Практикум по английскому языку (стр. 3 )

The relation between these names can be seen from the following table:

England Wales Scotland	Great Britain	Britain or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the U. K.)	The British Isles
Northern Ireland
The Irish Republic

The corresponding adjectives are as follows:

England — English

Wales —Welsh

Scotland — Scottish — the most widely-used form

Sometimes Scotch, as in Scotch whisky and Scotch pan­cakes, or Scots, as in Scots pine.

Northern Ireland — Northern Irish

Great Britain, Britain - British

The United Kingdom (U. K.) — there is no correspond­ing adjective

The words United Kingdom or the initials U. K. may be used attributively

eg. The United Kingdom (U. K.) delegation.

Great Britain is sometimes used in practically the same sense as Britain, to denote the whole country, but this is not to be recommended on the whole. Note that both Great Britain and Britain are officially translated into Russian as Великобритания, although some Russian writers use Британия as a translation of Britain.

The fact that in Russian it is acceptable to use Англия instead of Великобритания in non-formal style should not lead Russian speakers to use England instead of (Great) Britain. For example, a person who was born in Glasgow will be offended if he is told that he comes from England or is described as an Englishman. In fact he comes from Scotland, or (Great) Britain. With people who really come from England, the distinction between England/English and Britain/British is not so important in such cases. We may say that a person born in London or Bristol or Manchester comes from England or from (Great) Britain. Here England may be preferred because Britain sounds more formal.

With reference to the whole country, however, only Britain/British (or the United Kingdom) should be used. Here are some expressions with the adjective British:

-  the British government

Prime Minister army

embassy, ambassador

- a British citizen, British citizenship

- a British passport

- British industry/agriculture

There are some cases where British is not appropriate because there is not a single system for the whole of Brit­ain. This applies in particular to education and law, where Scotland and Northern Ireland, which were joined much later than Wales, have their own systems. Thus we say:

—  the educational system of England and Wales

The English educational system is also used for convenience, to avoid the clumsy English and Welsh educational system.

the educational system of Scotland/Northern Ireland | Scottish/Northern Irish educational system

— the English/Scottish/Northern Irish legal system

—  English/Scottish/Northern Irish law

Although there are some customs which are common to all parts of Britain, or at least Great Britain, many others are restricted mainly to one part of the country. Thus we often speak of an (old) English/Welsh/Scottish/Irish cus­tom. With reference to food (traditional dishes, etc.), English/Welsh, etc. is more common, and also when talking about national character (the Welsh, Scots and Irish, unlike the English, are Celts). Humour, too, is English or Welsh or Scottish or Irish, not British. As for art, it can be either English/Welsh/Scottish/Irish or British, depending on whether artists from one part of the country or from the whole country are included.

In sport, there is a difference between the British team, (representing the whole of Britain, or sometimes Great Brit­ain) and the England team (representing England only). Note the use of England here. English team may mean simply a team of Englishmen, not necessarily representing England as a whole.

Exercise 1. Fill in the blanks with Britain, the United Kingdom or England and any other necessary words.

1. The official name of the whole country is... . 2. Great Brit­ain consists of... . 3. Scotland had four universities by the 16th century, whereas... still had only two. 4. The Australian Prime Minister is on an official visit to... . 5. —I’ve bought a book called “The Educational System of... and Wales.” 6. Unemployment is much higher in Northern Ireland than in ... as a whole. 7. He was born in Wales, but his parents moved to... when he was only five. 8. The Bank of Scotland prints its own banknotes but they are accept­ed all over... .9. Many Indian doctors now work in... . 10. —Last year I went to... on a language course. (The course was held in Cambridge.)

Exercise 2. Fill in the blanks with British, English or England.

1. 10, Downing Street is the residence of the... Prime Minister. 2. —Is he a... citizen? 3. —Do you like... food? 4. Kissing under the mistletoe is an old... custom. 5. The... team reached the final in the World Cup. 6. According to... law, all firearms must be registered. 7. —You must get a visa from the... embassy. 8. The... educational system often seems complicated to foreigners. 9. He served in the... army for many years. 10.— I went to an exhibition of... portrait -­painting in the eighteenth century. 11. Not everyone appreciates... humour. 12. The... flag is called the Union Jack. 13.— What do you know about the... character? 14. The Confederation of... Industry is a body representing all employers in the industrial sphere.

Comfortable, Convenient

Comfortable is formed from the noun comfort, which means “physical well-being, a state free from pain or irritation”. Thus a comfortable chair is one in which the body feels at ease, comfortable shoes are ones which do not cause the feet any pain or irritation. Comfortable is most often used of chairs, beds, etc., clothes, houses and flats (meaning comfor­tably furnished) and means of transport. However, it may be used in a wider sense, to mean.

(1)  having or providing comfort:

eg 1. He has a very comfortable life.

2. They have a comfortable income.

(2)  simple and undemanding;

eg 3. His life had settled into a comfortable routine.

It is also used of sick people, meaning “free from excessive pain”, “as well as can be expected”.

eg 4. The patient was said to be comfortable after the operation.

Convenient means “avoiding trouble or difficulty”, or “serving to make a task easier”. Thus a convenient time for a meeting is one which fits in well with one’s other activi­ties, a convenient place is one which is easily reached, and so on. Various tools and household appliances (for example, washing machines, electric mixers, potato-peelers) can be called convenient.

Convenient can be compared with comfortable in the fol­lowing examples:

Exercise. Fill in the blanks with comfortable or convenient. In cases where both are possible, explain the difference in meaning.

1. —Will ten o’clock be a... time for yon? 2. — There isn’t much food value in packet soups but they’re very... . 3. —I think you will be more ... in the armchair. 4. —1 want to put on some more... shoes to go shopping. These are hurting me. 5. — The Red Arrow is the most... overnight train to Moscow. 6. — The bed in the hotel was very... . 7, —Foil is very... for storing food and for cooking, too, for example, roasting chicken. 8. The medical report said that the patient was... . 9. —I like this skirt because it’s so... . 10. — Their flat is more... than mine. 11. In the evening he liked to relax in a... chair and read or watch television. 12. — It’s very... to book tickets by tel­ephone. 13. —Is your timetable... this term? 14. (Hostess to guest) — Please make yourself... . 15. —Instant coffee doesn’t taste like real coffee.—No, but it’s very... . 16. — This settee can be pulled out to make a bed. — How... ! 17. A successful barrister has a very... life. 18. The hours (of work) are not... for women with children but the management refuses to change them.

Company, Firm, Enterprise

Most business organizations in Britain and the USA are officially called companies. (There are various types of com­panies, whose legal position is fixed by company law.) How­ever, since company has various other meanings, we do not usually say simply He works for a company but, for example,

1. He works for a steel/oil/shipping company.

Note the use of the preposition for here. It is also used with the names of companies, state-owned organizations, etc.

Dunlop. ( a company which produces rubber goods)

BP. (=British Petroleum)

ICI. ( = Imperial Chemical Industries)

the Post Office.

Company occurs in conversation and informal writing (as can be seen from example 1 above) but firm is often used instead here.

a chemical firm.

eg 3. — He works for an electrical engineering firm.

a firm of architects.

Note that firm is preferable to company in any style when followed by of, as in a firm of architects above, or when followed by the name, as in, for example, the firm (of) Ponds (a cosmetic firm).

However, firm is not used as an alternative to company in all spheres. For example, it is not used instead of compa­ny in film/television company.