Sometimes payment can be put off till later
the vital feature of money
its purchasing power is -worn away
the money is without value
it is not always convenient
time and effort are rare resources
private production of money is against the law

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) occupies most of the territory of the British Isles. It consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. London is the capital of England, Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, Cardiff— of Wales and Belfast — of Northern Ireland. The UK is a small country with an area of some 244,100 square kilometres. It occupies only 0.2 per cent of the world's land surface. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north-west, north and south-west and separated from Europe by the North Sea in the east and by the English Channel in the south. The Strait of Dover or Pas de Calais is the narrowest part of the Channel. The North Sea and the English Channel are often called "the narrow seas"; they are not deep but are frequently rough.

In the west the Irish Sea and the North Channel separate the UK from Ireland. The seas around Britain provide exceptionally good fishing grounds. The country has many bays favourable for shipping. In their shelter are Britain's main ports such as London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull and others.

One will not find very high mountains or large plains in Great Britain. Everything occupies very little place. Nature, it seems, has carefully adapted things to the size of the island itself. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland, 4,406 feet high. The longest river is the Severn in England.

The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people. Foreigners often call British people "English", but the Scots, the Irish and the Welsh do not consider themselves to be English. The English are Anglo-Saxon in origin, but the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish are Celts, descendants of the ancient people, who crossed over from Europe centuries before the Norman Invasion. It was this people, whom the Germanic Angles and Saxons conquered in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. These Germanic conquerors gave England its name — "Angle" land. They were conquered in their turn by the Norman French, when William the Conqueror of Normandy landed near Hastings in 1066. It was from the union of Norman conquerors and the defeated Anglo-Saxons that the English people and the English language were born.

The official language of the United Kingdom is English. But in western Scotland some people still speak Gaelic and in northern and central parts of Wales people often speak Welsh.

1) The waitress brought our tea a few minutes ago. The waitress hasn't brought our tea yet.
2) The bell has just rung. The bell rang some minutes ago.
3) He has already gone to London.
He went to London last week.
4) The boys played football in the yard yesterday. The boys have played football in the yard many times.
5) Mother has read a new novel by Aitmatov this month. Mother read a new novel by Aitmatov last year.
6) Students have already cleaned their classrooms. Students cleaned their classrooms last Saturday.
7) The teacher has just explained a new rule. The teacher explained a new rule at the pervious lesson.
8) Ann has just done her homework. Ann did her homework on Friday.
9) They have discussed this problem many times. They discussed this problem a few days ago.
10) Granny has just made a birthday cake. Granny made a birthday cake yesterday.
11) The birds have already flown to the South. The birds flew to the South at the end of August.
12) The train has just come. The train came an hour ago.
13) Who did your friend speak to yesterday? Who has your friend just spoken to?
14) We have already written the words of Lesson 7. We wrote the words of Lesson 7 at the last lesson.