II Be ready to give brief retelling of the text, using Appendix 1.

I Reading

a) Read the following text

Put down the unknown words (with their transcription and translation) into your vocabulary. Be ready to translate the text orally.

b) Find and write out all irregular verbs given in the text. Remember three forms of them.

London. The grey earl of the united kingdom (Part I)

The history of London, rightfully considered to be one of the most beautiful world cities, dates back to the antiquity. 'The Romans led by the emperor Claudius reached the banks of the Thames as far back as 2000 years ago. They founded the ancient Londinium here, the remnants of which have remained intact on the Tower-Hill Square until the present days. Archaeological dig has permitted to reconstruct the appearance of the Roman Britania capital. The best exhibits of that time are still stored In the Museum of London.

The situation on the continent start­ed to suffer changes late in the III cen­tury AD. The Roman garrison left London under the onslaught of barbar­ian hordes from the Northern Europe. The city had been destroyed, though it recovered and resumed its former importance under the Saxes already. The next record of the city can be found out only 200 years later. St. Augustine was sent to the city to estab­lish bishopric and Ethelberg built the first cathedral, namely the St. Paul's Cathedral. In 1042 king Edward came to the English throne. The court moved to Westminster during his reign, where the abbey was established. For 10 cen­turies already the English sovereigns are crowned, united in matrimony and buried here. William the Conqueror won the vic­tory over the Saxes in 1066. The Norman feudal lords brought their culture to the country, which changed the architecture, literature and law. Construction works based upon the needs of defense, were carried on in William's times. The construction of the White Tower, from which the London Tower originated, was completed in 1097. The walls, bastions and additional domes turned the solid bulk into the impressive architecture ensemble.

The legend says that the country will die if the ravens leave the Tower. London started to develop rapidly as the trade centre after the Norman Conquest. The City of London with its typical narrow streets and lanes was formed in course of the following two centuries. Near 25 thousand inhabi­tants attending more than a hundred parochial churches were squeezed in the small wooden houses located within the city walls. The Wholesale Market located at the same place, where the Mansion-House (the Lord-Mayor's resi­dence) is situated now, was the city trade centre. The "law-student quar­ters", organized like university colleges, were situated in the western part of the city. Perhaps, Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of "The Canterbury Tales", was a student of such a quarter. "The Black Death" (i.e. the plague) of 1348 had slowed down the city development, its population, however, restored its number rather quickly. The population growth was accompanied by increase of interest to the fine arts. London became the "reading" city back in the XV century since the time when in 1476 William Caxton, the for­mer apprentice of a London silk and velvet merchant, installed a printing press in Westminster and published near 80 books under the royal supervi­sion. Caxton's assistant and successor named Winking de Word published the fist book in common English on Fleet Street. Fleet Street became a street of journalists and its name became almost the common noun.

Queen Elizabeth I mounted the throne in 1558. The years of her reign are called "The Golden Age". It was the great epoch in the history of the English capital. It is connected with the name of William Shakespeare, the prominent playwright who lived in London. Theatrical performances of his plays in the City were banned. Then Shakespeare and anothe^r playwright, named Ben Johnson, founded the theatre on the southern bank of the Thames across the St. Paul's Cathedral close to the establishments aimed at satisfying the thirst of Londoners for entertainments. The theatre buildings of that time were covered with straw; the stage was located in the centre of the hall, and the theatres bore the name; like "The Hope", "The Rose", “The Globe". Only the names of the street and lanes remind of these theatres now, though, the newborn “Globe Theatre” has opened wide its doors to London public.