Тема: Бірмінгем, його визначні місця

1. Прогляньте фото Бірмінгема на ст. 208-209. Запишіть нові лексичні одиниці у словники - ст. 207-209.

2. Прочитайте текст, виконайте письмово завдання після нього. Випишіть невідомі слова та перекладіть їх.

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. More than one million people live in Birmingham. It is also within the UK's second biggest metropolitan area, which contains nearly 4 million people. It contains a wide variety of creeds, races and religious communities. The city is often refered to by locals as 'Town' or 'Brum'. Those born and brought up in Birmingham are called Brummies. Many people call it the "second city" of the United Kingdom.The name "Birmingham" comes from the Old English Beormingahām, meaning the home or settlement of the Beormingas – a tribe or clan whose name literally means "Beorma's people" and which may have formed an early unit of Anglo-Saxon administration.

Birmingham, second largest city of the United Kingdom and a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands metropolitan county. It lies near the geographic centre of England, at the crossing points of the national railway and motorway systems. Birmingham is the largest city of the West Midlands conurbation—one of England’s principal industrial and commercial areas—for which it acts as an administrative, recreational, and cultural centre. The city lies approximately 110 miles (177 km) northwest of London.

Birmingham’s first market charter was granted in 1166, but it was not until the 14th century that it emerged as a settlement of any significance. Its lack of river transport, by cutting it off from maritime contacts important in the medieval period, impeded its development from a small manufacturing town to a large city until the late 18th century, when it became the leading nucleus of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Birmingham remains the chief centre of Britain’s light and medium industry and is still sometimes described as “the city of 1,001 different trades.” The key to its economic success was the diversity of its industrial base, though it has been principally concerned with the metal and engineering trades. The largest single industry in terms of employment is the production of motor vehicles. Bicycles and motorcycles are made in the area, though the bicycle trade has declined. The city is also one of the main centres of the machine-tool industry. Since the 1970s, however, the city’s service sector has grown to rival the manufacturing sector.

2. Письмово дайте відповіді на запитання с) на ст. 208.