1. Study Text a and explain the meaning of the words and phrases listed below:

mansion, miserable houses, slums, to come first, the Crown Jewels, huge, statesman, across the road, the seat (of the government), named in memory of , combined fleet at the cost of somebody's life, to face something, shady avenues.

2. Learn the words of the texts and a) copy and transcribe these words:

mansion, restaurant, jewel, guard, halt, column, ton, sovereign, national, float, sculpture, swan, weigh, conqueror, specimen.

b) Translate into English and mark the stresses:

отель, церемония, Возрождение, Трафальгарская площадь, рукопись, проспект, архитектор, Елизавета, сенат.

c) Form derivatives of these verbs by adding the prefix re- (meaning "do smth. again"):

Example: build — rebuild

write, tell, construct, arm, elect, produce.

3. Answer the questions:

1. How do the two parts of London differ from each other?

2. Why is it better to start sightseeing from the Tower of London?

3. Who founded the Tower and when was it rebuilt?

4. What was the Tower of London used for?

5. What is the City?

6. What does the phrase "a place of interest" mean?

7. What do you know about St. Paul's Cathedral?

8. What is Whitehall and in which part of London is it situated?

9. What does the Ceremony of the Keys consist of?

10. What do you call the building in which the Houses of Parliament are situated? It is one building, why then do we say "The Houses of Parliament"?

11. What is Big Ben? 12. What kind of museum is the British Museum?

13. What do you know about Hyde Park?

From the history of Britain

1. Discuss what/who the following are. Which of the kings in the picture do you associate them with

Excalibur Anne Boleyn the Knights of the Round Table

Lancelot Guinevere The Pope Thomas More Camelot

King Henry VIII King Arthur

2. Who do you think these phrases refer to? Write h (King Henry) or a (King Arthur)

He might not have existed at all

He might have been born in the 6^th century

He was born in 1491

He might have been Scottish or Welsh

He must have been a good musician – he wrote several songs

He can’t have been an easy person to be married to.

He might not have had a wife.

He must have been very unattractive when he was old.

3. Read and remember the text about King Arthur

Almost everything we know about the King Arthur is speculation. We don’t even know if he existed at all. However there might have been a leader of that name in the 6^th century who perhaps led an army against the Anglo-Saxons. Some historian thinks that he lived in the west of England but others say that he probably came from Wales or Scotland. What is more certain is that the King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table, his famous sward and his wife Guinevere is pure invention. The story was invented by a 15^th century writer, Thomas Malory, who in his book The Death of Arthur set his story in his own times with kings in armor. But the real Arthur if he existed would not have won armor, as this was not invented until the 10^th century.

Tell B what you remember