英語聽力頻道為大家整理的高二英語聽力：The British Isles，供大家參考:)
[00:04.78]Reading The British Isles
[00:09.53]The idea that England stands for Fish Chips,Speakers' Comer,
[00:16.20]Big Ben and the Tower of London is past.
[00:21.47]Though many people around the world study its language,
[00:26.51]their view of British culture is sometimes narrow.
[00:31.56]The fact that Great Britain is made up of three countries is still unknown to many
[00:38.50]Within Great Britain for many years now,
[00:42.87]there has been a growing movement to make the most of its cultural diversity
[00:49.42]to see it as it really is:
[00:53.50]a nation of different countries held together by a common language and culture.
[01:00.55]The British Isles are a group of islands that lies off the west coast of Europe.
[01:07.63]The largest island is called Britain,
[01:11.58]which is separated from France by the English Channel,
[01:16.62]which at one point is only 20 miles wide.
[01:21.66]It forms the mainland of Great Britain and consists of three countries:
[01:28.03]Scotland in the north,Wales in the west and England in the south and east.
[01:35.79]The island just west of Britain is called Ireland.
[01:41.12]Between Britain and Ireland,in the Irish Sea,lies the small Isle of Man.
[01:48.67]The British Isles are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west,
[01:54.55]and the North Sea to the east.
[01:58.31]The climate of the British Isles is mild with a lot of rain.
[02:03.87]In general, Scotland is colder throughout the year,and receives more rain.
[02:10.22]It rains a lot in England and Wales too,but the temperatures are more pleasant.
[02:16.99]In the summer months the difference in temperature bet ween London
[02:22.63]and the north can be as much as nine degrees!
[02:27.38]The coldest months are January and February,
[02:31.93]while the warmest months are July and August.
[02:36.89]The culture of the people of the British Isles
[02:41.44]was influenced by the culture of the people on the European mainland.
[02:47.18]In the fifth century,
[02:50.53]people from different parts of northern Europe settled in England,
[02:56.30]bringing their own culture and language with them.
[03:00.56]Their languages formed the basis for English.
[03:05.10]Some of the native population moved to the inland,
[03:09.96]mountainous parts of the islands,
[03:14.12]to Ireland,Scotland and Wales,where they continued speaking their own languages.
[03:20.67]In 1066 England was conquered by the French.
[03:26.42]For the next few hundred years the upper classes spoke French
[03:32.19]while the common people spoke English.
[03:36.35]The result of this French influence was that the English language
[03:42.20]ended up with many French words such as table,animal and age.
[03:49.67]The United Kingdom has a long history.
[03:53.61]England and Scotland are kingdoms.
[03:57.45]The first two countries forming the Union were England and Wales in 1536.
[04:04.82]Wales had already been conquered by England in 1283,
[04:10.67]but it was not until 250 years later that they formed a single state.
[04:17.44]Scotland joined later in 1707,
[04:22.09]while the southern part of Ireland was only part of the UK for some time,
[04:28.46]and is now an independent republic.
[04:32.40]Only the northern counties,making up Northern Ireland,
[04:37.68]are still part of the United Kingdom.
[04:41.76]The smaller islands,such as the Isle of Man,
[04:46.72]are neither part of the United Kingdom nor independent.
[04:52.08]They are ruled by the King of England.
[04:56.12]In modern times,people throughout the British Isles speak English.
[05:02.00]However,there are still people who also speak the older European languages,
[05:08.66]Welsh and Irish.
[05:12.14]There are six spoken languages that are considered to be native to the British Isles
[05:18.48]as well as two local accents.
[05:22.56]That most of these are now threatened
[05:26.40]and may disappear is a serious matter to the people in Britain.
[05:31.86]They realise that it is of great value to record
[05:37.03]teach them to the younger generation
[05:40.79]Integrating skills Reading
[05:48.84]ENGLAND,MY ENGLAND
[05:52.71]It is twenty-five miles across the fields to Salisbury.
[05:57.85]Sheep can be seen everywhere and the great number of them is really wonderful.
[06:04.41]All around the city of Salisbury,as far as twenty-two miles to the west,
[06:11.17]and six miles south,down to the coast,farmers raise sheep.
[06:17.94]There could be as many as six hundred thousand sheep
[06:22.90]fed within six miles of Salisbury,
[06:27.13]measuring every way round and the town in the centre.
[06:32.57]As we travelled through this country,
[06:36.33]we saw many old relics from ancient times
[06:41.58]and ruins of the native population of this kingdom.
[06:46.65]These are interesting to a traveller
[06:50.59]who has read something of the history of the country
[06:55.56]The cathedral is famous for the height of its tower,
[07:00.83]which is without doubt the highest and the most handsome in England,
[07:06.58]being from the ground 404 feet.
[07:11.83]Salisbury itself is a large and fine city.
[07:16.79]It is built where two rivers come together.
[07:21.18]Neither of them is very big,but they become a large river when joined together,
[07:29.72]and yet larger when joined by a third river,about three miles below the city.
[07:36.67]Then,through a deep channel they flow through some gardens,
[07:42.24]and down to Christchurch,into the sea.
[07:46.68]The city of Salisbury has two important kinds of produce and trade,
[07:53.73]which employ the poor of a great part of the country round namely,
[07:58.88]making cloth and sheets,called Salisbury Whites.
[08:05.96]The people of Salisbury are happy and rich.
[08:11.00]Their business is doing well,
[08:15.07]and there is a great deal of good manners and good company among them.
[08:20.64]I have written before that this country has high hills,
[08:25.78]whose tops spread out into green fields upon which great numbers of sheep are fed.
[08:32.34]But I want to tell the reader that these hills and fields are most beautiful,
[08:38.71]with many small and clear rivers,and rich fields bearing fruit and grain.
[08:45.77]All around we find nice little towns,villages and houses,
[08:52.14]and among them many of good size.
[08:56.82]So you look at the fields and think the country wild and empty,
[09:02.98]and yet when you come down the hills you are surprised with the most beautiful
[09:09.75]and rich country in England.
[09:13.82]Work book
[09:20.07]Unit 5 Integrating skills reading
[09:26.73]IRELAND: THE ISLAND IN THE WEST
[09:31.59]The island of Ireland is just west of the UK
[09:36.86]and is the westernmost island in Europe.
[09:40.99]Although a small country, it has an amazing history of over 5,000 years.
[09:48.04]Few places on the planet are as packed with history as Ireland.
[09:53.50]Everywhere you look there are castles and historical places.
[09:58.78]In Ireland the past is part of the present
[10:03.32]part of the people and part of its culture.
[10:08.00]For much of its history,
[10:11.24]Ireland lay hidden behind its bigger neighbour,Great Britain.
[10:16.41]In fact,Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
[10:23.07]for many centuries until the 1920s.
[10:28.35]In 1921,the southern part of Ireland became independent
[10:34.80]and the Republic of Ireland was founded.
[10:38.77]It is a state that covers more than 70,000 square kilometres,
[10:44.41]or five-sixths of the island of Ireland.
[10:48.86]It has four provinces,which altogether consist of 26 counties and 6 urban areas.
[10:57.40]Northern Ireland is part of the UK.
[11:01.34]The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union,and uses the euro.
[11:08.19]Ireland has a mild sea climate.
[11:11.95]The coldest months are January and February
[11:16.49]with air temperatures between 4 to 7 ~C during the day.
[11:23.26]The warmest months are July and August,when it is a quite cool 14 to 16'C.
[11:32.11]The sunniest months are May and June,
[11:36.19]with about five to seven hours of sunshine per day.
[11:41.23]As Ireland is surrounded by water
[11:45.31]it comes as no surprise that it rains quite a lot,just as in England and Wales.
[11:52.57]The population of the Republic of Ireland is thought to be about three million.
[11:58.73]Of those,over one million live in Dublin.
[12:03.49]Ireland has a young population,with 44% of the population under the age of 25.
[12:11.64]There are two official languages in Ireland:
[12:15.90]Irish,which is the national language,and English,
[12:21.67]which is the language of the majority of the population.
[12:26.42]Until the early nineteenth century,almost everyone in Ireland spoke Irish.
[12:32.88]The change to English happened quickly.
[12:36.74]By 1891 more than 85% of the population spoke English.
[12:43.40]Since Ireland became independent,
[12:47.16]the Irish government has recognised that if nothing is done,
[12:52.41]this part of Irish culture will disappear.
[12:56.65]A growing number of schools teach in the Irish language
[13:01.69]and radio and TV programmes have helped nearly 20% of the Irish people
[13:08.53]to develop language skills in both languages.
[13:13.29]The earliest Irish art is found carved on monuments dating from 2,500 - 2,000 BC.
[13:22.66]The large,typical Irish stone crosses,seen across the country,
[13:28.91]date from the ninth and tenth centuries.
[13:33.06]Although Irish culture mostly developed under the wings of Great Britain,
[13:38.81]it has a quality of its own.
[13:42.36]It rings with magic and there is a dark and mysterious feeling to it.
[13:48.24]The many castles that are found everywhere around Ireland add to that idea.
[13:54.40]There is for example the famous Blarney Castle,
[13:59.68]which is known for the story of the Blarney Stone.
[14:04.54]The Stone is believed to have come from Scotland,
[14:09.27]where in early times it was used by kings because of its magic powers.
[14:15.20]One day the King of Ireland saved an old woman from drowning.
[14:20.26]The old lady turned out to be a witch.
[14:24.10]To thank the king,she told him the secret of the Stone.
[14:29.15]The spell of the Blarney Stoneis
[14:33.12]that you can become fluent in English in return for kissing the Stone