Vocabulary

conurbation	большой город со всеми пригородами	vulnerable to flooding	подвержен наводнениям
borough	небольшой городок	abandoned	заброшенный
navigable	судоходная	medieval	средневековый
tidal river	приливно-отливная река	headquarters	штаб-квартира

2. Practice the pronunciation of the proper names.

The Romans, Edward the Confessor, the Norman period, Medieval London, Lord Mayor, the Tudor and Stuart periods, The Great Fire, Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul's Cathedral, architectural, Westminster.

3. Speak about London and its history using this plan

1. London statistics:

• Position in the country;

• Population;

• Territory;

• The River Thames.

2. History:

• Foundation;

• Middle ages;

• 19th century;

• 20th century.

3. The city’s significance:

• Economic significance;

• Education;

• Cultural significance;

• Tourist significance.

4. Read Text 2b and translate it. Text 2b. London’s city structure

Today Greater London consists of 33 separate boroughs. Traditionally London is divided into several parts: the City, Westminster, the West End, and the East End. They are rather different from one another.

The heart of London is the City, its financial and business centre. Numerous banks, offices, and firms are situated there, including the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and the Old Bailey. The City extends over an area of about 2,6 square km. About half a million people work there, but less than 6000 live there.

The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of London. It is the symbol of wealth and luxury. The best hotels, shops, restaurants, clubs, and theatres are situated there. There are splendid houses and lovely gardens belonging to wealthy people.

The East End is the poorest district of London. There are a lot of factories, workshops, and docks here. The streets are narrow, the buildings are unimpressive. The East End is densely populated by working class families.

One area that changed very much after the war was the Docklands. Once a poor industrial district, it became a site of massive development which is now known for its skyscrapers and modern architecture.

It's difficult to speak about London suburbs because the city spreads so much that it has included its suburbs long ago. Now even the counties surrounding London (for example Surrey) can in a sense be called London suburbs.

Among the multitude of London streets some are well-known even outside of the city. Oxford Street and Regent Street are major shopping areas. Regent Street, named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), was built by the famous architect John Nash.

Piccadilly is best known for its ending point Piccadilly Circus, a famous traffic intersection and meeting point close to many theatres and shopping places. It is also famous for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side and the memorial fountain and statue known as Eros. The name of the street and the Circus comes from the original owner of the land in this area, a late 16th century tailor who made a fortune by making and selling picadils (stiff collars with scalloped edges), that were then in fashion.

Pall Mall in the City of Westminster is known for being the home to various gentlemen’s clubs built in the 19th century, for example the Athenaeum, Travelers Club, or Reform Club. The street is named for a mallet-and-ball game which was played there in the 17th Century.

Several streets in London are well-known for literary and language reasons. Baker Street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster evokes in memory the books about the detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at 221B Baker Street (people who come to see 221B are always disappointed because it doesn't exist). Fleet Street is a famous London street, traditionally the home of the press. Despite the fact that all the major newspapers have now moved out of their Fleet Street offices, the street's name continues to be used as a synonym for the British national press.

For such a big and busy city London has a lot of parks and gardens. The most well-known are eight Royal Parks of London now open to the public. Four of them, Green Park, St. James Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens, are connected, forming a strand of greenery through West End. Regents Park is on the northern edge of central London, while Greenwich Park, Bushy Park, and Richmond Park are in the suburbs. There are also many garden squares which were initially just for the use of the residents of nearby houses, but some of them are now open to the public. Most of London's council-owned parks were developed between the middle 19th century and the Second World War.

The London Underground, or the Tube, runs both above and below ground. It is the oldest and biggest underground system in the world − its operations began in 1863. The Underground currently serves 274 stations and runs over 408 km of lines.

Everybody knows the double-decker buses of England, and the most famous red ones have run through London since 1956. These buses are of an old model that will be mostly replaced in 2005, but two routes will continue using them to preserve the famous symbol of London.