Text 1. London

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic, commercial and cultural centre. It is also the greatest port of Great Britain. The city is situated on both banks of the river Thames in the South-East of England.

London is the fifth biggest city in the world after Tokyo, Mexico, Peking (Beijing) and New York. It occupies 1,863 square kilometres and stretches for nearly 30 miles from north to south and for nearly 30 miles from east to west. The population of the city is about 9 million people which makes nearly one fifth of all inhabitants of England.

Modern London is a city, which has never been planned and which has grown during the past twenty centuries. It is a city which arose from a number of towns and villages which had merged into one another but have not altogether lost their identity. Kennigston, Hampstead, Chelsea, Greenwich and many others could not just be called «districts» of London. Each of them is now a new town, each is architecturally different from the others, has its own main street or square, shopping centre and communal life.

Office

Actually there are several Londons. First, there is the City of London, its oldest part, which is about two thousand years old. The name «London» is Celtic in origin. In the first century when London was just a village, the Romans built their «Lond- inum» there. Many monuments of London’s history can be seen in the City. It is about one square mile in area and only a few thousand people live there. But it contains the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and the headquarters (offices) of many insurance and trading companies. In the evening the City is completely empty. But one street in it is busy day and night. This is Fleet Street, in and around which nearly all the important newspapers and press agencies have their offices.

Three other parts of London are: the West End, the East End and Westminster. The kings and queens live about two miles up the river Thames in Westminster, and all those who were connected with the court lived in that area. By the middle of the 16th century the district was already lined on with the houses belonging to nobility. The area around the royal court is known to be called the «West End». It is here that all the historic palaces are, as well as the famous parks: St.Jame’s Park, Green Park and Hyde Park with Kensington Gardens.

The busiest part of the West End, however, lies to the north and west of royal palaces and parks. This is the area of big department stores and all kinds of other shops — in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street. It is in the West End that most colleges and schools of the University of London are centred. It is here that nearly all the great public art collections of London as well as the best theatres, museums and restaurants are to be found.

London is the city of great contrasts. The City also expanded to the east, but the East End is very different from the West End. It is inhabited mainly by people whose life and work concentrate around the river, that is around the Port of London.

COMPREHENSION TEST

I. Read these sentences containing the information about London and say whether this information is true or false. Supply your answers with the phrases (see p. 96).

1. London is the third biggest city in the world. 2. The population of London is about one million. 3. London was built by the Romans in the fifth century. 4. Modern London is a city which has been carefully planned. 5. The City of London stretches for about 30 km from north to south and for about 30 km from west to east. 6. The City is the busiest and the most inhabited part of London. 7. The area around the royal court is known as the East End. 8. There are many theatres and museums in the East End.

II. Read the text below and be ready to speak with your groupmates about it.

Places of Interest in London

If you have the chance of visiting London you certainly should see its places of interest, which are very numerous. It is advisable that you should start the sightseeing tour of London from St. Paul’s Cathedral, which stands in the very heart of the city. It contains many tombs. Among these buried in it are admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wennington, who won the battle of Waterloo.

Near the Thames you can see the Palace of Westminster commonly called the House of Parliament. In one of the towers of the palace there is a clock. It is Big Ben. Buckingham Palace is the winter residence of the Queen.

There is a large old church near the Houses of Parliament. It is Westminster Abbey. In it the kings and queens are crowned. Many kings, queens, and other people who have brought fame to England have been buried here, Isaak Newton being one of them. Here we can see the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On the way from St.Paul’s Cathedral to the Westminster Abbey you should visit Trafalgar Square and admire the Nelson Column there.

The Tower of London, a fortress built hundreds of years ago, is a museum now. It contains a collection of weapon. In one of the towers we can see the Queen’s crown and many other valuable things. Among other places of interest in London are The National Gallery and the British Museum.

III. Read this dialogue. Imagine that it is you and your friend but not the main characters who have just arrived in London. Would you say the same things and act in the same way if you were them? Role- play the situation.

The situation is as follows: Oksana Tkatch and Ihor Koval, two young scientists working at their research projects at Lviv Physico-Mechanical Institute, came to London to take part in an international scientific conference devoted to the problems of Strength of Materials. They have just arrived at London airport, where they are met by Steve Stanley, a young physicist from the University of London, a member of the Organizing Commettee.

At the airport.

S. —Excuse me, are you partici pants o,f the conference on the problems of Strength of Materials?

O. — Yes, we are.

S. — Let me introduce myself. I’m a representative of the Organizing Committee of this conference. My name is Steve Stanley.

T. — Glad to meet you, Mr. Stanley. My name is Ihor Koval, and this is my colleague, Oksana Tkach. We both are from L'viv.

S. — Glad to meet you, Oksana and Ihor. I’ve heard much about your ancient city and about its famous schools of physics and mathematics. You are welcome to London.

— It’s my first visit here, and I’ve dreamt about it all my life.

S. — How was the flight?

T. — Everything was wonderful. And the weather’s fine in London today, isn’t it?

S. — Oh, yes, it’s a lovely day.

In the bus, on the way to the hotel

S. — What are you going to do today?

— Are there any sessions at the conference today?

S. —No, only arrival and registration of the partici pants.

— Oh, then we have the whole day at our disposal. Very nice!

— We would like to see all the places of interest in London, to go everywhere.

S. — I think it’s impossible to see everything and to go everywhere in London in one day. If I were you I should study the map of London and decide what places to visit first. By the way, I’ve got a map of London here with me. Please look at it and tell me what places of interest you are going to see. (They all look at the map of London).

I. — Oh, there are so many places of interest in London. Now I see that it really is very difficult to see everything in one day.

— It’s even difficult to decide where to go first. Lon

don is so big. By the way, how big is it?

S. — London is one of the biggest cities in the world. It stretches about thirty miles long and about as many miles wide.

— And we are used to measuring the distance in the SI units of measurement.

S. — Then it’s about 48 kilometres.

— Now I see that it’s really impossible to see all the places of interest in London in one day.

S. — Right you are. In my opinion we’d better begin with the West End, from Trafalgar Square. It’s the centre of London and the best starting point for our tour of the capital.

— We’ll get settled at the hotel and then let’s go to Trafalgar Square.

S. — Agreed. An hour later, in Trafalgar square, then in Picadilly Circus.

S. — Now we are in Trafalgar square.

— That’s the Nelson Column in the centre, isn’t it? It’s so tall!

S. — Yes, that’s a monument to Admiral Nelson for his victories in the war against Napoleon. The large platform at the foot of it is often used by all sorts of speakers. You see, the square is a place for all sorts of meetings and demonstrations.

— Is that The National Gallery there on the left?

S. — Yes, but we shall go there another day. It’s getting dark, so we’d better go and see Picadilly Circus which is very beautiful in the evening.

— The Circus is not very large, but it’s very pictur esque.

S. — Six streets lead into the Circus. There is Regent Street, one of London’s most fashionable shopping centres.

— And this street leading off Picadilly Circus is Shaft esbury Avenue, isn’t it?

S. — Right you are. This is Shaftesbury Avenue, leading in the direction of Soho.

— I’ve read somewhere that Soho is the entertain ment centre of London.

S. — Yes, you will find almost everything there: music- halls, night-clubs, restaurants. But it’s late already, you’d better return to the hotel and get acquainted with other participants of the conference staying at your hotel.

— You are quite right.

Section 3