北师大初中英语九年级Unit 5-20（MP3+LRC）

[00:00.66]Unit 5 English and English-speaking Countries

[00:05.43]Lesson 20

[00:09.80]Exercise 1.2

[00:12.64]The United Kingdom lies in Western Europe

[00:15.47]in the north of the Atlantic Ocean.

[00:17.81]It is divided into for countries:

[00:20.27]England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

[00:24.45]The full name of the country is the United

[00:26.56]Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[00:29.71]The short form is United Kingdom or just UK.

[00:34.16]It is called a kingdom because

[00:36.04]it is ruled by a king or a queen.

[00:38.81]The present queen of the UK is Queen Elizabeth.

[00:42.45]The UK is not a big country;

[00:45.25]it's about the size of New Zealand,

[00:47.60]but its population is much larger,

[00:50.20]about 59 million.

[00:51.90]The official language is English

[00:53.84]and the capital is London.

[00:55.95]The weather in the UK is mild

[00:57.45]and it rains a lot,

[00:59.52]although in parts of northern England

[01:01.51]and in Scotland it can get quite cold.

[01:04.47]People in the UK love sports a lot.

[01:07.98]Soccer, which is the national sport,

[01:10.31]is very popular.

[01:11.65]The lion is a symbol which was first used

[01:14.48]by King Richard I in the 12th century

[01:17.26]to show the strength of England.

[01:19.54]Today it is still used on the Queen's coat

[01:22.45]of arms.

[01:27.11]Exercise 2.2

[01:29.63]I'd like to welcome all of you on our tour,

[01:32.89]Great Sights of London.

[01:35.02]To your right is the British Museum which

[01:37.69]receives about 6 million visitors a year.

[01:41.86]This is the largest museum

[01:43.94]in the United Kingdom.

[01:45.68]Here you will find the very famous Egyptian

[01:48.33]mummy collection that draws visitors from

[01:51.00]all over the world.

[01:53.10]Now, ladies and gentlemen,

[01:54.77]on your left is Buckingham Palace which was

[01:57.04]built in 1705 for the Duke of Buckingham

[02:00.63]whose family still lives there today.

[02:04.18]Queen Elizabeth, who is the ruler of the UK,

[02:07.29]opened Buckingham Palace to the public in 1993.

[02:11.35]Up ahead are the Houses of Parliament.

[02:14.29]This building consists of the House of Commons

[02:17.27]and the House of Lords.

[02:18.85]Let's all check the time on Big Ben,

[02:21.72]a clock tower which is probably

[02:24.01]the most famous symbol of London.

[02:26.52]Finally, to you left is St. Paul's Cathedral.

[02:29.97]This is where Prince Charles

[02:31.62]and Lady Diana got married.

[02:33.96]It's a beautiful sight,isn't it?

[02:34.65]