Task 1. Read the text. The charm of Britain lies in the variety of scenery

The charm of Britain lies in the variety of scenery. The variety of scenery in Britain is a reflection of the complexgeological history of the islands. Geologically, Britain is a mu­seum model. There are fundamental distinctions between Lowland Britain and Highland Britain.

In Lowland Britain the land is more kindly, gently rolling rarely reaching a thousand feet abovesea-level. Ploughed lands and grass fields, farms and villages form an intricate but continu­ous pattern.

Highland Britain includes thewhole of Scotland. Thenorthern part of Scotland is formed by the Highlands, The southern Uplands arecontinued into the Pennines which form thebackbone of England.

'Tne countryside is generally acknowledgedto be of a very specialloveliness. Itis blessed witha thousand rivers and streams. Mild suns andsoft rains continually refreshits verdure. Na­ture wasin abeneficent mood when it createdthis island.

But the charm of the English rural scene lies inmore than these characteristics. Itlies in the intimacy, in tne sense of order and design. The landscape has, indeed, acomposed quality. Trees and hedges give it a rhythmic pattern. Village and hamlet, cottage and hall display a deep record between man and Nature. It is the landscape of a high civilization.

The contrast of this countryside with the towns is startling. Some parts of oldertowns show something of the sense of order, which the countryside displays. But they are very few. It might be expected that it would be the town that should reflect man’s civilization. It is not so in England. The towns have neither form nor order, let alone beauty. In comparison with the civi­lized countryside they seem to represent the landscape of barbarism.

The Cowper’s /1731-1800/ explanation – “God made the country and man made the town” – is not sufficient. The country which man received from God was gigantic, wild and terrible. The “time-made” England is in the countryside and “man-made” England is in the manufacturing towns. This is perhaps a more accurate definition. The Englishmen have never really been a na­tion of town-dwellers, but are countrymen at heart. The countrymen are the makers of towns.

The English countryside is one of the most designed landscapes in the world. It is natu­rally the most humanized, the most charming of landscapes. No other landscape has the friendli­ness of the English landscape, none its quality of security.

And this miracle has been achieved by the simplest of means. Having been divided into small fields, hedged with natural solid visible boundaries, the English landscape has become a comfortable and friendly place.

But if the English countryside is indeed man-made, that merely makes the contrast be­tween it and the towns the more surprising.

Between the fair boundaries of the counties of Hereford and Worcester rise the sloping pastures of the Malvern Hills. This admirable region is a compendium of the general physiog­nomy of England. Reaching the summits of the Hills, you find half England unrolled atyour feet.

The English sky is a fit antithesis to the complex English earth. They possess in America the infinite beauty of the blue: England possesses the splendor of combined and animated clouds.

Task 2. Discussion: Answer the questions.

1. Are you a country man at heart?

2. What is “time-made” England?

3. What clouds are there in England?

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