In Britain newspapers differ greatly from each other in the type of news they report and the way they report it.
On the one hand, there are «quality» news-papers: The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph. These papers report major national and international news stories, with the world of politics and business and with the arts and sport.
On the other hand, there are «populars» or «tabloids», so called because of their small size. Popular papers (The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Star) pay much attention to sensational news, extraordinary events, catastrophes, accidents, private lives of royalty and nobility, of people of art, of music and movie stars.
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British Institutions

System of Government in GB
Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch — Queen Elizabeth II — as a head of State.
Today the Queen is not only head of State but also an important symbol of national unity. The 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.» In law the Queen is head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the Commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the Supreme Governor of the established Church of England.
The Queen and the royal family continue to take part in many traditional ceremonies. They visit different parts of Britain; they are involved in the work of many charities.
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United Kingdom

Location
Britain forms the greater part of the British Isles, which lie off the north-west coast of mainland Europe. Great Britain is separated from the Continent by the English Channel. «Great Britain» is a geographical expression but «The United Kingdom» is a political expression. The full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain comprises England, Wales and Scotland.
Great Britain is in fact the biggest of the group of islands which lies between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The total area is 242,534 sq. km. Britain is just under 1,000 km long from the south coast of England to the extreme north of Scotland, and just under 500 km across in the widest part.
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English Language

Two thousand years ago the Celts, who had been arriving from Europe, mixed with the peoples who were already in Britain Isles. The Roman province of Britannia covered most of the territory of present- day England and Wales. The Romans imposed their own way of living, culture, and language. But inspite of their long occupation of Britain, there isn’t much they left behind. Even most of temples, roads and cities were later destroyed. But such place- names like Chester, Lancaster, Gloucester remind us of the Romans.
The Romans influenced mainly the towns. In the country (where most people lived) Celtic speech dominated. The farming methods remained there unchanged. We can’t speak about Roman’s occupation as a large- scale settlement.
Later (during the 5th century) two tribes (the Angles and the Saxons) settled in Britain. They settled on a very vast territory. Only in the west of the country King Arthur and his army halted the tribes. But in the 6th century the way of life of these tribes predominated in England. The Celtic Britons’ culture and language survived in Southwest Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.
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Agatha Christie

The queen of crime – Agatha Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote 78 crime novels, six romantic novels, 150 short stories, and 19 plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare! Her books have been translated into 103 languages, and her two most famous creations, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, solved hundreds of crimes. One of her plays, The Mousetrap, started showing in London in November 1952, and it has never stopped! It is now the longest-running play in history.
Agatha Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her first husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital as a nurse. (It is there that she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books.) She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them.
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Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock: The MASTER of SUSPENSE
“… and remember, the next scream you hear maybe your own!”

LET’S IMAGINE A FILM WITH THREE MEN SITTING IN A ROOM. There is a bomb hidden in the room, but the men don’t know about it. Neither does the audience. The men are engaged in small talk, but no one is really interested. Then the bomb explodes. The audience is surprised, but there has been no suspense.
Now let’s change the situation a little. This time, the audience knows that the bomb is ready to go off, but the men in the film don’t. Now the small talk has a dramatic effect. It becomes unbearable. The audience wants the men to get out of the room, but they don’t go. Someone makes a move to leave, and the audience makes a sigh of relief. But someone delays, and the tension builds again.
One of the greatest masters of suspense was Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). He knew how to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats and developed his skill to the point of high art.
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Celine Dion

She is the most successful female singer in the world and her Titanic theme tune topped British charts for five weeks. She comes from a tight family unit. Celine was the youngest of 14 children (nine girls and five boys). She grew up in humble circumstances in a tiny house near Montreal. Her parents worked hard but money was tight and music often paid the bills. The Dion family was singing and dancing at weddings and parties. Celine’s father was the family’s band leader. He also did all kinds of jobs, and her mother never worked. Celine laughs: “Are you kidding, raising 14 kids!” Every Sunday the family grew bigger. All neighbours and friends wanted to be round them, and they never locked the door.
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