
who chooses the ministers. The Queen has the right to summon the Parliament
or dissolve it even before a general election. She can refuse to give the “Koval
Assent” to a bill even though the bill has been passed in the two Houses of

13
Parliament, and as a result, it cannot become law. But so far, there has never
been any king or queen who said no to the bills.

The Monarch's Role

In spite of gradual decline in the monarch's power, the Queen is still respected
and
supported by the majority of Britons. The monarchy still has its own values and
is very popular with most British people.
The British regard the monarch as a personal embodiment of the government of
the country. To them, the monarch is part of their national pride and a symbol of
continuity. The Queen
represents tradition. The royal life with its royal activities is a source of
entertainment that helps make life more vivid and colorful and attracts many
tourists.
The monarch acts as a final check on government. She meets The Prime
Minister once a
week to discuss national affairs and so, she is well-informed. Because the
monarch has the right to refuse the royal assent to a bill, or even to dismiss the
Prime Minister if he turns out to be a disqualified person, she helps to purify the
government.
As the figurehead of the country, the monarch represents it when performing
ceremonial
duties. She receives ambassadors and visitors from abroad, visits foreign
countries, and opens
schools and hospitals, so that the Prime Minister has more time to run national
affairs.

The Parliament
The British Parliament consists of three separate elements: the Queen, the House
of Lords
and the House of commons and has a maximum duration of five years. A
general election is held before the end of each term. Some important functions
of Parliament are to make law, to provide the means of carrying on the work of
government, to scrutinize government policy and to debate issues.

14
The British Parliament works in the Palace of Westminster, also called the
Houses of
Parliament. This is a very big building with a lot of facilities and two large
chambers. The House of Lords is where the Lords meet and the House of
Commons, where the Common work.

The House of Lords

Members of the House of Lords are of two types. Lords Spiritual and Lords
Temporal. They
are not elected. They either qualify to sit in the House or inherit their seats from
their father. Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the
Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and other senior bishops. The
Lord Temporal are all peers, hereditary peers or life peers. The House is
presided over by the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor, as the speaker of
the Lords, has no authority to curtail a debate. Instead, it is deeded by the
general feeling of the House. Even though he or she is called the speaker, they
cannot speak in debate.

The House of Commons

Members of the House of Common are called Members of Parliament (MPs),
elected by a
majority of votes at a general election or a by-election. A by-election is held
when a MPs dies or resigns, or is given a peerage. Britain is divided into local
constituencies, each of which has one representative in the House of Commons.
The chief officer is the Speaker, elected by the MPs. He is politically neutral, ie.
He is not controlled by any party and does not vote, and presides over the House
during debates. The Speaker has full authority to enforce the rules of the House
and must, guard against the abuse of procedure and protect minority rights. He
can adjourn the sitting or even end a discussion so that a certain matter can be
put to the vote. He has the right to order members to leave the Chamber if they
have broken the rules of behavior. He supervises voting and announces final
results, but he cannot speak in debate. Besides the Speaker, there are Deputy
Speakers, chosen from the members of the government party and the
Opposition.

15
The design and layout the debating chamber of the House of Commons is
distinctive. It is rather small and does not have enough seats for all the members.
There are two rows of "benches” facing each other. The right side is for the
party in government and the left side is for the opposition. Important Members
of Parliament, ministers, sit in front and therefore are called frontbenchers.
Backbenchers are younger and less experienced members sitting on the
"benches” at the make speeches. At the back in the centre is a high chair for the
Speaker. The Speaker chair debates from this commanding position. A special
thing in the House is the two red lines running parallel along the chamber. These
lines are to divide the House into two sides and symbolically prevent the two
sides from physically attacking each other during a debate. This layout
encourages confrontation between government and opposition and reinforces the
British two-party system. The seats upstairs are for newsmen and the public. If
you want to see how the Commons work, you can attend “a sitting” in the
galleries upstairs.
Because of the arrangement and layout, the atmosphere is rather informal, and as
a result, members are encouraged to cooperate. This arrangement of the
Chamber has existed for a very long time and expresses a desire for continuity.

The Law-making Procedure

Draft laws are called Bills. Bills begin life in the House of Common and go
through five
stages: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third
reading.
The First reading is just a formal announcement with no debate at all. An MP
reads aloud the
bill to the Parliament.
In the second reading, the general principles of the bill are debates. The person
who wrote the
bill talks about it and other Member of Parliament may ask questions related to
it. After that, a vote is taken. If the majority agrees, next comes the Committee
stage when a committee of MPs from all the parties examines the bill in detail.
The bill is considered very carefully and amendments may be added to change
it. It often takes a long time because the committee is small. The improved bill is

16
then voted on again. When all the committee members agree, the bill is
presented to the House of Commons for the whole House to consider the
amendments. This stage is called the Report stage. Sometimes they make more
changes and then again there is another vote on the changes.
The next stage is the Third reading. In this stage the amended bill is debated
again as a whole.
No change is allowed at this stage.
The bill is then passed to the House of Lords and it undergoes the same
procedure. If the
House of Lord makes some amendments, the bill is sent back to the House of
Commons and the MPs vote on the changes. If the Lords do not agree, the bill is
put aside for one year and then it is sent directly to the Queen without consulting
the House of Lords.
Finally, the bill is given to the Queen for consideration and if the Queen agrees,
she gives the
Royal Assent and after that it becomes an Act of Parliament (law).
The procedure of law making asserts the more important role of The House of
Commons.
The House of Lords is becoming less and less important and some people think
that the system is not democratic and that the House of Lords should be
reformed. Some people also complain that glamorous ceremonies of the royal
family waste a large pan of the national budget. In a survey conducted in 1997 in
Britain, the number of people who supported the Monarchy was 55% and those
against it was 45%.

17
 UNIT 4: EDUCATION

In Britain, education is organized by the Local Education Authorities (LEAs).

An LEA is the local government body that is responsible for state schools and
further
education in a district. LEAs employ teachers, maintain buildings, and supply
books and equipment. LEAs are funded partly by the central government and
partly by local property taxes.

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Compulsory education
Children in Britain must go to school at the age of five and they may leave
school at 16. There are two sectors in the British school system: state schools
and independent schools.
State schools
State schools, or maintained schools, are maintained or supported by the
government
through LEAs. State schools are free for every child. State school children are
also provided with books and equipment without charge. Most state schools are
mixed, i.e. coeducational. There are three basic levels of state school system:
Nursery schools
Nursery schools are for very young children from two to four years old. They
are mainly
educational games. Most nursery schools are supported by LEAs. There are also
some pre-school play groups organised by parents or by voluntary bodies.
Primary schools
Primary schools enroll children from 5 to 11. Primary education is usually in
two separate
schools: infant schools for young children from 5 to 7 and junior for children
from 7 to 11. Some LEAs have a different system: first school for pupils aged 5
to 8 and middle school
for pupils aged 8 to 12.
Secondary school
Secondly schools are for 11-16 or 18 year old children. Today most pupils of
state
secondary schools in Britain attend comprehensive schools. This type of
secondary school first appeared in England in 1965. It is a large school for
pupils of all abilities from a district.
Comprehensive schools provide a general education with a wide range of
courses for children of all abilities. Besides academic courses, children also do
music, handicrafts and vocational courses.
Comprehensive schools are non-selective. When children finish primary school
they go

19
straight to comprehensive school without any examinations. However, some
LEAs nowadays still keep following the selective system of education.
According to this system when children complete primary school, they take the
Eleven-Plus Examination to decide the appropriate type of secondary school
they go to. The clever pupils who get the best results at the Eleven-Plus will go
to a grammar school. Grammar schools provide academic courses and prepare
pupils for higher education. The children who do not do well at the Eleven-Plus
will go to a secondary modern school. Secondary modern schools are for
children of average or below average ability. Therefore, they provide a general
education and various skills as well as handicrafts.
Independent schools
The other sector of education is independent schools. These are fee-paying
schools and not
maintained by the LEAs. Most of the independent schools are single-sex, that is
to say there are schools for boys only, or for girls only. Many of them are
boarding schools. The schoolboys or schoolgirls stay in school dormitories or
residences during the school terms, and they only go home during holidays.
Independent schools are very expensive because parents pay not only for their
children’s school fees but also for boarding. Only wealthy parents can afford to
send their children to an independent school.

Pre-preparatory schools
Pre-preparatory schools take children aged from 5 to 7. Children under five are
usually taught at home by a private tutor or they may go to a kindergarten.

Preparatory schools (Prep schools)

Preparatory schools are for children from 7 to 13 years old. They prepare
children for
the Common Entrance examination to a public school.

Public schools
Public schools are for pupils from 13 to 18. They provide an academic education
and
prepare pupils for higher education. Pupils of public schools do a lot of sports.

20
They have sports nearly everyday. By doing sports and working with classmates
in a team, pupils are trained to be a member of the community. Team games
develop the idea of teamship with qualities of cooperation, responsibility, and
fair play.
School terms
The school year in Britain is divided into three terms. Autumn term is from
September to
December, spring term from January to March and summer term from April to
July. After each term, there is a holiday. Autumn term ends at Christmas, spring
term at Easter, and summer term with the summer vacation. In addition, in the
middle of each term, there is a half term holiday lasting for one week.
Examinations
The minimum school-leaving age is 16, but pupils may stay on until 18.
The standard schools-leaving examination nowadays is the General Certificate
of Secondary
Education (GCSE). It is taken at the age of 16 when pupils finish their fifth year
of secondary
school. Pupils usually choose about seven or eight subjects for their exams.
After the GCSE, pupils who stay on will study two more years in the 6th form.
Some pupils
will take GCSE again to get better grades. Other pupils will study for the GCE
“Advanced” level (“A” level) exams. They usually take two or three subjects.
These are specialized subjects, and GCE. A levels are the academic prerequisites
for entry to universities.
An additional examination at A-level was introduced in 1989. It aims to broaden
the school
curriculum and allows students to take more subjects at an advanced level. GCE
AS level
examinations have the same standards as GCE A-level. Good students who aim
to study at
universities usually take two A-level and two AS level subjects.

Religious Education

21
Religion is taught in all British schools. But how it is taught varies from school
to school,
and parents may withdraw their child from religious education.

National Curriculum
In 1998, the Education Reform Act introduced the National Curriculum for state
schools in
Britain. It consists of three core subjects which pupils are expected to spend
more lime on: English, Mathematics and Science, and seven foundation
subjects: history, geography, technology, music, art, physical education and a
modern language.

Further Education
After the compulsory education age, young people who continue their studies
usually move into further education.
Further education is provided by the sixth forms in secondary schools, sixth
form colleges and further education colleges.
Sixth forms are for students preparing for their A level and AS level
examinations. In most
secondary schools, sixth form is divided into Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth.
Many sixth form students who prefer a college atmosphere may move to a sixth
form
college or a further education college. There some students retake GCSE to get
better grades, others study two or three subjects for A level and maybe two more
for AS level.
Further education colleges offer a wide range of courses to both young people
and adults. Courses are attended full-time, part-time or by distance learning.

Higher Education
Higher Education is provided by universities and polytechnics.
Universities in Britain are independent institutions. They appoint their own staff,
and make their own decisions on student admissions as well as curriculum and
teaching methods.

22
The real head of a university is the Vice-Chancellor: He is appointed or elected
by senior
members of the university. The nominal head is the Chancellor who is appointed
for life. The
Chancellor has an honorary function and is present at the university only on
some formal occasions.
The two oldest and most famous universities in Britain are Oxford and
Cambridge, known
as Oxbridge. Oxford university was founded in the 12th century, and Cambridge
university in the 13th century.
The Scottish universities of St. Andrew, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh
were established in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Other universities were founded in the 19th and 20th centuries. They were given
the
derogatory nickname “redbrick” because most of them were built of red brick
and originally were considered inferior.
Universities select their students based on their “A” level results and interviews.
In most universities, undergraduate courses are three years full time study.
Medical courses
usually take five or six years. First degrees are awarded on completion of the
undergraduate
courses. The most common titles for a first degree are Bachelor of Arts (BA) or
Bachelor of Science (BSc). When postgraduates complete their courses, usually
one or two years, they are conferred Master of Science (MSc). The higher
degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is awarded to students who complete two
or three years of original research.
Polytechnics are also institutions for higher education. They provide a wide
range of
courses leading to first and higher degrees. The polytechnics have a closer link
with commerce and industry; therefore, the courses they provide have a more
technical or vocational bias than those of a university.
The Open University was established in 1969. It provides distance learning at
university
level, and it is open to everybody who wants it. Students need no formal

23
academic qualifications to register for the courses, but the degrees awarded by
Open University meet the same standards as those of other universities. Study is
by means of correspondence, radio and television.

Style
Learning for its own sake, rather than for any particular practical purpose, has
traditionally been given a comparatively high value in Britain. In comparison
with most other countries, a relatively strong emphasis has been put on the
quality of person that education produces (as opposed to the qualities of abilities
that it produces). The balance has changed in the last quarter of the twentieth
century (for example, there is now a high degree of concern about levels of
literacy), but much of the public debate about educational policy still focues not
so much on how to help people develop useful knowledge and skills as on how
education might help to bring about a better society – on social justice rather
than on efficiency.
This approach has had a far-reaching effect on many aspects of the educational
system. First of all. it has influenced the general style of teaching, which has
tended to give priority to developing understanding rather than acquiring factual
knowledge and learning to apply this knowledge to specific tasks. This is why
British young people do not appear to have to work as hard as their comterparts
in other European countries. Primary schoolchildren do not normally have
formal homework to do and university students have fewer hours of
programmed attendance than students on the continent do. (On the other hand,
they receive greater personal guidance with their work). A second effect has
been an emphasis on academic ability rather than practical ability (despite
English anti-intellectualism). This has resulted in high-quality education for the
intelligent and academically inclined (at the upper secondary and university
levels) with comparatively little attention given to the educational needs of the
rest.
The traditional approach, together with the dislike of centralized authority, also
helps to explain why the British school system got a national curriculum (a
national specification of learning objectives) so much later than other European
countries. If your aim is so vague
and universal, it is difficult to specify what its elements are. It is for the same

24
reason that British schools and universities have tended to give such a high
priority to sport. The idea is that it helps to develop the “complete” person. The
importance of school as a “community”
can increase this emphasis. Sporting success enhances the reputation of an
institution. Until the last quarter of the twentieth century, certain sports at some
universities (especially Oxford and Cambridge) and medical schools were
played to an international standard. People
with poor academic records were sometimes accepted as students because of
their sporting prowess (although, unlike in the USA, this practice was always
unofficial).

School life
There is no countrywide system of nursery (i.e. pre-primary) schools. In some
areas, primary schools have nursery schools attached to them, but in others there
is no provision of this kind. The average child does not begin full-time
attendance at school until he or she is about five and starts primary school.
Almost all schools are either primary or secondary only, the latter being
generally larger.
Nearly all schools work a five-day week, with no half-day, and are closed on
Saturdays. The day starts at or just before nine o'clock and finishes between
three and four, or a bit later for older children. The lunch break usually lasts
about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two-
thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parents pay for this, except
for the 15% who are rated poor enough for it to be free. Other children either go
home for lunch or take sandwiches.
Methods of teaching vary, but there is most commonly a balance between
formal lessons with the teacher at the front of the classroom, and activities in
which children work in small groups round a table with the teacher supervising.
In primary schools, the children are
mostly taught by a class teacher who teaches all subjects. At the ages of seven
and eleven, children have to (or soon will have to) take national tests in English,
mathematics and science. In secondary schools, pupils have different teachers
for different subjects and are given regular homework.

25
The older children get, the more likely they are to be separated into groups
according to their perceived abilities, sometimes for particular subjects only,
sometimes across all subjects. But some schools teach all subjects to “mixed
ability” classes. The rights and wrongs of this practice have generated heated
debate for several decades and there is great variety from school to school and
area to area.

Dramatic Change - The National Curriculum

One of the most important changes in education brought about by the
Education Reform Act 1998 is the introduction of a National Curriculum
for children aged 5-16 in all state schools in England and Wales. Until the
end of the 1980s the choice of subjects to be studied and the content of the
lessons were decided by each individual school.
The National Curriculum has changed all of this. The subjects and syllabus are
decided by groups of experts working under the DES (the Department of
Education and Science). Most children in Britain study the same subjects and
the same syllabus, no matter where they live. It is decided on a national level.
The National Curriculum consists of ten subjects, which all pupils must study at
school. The core subjects are English, Mathematics and Science. These are
considered the most important because they help you to study all the other
subjects. The rest of the subjects are called foundation subjects and they include
Technology (and design), Music, Art, History, Geography and Physical
Education. A modern foreign language, usually French or German, is a
foundation subject for all 11-16 year olds.
Most schools in Britain divide the subjects and the teachers into departments.
Each department is responsible for teaching a range of subjects and the teachers
in the department have regular meetings to discuss the pupil’s work and the
syllabus. For example, the Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers will meet
the Head of the Science Department to plan the work for people in that area of
study.

26
 UNIT 5: FAMILY LIFE

The family in Britain is changing. The once typical British family headed by two
parents has undergone substantial changes during the twentieth century. In
particular, there has been a rise in the number of single-person households,
which increased from 18 to 29 per cent of all households between 1971 and
2002. By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be more single people than
married people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially unacceptable in
Britain.
In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult,
expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are
changing. Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together
(cohabit) without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will
eventually get married.
In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of
children in Britain are born to unmarried (cohabiting) parents. In 2000, around a
quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in
Great Britain. Cohabiting couples are also starting families without first being
married. Before 1960 this was very unusual, but in 2001 around 23 per cent of
births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.

27
People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not
want to have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and
put off having a baby until late thirties.
The number of single-parent families is increasing. This is mainly due to more
marriages ending in divorce, but some women are also choosing to have
children as lone parents without being married.

Size of households
There were 26.4 million households in the UK in 2011.
 29 per cent consisted of only one person. In 1973 nine percent of adults

lived alone.
 20 per cent consisted of four or more people.
 56 per cent of households consist of a couple with or without children.
 The average size of household in the UK in 2011 was 2.3
 1.7 is the average number of dependent children in a family
(Source 2011 Census:Population Estimates by five-year age bands, and
Household Estimates, for Local Authorities in the United Kingdom Published by
ONS March 2013)

Families
In 2012 there were 18.2 million families in the UK, 7.7 million (42 percent) of
those families have dependent children.
Here are some additional statistics from the Families and Households statistical
Bulletin published by ONS in 2012 and the Labour Force Survey published by
ONS in 2012:
Married couples
 12.6 million (69 per cent) of UK households consisted of a married couple

with or without children.

 7.6 million (41 per cent) married couple families have no dependent
children
 4.6 million (25 per cent) married couple families have dependent children
 The percentage of families that have just one dependent child has
increased from 42 per cent in 1996 to 47 per cent in 2012.
Single parents

28
  Two million families consist of a single parent and dependent children
 The proportion of families headed by a lone parent was eight per cent in
1971, but this figure had increased to 11 percent by 2011.
 The percentage of all families that are headed by a lone mother has
doubled from seven per cent in 1971 to 13.2 per cent in 2011.
 The percentage of all families headed by a lone father has increased
marginally since the early 1970s, and now stands at 1.6 per cent of all
families in 2011.

Poverty
 41 per cent of children living in one-parent families are living in poverty.

 23 per cent of children from two-parent households are living in poverty.

 Within black households, 47 per cent of children live in poverty.
 Within Pakistani and Bangladeshi households 58 per cent of children live
in poverty.
 26 per cent of children from white households are living in poverty.
(Source: Department for Work and Pensions, 2012, Households Below Average
Income 2010/2011)

Employment
 95 per cent of couple families with one or two dependent children had one

or both parents working in 2012.

 87 per cent of couple families with three or more dependent children had
one or both parents working.
 62 per cent of lone parents with one or two dependent children were
working in 2012.
 38 per cent of lone parents with three or more children were working in
2012.
(Source: Family Size in 2012. Published by ONS March 2013)

Fertility
 The average completed family size for women born in 1966, and reaching

age 45 in 2011, was 1.91 children per woman. This compares with their

29
 mothers' generation, represented by women born in 1939, who had on
average 2.36 children.
 Most women who give birth will have two children.
 One in 10 women born in 1966 had four or more children but for women
born in 1939 one in five would have had four or more children.One in five
women born in 1966 remained childless whereas for women born in 1939
only one in eight would have remained childless.
(Source: Cohort Fertility, England and Wales 2011.Published by ONS March
2013)

Cohabitation
 There were 2.9 million opposite sex cohabiting couples in 2012. This

figure has doubled in the last 15 years.

 1.1 million of these families had dependent children. This figure has also
doubled over the last 15 years.
In a survey of published research projects on the effect of cohabitation -
Marriage Lite: The rise of Cohabitation and its consequences by Patricia
Morgan found that:
 On average, cohabitations last less than two years before breaking up or

converting to marriage.
 Less than four per cent of cohabitations last for 10 years or more.
 Cohabiting influences later marriages. The more often and the longer that
men and women cohabit, the more likely they are to divorce later.
 Both men and women in cohabiting relationships are more likely to be
unfaithful to their partners than married people.
 Children born to cohabiting parents are more likely to experience a series
of disruptions in their family life.
Marriage
Over the last 3 decades marriage rates have fallen considerably and the number
of married couple families have therefore fallen. Important drivers of this trend
are that men and women are delaying getting married, or not marrying at all.
 The number of married couple families decreased by 280,000 between
2001 and 2011 to 12 million in 2011.

30
  The provisional number of religious ceremonies in 2010 was 76,700, an
increase of 1,140 over the 2009 figure.
 Religious marriages accounted for almost a third of all marriages in 2010.
 For the sixth consecutive year, there were fewer religious ceremonies in
2010 than ceremonies in approved premises. There were 124,570
marriages in approved premises in 2010, a 12 per cent increase from
2009.
 The provisional number of civil ceremonies in 2010 was 164,330,
accounting for over two-thirds (68 per cent) of all marriages.
 The proportion of civil ceremonies first exceeded religious ceremonies in
1992.
 The provisional number of weddings registered in England and Wales in
2010 is 241,100. This is an increase of 5.7 per cent from 2009, the largest
increase since 2003.
(Source: Marriages in England and Wales 2010 Office for National
Statistics Statistical Bulletin February 2012)
 In Northern Ireland there were 8366 marriages in 2011, an increase of 199
over the number for 2010.
(Source:http://www.nisra.gov.uk/demography/default.asp2.htm)
 In Scotland there were 30,534 marriages in 2012, the highest number
since 2005.
(Source:http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-
events/general/bmd-preliminary/2012.html)
Divorces
 The number of divorces in England and Wales in 2011 was 117,558, an

increase of 1.7 percent since 2010, when there were 119,589 divorces.
 The divorce rate decreased slightly in 2011 to 10.8 divorcing people per
thousand married population. It was from 12.9 per thousand in 2001.
 Women and men in their late twenties had the highest divorce rates in
2011.
(Source Divorces in England Wales 2011 Office for National Statistics
Statistical Bulletin December 2012)
 The number of marriages dissolved in Northern Ireland in 2011 was
2,343. This a decrease from 2010 when there were 2,600 divorces.

31
 (Source Statistical Bulletin: Marriages, divorces and civil partnerships in NI
(2010) Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency July 2011)
 There were 9,862 divorces in Scotland in 2011; the lowest number of
divorces in Scotland since 1979.
(Source www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/divorces-and-
dissolutions/time-series.html)

UNIT 6: FOOD AND DRINK

Britain and good food are two things which are not commonly associated.
Visitors to Britain have widely varying opinions about all sorts of aspects of the
country, but most of them seem to agree that the food is terrible. Why? One
reason could simply be that British tastes are different from everybody else’s.
However, the most common complaint is not so much that British food has a
strange, unpleasant taste, but rather that it has very little taste at all. The
vegetables, for example, are overcooked. It is all too bland.

32
Another explanation may be that most visitors to Britain do not get the
opportunity to sample home cooking. They either eat the food cooked in an
institution, such as a university canteen, or they “eat out” a lot, usually in rather
cheap restaurants and cafes. These places
are definitely not where to find good British food. Typical British cooking,
which involves a lot of roasting, does not suit the larger scale production or the
quick preparation which is required in such places. For one thing, food should,
according to British people, be
eaten hot, which is difficult to arrange when feeding large numbers of people. In
addition, the British have not got into the habit of preparing sauces with grilled
food in order to make it tastier.

Attitudes to food
The explanations above can only serve as a partial excuse for the unfortunate
reputation of British cuisine. Even in fast food restaurants and everyday cafes,
the quality seems to be lower than it is in equivalent places in other countries. It
seems that British people simply
don't care enough to bother.
The country has neither a widespread “restaurant culture” nor a “cafe society”.
In the middle of the day, people just want to eat up quickly and are not
interested much in quality (the lunch break is an hour at most). Young people
and families with children who eat at
fast food places are similarly not interested in quality. Little effort is made to
make the hamburgers tasty because nobody expects them to be. The coffee is
horrible not because British people prefer it that way but because they don't go
to a cafe for a delicious, slow cup of coffee - they go there because they need the
caffeine.
Even at home, food and drink is given relatively hide attention. The coffee is
often just as bad as it is in the cafes. British supermarkets sell far more instant
coffee than what the few people who drink it often call “real” coffee. Instant
coffee is less trouble. Meals tend to be
eaten quickly and the table cleared. Parties and celebrations are not normally
centred around food. For example, if a British person expresses a liking for
barbecues, this does not necessarily mean that he or she likes barbecued food - it

33
is understood to mean that he or
she enjoys the typical barbecue atmosphere.
When the British do pay attention to food, it is most frequently not to appreciate
it but to notice what they don't like about it. Food hits the headlines only in the
context of its dangers: for example in 1993, when it was discovered that 100
tonnes of six-year-old beef had been allowed to go on sale; or when a
government minister announced that the country's eggs were infected with
salmonella. In the early 1990s, everybody in the country knew about “mad cow
disease” (a disease affecting the brains of infected cattle). There are quite a large
number of vegetarians in Britain and an even larger number who are aware of
the implications for their health of what they eat. “Health food shops” are as
abundant in the country's high
streets as delicatessens.
British people have been mostly urban, having little contact with “the land”, for
longer than the people of other countries. Perhaps this is why the range of plants
and animals which they will eat is rather narrow. There are plenty of enthusiastic
British carnivores who fed quite sick at the thought of eating horsemeat. To
most people, the idea of going out to pick wild plants for the table is exotic. It is
perhaps significant that when the British want to refer to the people
of another country insultingly, they often allude to their eating habits. Because
of the strange things they do with cabbage, for example, the Germans are
'krauts'. Because of their outrageous taste for frog’s legs, the French are 'frogs'.
However, the picture is not entirely negative. While the British are conservative
about ingredients, they are no longer conservative about the way they are served.
In the 1960s, it was reported that the first British package tourists in Spain not
only insisted on eating (traditionally British) fish and chips all the time but also
on having them, as was traditional, wrapped up in specially imported British
newspaper! By now, however, the British are extremely open to the cuisine of
other countries. The country's supermarket shelves are full
of the spices and sauces needed for cooking dishes from all over the world (the
increasingly multicultural nature of the population has helped in this respect). In
addition, there is increasing interest in the pure enjoyment of eating and
drinking.

34
Meals in Britain
The Health Education Authority asked a number of people in Britain what sort
of meals and snack they eat regularly. Here are the most common replies to the
survey.
Breakfast
The most popular choice are:
a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea
a bowl of muesli and fresh orange juice
a piece of toast with marmalade
a yoghurt and fresh fruit with black coffee or tea
The traditional British breakfast is a cooked meal of bacon, eggs and sausages,
preceded by cereal or fruit and followed by toast. Nowadays, this large meal is
served mainly in hotels and is very popular with foreign visitors. Britons may
eat this big breakfast at weekends or on special occasions but prefer a smaller,
healthier meal to start a normal day.
Snacks and Lunches
Lunch is a light meal and is eaten at school or work. Lunch takes 30-40 minutes.
Some offices have installed a microwave oven for employees to use. Popular
lunches are:
a salad or a sandwich
a baked potato
beans on toast
Snacks are very popular in Britain and many people frequently eat snacks
between meals. Schools and workplaces may also sell snacks such as crisps,
chocolate, sweets and biscuits. Instant snacks are the fastest growing sector of
the food market; 55 million packets of crisps are sold every year. British kids eat
more sweets than any other nationality. Biscuits, chocolates and sweets worth
more than £5 billion were sold in Britain in 1990.
Dinners and Take-aways
Dinner is usually the main meal of the day and consists of two courses - meat or
fish and
vegetables followed by a desert or pudding. Pre-packed or pre-cooked
convenience foods are

35
especially popular. £ 3,000 million of frozen foods are sold in an average year.
Sixty per cent of British homes use a microwave oven for cooking.
In recent years, foreign foods have become a regular part of the British diet.
Indian, Italian and Chinese dishes are particularly supermarket sell a range of
pre-packed meals to be heated in the microwave.
Take-away became extremely popular in the 1980s. The traditional British take-
away is fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar and several in an old
newspaper. Most towns and cities now offer a wide range of take-away meals,
from American-style hamburgers to Turkish kebabs. Many families prefer to eat
take-away food for dinner instead of cooking, and it is not unknown for people
to buy take-away after a visit to a pub or after a night out - in addition to dinner.
The British are famous for their love of sweet things, and afternoon tea with
sandwiches, scones, jam and several different kinds of cake was once a
traditional custom. Like the English cooked breakfast, it is now more often
found in teashop and hotels than in private homes, and you can buy special
guidebooks to tell you where the best afternoon teas are served. Most working
people do not have tea ac an afternoon “meal”, but they do have a short break in
the middle of the afternoon for a cup of tea. Tea is often also drunk with lunch
and dinner.

Eating out
Although it is far less unusual than it used to be, going to a restaurant is still a
comparatively rare event for most British people. Regular restaurant-going is
confined mostly to the richest section of society. Partly for this reason, there is
an element of snobbery associated with
it. Merely being in an expensive restaurant sometimes seems to be more
important to people than the food eaten in it. For example, in 1992 a survey by
experts found that most of the caviar in top London restaurants was not what it
claimed to be (the most prized beluga
variety) and was often stale or going bad. The experts commented that
restaurants used the mystique of caviar to hide the low quality of what they
served because “the majority of people… don't really know what they're eating”.
Another expression of snobbery in the more expensive restaurants is in the
menus. In a country where few public notices appear in any language other than

36
English, these are a unique phenomenon – all the dishes have non-English
names, most commonly French
(reflecting the high regard for French cuisine). It also makes the food sound
more exotic and therefore more exciting. Many customers of these restaurants
have little idea of what actually goes in to the dish they have chosen. But when,
in 1991, the government suggested that
menus should give details of ingredients in dishes, all the country's chefs and
restaurateurs were outraged. They argued this would take the fun out of eating
out. The assumption behind this argument is that going to a restaurant is a time
to be adventurous. This “adventure”
concept is undoubtedly widespread. It helps to explain why so few restaurants in
Britain are actually British. Because they do it so rarely, when people go out for
a meal in the evening, they want to be served something they don't usually eat.
Every town in the country has at
least one Indian restaurant and probably a Chinese one too. Larger towns and
cities have restaurants representing cuisine from all over the world.
Eating places which serve British food are used only for more everyday
purposes. Apart from pubs, there are two types, both of which are comparatively
cheap. One is used during the day, most typically by manual workers, and is
therefore sometimes described as a “workman's café” (pronounced “caff”). But
it is also used by anybody else who wants a filling meal, likes the informal
atmosphere and is not over-worried about cleanliness. It offers mostly fried food
of the “English breakfast” type and for this reason it is also sometimes jokingly
called a “greasy spoon”. Many of them are “transport cafes” at the sides of main
roads. In 1991, Prime Minister John Major deliberately and publicly ate at one
of these in order to prove
that he was “a man of the people”. The other type is the fish-and-chip shop, used
in the evening for “take-away” meals. Again, the fish is (deep) fried.
Fast food outlets are now more common in Britain than they are in most other
countries. Cynics might claim this is because the British have no sense of taste.
However, their popularity is probably better explained sociologically. Other
types of eating place in Britain tend to have class associations. As a result, large
sections of society feel
unable to relax in them. But a fast food restaurant does not have such strong

37
associations of this kind. Although there is sometimes local middle-class protest
when a new one appears in their area, people from almost any class background
can feel comfortable in them.

Alcohol
The attitude to alcohol in Britain is ambivalent. On the one hand, it is accepted
and welcomed as an integral part of British culture. The local pub plays an
important role in almost every neighborhood and pubs, it should be noted, are
predominantly for the drinking of
beer and spirits. The nearest pub is commonly referred to as “the local” and
people who go there often are known as “regulars”. The action in both the
country's most popular television soaps revolves around a pub. Even a certain
level of drunkenness is acceptable. Provided this does not lead to violence, there
is no shame attached to it.
On the other hand, the puritan has led to the widespread view that drinking is
something potentially dangerous which should therefore be restricted, in terms
of both who can do it and where it can be done. Most people, including regular
drinkers, consider that it would be wrong to give a child even half a glass of
beer. When, in 1993, research was published showing that nearly 70% of
fifteen-year-old children in the country drank some alcohol in an average week,
it was generally agreed that this was a serious “social problem”. People cannot
be served in pubs until the age of eighteen and they are not even allowed inside
one (unless it has a special children’s certificate) until they are fourteen. For
many people, drinking is confined to pubs. Wine or beer is not as much a part of
home life as it is in some other European countries. Most cafes are not allowed
to serve even beer.
For most of the twentieth century, pubs operated under strict laws which limited
their opening hours. These have recently been relaxed. Moreover, many more
types of shop now sell alcohol than previously. However, this lessening of the
negative attitude to alcohol has been
balanced by increasing concerns about its impact on health and safety. There are
government-sponsored guidelines which state the maximum amount of alcohol
it is advisable for people to drink in a week without endangering their health.
Although millions of people

38
pay little attention to these, the general feeling that alcohol can be bad for you
has increased. Moreover, the laws against drinking and driving have been
strengthened and are fairly strictly observed.
Nevertheless, alcohol, especially beer, is an important part of the lives of many
people. Notice, for example, the mass rush across the Channel after customs
duties were changed in 1992. Beer was much cheaper in France and people were
allowed to bring back almost as
much as they liked. It was calculated that in that first year the single European
market cost the British government about £250 million in lost taxes on alcohol.

Pubs
The British pub (short for “public house”) is unique. This is not just because it is
different in character from bars or cafes in other countries. It is also because it is
different from any other public place in Britain itself. Without pubs, Britain
would be a less sociable country.
The pub is the only indoor place where the average person can comfortably meet
others, even strangers, and get into prolonged conversation with them. In cafes
and fast food restaurants, people are expected to drink their coffee and get out.
The atmosphere in other
eating places is often rather formal. But pubs, like fast food restaurants, are
classless. A pub with forty customers in it is nearly always much noisier than a
cafe or restaurant with the same number of people in it.
As with so many other aspects of British life, pubs have become a bit less
distinctive in the last quarter of the twentieth century. They used to serve almost
nothing but beer and spirits. These days, you can get wine, coffee and some hot
food at most of them as well. This has helped to widen their appeal. At one time,
it was unusual for women to go to pubs. These days, only a few pubs exist
where it is surprising for a woman to walk in.
Nevertheless, pubs have retained their special character. One of their notable
aspects is that there is no waiter service. If you want something, you have to go
and ask for it at the bar. This may not seem very welcoming and a strange way
of making people feel comfortable and relaxed. But to British people it is
precisely this. To be served at a table is discomforting for many people. It makes
them feel they have to be on their best behavior. But because in pubs you have

39
to go and fetch your drinks yourself, it is more informal. You can get up and
walk around whenever you want - it is like being in your own house. This
“home from home” atmosphere is enhanced by the relationship between
customers and those who work in pubs. Unlike in any other eating or drinking
place in Britain, the staff are expected to know the regular customers personally,
to know what their usual drink is and to chat with them when they are not
serving someone. It is also helped by the availability of pub games (most
typically darts)
and, frequently, a television.
Another notable aspect of pubs is their appeal to the idea of tradition. For
example, each has its own name, proclaimed on a sign hanging outside, always
with old-fashioned associations. Many are called by the name of an aristocrat
(for example, 'The Duke of Cambridge') or after a monarch; others take their
names from some traditional occupation (such as “The Bricklayer's Arms”); they
often have rural associations (for example, “The Sheep Shearers” or “The
Bull”), it would certainly be surprising to see a pub called “The Computer
Programmers” or “The Ford Escort”. For the same reason, the person who runs a
pub is referred to as the “landlord” (he is nearly always a man) - even though he
is, in reality, the exact opposite. He is a tenant. Nearly all pubs are owned by a
brewery. The “landlord” is simply employed by the brewery as its manager. But
the word is used because it evokes earlier times when all pubs were privately
owned “inns” where travellers could find a bed for the night. The few pubs that
really are privately owned proudly advertise them- selves as “free houses”. The
practical significance of this for the customer is that a much wider variety of
beers can usually be found inside.

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 UNIT 7: TRANSPORT

Road network
Britain has an extensive network of well-maintained roads and motorways.
Together with the
building of new roads between cities and towns, the existing network is also
improved regularly to ensure the safety of road users. This makes travelling
quicker and easier. While the government is responsible for the construction and
maintenance of national roads, called trunk roads, inter-urban motorways
between centers of population, industrial areas and ports, other roads are under
the control of local authorities with financial support from the central
government. The British government encourages the private sector to carry out
road projects and charge tolls: For example, the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
across the Thames and the Channel Tunnel were financed completely by the
private sector.
The impact of the construction of roads is assessed environmentally. Traffic
schemes are
carefully designed to minimise possible negative impact on the surrounding
environment. Drivers are encouraged to buy unleaded petrol that is cheaper than
leaded petrol and does not pollute the environment.
Because most households in Britain enjoy the regular use of one car, with many
having more than one, the number of cars on the road is growing. This means
road networks must be improved so that road safety can be ensure. The casualty
rate on the roads in Britain is now at its lowest level despite the increase in
motor traffic. Motorways in Britain are free and account for only about 1% of
Britain's roads therefore there is the problem of congestion, especially at rush
hour around big cities. Moreover, the British tend to live some distance from the
city and everyday they drive to work in the centres. This makes the volume of
traffic on the roads heavier.

41
A person must be at least 17 years old to hold a motor car license. They have to
pass a difficult driving test in order to gain a full driving license that is valid
until their 70th birthday. A learner must have a provisional license and can drive
on all roads except motorways under the supervision of a qualified driver who is
at least 21, and who has held a full license for three years. Since 1983, it has
been compulsory for the driver and all passengers to wear seat belts. There are
speed limits on all roads in Britain, 30 mph (48 kph) in built-up areas, 70 mph
(113 kph) on motorways and 60 mph (97 kph) on single carriageway roads.
There are 20 mph zones or 40 mph zones on some roads in residential areas.
Vehicle maintenance is also checked. Vehicles over three years old are tested
annually. All these measures are to reduce the number of accidents and lessen
the severity of injuries to road users.
Drinking and driving was a very serious problem in Britain. The drink-drive
campaign initiated by the government has been very successful in changing
people's attitude towards problems and reducing considerably road deaths
caused by people who drink and drive. The Road Traffic Act, which came into
effect in 1991, determined a penalty of up to five year's imprisonment for drivers
found to be under the influence of drink or drugs.

On the road
Nearly three-quarters of households in Britain have regular use of a car and
about a quarter have more than one car. The widespread enthusiasm for cars is,
as elsewhere, partly a result of people using them to project an image of
themselves. Apart from the obvious status indicators such as size and speed, the
British system of vehicle registration introduces another. Registration plates
known as “number plates”, give a clear indication of the age of cars. There is a
different letter of the alphabet for each year. In summer, there are a lot of
advertisements for cars on television and in the newspapers because the new
registration “year” begins in August.
Another possible reason for the British being so attached to their cars is the
opportunity which they provide to indulge the national passion for privacy.
Being in a car is like taking your “castle” with you wherever you go. Perhaps
this is why the occasional attempts to persuade people to “car pool” (to share the
use of a car to and from work) have met with little success.

42
The privacy factor may also be the reason why British drivers are less
“communicative” than the drivers of many other countries. They use their horns
very little, are not in the habit of signalling their displeasure at the behaviour of
other road users with their hands and are a little more tolerant of both other
drivers and pedestrians. They are also a little more safety conscious. Britain has
the best road safety record in Europe. The speed limit on motorways is a little
lower than in most other countries (70 mph = 112 kph) and people go over this
limit to a somewhat lesser extent. In addition, there are frequent and costly
government campaigns to encourage road safety. Before Christmas 1992, for
instance, £2.3 million was spent on such a campaign.
Another indication that the car is perceived as a private space is that Britain was
one of the last countries in western Europe to introduce the compulsory wearing
of seat belts (in spite of British concern for safety). This measure was, and still
is, considered by many to be a bit of an infringement of personal liberty.
The British are not very keen on mopeds or motorcydes. They exist, of course,
but they are not private enough for British tastes. Every year twenty times as
many new cars as two-wheeled motor vehicles are registered. Millions of
bicycles are used, especially by younger people, but except in certain university
towns such as Cambridge, they are not as common as they are in other parts of
north-western Europe. Britain has been rather slow to organize special cycle
lanes. The comparative safety of the roads means that parents are not too
worried about their children cycling on the road along with cars and lorries.

Public transport in towns and cities

Public transport services in urban areas, as elsewhere in Europe, suffer from the
fact that there is so much private traffic on the roads that they are not as cheap,
as frequent or as fast as they otherwise could be. They also stop running
inconveniently early at night. Efforts have been made to speed up journey times
by reserving certain lanes for buses, but so far there has been no widespread
attempt to give priority to public transport vehicles at traffic lights.
An interesting modern development is that trams, which disappeared from the
country's towns during the 1950s and 1960s. are now making a comeback.
Research has shown that people seem to have more confidence in the reliability

43
of a service which runs on tracks, and are therefore readier to use a tram than
they would be to use an ordinary bus.
Britain is one of the few countries in Europe where double-decker buses (i.e.
with two floors) are a common sight. Although single- deckers have also been in
use since the 1960s, London still has more than 3,000 double-deckers in
operation. In their original form they
were “hop-on, hop-off” buses. That is, there were no doors, just an opening at
the back to the cutside. There was a conductor who walked around collecting
fares while the bus was moving. However, most buses these days, including
double-deckers, have separate doors for getting on and off and no conductor
(fares are paid to the driver).
The famous London Underground, known as “the tube”, is feeling the effects of
its age (it was first opened in 1863). It is now one of the dirtiest and least
efficient of all such systems in European cities. However, it is still heavily used
because it provides excellent connections with the main line train stations and
with the suburbs surounding the city.
Another symbol of London is the distinctive black taxi (in fact, they are not all
black these days, nor are they confined to London). According to the tradditional
stereotype, the owner drivers of London taxis, known as cabbies, are friendly
Cockneys who never stop talking. While it may not be true that they are all like
this, they all have to demonstrate, in a difficult examination, detailed familiarity
with London's streets and buildings before they are given
their licence. (This familiarity is known simply as “the knowledge”). Normally,
these traditional taxis cannot be hired by phone. You simply have to find one on
the street. But there are also many taxi companies who get most of their business
over the phone. Their taxis
are known as “minicabs”. They tend to have a reputation, not always justified,
for unreliability as well as for charging unsuspecting tourists outrageous prices
(in common with taxis all over the world).
However, taxis and minicabs are expensive and most of British people rarely use
them, exept, perhaps, when going home late at night after public transport has
stopped running, especially if they have been drinking alcohol.

Public transport between towns and cities

44
It is possible to travel on public transport between large towns or cities by road
or rail. Coach services are generally slower than trains but are also much
cheaper. In some parts of the country, particularly the south-east of England,
there is a dense suburban rail network, but the most commercially successful
trains are the Inter-City services that run between London and the thirty or so
largest cities in the country.
The difference between certain trains is a fascinating reflection of British
insularity. Elsewhere in Europe, the fastest and smartest trains are the
international ones. But in Britain, they are the Inter-City trains. The international
trains from London to the Channel ports of Newhaven. Dover and Ramsgate are
often uncomfortable commuter trains stopping at several different stations.
The numbers of trains and train routes have been slowly but continuously
reduced over the last forty years of the twentieth. In October 1993, the national
train timetable scheduled 10000 fewer trains than in the previous October. The
changes led to many complaints. The people of Lincoln in eastern England, for
example, were worried about their tourist trade. This town, which previously
had fifteen trains arriving on a Sunday from four different directions, found that
it had only four, all arriving from the same direction. The Ramblers' Association
(for people who like to go walking in the countryside) were also furious because
the ten trains on a Sunday from Derby to Matlock, near the highest mountains in
England, had all been cancelled. At the time, however, the government wanted
very much to privatize the railways. Therefore, it had to make them look
financially attractive to investors, and the way to do this was to cancel as many
unprofitable services as possible.

45
 UNIT 8: HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Generally, Britain has fewer public holidays compared with other countries in
Europe and America. Some are known as bank holidays.
Traditional holidays in Britain are seaside holidays which were started first by
the upper class and soon copied by the middle class and the working class.
Every year especially in the summer, families arrange to spend a week or so at a
seaside resort. Britain has a lot of resorts like this. Usually, people go to the
south because it is warmer there. When the weather is very hot, the beaches
there may become over-crowded. Rich people can stay in expensive hotels, but
cheaper boarding houses are also available for the not so rich. Only type is
“B&B” run by a family offering bed and breakfast. Some offer full board.
Entertainment centres round the beach including swimming, sunbathing, going
for a paddle or just sitting in deckchairs along the seashore. In the evening,
holidays-makers can go to the theatre, discos, dance halls, bingo halls or
bowking alleys.

46
Nowadays, with the increase in the number of private cars and the development
of mass
transport, travelling abroad is not confined to the rich. Package holidays are
more and more popular. Before the holiday season, television often give
information about the packages offered. All you have to do is go to a tourist
agent and book a package which includes transport, accommodation and meals.
It is convenient and cheap. However, to be sure, the holidays should be booked
well in advance. For some people, going on package holiday means losing some
freedom because they have to follow a schedule fixed by the tourist agent. The
British people's favourite holiday destinations are Spain, France, the USA,
Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. Recently, many Britons have
chosen to go far as China, the West Indies or India for exotic feelings. The three
S’s sun, sea and sand are still popular, especially in hot summers. Winter skiing
packages are new but are on the increase .

Christmas and New Year

Christmas is the one occasion in modern Britain when a large number of
customs are enthusiastically observed by most ordinary people within the
family. The slow decrease in participation in organized religion, and the fact that
Christmas in modern times is as much a secular feast as a religious one, has had
little effect on these traditions. Even people who consider themselves to be anti-
religious quite happily wish each other a “Happy Christmas” or a “Merry
Christmas”. They do not (as in some other countries) self-consciously wish each
other a “Happy New Year” instead.
Indeed, the “commercialization” of Christmas has itself become part of tradition.
Every November in Oxford Street (one of the main shopping streets in the centre
of London), a famous personality ceremoniously switches on the “Christmas
lights” (decorations) thus “officially” marking the start of the period of frantic
Christmas shopping. And it certainly is frantic. Between that time and the
middle of January, most shops do nearly half of their total business for the year
(most have “sales” in early January when prices are reduced). Most people buy
presents for the other members of their household and also for other relatives,
especially children. Some people also buy presents for their close friends. And
to a wider circle of friends and relatives, and sometimes also to working

47
associates and neighbours, they send Christmas cards. Some people even send
such greetings to people whom they have not seen for many years, often using
the excuse of this tradition to include a letter passing on the year's news.
People also buy Christmas trees (a tradition imported from Germany in the
nineteenth century). Almost every household has a tree decorated in a different
way (in many cases, with coloured lights). Most people are also put up other
decorations around the house. Exactly what these are varies a great deal, but
certain symbols of Christmas, such as bits of the holly and mistletoe plants, are
very common, and the Christmas cards which the household has received are
usually displayed. A “crib”, which is a model depicting the birth of Christ, also
sometimes forms part of the Christmas decorations. In December, as Christmas
gets closer, carols (usually, but not always, with a religious theme) are sung in
churches and schools, often at special concerts, and also, though less often than
in the past, by groups of people who go from house to house collecting money
for charitable causes.
The role of Farher Christmas (or Santa Claus) and the customs associated with
the giving of gifts vary from family to family. Most households with children
tell them that Father Christmas comes down the chimney-on the night of
Christmas Eve (even though most houses no longer have a working chimney!).
Many children lay out a Christmas stocking at the foot of their beds, which they
expect to see filled when they wake up on Christmas morning. Most families put
wrapped presents around or on the Christmas tree and these are opened at some
time on Christmas Day.
Other activities on Christmas Day may include the eating of Christmas dinner
and listening to the Queen's Christmas message. This ten-minute television
broadcast is normally the only time in the year when the monarch speaks
directly to “her” people on television. (When, in 1993, a national newspaper
published the text of her speech a few days beforehand, it was a national
scandal.)
The general feeling is that Christmas is a time for families. Many of the
gatherings in houses on Christmas Day and Boxing Day consist of extended
families (more than just parents and children). For many families, Christmas is
the only time that they are all together (so it is often a time of conflict rather
than harmony, in fact).

48
Parties on New Year's Eve, on the other hand, are usually for friends. Most
people attend a gathering at this time and “see in” the new year with a group of
other people, often drinking a large amount of alcohol as they do so. In London,
many go to the traditional celebration in Trafalgar Square (where there is an
enormous Christmas tree which is an annual gift from the people of Norway).
In Scotland, where the Calvinists disapproved of parties and celebrations
connected with religious occasions (such as Christmas), New Year, called
Hogmanay, is given particular importance - so much importance that, in
Scotland only, 2 January (as well as New Year's Day) is also a public holiday
(so that people have two days to recover from their New Year’s Eve parties
instead of just one!). Some British New Year customs, such as the singing of the
song Auld Lang Syne, originated in Scotland. Another, less common, one is the
custom of “first footing”, in which the first person to visit a house in the new
year is supposed to arrive with tokens of certain important items for survival
(such as a lump of coal for the fire).
As a well-known Christmas carol reminds people, there are twelve days of
Christmas. In fact, most people go back to work and school soon after New
Year. Nobody pays much attention to the feast of the epiphany on 6 January (the
twelfth day of Christmas), except that this is traditionally the day on which
Christmas decorations are taken down. Some people say it is bad luck to keep
them up after this date.
Other Notable Annual Occasions
Halloween, October 31st
This is a day of fun for young people and children. It is the eve of all Saints Day
and associated with the supernatural. The tradition is holding fancy dress parties.
People dress up in strange costume as ghosts and withes. They cut horrifying
faces in pumpkins with candles inside. Nowadays, children keep the habit of
decorating their houses with skeletons, ghosts and pumpkin masks.
St. Valentine's Day, February 14th
This is a day of love and for lovers. People send presents and greeting-cards to
the ones they love. The receivers may be sweethearts but also parents, friends or
anyone they like. Some cards are romantic with such words as “I love You” ,
“Be my Valentine” or a short poem. Others are humorous. They are often
anonymous and those who receive them spend lots of time trying to guess who

49
senders are. Presents may be flowers, usually roses, or chocolates made in shape
of a heart. It is said that Valentine's Day started in Roman times and at first was
a religious holiday when Christians remembered Saint Valentine. In Britain
some couples choose to get married on this day.
April Fools' Day, April 1st
It is known as All Fools' Day. This is a day full of laughing. People play
practical jokes or tricks on others just for fun. Who started the day, when and
where it was first observed is uncertain, but it is thought to have orginated with
the fools or jesters, kept for entertainment in the houses of medieval noblemen.
The interesting thing is that not only children and young people trick each other
but sometimes newspapers, radio and television are also involved in the fun.
Tricking must stop at noon.
Shrove Tuesday
Another name is Pancake Day. There is a period Easter called lent. During this
time, Christians were once not allowed to eat meat, butter and eggs. Therefore,
people tended to eat up all all the butter and eggs they had in pancakes on the
day before Lent. The
participants stand and toss the pancakes in the air out of frying pan to see how
many times they can toss and catch the pancakes during a certain time. The
other event is the pancakes race. Contestants toss the pancakes while running the
race. The person who comes to the finish first without dropping his or her
pancake is the winner. Nowadays not all Christians keep the tradition of Lent
strictly but the custom of eating pancakes and contests remain.
Easter Day
If Christmas seems to be the biggest festival of the year because of its popularity
and
comercialization. Easter is really the most important, especially to Catholics. It
falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April, the third full moon after
Christmas and celebrates the resurrection of Christ after the crucifixion. It is also
marks the coming of spring (the word Easter comes from the Old English Easter
- the name of the goddess of spring). Most people still keep the custom of eating
chocolate Easter eggs. An egg symbolizes the birth of a new life. Two days
before Easter is Good Friday (the day Christ died) with the custom of eating hot

50
cross buns. The Monday after Easter is called Easter Monday. In Britain, Good
Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays.

TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO

1. McDowwall, D. (2000) Britain in Close-up. An In-depth Study of

Contemporary Britain. London: Longman.
2. O’Driscoll, J. (2000) Britain. The Country and Its People: An Introduction
for Learners of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Falk, R. (2001) Spotlight on Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. Room, A. (1990) A-Z of British Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Crystal, D. (1997) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. 6. Foreign & Commonwealth Office (2003) Local Government
in Britain.
7. London Foreign & Commonwealth Office (2003) Parliamentary Elections in
Britain.

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