Практикум по английскому языку (по истории Англии Средних веков). Пилипенко В.А - 4 стр.

            ÏÐÅÄÈÑËÎÂÈÅ / INTRODUCTION
                                EARLY BRITAIN
         Britain has been many centuries in making. The Romans con-
quered most of Britain, but were unable to subdue the fiercely inde-           не смогли подчи-
pendent tribes in the west. And far north, further waves of invaders           нить
follow Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Normans. All these contributes to             Англы, Саксы,
the mixture we call English. For many centuries this country was               Юты, Норманы;
known simply as English and this historical study must deal first with         смешение рас
the development of England.
         Much has been said and written about the British character.
This attitude is summed up in the legendary story of a headline which          заголовок
is supposed to have appeared one morning in «The Times», as fol-               Туман остановил
lows: Fog Stops Cross-Channel Traffic. Continent Isolated. Even if             движение через
this story is not true, it certainly ought to be. Traditionally, the British   канал
have also been known as superior, snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and
unsociable.
         The traditional opinion about the British or the English in ear-
lier centuries was based on the habits of those Britons who could af-          позволить себе;
ford to travel: the diplomats and merchants. The qualities so justly           купцы;
criticized by observers in other countries were the qualities of the up-       качества
per class. Not the hypocricy and dishonesty were British monopolies.
On the contrary, every exploiting class in history has shared these
characteristics. But the rules of Britain have been in a position where
these qualities were more obvious. Britain was for centuries the pre-          первая
mier trading nation, the first capitalist country, the workshop of the         мастерская
world, and the centre of an empire upon which , it was proudly
claimed, the sun never set. Early in the history England won a reputa-
tion expressed in the title of «Perfidious Albion». Here is an outside
view from the poem «England Expects» by the American Ogden
Nash: «The character of the British people has been misjudged for              неправильно
many centuries. As long as the world had to judge England, the later           судить
Britain, from its experience of the ruling class, it naturally came to
very critical conclusions. The British ruling class, with its record of
success, developed the sense of superiority and arrogance to an ex-            превосходство;
treme degree. But in recent years many people have found that there is         высокомерие
another Britain, the Britain of the working people. They have very
different characteristics from those of the upper class». The British
people may appear to move very slowly, but so does history in Britain.
They may seem hard, stubborn and convinced, but when they are con-
vinced and when they start to move they show a high degree of persis-          настойчивость
tence. It is not then easy to stop them. I hope that this short outline of
British History will explain some of the great struggles of the British
people, whose democratic spirit allow them to proudly claim to have            позволяет с
been the first people in Europe to have tried, executed their king.            гордостью
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