Australia is the only country in the world that is also a continent. It is the sixth large country and the smallest continent. Australia lies between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is situated about 11 000 km southwest of North America and about 8 200 km southeast of mainland Asia. The name of the country comes from Latin word «australis» which mean southern. The country’s official name is Commonwealth of Australia.
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states. Australia has six states — New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Each state has its government. Australia has two territories — the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The capital of the country is Canberra.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy like Great Britain. The nation is administered under written constitution.
More »

History of Canada
Canada’s history is an exciting story of development of a vast wilderness into a great nation. Most experts believe that the first people who lived on this land came from Asia about 15000 years ago. They came over a land bridge that once connected Asia and North America. Their descendants are known today as Indians. The ancestors of the Eskimos came to Alaska after them probably about 5000 years ago.
In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian navigator in the service of England, found rich fishing grounds off Canada’s south- east coast. His discovery led to the European exploration of Canada. France set up a colony in eastern Canada in the early 1600s. Great Britain gained control of the country in 1763, and thousands of British emigrants came to Canada. In 1867, the French and English-speaking Canadians helped to create a united colony called the Dominion of Canada. Two groups worked together to settle the country and to develop its great mineral deposits and other natural resources.
More »

Canada is the second largest country in the world. Only Russia has a greater land area. Canada is situated in North America. Canada is slightly larger than the United States, but has only about a tenth as many people. About 28 million people live in Canada. About 80% of the population live within 320 km of the southern border. Much of the rest of Canada is uninhabited or thinly populated because of severe natural conditions.
Canada is a federation of 10 provinces and 2 territories. Canada is an independent nation. But according to the Constitution Act of 1982 British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is recognized as Queen of Canada. This symbolizes the country’s strong ties to Britain. Canada was ruled by Britain completely until 1867, when Canada gained control of its domestic affairs. Britain governed Canada’s foreign affairs until 1931, when Canada gained full independence.
More »

The English Language
English is spoken practically all over the world. It is spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A lot of people speak English in China, Japan, India, Africa and other countries. It is one of 6 official languages of the United Nations. It is studied as a foreign language in many schools.
England’s history helps to understand the present condition of English. Many English words were borrowed from the language of Angles and Saxons. Hundreds of French words came into English. These French words didn’t crowd out corresponding Anglo-Saxon words. There exist «act» and «deed», «beautiful» and «pretty», «form» and «shape».
Many new words were brought by traders and travellers. These words came from all parts of the world: «umbrella» — from Italian, «skates» —from Datch, «tea» —from Chinese, «cigar» — from Spanish.
Some words came into English directly from Latin, which was the language of the church and the universities in the Middle Ages.
More »

Margaret Thatcher (Margaret Robins) was born in 1925. Her father had a grocer’s shop but he was also very interested in local politics. Margaret was a good student and won a schoolarship to Oxford to study chemistry. Then she worked as a research chemist until she met and married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman. Then she decided to study law. She was already involved in politics and gave up law when she was elected to the Parliament in 1959. From 1970 to 1974 she was Secretary of State for Education. In 1975 she became leader of the Conservative Party which was the Opposition. In 1979 she beat the Labour Party and took office as Prime Minister, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.
Thatcher privatized publicly-owned industries and made cuts in state education, hospitals, and welfare benefits. In early 1980’s, Britain was facing unemployment, inflation, problems of Northern Ireland. In 1982, Britain became involved in an undeclared war against Argentina in the Falkland Islands. After the victory in the Falklands, she had an image of a strong, authoritative leader. In the 1988 election campaign, she won with a large majority of votes. In 1987 she won her third term as Prime Minister defeating the Labour Party which suffered from loss of votes due to the newly formed alliance with Liberal.
More »

Sports in Great Britain
British people are very fond of sports. Sport is part of their normal life. The two most popular games are football and cricket.
Football, also called soccer, is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Football Leagues and national teams. Games are played on Saturday afternoons from August to April. In addition to the FL games there is a competition called the Football Association Cup. The Cup Final is played at Wembley Stadium (London) in May.
More »

British Cuisine
Some people criticize English food. They say it’s unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables.
The basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that British haven’t had to invent sauces to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh pees or new potatoes just boiled and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?
If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say «Fish and chips» then stop. It is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because the food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with a reasonable prices.
More »