TRADITIONS & CUSTOMS OF GREAT BRITIAN. Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions.In Britian traditions play more importaint part in the life of the people than in some other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. It has been the law for about three hundred years that all the theatres are closed on Sundays no letters are delivered only a few Sunday papers are publshed. To this day English families prefer cotage houses with gardens to flats in a modern house with central heeting.English people like gardens.Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted green (in imitation of grass) and a box of flowers. In English houses the fire-place has always been the centre of interest in a room.For many months of the year people like to sit round the fire and watch the dancing flames.Fire places are decorated with woodworks,there is a painting or a mirror over it.Above the fire there is usually a shelf with a clock and some photographs. Holydays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in cotland,Wales and England.Christmas is a great english national holyday and in Scotland it is not kept at all exeept by clerks in banks,all the shops and factories are working.But 6 days later on the New Year's Eve the Scots begin to enjoy themselves.People invite their friends to their houses and sit the old year out and the new year in.In England on new Year's Eve a lot of people go to Trafalgar Square,at midnight,they all cross their arms join hands and sing.People have parties too,they drink toarts to the New Year Children are happy to have presents. Four times a year the offices and banks in Britain are closed on Monday. These public holidays are known as Bank Holidays.The British like to spend holidays out of the town in the open air.They go to the sea-side or to amusements parks. Londoners often visit the Zoo,outside London they take their families to Hamsted Heath ['hнmstid'hi@] a large natural park too.There is usually a big fair with many different amusements for children merry-go-round,swings puppet shows,bright baloons. One must also speak about such holidays ass All Fools Day,Hallowe'en Bonfire Night,St.Valentines Day and such tradition as Eisteddfod (a festival of which culture). _ _SCIENCE IN OUR LIFE Today we see the world in which social,industrial and political order has been greatly influenced by science.The development of science has increased man's know-ledge of nature. Modern experimental science began about 400 year ago.Man learned to use the energy of fire water.Later man made steaw serve him.Nowdays man uses thermonuclear energy and that of autimatter. I'd like to dwell on electronics as not a day passes without the apearnce of a new eletronic device.The first great progress in electronics came with the invention of the vacuum tube or valve in 1904.it made broad casting possible.the development of electronics during World War II gave us radars and electronic computers. The first general purpose computer for scientific use was invented in 1949.Today computers have become common they can do fantastic things. Computer can condukt experiments in places which are too dangerous for people.Some computers are used in carves and mines to replace workers.Besides thay can be designed for special purposes. Thay can solve mathimatical problems,make bank aubuts,play chess.New supercomputers solve problems in many branches of industry,science and culture.They are videly used in submarine navigation and in modern hospital.Now much is being done to create artifical intellect.Science has brought in to being a new atomic technologies.Elektric enginearing and radio enginearin have been created in the some way. Science and technology have acheeved great progress in spase research.There have been space flights,the launching of interplanetary stations in the direction of Mars, Radar contacts with the planets Mercury and Venus.Science enters own flats.Many people have already forgotten what the world was like before television.several generations of children have grown up with TV as a baby-sitter,teacher and companion. A lot of kitchens in our flats are so well equipped that they look like a control room.We are so used to all these that we can't (emmigenc) our life without science. _ _The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousands small islands. Their total area is over 244 000 square kilometres. The United Kingdom is one of the world's smaller countries. Its population is over 57 million. About 80 percent of the population is urban. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast respectively. Great Britain consists of England , Scotland and Wales and does not include Northern Ireland. But in everyday speech Great Britain is used in the meaning of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The capital of the UK. is London. The British Isles are separated from the Continent by the North Sea and the British Channel. The *western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called the Highlands. The South, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands. The north and west of England are mountainous, but the eastern, central and south- eastern parts of England are a vast plain. Mountains are not very high. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain (1343 m). There are a lot of rivers iri Great Britain, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest rive?, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important oae. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles. ............