- •1 Текст I a Few Facts From the History of Big Cities
- •1.1 Learn to read the new words
- •1.2 Read and translate the sentences with new words
- •1.3 Give the equivalents to the underlined words
- •1.4 Read the text, pay attention to the following words
- •1.5 Text I Read the text, translate it a Few Facts from the History of Big Cities
- •1.6 Find English equivalents in the text
- •1.7 Answer the questions
- •2.2 Read and dramatize the dialogues
- •2.7 Taking a Taxi
- •2.8 Dramatize the dialogues
- •2.12 Give your opinion on each of the following questions
- •3 Text II Washington
- •3.1 Read and translate the text. Retell the text. Ask questions on underlined words
- •5 Text IV Royal Windsor – Past and Present
- •6 Text V The Growth of London
- •Learn the new words
- •6.2 Now read the text once more. How many of your questions can you answer? Retell the text
- •6.3 While you are reading, make some notes. Like this
- •7 Text VI “From the history of Moscow”
- •Text The Andronikov Monastery
- •7.2 Text The Kolomenskoye State Museum and Preserve
- •7.3 Text The Wonderful world of the Theatre
- •8 Text VIII
- •8.1 Read the text “Sign Language”
- •8.2 Say if you know any road signs and what way they help you to survive in a big city
- •The Future
- •Text IX. New life, new earth, new town
- •10.2 Read the following text. Put the paragraphs in the correct order
- •Список использованных источников
5 Text IV Royal Windsor – Past and Present
Read the text, give back translation of any passage. /A teacher can give the text for a test./
Royal Windsor, with its famous Castle, has been a home and burial place of English Kings and Queens for 900 years. Only 25 miles from London, 8 miles from Heathrow Airport and in the heart of the Thames Valley, it attracts around four million visitors each year.
The original settlements in this area were at Old Windsor and Clewer, and it was not until the 12th Century that the town of New Windsor began to grow around the Castle, which was first built as a wooden fortress by William the Conqueror after his victory at Hastings in 1066. The Borough of New Windsor received its Royal Charter in 1276, succeeded by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in 1974 at the time of local government reorganization in England.
For hundred of years the town existed primarily to house courtiers, the garrison, their families and visitors, and the real expansion of Windsor did not take place until Queen Victoria’s reign, with the coming of the railways in the 1840’s. There are still two railway station in Windsor today and the magnificent Central Station, erected for Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897, has recently been totally refurbished.
There is also much of historical interest in the streets of Windsor: see Nell Gwynn’s House in Church Street (1640); visit Park Street, lined on both sides by fine Georgian houses, and find the plaque above the Token House in High Street, which records the fact that the novelist H.G.Wells worked there in 1880. In the center of the town Queen Victoria’s statue of 1887 marks the 50th anniversary of her coronation.
Indeed, Windsor is flanked by history on all sides: nearly Eton, with its famous College; Clewer, with its early Norman church, and Windsor Great Park. Here are 4800 acres of woodland, farms and open fields, much of which is now open to the public but used to be part of a huge Royal hunting forest. A three-mile long avenue of trees, the Long Walk, links the King George IV Gateway of Windsor Castle to the Copper Horse, an equestrian statue of King George III erected in 1831. From the hill where the Copper Horse stands are splendid views across the Great Park and many walkers and joggers use the Long Walk for recreation. Alongside this Avenue is the Frogmore Mausoleum, built by Queen Victoria for her husband Albert and herself.
Today there are many tourist attractions on offer within a very short distance of the town center and visitors enjoy its numerous gift shops, restaurants and cafes. Furthermore, Windsor retains a strong local community spirit, particularly at the lower end of the town in Peascod Street and St Leonard’s Road, where one can find fresh fish, home baked bread, delicatessens, boutiques and craft shops.
There is something happening all the year round in the historic town of Windsor and the Royal Family frequently stay at the Castle, both on official visits or for private weekends, making the name ‘Royal Windsor’ as meaningful today as it has been for centuries.