Summary: book "Britain for Learners of English", James O'Driscoll
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- Personal identity of British people
- The classes
| The dominance of England It cannot be denied that the dominant culture of Britain today is specifically English. The system of politics that is used in all four nations today is of English origin and English is the main language of all four nations. Today, English domination can be detected in the way in which various aspects of British public life are described. For example, the supply of money in Britain is controlled by the Bank of England (there is no such thing as Bank of Britain. Another example is the name of the present monarch. She is universally known as Elizabeth II, even though Scotland and Northern Ireland have never had an Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I of England and Wales ruled from 1553 to 1603. Other examples English is the main language of four nations England is the biggest country in the UK and contains about 84% of the UK population The capital of the UK is in England (London) The system of politics that is used in all nation is of English origin The British Royal family live in England Personal identity of British people People in Britain find it the most awful thing if someone doesn’t have a sense of humour. You do not have to tell the best jokes to be humorous, if you are able to joke about yourself you’re doing a good job. Most important quality. More important than honesty or intelligence. The classes Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are influenced by factors of wealth, occupation and education. Until recently the Parliament of the United Kingdom was organised on a class basis, with the House of Lords representing the hereditary upper class and the House of Commons representing everyone else, and the British monarch is often viewed as being at the top of the social class structure. The British society has often been considered to be divided into three main groups of classes The Upper Class Often people with inherited wealth. Includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titled aristocrats. The Middle Class The majority of the population of Britain. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners. Lower or Working class People who are agricultural, mine and factory workers. Blue collar workingman s clothes, manual labour. White collar office worker, non-manual. Distributing prohibited | Downloaded by Ngan Tien (nganctddongnai@yahoo.com.vn) lOMoARcPSD|2347954 |