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The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. People in The UK are called British although they have different nationalities.
The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. People in The UK are called British although they have different nationalities.
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The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. People in The UK are called British although they have different nationalities.
Hak Cipta:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Format Tersedia
Unduh sebagai DOC, PDF, TXT atau baca online dari Scribd
The UK is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. From north to south it is about 1,000 kilometres long. The UK part of Europe and is a member of the European Union (EU). • What is the official name of the UK? • The official name of the UK is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". • What countries make up the UK? • The name refers to the union of what were once four separate nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (though most of Ireland is now independent. Only Northern Ireland is part of the UK now). • The United Kingdom is made up of: • England - The capital is London. • Scotland - The capital is Edinburgh . • Wales - The capital is Cardiff. • Northern Ireland - The capital is Belfast. • England, Scotland and Wales together form Great Britain. • Great Britain and Northern Ireland together form the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (UK) • What is the capital city of the UK? • The capital of the UK is London. • When was the UK formed? • The United Kingdom was formed in on January 1, 1801 and constitutes the greater part of the British Isles. • What are people called in the UK? • People in the UK are called British although they have different nationalities. Superstitions in Britain • Good Luck • Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England. • Lucky to touch wood. They touch, knock on wood, to make something come true. • Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves. • White heather is lucky. • A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horseshoe if it is upside down. • Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards. • On the first day of the month it is lucky to say “white rabbits,white rabbits,white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day. • Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you will have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year. • Cut your hair when the moon is waxing and you will have good luck. • Putting money in the pocket of new clothes brings good luck. • Bad Luck • Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder. • Seven years bad luck to break a mirror. The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods. • Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc.. • Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck. • Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors. • The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. • Unlucky to put new shoes on the table. • Unlucky to pass someone on the stairs. • Food Superstitions • When finished eating a boiled egg, push the spoon through the bottom of the empty shell to let the devil out. • In Yorkshire, housewives used to believe that bread would not rise if there was a corpse (dead body) in the vicinity, and to cut off both ends of the loaf would make the Devil fly over the house! • • Table Superstitions • If you drop a table knife expect a male visitor, if you drop a fork a female visitor. • Crossed cutlery on your plate and expect a quarrel. • Leave a white tablecloth on a table overnight and expect a death. • Animal Superstitions • Animals feature a lot in our superstitions as they do in superstitions around the world. • One ancient British superstition holds that if a child rides on a bear's back it will be protected from whooping-cough. (Bears used to roam Britain but now they are not seen on our shores). • In some parts of the UK meeting two or three Ravens together is considered really bad. One very English superstition concerns the tame Ravens at the Tower of London. It is believed if they leave then the crown of England will be lost. • It is said to be bad luck if you see bats flying and hear their cries. In the middle ages it was believed that witches were closely associated with bats. • If a Sparrow enters a house it is an omen of death to one of the people who live there. In some areas it is believed that to avoid bad luck, any Sparrow caught must be immediately killed otherwise the person who caught it will die. • In some areas black Rabbits are thought to host the souls of human beings. White Rabbits are said to be really witches and some believe that saying 'White Rabbit' on the first day of each month brings luck. A common lucky charm is a Rabbit's foot, but not for the Rabbit. • It is thought very unlucky to have the feathers of a Peacock within the home or handle anything made with them. This is possibly because of the eye shape present upon these feathers i.e. the Evil-Eye associated with wickedness. • Wedding Superstitions • Bride and groom must not meet on the day of the wedding except at the altar. • The bride should never wear her complete wedding clothes before the day. • For good luck the bride should wear “something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new”. • The husband should carry his new wife over the threshold of their home.
Special Events & Celebrations
Many festivals and holidays in Britain are centuries old. Every town, village and hamlet in Britain has its own traditions, some involving months of careful planning and preparations of costumes and choreography, others requiring simply a worrying desire to make a complete and utter fool of oneself. January July 1st New Year's Day Swan Upping 5th Twefth Night February August 1st Candlemas Day Notting Hill Carnival 14th Valentine's Day March September 1st St David's Day Harvest Festival (Wales National Day) 17th St. Patrick's Day (Ireland's Special Day) April October 1st April Fool's Day 31st Halloween 23rd St George's Day (England's National Day) May November 1st May Day 5th Bonfire Night 11th Remembrance Day 30th St Andrew's Day (Scotland's National Day) June December Trooping the Colours Advent Wimbledon Tennis 25th Christmas Tournament 26th Boxing Day Population • The Census • A census of the population in Britain has been taken every 10 years since 1801 (with the exception of 1941, when Britain was at war). The next census will be in 2011. • 2001 Census • In 2001, the population of the United Kingdom was recorded at just under 59 million people. • Great Britain is heavily populated compared with many other countries. • Britain is a relatively densely populated country: it is more than twice as densely populated as France (106 people per square km), nine times as densely populated as the USA (27 people per km) and 100 times as densely populated as Australia (2 people per square km). • Britain ranks 18th in the world in terms of population size. • The population is very unequally distributed over the four parts of the UK: England more or less constantly makes up 84% of the total population, Wales around 5%, Scotland roughly 8.5 %, and Northern Ireland (since 1921) less than 3%. • The population of the United Kingdom was estimated to be 61,000,000 in mid-2007, up by 400,000 (0.6 per cent) on the previous year and nearly two million more than in mid-2001. Nearly 84 per cent of the total population of the United Kingdom lives in England. • The most densely populated areas of England are the major cities and metropolitan areas of London and the South East, South and West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, the West Midlands, and the conurbations on the rivers Tyne,Wear and Tees. London has the highest population density with 400 people per square kilometre, and the South West the lowest (210 people per square kilometre). • England is by far the most densely populated part of the UK. • In 2003, it had a population density of 383 people per sq km compared with Wales (142), Northern Ireland (125) and Scotland (65). • England's population density is more than treble the European average of 117 people per sq km. • England is also one of the most densely populated countries in the world. • Resident Population • For the first time ever, the UK has more people aged over 60 than under 16. • Today there are five times more people aged over 85 than there were in 1951. Do’s and Don’ts • DOs and DON'TS (Taboos) in England... • Do stand in line: • In England people like to form orderly queues (standing in line) and wait patiently for their turn e.g. boarding a bus. It is usual to queue when required, and expected that you will take your correct turn and not push in front. 'Queue jumping' is frowned upon. • Do take your hat off when you go indoors (men only) • It is impolite for men to wear hats indoors especially in churches. • Nowadays, it is becoming more common to see men wearing hats indoors. However, this is still seen as being impolite, especially to the older generations. • Do say "Excuse Me": • If someone is blocking your way and you would like them to move, say excuse me and they will move out of your way. • Do Pay as you Go: • Pay for drinks as you order them in pubs and other types of bars. • Do say "Please" and "Thank you": • It is very good manners to say "please" and "thank you". It is considered rude if you don't. You will notice in England that people say 'thank you' a lot. • Do cover your Mouth: • When yawning or coughing always cover your mouth with your hand. • Do Shake Hands: • When you are first introduced to someone, shake their right hand with your own right hand. • Do say sorry: • If you accidentally bump into someone, say 'sorry'. They probably will too, even if it was your fault! This is a habit and can be seen as very amusing by an 'outsider'. • Do Smile: • A smiling face is a welcoming face. • Do Drive on the left side of the road. • Do open doors for other people: • Men and women both hold open the door for each other. It depends on who goes through the door first. • In England... • Do not greet people with a kiss: They only kiss people who are close friends and relatives. • Avoid talking loudly in public. • It is impolite to stare at anyone in public: Privacy is highly regarded. • Do not ask a lady her age: It is considered impolite to ask a lady her age. • Do not pick your nose in public: They are disgusted by this. If your nostrils need de-bugging, use a handkerchief. • Avoid doing gestures such as backslapping and hugging: This is only done among close friends. • Do not spit. Spitting in the street is considered to be very bad mannered. • Do not burp in public You may feel better by burping loudly after eating or drinking, but other people will not! If you can not stop a burp from bursting out, then cover your mouth with your hand and say 'excuse me' afterwards. • Do not pass wind in public: • Now how can we say this politely? Let's say that you want to pass wind. What do you do? Go somewhere private and let it out. If you accidentally pass wind in company say 'pardon me'.