2.6. Give the summary of the text. Topic 3. London’s Places of Interest

3.1. Read and translate the text:

London is not only the political and economic centrе of the United Kingdom. It is the main tourist attraction of the country. There are many places in London which attract thousands of tourists everу year. They usually want to see Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Westminster Abbey is one of the most beautiful buildings in London (Fig. 4). Westminster Abbey is a symbol of English tradition at its best. The coronations of nearly all English kings and queens since William the Conqueror^ have taken place here. Many of them are buried within the Abbey. Beneath the roof of this Gothic building there are also the graves and memorial slabs of statesmen, philosophers, writers and poets and other distinguished people. Here you can see memorials to Isaac Newton^, Charles Darwin^, Geoffrey Chaucer^, Alfred Tennyson^, Charles Dickens^ and James Watt^.

Fig. 4. Westminster Abbey

The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey face each other across Parliament Square.

The Houses of Parliament is officially known as the Palace of Westminster. Once a royal palace the Houses of Parliament (Fig. 5) is now the seat of the Government and the heart of the Commonwealth. The Houses of Parliament is actually one building but it is called “Houses” as it consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Houses of Parliament stretch for nearly 305 metres along the north bank of the Thames. At the end of the Houses of Parliament there is a tower with a large clock. The clock is considered to be one of the finest timekeepers in the world. The hours are struck on the largest bell known as Big Ben. This bell weights 13.5 tons and the clock tower is 97.5 metres high.

Fig. 5. The Houses of Parliament

When the House is in session, a Union Jack (Fig. 6) flies from the tower by day and a light burns in the clock tower by night. The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. ⁱThe white diagonal cross (with the arms going into the corners) is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. David is the patron saint of Wales.

Fig. 6. The Union Jack

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen and her family in London. Today the Queen lives at the Palace for only part of the year and when she is in her residence the Royal Standard flies over the east front of Buckingham Palace.

The ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in front of Buckingham Palace is a great tourist attraction. It takes place daily at 11:30 a.m. and lasts half an hour. To the sound of music the guardsmen in their traditional red coats and bearskin caps arrive and give the palace keys to another group.

St. Paul’s Cathedral (Fig. 7) is the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren^. It was built between 1675 and 1710. The Cathedral is crowned with a huge dome 111 metres high and 34 metres in diameter. There is the famous Whispering Gallery^ inside the dome. There are many memorials in the Cathedral, including memorials to Duke of Wellington^ and Admiral Nelson^. Sir Christopher Wren is also buried in the Cathedral.

The Tower of London (Fig. 8) is associated with many important events in the British history. It was founded by William the Conqueror in 1078 as a fortress to protect the city. Then it has been the Royal residence, the Royal Mint, the first Royal Observatory. The Tower of London is the oldest of all royal residence in London. But it is perhaps most famous for being a prison. The Tower of London is famous for its prisoners like Sir Thomas More^. Now the Tower is a museum which houses the National Collection of Armour and the Crown Jewels, and Royal Regalia.

Fig. 7. St. Paul’s Cathedral

London is noted for its museums and art galleries. They are the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the British Museum, the Museum of London, the Museum of Moving Image, the Madame Tusseau’s Museum and many others.

The National Gallery (Fig. 9) is situated in Trafalgar Square and is one of the best-known art galleries in the world. It was founded in 1824 and houses one of the most important collections of Italian paintings outside

Italy. It is also famous for its Dutch collection, particularly for paintings by Rembrandt. The National Portrait Gallery is situated near the National Gallery. It is Britain’s leading art gallery of portraits of famous people in British history. The National Portrait Gallery is noted for representing various kinds of portraits – from traditional oil paintings to photographs. Founded in 1856, in 1984 it contained over 800 original portraits and more than 500,000 photographs.

Fig. 8. The Tower of London

The famous Tate Gallery (Fig. 10) was built and opened in 1897 with the financial support of Sir Henry Tate, sugar refiner owner. The Gallery contains a unique collection of British painting from the 16-th century to the present day and a modern foreign collection. The Gallery also has many drawings and modern sculptures. Sir Henry Tate gave to the Gallery works from his own collection of British paintings.

Fig. 9. The National Gallery

The Madame Tusseau’s Museum contains hundreds of wax figures which are sculpture portraits of personalities – political figures, painters, musicians, sportsmen and even criminals.

The Museum of London represents the history of the city from its foundation to its present day. The Museum of Moving Image illustrates the history of cinema.

Cultural life of London would be impossible without the Royal Albert Hall^, the Royal Festival Hall^, the National Theatre and a great number of museums: the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Geological Museum, the Museum of Mankind, National History Museum and others.

Victoria and Albert Museum is a collection of fine and applied arts. It contains a great collection of miniature too. The Museum was opened in 1857 and was named after Queen Victoria^ and her husband, Prince Albert.

Fig. 10. The Tate Gallery

London has many parks and gardens. Most of them used to be private gardens or hunting forests of kings and queens. Later on they were transformed into their present design. The best known are Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and St. James’s Park. Hyde Park (Fig. 11) is a royal park since 1536.

It was a part of the forest where king Henry VIII^ hunted wild animals. Hyde Park has 146 hectares of parkland now, and people are allowed to walk or sit and lie on the grass. You can see the Serpentine lake in the middle of the park.

Fig. 11. Hyde Park

Hyde Park is famous for its Speaker’s Corner (Fig. 12) where people go when they want to tell other people about their political opinions.

Fig. 12. Speaker’s Corner

Regent’s Park (Fig. 13) is in the north-west of London. It is the home of the London Zoo. There are more than six thousand animals and birds in the Zoo. In summer one can visit an open-air theatre and enjoy a play by William Shakespeare. There are also children’s playgrounds and tennis courts.

Fig. 13. Regent’s Park

St. James’s Park (Fig. 14) is the oldest and the smallest of the royal parks. It is near Buckingham Palace. There is a lake in St. James’s Park. Here you can see pelicans and ducks.

Fig.14. St. James’s Park

One of the most beautiful squares in the centre of London is Trafalgar Square (see Fig. 3). Trafalgar Square commemorates admiral Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar in 1805 in which he was fatally wounded. The Battle of Trafalgar is a decisive sea battle near Cape Trafalgar against the French and Spanish won by British ships under Admiral Nelson. Admiral Nelson became a national hero winning several victories at see, the most famous being the Battle of Trafalgar.

Trafalgar Square was designed between 1829 and 1840 with Nelson’s Column as a centre-piece. The column is over 52 metres high while the statue of Nelson itself is 5 metres high. Four bronze bas-reliefs at the foot of the column, cast of captured French cannon, represent Nelson’s four great naval victories. The four bronze lions at the base were added in 1867.

Trafalgar Square has become famous as a rallying point for all kinds of demonstrations, marches, and political meetings.

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Комментарий к тексту

^ William the Conqueror - Вильгельм I Завоеватель (1027-1087) - английский король с 1066 г. С 1035 г. – герцог Нормандии. В 1066 г. высадился в Англии и, разбив при Гастингсе войска англосаксонского короля Гарольда II, стал английским королём. Установил прямую вассальную зависимость всех феодалов от короля.

^ Isaac Newton - Исаак Ньютон (1643-1727) – английский астроном, физик, математик и механик, создатель классической механики. Открыл закон всемирного тяготения. Был директором Монетного двора, наладил монетное дело в Англии.

^ Charles Darwin - Чарлз Дарвин (1809-1882) – английский естествоиспытатель, автор труда «Происхождение видов путём естественного отбора», создатель дарвинизма. Иностранный член-корреспондент Петербургской Академии наук (1867).

^ Geoffrey Chaucer - Джефри Чосер (1340-1400) – английский поэт. Основоположник общеанглийского литературного языка и реализма в английской литературе.

^ Alfred Tennyson - Алфред Теннисон (1809-1892) – лорд, английский поэт.

^ Charles Dickens - Чарлз Диккенс (1812-1870) – английский писатель, автор романов «Посмертные записки Пиквикского клуба», «Приключения Оливера Твиста», «Лавка древностей», «Холодный дом», «Дэвид Копперфилд» и др. В своих произведениях описывал драматическую картину английской жизни.

^ James Watt - Джеймс Уатт (1736-1819) – английский изобретатель, создатель универсального теплового двигателя. Изобрёл паровую машину с цилиндром двойного действия.

^ Sir Christopher Wren - Сэр Кристофер Рен (1632-1723) – английский архитектор, математик и астроном. Представитель классицизма. Гармонично связывал разнообразные по формам здания с пейзажем и городской средой. Составил план реконструкции Лондона (1666). Построил собор Св. Павла (1675-1710) и другие церкви в Лондоне. Похоронен в соборе Св. Павла.

^ the Whispering Gallery - Галерея шепота – известна своим акустическим эффектом: слово, сказанное на одной её стороне, отчётливо слышно у противоположной стены, хотя диаметр купола равен 34 м.

^ Arthur Wellesley Wellington - Артур Уэсли Веллингтон (1769-1852) – герцог, английский фельдмаршал (1813). Командовал англо-голландской армией и разбил Наполеона при Ватерлоо (1815). В 1827-1852 гг. – Главнокомандующий английской армией. В 1828-1830 гг. – премьер-министр кабинета Тори. В 1834 –1835 гг. – министр иностранных дел.

^ Horatio Nelson - Горацио Нельсон (1758-1805) – английский вице-адмирал, одержал ряд побед над французским и испанским флотами, в том числе при Трафальгаре.

^ Thomas More - Томас Мор (1478-1535) – английский гуманист, государственный деятель и писатель, один из основоположников утопического социализма, автор книги «Утопия». Канцлер Англии в 1529-1532 гг. Будучи католиком, отказался дать присягу королю Генриху VIII как «верховному главе» англиканской церкви, после чего обвинён в государственной измене и казнён.

^ the Royal Albert Hall - Королевский Альберт-Холл - построен в 1867-1871 гг. в память принца Альберта, супруга королевы Виктории. Здесь даются концерты оркестровой и вокальной музыки.

^ the Royal Festival Hall - Королевский Фестиваль-Холл – построен в

1951 г. для Британского фестиваля. В нём проходят симфонические и вокальные концерты, выступления солистов, а также короткие сезоны балетных спектаклей.

^ Victoria - Виктория (1819-1901) – королева Великобритании с 1837 г. За долгие годы её правления Великобритания стала самым могучим государством в мире.

^ Henry VIII - Генрих VIII (1491-1547) – английский король с 1509 г. В 1534 г. провозгласил себя главой англиканской церкви.