Talking points

• Many visitors to the Abbey are attracted to Poets’ Corner. What memorials to great men are there in the Abbey? What centuries did most of them live in? So, you see that British people cherrish the memory of their men of letters for several centuries. Why are they doing so? Is it necessary to keep the memory of the past for the sake of their future? What do you think about it?

• From the text about Whitehall you learnt how the British people remember their dead from the two world wars. Do Ukrainian people also keep the memory of the fallen heroes? How do they do it? Can you give any examples?

Text 14 THE WEST END

The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of Lon­don. The West End is the name given to the area of central Lon­don north from the Mall to Oxford Street. Fine buildings, theat­res, museums and big shops can be found in the West End. The best streets and parks of the capital are there too.

Trafalgar square

This is one of the nerve-centres of London. It was named Tra­falgar Square to commemorate the historical naval victory won on the 21st of October 1805 by the British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson over the combined French-Spanish fleet com­manded by Villeneuve. The battle took place at Cape Trafalgar in the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar and lasted several hours. Nelson was fatally wounded by a shot which broke his backbone. He died on board his flagship the Victory, but not before being told that he had won the battle.

Nelson’s Column, with the statue of Admiral Lord Nelson on top, rises in the centre of Trafalgar Square. This most impressive monument is 170 feet (about 52 m) tall. The statue of Nelson itself, placed facing towards the sea he loved, measures 17 feet (more than 5 m) in height.

To the north-east of Trafalgar Square there is the building that houses the National Gallery of Art — one of the most impor­tant Art Galleries in the world — and behind is the National Port­rait Gallery.

Quite often the square becomes the location for meetings and in it crowds of Londoners congregate to celebrate political rallies. So it can be said that Trafalgar Square is the heart from which the beat is emitted to all the Londoners.

There are many pigeons in the square and Londoners like to feed them. Everybody knows that the dove is the symbol of peace all over the world.

the Mall — Мoлл, Мэлл (улица в центральной части Лондона; ведет от Трафальгарской площади к Букингемскому дворцу)

commemorate — чтить память, слу­жить напоминанием

Straits of Gibraltar — Гибралтар­ский пролив

congregate — собирать(ся), скоп­ляться, сходиться

rally — массовый митинг, слет

emit — издавать (крик, звук), ис­пускать

pigeon — голубь

dove — голубь, голубка

Piccadilly circus

Piccadilly Circus is the centre of night life in the West End. This is one of the most popular meeting points of London, pro­bably second only to Trafalgar Square. It is actually quite small, and most people are rather disappointed when they see it for the first time because they had imagined it would be much bigger. Piccadilly Circus is a dynamic and picturesque place with a happy and lively cosmopolitan atmosphere. There stroll people who come from the most far-flung countries in the world, of all races, dressed in their national clothes. Groups of people like to gather around the foot of the statue of Eros, the god of love, work of Sir Alfred Gilbert. They form a brightly colourful picture. Piccadilly Circus is a West End shopping centre. There are many shops with big advertisements, belonging to different foreign firms there.

disappoint — разочаровывать

far-flung countries — страны, распо­ложенные далеко друг от друга (в разных концах света)

Eros — Эрос, Эрот (разговорное на­звание памятника известному фи­лантропу графу Шафтсбери в центре Пиккадилли-Серкус в Лондоне; установлен в 1893)