One of these is its freedom from interference [,intз`fiзrзns] from government influence. The press is so powerful in this respect that it is sometimes referred to as ‘the fourth respect’ (the other three being the Commons, the Lords and the monarch). This freedom is ensured because there is a general feeling in the country that ‘freedom of speech’ is a basic constitutional right.

      The other feature of the national press which is partially the result of the commercial interests of its owners is its shallowness. Few other European countries have a popular press which is so ‘low’. Sometimes newspapers’ pages are full of stories about the private lives of famous people. Sometimes their ‘stories’ are not articles at all, they are just excuses to show pictures of almost naked women.

      The British press is not only newspapers, there are a lot of different magazines catering [`keitзriŋ] for almost every imaginable taste and specializing in almost every imaginable pastime. Among these publications there are a few weeklies dealing with news and current affairs. The best selling weeklies are those giving details of the forthcoming [fo:θ`kΛmiŋ] week’s television and radio programmes: What’s On TV, the Radio Times and TV Times. Second to them in popularity are women’s magazines: Take a Break, Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Own, Woman, Woman’s Realm. Among men’s magazines, the most popular are Loaded, GQ and Esquire [is`kwaiз]. The leading opinion journals are The Economist, the New Statesman and Society, the Spectator and Private Life.

Vocabulary

circulation – тираж

significant – значительный

dominance – преобладание

category – категория

‘broadsheet’

cater – снабжать, обслуживать, зд. предназначаться

‘tabloid’ – таблойд, малоформатная газета бульварного толка (рассчитана на широкий круг читателей с невзыскательным вкусом)

prominence – зд. предпочтение

Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Observer

right-wing – зд. выражающий интересы «правых» (консерваторов)

left-wing – зд. выражающий интересы «левых» (лейбористов)

subsidy – субсидия

advertising – реклама

weeklies – еженедельники

forthcoming – предстоящий, грядущий

Esquire  
 

2. Radio and television

      In 1936 the government established the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) [`bro:dka:stiŋ ,ko:pз`rei∫зn] to provide a public service in radio. It also began broadcasting that year on the recently invented television. In 1955 the establishment of independent and commercial television and radio removed the BBC’s broadcasting monopoly [mз`nopзli].

      In spite of its much reduced evening audience, BBC radio still provides an important service. Its five radio stations (BBC radio 1–5) provide: non-stop pop music, light entertainment, classical music, arts programmes and academic material (some for Open University courses), news and comment and discussion programmes, sport.

• Radio 1 began broadcasting in 1969. Devoted almost entirely to pop music, its birth was a signal that popular youth culture could no longer be ignored by the country’s established institutions. In spite of recent competition from independent commercial radio stations, it still has over ten million listeners.
• Radio 2 broadcasts mainly light music and chat shows.
• Radio 3 is devoted to classical music.
• Radio 4 broadcasts a variety of programmes, from plays and comedy shows to consumer [kзn`sju:mз] advice programme and in-depth news coverage.
• Radio 5 is largely given over to sports coverage and news.

      The BBC additionally runs 38 local stations, providing material of local interests.

      Two particular radio programmes should be mentioned. Soap operas are normally associated with television. but The Archers [`a:t∫зz] is actually the longest-running soap in the world. It describes itself as ‘an everyday story of country folk’. Its audience is mainly middle-class with a large proportion [prз`po:∫зn] of elderly people. Another popular programme is the live commentary of cricket Test Matches in summer.

      Commercial radio offers three nationwide [,nei∫зn`waid] services: Classic FM, which broadcasts mainly classical music; Virgin 1215, broadcasting popular music; and Talk Radio UK, a speech-based service.

      In addition there are 180 independent local radio stations which provide news, information, music and other entertainment, coverage [`kΛvзrid3] of local events, sports commentary, chat shows and ‘phone-in’ programmes.

      An important but separate part of the BBC’s work is its ‘external services’. The BBC World Service broadcasts by radio in English and 43 other languages. The service is funded separately from the rest of the BBC, by the Foreign Office. Although the BBC has freedom in the content [`kontзnt] of what it broadcasts, the government decides in which foreign languages it should broadcast, and the amount of funding it should receive. As such, the service is a promotional [prз`mou∫зnзl] part of British foreign policy.

      Television is the most popular form of entertainment in Britain.  It is also independent from government interference [,intз`fiзrзns]. There is no advertising on the BBC. But Independent Television (ITV), which started in 1954, gets its money from advertisements in screens. It consists of a number of privately owned companies, each of which is responsible for programming [`prougræmiŋ] – составление программы in different parts of the country on the single channel given to it. But ITV news programmes are not made by individual television companies. Independent Television News (ITN) is owned jointly by all of them. For this and other reasons, it has always been protected from commercial influence. There is no significant [sig`nifikзnt] difference between the style and `content of the news  on ITV and than on the BBC.

      There are four channels which all viewers in the country receive: BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Table 1. The Four channels 

 

      Channel 5 is a commercial channel, which is received by about two-thirds of British households. Started in 1997. Its emphasis [`emfзsis] is on entertainment but it makes all other types of programme too. Of particular note is its unconventional presentation of the news, which is designed to appeal to younger adults [`ædΛlts / з`dΛlts]. There is also a Welsh language channel for viewers in Wales.

Vocabulary

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – Британская радиовещательная корпорация (Би-Би-Си)

monopoly –монополия

consumer advice programme – «советы потребителю»

in-depth news coverage – подробный обзор новостей

The Archers

nationwide services – общенациональный

coverage – освещение (в печати, по радио)

‘external services’ – внешние службы

promotional – содействующая, зд. рекламная

emphasis – ударение, особое значение  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LECTURE 6

A social profile 

Plan:

1. The Family
2. The Class System
3. Gender [`dgendз]
4. Religion

 

1. The Family

      In recent years there have been many changes in family life. Even the stereotyped nuclear family of father, mother and two children is becoming less common. Since the law made it easier to get a divorce, the number of divorces has considerably increased: one marriage in every three now ends in divorce. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than anywhere else in Europe except Denmark. As a result, there are a lot of one-parent families. The great majority of single parents are women. One in three children under the age of five has divorced parents. Forty per cent of children experience the divorce of their parents before the age of 18. Single-parent families often experience isolation [,aisз`lei∫зn] and poverty [`povзti]. 

      However, the increased number of divorces does not mean that marriage and the family are not popular: the majority of divorced people marry again, and they usually take responsibility for the children in their second family.

      Though the family unit is still the basic living arrangement for most people, the number of people living alone has risen [`rizn] significantly, from one in 10 in 1951 to one in three in the twenty-first century. Some women prefer independence, which they fear they will lose by marriage. In the period 1979–91 the proportion [prз`po:∫зn] of single, widowed, divorced or separated women aged between 18 and 49 increased from 11 to 23 per cent of women in that age group.

      There is an increasing proportion of men and women living together before marriage. About one in four of the couples living together never do get married. The proportion of children born outside marriage has risen [i] dramatically. But about three-quarters of all births outside marriage are officially registered [`redgistзd] by both parents and more than half of the children | concerned are born to parents who are living together at the time.

      Extended families are not typical, except among some racial [`rei∫зl] minorities [mai`noritiz]. It is unusual for adults of different generations within the family to live together. The average number of people living in each household | in Britain is lower than in most other European countries. The proportion of elderly people living alone is similarly high. Members of a family – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins – keep in touch, but they see each other less than before. Significant family events such as weddings, births and funerals are not automatically accompanied by large gatherings of people. It is still common to appoint people to certain roles on such occasions, such as ‘best man’ at a wedding, or godmother and godfather when a child is born. But for most people these appointments are of sentimental significance [sig`nifikзns] only. They do not imply – подразумевать – lifelong responsibility. In fact, family gatherings of any kind beyond [bi`jond] the household unit are rare. For most people, they are confined  [kзn`faind] to the Christmas period, which is the traditional season for reunions, and relatives often travel many miles in order to spend the holiday together.

Vocabulary

nuclear family –  a family unit that consists only of husband, wife and children

poverty – бедность

proportion – соотношение

racial minorities – национальные меньшинства

significance – значительность

confined – ограничивать 
 

2. The class system

      Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility [,fleksi`biliti]. It has always been possible to buy or marry or even work your way up, so that your children belong to a higher social class than you do. As a result, the class system has never been swept away by a revolution.

      People in modern Britain are very conscious [`kon∫зs] – очень хорошо осознают – of class differences. They regard it | as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. It results from the fact that the different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits. Typically, they tend to eat different food at different times of day and call the meals by different names, they like to talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports, they have different values about what things in life are most important and different ideas about the correct way to behave. Stereotypically [,steriз`tipikзli], they go to different kinds of school.

      The sense of social class or group is affected by social circle as well as education and wealth. A relatively poor but highly educated family may find itself associating [з`sou∫ieitiŋ] with wealthier but similarly highly educated friends. A traditional landowning but less highly educated ‘gentry’ [`dgentry] family will probably associate [∫] with other landowners of similar education level.

      An interesting feature of the class structure in Britain is | that it is not always possible to guess the class to which a person belongs by looking at his or her clothes, car or bank balance. The most obvious [`obviзs] and immediate sign comes when a person begins speaking. And what the speaker says is less important than the way that he or she says it. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news `broadcasts, books and newspapers is known as ‘standard British English’. Most working-class people use lots of words and grammatical forms in their everyday speech which are regarded as ‘non-standard’. Nearly everybody in the country is capable of using standard English (or something very close to it) when they judge that the situation demands it. They are taught to do so at school. But most people cannot change their accent to suit the situation. So a person’s accent is  the clearest indication of his or her class.

      The most prestigious [pre`stidgзs] accent in Britain is known as ‘Received Pronunciation’ (or RP). The combination of standard English spoken with an RP accent is usually called ‘BBC English’ or ‘Oxford English’ (re`ferring to the university, not the town) or ‘the Queen’s English’. RP is not associated [∫] with any particular part of the country. Anyone with an RP accent is assumed [з`sju:md] to be upper or upper-middle class. The vast majority of people speak with an accent which is geographically limited. In England and Wales, anyone who speaks with a strong regional accent is automatically [,o:tз`mætikli] assumed to be working class. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the situation is slightly different; in these places, some forms of regional accent are almost as prestigious [pre`stidgзs] as RP.

      Traditionally there are three social classes in Britain: upper class, middle class and working class. But market researchers [ri`sз:t∫зz] in 1950s applied six classes to Britain, and they have tended to be used ever since. They are:

1. Upper middle class (senior civil servants, professional senior management [`mænidgmзnt] and finance [`fainæns]);
2. Middle class (middle managerial [,mæni`dgiзriзl]);
3. Lower middle class (junior managerial, non-manual [`mænjuзl] workers);
4. Skilled working class;
5. Semi-skilled or unskilled working class;
6. Residual [ri`zidjuзl] (dependent on state benefit [`benifit], unemployed, occasional part-time).

      Most people generally mix socially with the same kind of people as their work colleagues, and usually live in streets or neighbourhoods which reflect that social grouping. This suggests a static situation, but there is major movement between classes. Many people move from one category [`kætidзri] to another during their working lives. Marriage outside one’s class is much more common than it used to be. The working class is rapidly declining [di`klain] – уменьшается. But the middle class is growing. There has been a great increase in the number of people from working-class origins | who are houseowners and who do traditionally middle-class jobs. The lower and middle classes have drawn closer to each other in their attitudes.

Vocabulary

flexibility – гибкость

stereotypically – в соответствии со стереотипом

gentry – ист. нетитулованное мелкопоместное дворянство

prestigious – престижный

managerial – управленческий

manual – ручной

residual – остаток

category – категория, разряд, класс 
 

3. Gender

      In terms of everyday habits, British society probably expects a sharper difference between the sexes than most other European societies do. In spite of having a female monarch and having had a female Prime Minister for over a decade, the female sex in Britain gets less than its fair share of power, freedom and wealth.

      In the early nineties, only about 5% of MPs were women, only 20% of lawyers in Britain were women, less than 10% of accountants were women, only 3% of company directors were women. In 1995 the first woman ever was appointed as a police Chief Constable. In 1996 only 7 per cent of university professors were women. In 1997 only 6 per cent of High Court and Circuit [`sз:kit] judges were women. In order to succeed in such spheres women must be outstandingly better than men.