Exercise 1 Find words or phrases which go with the following
definitions (the words appear in the text in the same order as the definitions):
About Scotland
Paragraph 1
8) very impressive or beautiful
Paragraph 3
9) to arrange a special event and provide the buildings and services needed
Paragraph 6
10) very successful
Text: About Scotland
Festivals, lochs, shopping and beaches
Living in Scotland
Where it is
Scotland is the UK’s most northern country and has around 790 islands off its
coasts – 130 of which have people living on them. Scotland is well known for its
stunning landscapes, beautiful beaches and lochs, which are fresh water lakes.
There are over 600 square miles of lochs in Scotland including the most famous
one, Loch Ness.
It has a population of just over five million people which is about 8.5 per cent of the
whole UK population. Over 2 million of these live in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and
almost half of Scotland's population live in the Central Belt, where both the largest
city (Glasgow) and the capital city (Edinburgh) are located.
Festivals and music
Scotland also hosts one of the biggest arts festivals in the world. This is commonly
known as the Edinburgh Festival but is actually made up of a number of different
festivals which happen at different times of the year, though many do take place in
August and September. Many people have heard of the Fringe Festival, but there
are also the International Festival, the Film Festival, the Children’s Festival and the
Edinburgh Mela which is an intercultural festival.
Musically it has recently produced bands Travis and Franz Ferdinand and other
famous Scots include Ewan McGregor, Sean Connery and JK Rowling.
Political devolution
In July 1999 the Scottish Parliament was opened, the first for over 300 years as
Scotland had been governed from London. Scottish Parliamentary responsibilities
include health, education and local government.
Stereotypes
Stereotypical images of Scotland often focus on things like tartan, kilts, heather and
haggis as well as the scenery. These are all still a part of the country but
contemporary Scotland is building a name for itself in other areas, such as its
thriving computer games industry.