Everyone knows that tea is the most popular drink in Britain. It's even more popular than coffee, which is favoured throughout Europe and America. The Dutch brought the first tea to Europe in 1610. But it was not until 1658 that the first advertisement for tea appeared in a London newspaper. At that time a pound of the cheapest tea cost about one-third of a skilled worker's weekly wages.

Britain has in recent years been described as a "leisure society". This is because there is a greater variety of leisure pursuits and people have more spare time and money to spend on relaxation. Most spare time after work or at the weekends is spent at home. Older people may go to the pub or to the theatre, or visit friends. In recent years going out for a meal or bringing a take-away meal home have become popular with all ages.

Pubs can be found in every town or village. Social life for many people has centred on the pub for many years. Opening and closing times are decided by law. Pubs in England and Wales close at 11 p. m. And ten minutes before closing time, the barman shouts, "Last orders!" When you go into a pub you have to go to the bar, pay for your drink and carry it to your seat. One of the main attractions of the pub for all regular pub goes is that it offers good company in friendly surroundings. Where else can you appear as a complete stranger and at once be able to join a conversation with a group of people?

Ireland is strong and rich in music. The Irish people love to sing, to dance and to make music of all kinds. The harp has always been a very important musical instrument in Ireland. In the wars between the Irish and the English, it was like a national flag for the Irish. In the seventeenth century it became more than that. One very famous harper was O'Carloan. He was born in Westmeath in about 1670. When O'Carloan was about sixteen years old his eyes failed and he became blind. With the help of a kind, rich lady he learned to play the harp. He also wrote poetry and music for the harp. People have saved a lot of his music and harpers still play O'Carloan's beautiful songs.

The most popular spirits in Ireland are Guinness and Whiskey. Ireland has its own whiskey. The Irish learned to make whiskey from monks. They came to Ireland from the continent of Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries. They knew a lot about the way to make spirits. Irish whiskey is made differently from Scotch whisky. It is also usually spelled differently — Scotch whisky has no "e".

The USA is the most powerful and highly developed country of the world. It is situated in the central part of the North American continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The USA is separated from Canada in the north by the 49th parallel and the Great Lakes, and from Mexico in the south by a line following the Rio Grande River and continuing across the highlands to the Pacific Ocean.

The United States of America stretches from Atlantic Ocean across North America and far into the Pacific. Because of such a huge size of the country the climate differs from one part of the country to another. The coldest climate is in the northern part, where there is heavy snow in winter and the temperature may go down to 40 degrees below zero. The south has a subtropical climate, with .temperature as high as 49 degrees in summer.

After its 200th birthday the United States of America still holds the leading position in the western world. A country that has inspired many names — "Land of Opportunity", "Meeting Pot", "God's Country" is still referred toa as land of superlatives — "the richest", "the greatest", "the most".

By the US Constitution the government of the nation is entrusted to three separate authorities: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. The executive power is vested in the President, who holds his office during the term of four years, and is elected together with the Vice-President.

The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states. Each state is guaranted at least one representative in the House. The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their population. The Senate of US is composed of one hundred members — two being elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one-third retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called "Senior Senator" and the other — "Junior Senator".