London

(Part I).

London is situated about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) from the mouth of the River Thames. It is divided into two unequal portions by the river.

London is the heart of Britain. It is not only Britain`s capital, it is the country's largest city, the most important seaport, and the financial and business centre. London is also Britain's cultural centre: the place with the most theatres, cinemas, concert halls and museums; in addition, it is the country's TV production centre.

The City is the oldest part of London. It has a history going bасk to at least 43 A.D. and the Romans.

The City has its own Lord Mayor, its own style of government, a system little changed since the Middle Ages, and its own police force.

There one can find St. Paul's Cathedral, the Central Criminal Court, the fish market. The centre of the City is a crossroads, a meeting of seven streets, where the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House stand.

Now about half a million people work in the City during the day. At night it is almost deserted: not many people live in the Square Mile nowadays. These are caretakers of office blocks, the choirboys and clergy of St. Paul's Cathedral.

One of the famous sights of London is the Tower, It was erected by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century. He wanted to impress the brave Saxons and to guard the river approaches to London. For hundreds of years the Tower of London has served as a fortress, a royal palace, a state prison and a mint.

Visitors can see the exact spot where many nobles were executed. There were so many it is difficult to count them. Queen Elizabeth I was sent here by Mary Tudor. In the fifteenth century the children of King Edward IV were strangled here. Henry VIII sent to the Tower two of his wives, they were beheaded. The Tower ravens are part of the legend of the Tower. A curious superstition dating from the time of Charles II prophesies that when there are no longer any ravens in the Tower the British Commonwealth will fall. The ravens are fed twice a day; they are under special café of the Raven Master.

It should be mentioned that the Tower is a museum now with the exhibition of Crown Jewels in the Underground Jewel House. The Tower is guarded by the Yeoman Warders, the famous "Beefeaters" dressed in traditional medieval clothes. The Warders make the historic place look still more fantastic and theatrical. "Beefeater" is a nickname of a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London /in the sense "one who eats beef" or "one who is well fed"/.

If the City may be called the commercial heart of London; Westminster is the centre of administration. We can see the Houses of Parliament here - the building in London in which the House of Commons and the House of Lords assemble. The modern buildings stand on the site of the Royal Palace of Westminster, which was built by Edward the Confessor in the 14th century. The Palace was badly damaged by fire in 1834 and all that could be saved was Westminster Hall. The present Houses of Parliament were built on the site between 1840 and 1867 from designs by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. The House of Commons was bombed during the Second World War but was completely rebuilt by 1950. The Houses of Parliament stand on Parliament Square. Westminster Abbey is opposite the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Abbey is a fine English church where almost all the English sovereigns have been crowned since the 11th century. Westminster maintains this tradition established by William the Conqueror. The ritual was the same in essentials when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in I953. Westminster Abbey is well-known for its Poet's Corner where mаnу writers and poets are buried, or where the monuments to them are raised. Among those buried here are Chaucer (1340 - 1400), Dickens (1812 -1870), Hardy(1840 - 1928) and Kipling (1865 - 1936).

G.D. Tomaknin. Иностранные языки в школе, № I, 1988.

Пояснения к тексту

Lord Mayor - лорд-мэр /титул главы муниципалитета некоторых крупных городов Англии, а так же лондонского Сити/

St. Paul's Cathedral - собор Св.Павла

Central Criminal Court - Центральный Уголовный суд

Royal Exchange- Королевская биржа

Mansion House - официальная резиденция лорд-мэра

Square Mile - "Квадратная миля" /Лондонский Сити/

William the Conqueror - Вильгельм Завоеватель

crown jewels - королевские регалии

Yeomen-Warder - страж лондонского Тауэра

Westminster - Вестминстер

Edward the Confessor - Эдуард Исповедник

Westminster Abbey - Вестминстерское аббатство

Слова и выражения для активного усвоения

important - важный

in addition to - в дополнение

meaning - значение

to restrict - ограничивать

to include - включать

one can - можно

care- taker - сторож

sights - достопримечательность

to impress - производить впечатление

fortress - крепость

prison - тюрьма

to mention - упоминать

to guard -. охранять

to damage - повреждать

design.- замысел, проект

church - церковь

sovereign.- монарх

Questions to the text

1. Where is London situated?

2. What is the City?

3. What famous sights in London do you know?

4. Is Westminster the commercial heart of London?

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