Английский

London’s geographical centre is Trafalgar Square. This place is worth visiting. On the column in the centre there is a statue of Admiral Nelson. The British are proud of his having defeated the French at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In the north of Trafalgar Square there is the National Gallery which exhibits all schools of European painting from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Not far from Trafalgar Square is Whitehall, a street of government offices. Walking a little further we come to Parliament Square; Westminster Abbey is on the one side, the Houses of Parliament on the other. The building of the Houses of Parliament is not old inspite of its having been built in the Gothic style. It is the seat of the British Government. The Clock Tower is famous for the hour bell and the clock named Big Ben.

One of the most beautiful of all English buildings is Westminster Abbey founded in the 11th century. The oldest part of the building dates back from the 8th century, it was a monastery the West Minster. Five hundred years later it had been transformed into a church and then, in the 16th century, the wonderful chapel was built. There are too many tombstones, monuments and statues here. Here is the Poet’s Corner. Famous poets and writers being buried here makes the Poet’s corner one of the tourist attractions.

The parts of the West End are Mayfair and Marylebone, Soho and Kensington. The grand streets and squares of Mayfair and Marylebone, to the north of Westminster, have been the playground of the rich since the Restoration, the busiest shopping zones being concentrated here. They also contain a very fine art gallery, the Wallace Collection, and one of London’s biggest tourist attractions, Madame Tussaud’s, the oldest and largest wax museum in the world.

The West End entertainment district includes a large number of theatres, cinemas, clubs, flashy shops, cafés and restaurants making it popular with tourists. Many tourists can’t help visiting Soho, which retains a uniquely unorthodox and slightly raffish air, and gives visitors the best and worst of London. Covent Garden’s transformation from a fruit and vegetable market into a fashion-

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conscious piazza is one of the most enduring developments of the 1980s.

Hyde Park together with its westerly extension Kensington Gardens covers a distance of two miles from Speakers’ Corner in the north-east to Kensington Palace in the south-west. Other districts go in and out of fashion, but Kensington has been in vogue ever since royalty moved into Kensington Palace in the late seventeenth century.

Aside from the shops around Harrods in Knightsbridge, however, the popular tourist attractions lie in South Kensington, where two of London’s top museums — the Victoria and Albert, Natural History and Science museums — stand on land bought with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Chelsea’s character is slightly more bohemian. In the 1960s, the King’s Road carved out its reputation as London’s catwalk, it was the epicentre of the punk explosion in the late 1970s. Nothing so risqué goes on in Chelsea now, though its residents like to think of themselves as rather more artistic and intellectual than the purely moneyed types of Kensington.

The City of London is at one and the same time the most ancient and the most modern part of London. Settled since Roman times, it is now one of the world’s greatest financial centres, yet retains its share of historic sights, notably the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

To the north lies the university quarter of Bloomsbury, home to the ever-popular British Museum. In the first place the British Museum is a great library, one of the largest in the world; secondly, the British Museum is a great scientific institution, generally known as Natural History Museum; then there is an enormous collection of manuscripts; there is also one of the most important Print Rooms in the world, and a Medal Room. Lastly, the British Museum is a national museum of antiquities and ethnography.

Notes:

explosion взрыв

risqué

рискованный; сомнительный

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3. Complete the table.

	Westminster	The	Chelsea	The City
		West End		of London
Sights	1. Trafalgar	1. ...	1. ...	1. ...
	Square	2. ...		2. ...
	with the	3. ...		3. ...
	Nelson	4. ...
	Column	5. ...
	2. ...	6. ...
	3. ...	7. ...
	4. ...	8. ...
	5. ...	9. ...

4.Answer the questions using your table.

1)What sights are located in Westminster?

2)What can you see in the West End?

3)What is worth seeing in Chelsea?

4)What is the City of London famous for?

5.Complete the sentences.

1)London’s geographical centre is ... ... .

2)On the top of the column there is a statue of ... ... .

3)In the north of Trafalgar Square there is ... ... which exhibits all schools of European painting from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

4)The building of the ... ... ... is not old inspite of its having been built in the Gothic style.

5)The ... ... is famous for the hour bell and the clock named Big Ben.

6)One of the most beautiful of all English buildings is ... ...

founded in the 11th century.

7)Famous poets and writers being buried there makes ... ... one of the tourist attractions.

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8)The Wallace Collection is located in ... ... .

9)... ... is the oldest and largest wax museum in the world.

10)... ... covers a distance of two miles from Speakers’ Corner in the north-east to Kensington Palace in the south-east.

11)Kensington has been in vogue ever since royalty moved into

... ... in the late seventeenth century.

12)Two of London’s top museums — ... and ..., ... ... and ... ...

museums — stand on the land bought with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

13)In 1960s... ... carved out its reputation as London’s catwalk place.

14)... ... ... is the most ancient and the most modern part of London.

15)... ... ... and ... ... ... are located in the City of London.

16)One of the most popular museums is ... ... .

6.Topics for Oral Compositions:

1)Sights of London.

2)The sights you’d like to visit.

Polylogue

1. Read and translate the polylogue.

GUIDE: All the principal streets — Cheapside, Threadneedle Street, King William Street and others — lead us to the heart of the City. And the “heart” is represented by three buildings: the Mansion House, the Royal Exchange, the Bank of England. First of all — the Mansion House, that is the place where the Lord Mayor lives. A big house, impressive, with a classic front very much like a Greek temple.

ANNA: Does the Mayor live there now?

GUIDE: He does, and there he receives the guests of honour. The Lord Mayor is the first citizen of the City and the first Magistrate. He has the keys of the City. No troops are allowed to cross the

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limits of the City, neither King nor Queen are allowed to come here without his permission.

LINDA: What? Do you mean to say that the Queen cannot come to the City as we, simple people do?

GUIDE: Well, there is an old tradition. Do you mind my telling you about it?

LEO: Of course, we don’t.

GUIDE: The Lord Mayor is elected every year in November, there is a great ceremony — The Lord Mayor’s Show or Lord Mayor’s Day. The streets are simply packed with people, nobody wants to miss the great event. The Lord Mayor is dressed in a traditional medieval red velvet robe with fur, and a gold chain, and a fantastic hat; he has flowers in his hands. The others are also brilliantly dressed according to the tradition. He drives slowly through the cheering crowed streets to the High Courts of Justice to receive the keys of the City from the Magistrate. The gilded historic carriage is drawn by six horses in red and gold harness. A strong link with history and love of traditions are known to be typical features of English life. We are coming now to a large building with a massive front and blocked windows — “The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street”.

ANNA: I’ve heard of the Old Lady being the name given by the Londoners to the Bank of England.

GUIDE: That’s right. And that is the Royal Exchange. It has been burnt three times by fire, and three times rebuilt. It is used mostly as a place of business or public meetings; on ordinary days some office clerks go there at lunch time.

LEO: Oh, I’ve succeeded in understanding the life of the City. But there are so many things we haven’t seen yet.

LINDA: What is that tall monument at the end of the street? GUIDE: It is the Monument.

LINDA: Yes, I can see that. But a monument to what? GUIDE: It is just the Monument, that is its name. It was put

there to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666. And this is Fleet Street, one of the best known in the world.

ANNA: I wonder why it is so well known.

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GUIDE: Because it is the street of the English press. Most of the principal newspapers have their offices there. Another place which is worth visiting is St. Paul’s Cathedral. (In some minutes.) We are now on the wide steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

LEO: I remember having read something about it.

GUIDE: Do you know that it was planned and carried out by one man?

LINDA: Yes, by Christopher Wren, after the Great Fire. ANNA: I heard of the building having been built for 35 years. GUIDE: Will you go up to the Whispering Gallery, please?

We’ll try the trick of whispering to each other at a great distance. LINDA: Oh, it’s wonderful!...

GUIDE: Our excursion is over. Thank you. EXCURSIONISTS: Thanks a lot. It was very interesting.

Notes:
Mansion House	резиденция лорда-мэра
Royal Exchange	основанная королевой Елизаветой I ко-
	ролевская биржа
Bank of England	Государственный банк Англии
guests of honour	почетные гости
High Courts of Justice	Верховный Суд
Thread needle	вдень нитку в иголку (название объясня-
здесь были сосре-	ется тем, что в старину
	доточены швейные цеха)
Whispering Gallery	«Галерея шепота», расположенная в верх-
	ней части собора, известна своим акус-
	тическим фокусом: слово, произнесенное
	шепотом в любой точке галереи, отчет-
	ливо слышно в диаметрально противо-
	положной точке галереи на территории
	всего собора
ñarriage	карета
harness	упряжь

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2.Answer the questions.

1)What is the “heart” of the City represented by?

2)Who lives in the Mansion House?

3)How often is the Lord Mayor elected?

4)What ceremony takes place during the election?

5)What is the Bank of England’s nickname?

6)What is used as a place of business or public meetings?

7)Why was the Monument put?

8)What street is closely connected with the English press?

9)Who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral?

10)What is St. Paul’s Cathedral famous for?

3.Act out the polylogue.

4.Translate text 2 in writing with the help of a dictionary.

Text 2

THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The origins of the British Museum lie in the will of the physician, naturalist and collector Sir Hans Sloane (1660—1753). Not wishing to see his collection of some 71000 objects, a library and a herbarium dispersed on his death, Sloane bequeathed it to King George II for the nation in return for the payment of 20000 pounds. Should the bequest be refused, the collection was to be offered to learned academies overseas. A large and influential group of Trustees was charged with overseeing the disposition of his estate. The King wasn’t interested in the museum being established but Parliament, led by the Speaker Arthur Onslow, insisted on the gift being accepted. An Act of Parliament establishing the British Museum received the royal assent on June 7, 1753. This directed that a public lottery should be held to raise funds for the purchase and the acquisition of a repository. The Cotton collection of manuscripts, given to the nation in 1700, was attached to the new museum and 10000 pounds were expended on the purchase of the Harleian collection of manuscripts. A new Board of Trustees was established. The foundation

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collections largely consisted of books, manuscripts and natural history with some antiquities (including coins and medals, prints and drawings) and ethnography. In 1757 King George II donated the “Old Royal Library” of the sovereigns of England and with it the privilege of copyright receipt. The Museum was first housed in a 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, in Bloomsbury on the site of today’s building. On January 15, 1759, the British Museum was opened to the public. From its beginnings the British Museum was a new type of institution. Its collections belonging to the nation, admission was free and open to all.

				Word List
1. to scratch the surface				освещать, затрагивать поверхностно
2. to focus				собирать; сосредоточивать
3. spire				шпиль
4. allure				привлекательность; прелесть
5. treasure				сокровище
6. tip				верхушка; кончик
7. to erect				воздвигать; сооружать
8. reign				царствование; власть
9. to ruin [ ru:in]´				разрушать; уничтожать
10.	to commemorate			знаменовать; служить напоминанием
11.	boulder			валун
12.	literally			буквально
13.	to throng			толпиться
14.	ballet [ b´	ælei]		балет
15.	repertoire [ rep´ qtwa:(r)]			репертуар
16.	apex [ eipeks]´			вершина, верх
17.	incredible [in credibl]´			невероятный
18.	facade [f	sa:d]´		фасад

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Work at the words

1.Match the words in list A with their synonyms in list B.

A:energy, incredible, to focus, to ruin, apex, to throng, boulder, to commemorate, to erect, allure, treasure, to reign

B:stone, to crowd, wealth, to govern, to be in memory of, to build, to destroy, power, to concentrate, tip, charm, unbelievable

2.Match the words in column A with those in column B.

	À		Â
1)	to throng	a)	царствование
2)	incredible	b)	вершина
3)	apex	c)	воздвигать
4)	boulder	d)	привлекательность
5)	to commemorate	e) шпиль
6)	to erect	f)	сосредоточивать
7)	allure	g)	валун
8)	spire	h)	невероятный
9)	to focus	i)	толпиться
10)	reign	j)	знаменовать

3.Fill in the blanks with the words given below.

1)The attempts to sum up this city in a few words only ... .

2)Cathedrals, churches, and waterways give St. Petersburg its ... .

3)It is a beautiful city filled with cultural, historical, and architectural ... .

4)The Admiralty ... the square.

5)People can see the golden ... of the Admiralty with a boat at its ... from many streets.

6)A small church ... in honour of St. Isaac.

7)The old building ... by the floods.

8)The name of the square ... the first Russian revolutionaries.

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9)In the evening Nevsky Prospect ... with people on their way to the city’s theatres and concert halls.

faces; spire; is thronged; was erected; treasures; commemorates; scratch the surface; was ruined; allure; tip

Work at your Grammar

1.Translate the Conditional sentences.

1)If I were you, I should visit the Peter-and-Paul Fortress.

2)Provided he had got up early, he wouldn’t have missed the train.

3)Nobody told her about this excursion. She would have joined us if she had known about it.

4)In case you had visited St. Petersburg last month, you would have enjoyed white nights.

5)If they crossed to the left bank of the Neva, they would come to the Winter Palace.

6)If you came to the Hermitage, you would desire to return here and to make more than one visit.

2.Read and translate the sentences paying attention to the Gerundial Construction and the Absolute Participial Construction.

1)The Peter-and-Paul Fortress having been erected to defend St. Petersburg against enemy attacks made it very important for the city.

2)The Peter-and-Paul Fortress having been built, the city was able to repulse enemy attacks.

3)The Admiralty having been planned as the architectural centre of the city, it can be seen from many streets.

4)The Admiralty having been planned as the architectural centre of the city is known to everybody.

5)The Hermitage including priceless art treasures makes it attractive for tourists.

6)The Hermitage including priceless art treasures, tourists from many countries like visiting it.

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