Getting about London

What is London?

We can say that it is one of the largest cities in the world, that it is one of the world's most important ports and that it is the capital of Great Britain But all these answers do not give any idea of London.

London is more than two thousand and five hundred years old. About seven million people live there. There are more than 10 thousand streets in London.

Most of the streets are not very wide and most of the buildings are not tall, but multistorey buildings have also appeared in London and almost all of them are hotels and offices.

London Underground (or Tube) is the oldest and longest in Europe. There are eleven different lines with more than 500 stations.

Although London is a crowded and noisy city you can find many pleasant parks and green squares there.

Regent's Parks the most beautiful park and Hyde Park is the largest, it is one of the most popular places of rest of Londoners on hot summer days.

There are three main parts in London: the City, the West End¹ and the East End².

The oldest part of London is the City, the business centre. But the political centre is Westminster which is in the West End.

The West End is famous for its rich shops, hotels, restau­rants, cinemas, museums and other places of interest. Only rich people live there.

The East End is another part of London. Many house he East End is famous for its docks but they have closed. Now people are building houses there.

There is so much to see in London that even Lon­doners can always find new sights. They like to say: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Computer With Laser Beam Memory

According to the Corporation, the laser beam memory has the largest storage capacity of its type.

Compared with the conventional magnetic disc, its capacity is 100 times larger. It is 10,000 times more efficient for storage than magnetic tape.

It reads the stored information 100 times faster than a con­ventional memory and it is expected to pave the way for pro­duction of miniature computers with faster reading capacity.

The Moon

On discussing the practical problems involved in exploring the solar system, academician Semyonov said: «I should like to examine opportunities for utilizing the moon to supply power to our planet. The moon is 16 times smaller than the earth, but since it has no atmosphere it gets three times more solar radiation, per unit of territory than the earth. Conse­quently, in terms of solar energy absorption, the moon is equivalent to one-fifth of the Earth's surface or, what amounts to the same thing, gets nearly as much energy as all our con­tinents.

Why du Scientists Talk?

There are two main methods for scientists to communi­cate with each other. The publication of scientific research papers is the method of the greatest long-term importance. For this reason a large number of journals exist throughout the world appearing at more or less frequent intervals, con­taining original papers submitted by scientists. These sci­entific journals are the very essence of science. It is through them and through the study of papers by other scientists in detail and at leisure that we can learn to understand each other's work sufficiently to extend it, to criticize it, to check it, and to communicate it further to our students and colleagues.

Ключ

К упр. 4 (II.1).

1. the longest

2. worse

3. the greatest

4. the most practical

5. tall

6. stronger

7. low

8. the highest

9. wider and deeper

10. more efficient

11. colder

К упр. 7 (II.1).

• older, more expensive

• older, better, the cheapest, as good

• more powerful, faster, easier

• the most expensive

• the most expensive, farther

УЭ-3