Worksheet A

Did you know the following facts?

· Wales is the small country that borders central England in the West. Ithaspopulationlessthan 3 million.

· The capital of Wales is Cardiff, which is populated by 300,000 people.

· Along with England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, Wales is one of the four countries in the United Kingdom. It has its own parliament in Cardiff, but it is not completely independent.

· The Welsh language is one of the oldest in Europe, and is very different from English. All Welsh people can speak English, but about 20% of them can also speak Welsh. Welsh has some very long words, for example, a village in the north of Wales has the longest place name in the UK:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch!

· The actual meaning of this place name is, ‘The church of St Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St Tysilio’s of the red cave’.

· There are a lot of mountains in Wales. The highest is Snowdon (1,085m).

· The red, white and blue flag of the United Kingdom is a mixture of flags representing England and Scotland but not Wales. The Welsh flag has a red dragon on the background that is half white and half green. The dragon has been a symbol of Wales for more than a thousand years.

· The two other symbols of Wales are the daffodil and the leek. The daffodil is a yellow flower that appears in spring, and some Welsh people attach one to their coat on Welsh national day (St David’s Day), which is 1^st March. The leek has been a Welsh symbol since the seventh century, when the Welsh king told his soldiers to attach leeks to their helmets so they could identify each other.

· The most popular sports in Wales are football and rugby. Many Welsh people are very passionate about rugby. And are very happy when their national team beats England!

· Wales has a strong musical tradition. Most towns in the south of the country have at least one local choir, Welsh rugby crowds are famous for their singing, and in recent years the country has produced successful pop groups such as the Manic Street Preachers and Stereophonics.

Worksheet B

Exercise 1

Team A

Here are the answers to some questions about the text on Worksheet A, but what are the questions? When you have prepared the questions, Team B will have to answer them as part of a quiz.

1. Less than 3 million.

2. It is red.

3. It is in Cardiff.

4. So that they could identify each other in a battle.

5. It is the highest mountain in Wales.

6. The Welsh people are very passionate about rugby.

7. They are successful Welsh pop groups.

8. For more than a thousand years.

9. They all can.

10. It borders England.

............................................

Team B

Here are the answers to some questions about the text on Worksheet A, but what are the questions? When you have prepared the questions, Team A will have to answer them as part of a quiz.

1. About 300,000.

2. The dragon, the daffodil and the leek.

3. About 20% ofthem.

4. There are three: red, white and green.

5. Football and rugby.

6. There are four: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

7. It is yellow.

8. Since the seventh century.

9. Red, white and blue.

10. For their singing.