One of the greatest countries of the world. Top 10 Britons of all time

LECTURE 01

Top 10 Britons of all time.

10.4.1. British history is particularly rich in great names – the nation is proud of its many outstanding people who contributed to both world civilization and culture. Yet some people are more famous, some people less. It makes sense to resort to the opinions of the members of British public for advice on who’s who in British history. An opinion poll involving some 30.000 people was carried in the UK at the turn of the present century. The aim was to list 100 top Britons of all time. The results of the poll published in the Internet are of peculiar interest for us, experts in British studies.

10.4.2. You may well do this as out-of-class activity.Work individually first, then do the same in small groups. The table below presents the first 10 out of 100 top British names. The left column of the table below contains the alphabetical list. Fill in the other two columns – your list and group list. The lecturer will provide you with information on the original Top Ten list.

Alphabetical list	Your priority list	Group priority list		The original list
Brunel
Churchill
Cromwell
Darwin
Diana
Elizabeth I
Lennon
Nelson
Newton
Shakespeare				Cromwell

10.4.3. It makes no less sense to remember some of the names which appear in the other half of the top 100 list. For instance, these are King Arthur (51), Florence Nightingale (52), Captain Robert Falcon Scott (54), Sir Alexander Graham Bell (57), Freddie Mercury (58), George Stephenson (68), Sir Charles Chaplin (66), Tony Blair (67), William Caxton (68), Edward Jenner (78), Geoffrey Chaucer (81), James Watt (84), James Clerk Maxwell (91), John R.R. Tolkien (92), David Livingstone (98), Professor Tim Berners-Lee (99), Mary Stopes (100). If you have a good story to tell about most of the people mentioned above, then you do know a thing or two (or even three) about British history and culture.

10.4.4. And, by the way, here is one last question. Do you know what gave Mary Stopes the 100^th place on the list?If you don’t, go and find out, will you?

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1.1. General description: what comes to mind first?

1.1.1 United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in northwestern Europe, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the largest island in the cluster of islands, or archipelago, known as the British Isles. England is the largest and most populous division of the island of Great Britain, making up the south and east. Wales is on the west and Scotland is to the north. Northern Ireland is located in the northeast corner of Ireland, the second largest island in the British Isles. The capital of the United Kingdom is the city of London, situated near the southeastern tip of England.

1.1.2. People often confuse the names for this country, and frequently make mistakes in using them. United Kingdom, UK, and Britain are all proper terms for the entire nation, although the term Britain is also often used when talking about the island of Great Britain. The use of the term Great Britain to refer to the entire nation is now outdated; the term Great Britain, properly used, refers only to the island of Great Britain, which does not include Northern Ireland. The term England should never be used to describe Britain, because England is only one part of the island. It is always correct to call people from England, Scotland, or Wales British, although people from England may also properly be called English, people from Scotland Scottish, and people from Wales Welsh.

1.1.3. The United Kingdom is a small nation in physical size – 244,110 sq km (94,251 sq mi). It is located as far north in latitude as Labrador in North America, but, like the rest of northern Europe, it is warmed by the Gulf Stream flowing out of the North Atlantic Ocean. These conditions make Britain lush and green, with rolling plains in the south and east and rough hills and mountains to the west and north. Despite its relatively small size, Britain is highly populated, with an estimated population density of 250 persons per sq km (646 per sq mi) in 2004.

1.1.4. It is highly developed economically, preeminent in the arts and sciences, sophisticated in technology, and highly prosperous and peaceful. In general, British subjects belong to one of the more affluent states of Europe and enjoy a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world. Some class distinctions have become blurred in Britain. Today only a small number of people are considered upper class. Because the British economy has created many semiprofessional and technical jobs, it is no longer easy to tell which jobs are middle class and which are working class. Moreover, growing national affluence has brought greater social mobility between the working class and the middle class.

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