Mystery in the tower

The princes disappear

On 9th April, 1483, King Edward IV of England died. He had two sons – Edward, aged 12 and Richard, aged 9. The boys' uncle, also called Richard, was asked to look after them and govern the country until Edward was old enough to be king. This never happened. Uncle Richard put the princes in the Tower of London to "protect" them, and they were never seen again. They simply disappeared. Meanwhile, their uncle took power and became King Richard III of England.

1. There are two Edwards and two Richards. How are they all related to each other?

2. Why didn't Prince Edward become king?

Richard III is killed

So what happened to the princes? Nobody knows. But later that year, the stories began. People said that Richard had murdered the boys. A lot of people were against Richard and rebelled. Richard's enemy, Henry Tudor, had spent some time in France, but now he returned to England and the rebels joined him. On August 22nd, 1485, their two armies fought at the battle of Bosworth Field. King Richard was killed and Henry became King Henry VII of England.

3. Why were people against Richard?

4. How did Henry become king?

A forced confession?

Were the boys really dead? Many people thought they were still alive, and perhaps Edward could become king. But King Henry was quite clear: Richard had killed them. In 1502, Richard's friend, Sir James Tyrell, confessed. He had murdered the boys on Richard's orders – although he didn't say what had happened to their bodies.

5. Was everybody sure that the princes were dead?

6. In 1502, people thought the mystery was solved. Why?

History is written

In 1674, the bones of two children were found under the stairs of the church in the Tower of London. Now it seemed clear: Richard III had ordered Sir James to kill the princes in the Tower and put their bodies under the stairs. In Shakespeare's play, Richard III, Richard was an evil monster, a murderer with a deformed body. The most famous painting from that time shows that Richard had one shoulder bigger than the other. At that time, people thought that a deformed body was a sign of an evil mind. And so history was written. The story was complete. Or was it?

7. Who do you think the bones belonged to?

8. The picture showed Richard was deformed. Why was that important?

PART 2

PRACTICE YOUR READING SKILLS

Text 1

Read the text and find which of the following problems for the residents of London Simon Milton mentions:

a) air pollution;

b) noise pollution;

c) crime;

d) littering;

e) transport problems;

f) long queues.

Right of reply

The leader of Westminster City Council, Simon Milton, responds to an article by Ken Livingstone, in which he argued in favour of strengthening London as a tourist centre.

Ken Livingstone claims that London's appeal to tourists is that it is a "lived-in city" ("London's a great international brand that has to be marketed carefully", 15 August). I agree with him. But if we want the reality to match the rhetoric, we need to act now to save the city. The Mayor's endorsement (поддержка) of the "24-hour city" sits uneasily with his desire for a living city. To have a truly living city, you need residents: local communities, such as the 6,000 people who live in Soho and Covent Garden in the West End. They live alongside about 350 bars and clubs that stay open, up to 5 a.m. already. The capacity (вместимость) of such bars is 50,000 people, bringing with them noise, nuisance and crime. As a result, the very residents who make up the "lived-in city" are being driven out. We need to have sustainable tourism. If we don't act, we'll rip the heart out of London and drive away business and tourists.

At Westminster, we've introduced policies to restrict new licences. We want people to have a good night out, but the community needs a good night's sleep, and a genuine mix of uses must be sustained. If the Mayor wants to deliver a living city, he has to ensure that those who live in the centre of the city have a quality of life that most of us take for granted.

Match the words in bold in the text to their definitions:

1. a situation that causes inconvenience;

2. to keep within limits of size or number;

3. a person who lives in a particular area;

4. a tourism which brings benefits to local people and does not harm the environment.

Text 2

Read the following extract from a book about English people. Five sentences have been removed from the text. Fill in gaps 1–5 with the missing sentences from A–F. There is one extra sentence that won't fit any gaps.

A. You may have its address and a map, but you will have great difficulty in finding the house you are looking for.

B. Or at least that's how we like to think of it.

С. This is an unwritten rule of home ownership and the moving-in ritual.

D. They are either hidden, or even not there at all.

E. In better-off areas, these boxes will be further apart, and the green patches attached to them will be larger.

F. This is why a house is not something you just passively "have", it is something you constantly "work on".

(1) If you look from a helicopter at any English town, you will see that the residential areas consist almost entirely of rows of small boxes, each with its own little patch of green. The principle, however, will be clear: the English all want to live in their own private houses with their own private gardens.

(2) What you cannot see from your helicopter, you will learn as soon as you try to visit an English home. Some humorists claim this is the result of "a conspiracy to mislead foreigners", pointing out that our streets are never straight, every time a street bends, it is given a different name, there are at least 60 confusing synonyms for "street", and the numbering of the houses is hopelessly illogical.

(3) The house numbers are at least as well camouflaged as the street names. One taxi-driver explained: "An Englishman's home is his castle, right? We can't actually have massive walls around it, but we can make it difficult to get to".

(4) The Englishman's home is much more than just his castle; it is also his identity and his prime obsession. The mania for home improvements is widespread. Research shows that only 2 % of English males and 12 % of females have never done any Do-it-Yourself.

(5) Working on home improvements is an opportunity to exercise our creative talents. Although it may sometimes be an economic necessity, we see the arrangement, furnishing and decorating of our homes as an expression of our unique personal taste.

Text 3

Read the text and decide which of the sentences are true or false.

1. Buckingham Palace has always been the official London residence of the British King or Queen.

2. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to live there.

3. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband live in the "state rooms" in the palace.

4. Elizabeth II has been queen for more than fifty years.

5. Kings and queens once lived in the Palace of Westminster.

6. If you stand outside the Palace of Westminster and look up, you can see Big Ben.

No visit to London is complete without a trip to Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II). Buckingham Palace was built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and, as such, was known simply as Buckingham House. Its first royal resident was King George III, who bought it in 1762, but it was not until 1837, when Victoria became queen, that it became the official royal palace of the British monarch.

Approximately 450 people work at Buckingham Palace, and each year more than 50,000 people enjoy some form of entertainment there – the Queen often holds garden parties and receptions for invited guests. In the 1990s, the palace became even more open, with members of the public being allowed to go on a tour of the "state rooms". These are the official reception rooms in the palace, rather than the rooms that the Queen and her husband live in.

In June 2003, a concert of classical music and a pop concert were held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace. This was to celebrate Elizabeth's 50th anniversary as queen.

No king or queen has lived in the Palace of Westminster, which is on the north bank of the River Thames in London, since the 1500s. Today, the Palace of Westminster is better known by its other name: the Houses of Parliament. Although the oldest part of the palace in existence today is over 900 years old, most of the building is less than two hundred years old. In 1834, the palace was almost completely destroyed by fire and had to be rebuilt. Parts of the building were also damaged by bombs during the Second World War. At one end of the palace is a famous tourist attraction: a tower, often mistakenly referred to as "Big Ben". In fact, its actual name is the Clock Tower, or St. Stephen's Tower, and Big Ben is the large bell hidden inside which rings every hour on the hour.

PART 3

PRACTICE YOUR VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR

Task 1

Read the text and fill in the gaps with an appropriate word. Some of the words in the box below can be used twice.

 the very  enough  are  to  either  on  with  it  had  by  the most