Westminster abbey

The great glory of Westminster is, of course, the Abbey. Ancient tradition claims that St. Peter founded the first church here, but the Abbey’s 900 years of existence since its dedication go back to Edward the Confessor. Henry III rebuilt the earlier church and the present building dates from his reign. If you have never visited the Abbey before, try to go in slowly and look about carefully. For the immediate effect, as you follow the wonderfully vaulted roof along the length of the nave, is a startling and breathtaking beauty. There is an element of greatness here that is not just concerned with size and height.

Abbey — аббатство, монастырь

vaulted — сводчатый

nave — неф, корабль (церкви)

startle — сильно удивлять, пугать

Poets’ corner

Many visitors to the Abbey are attracted to Poets’ Corner, with its memorials to great men of letters. Many outstanding statesmen, painters, writers and poets are buried there. Among them are Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling and others. Chaucer, who is buried in the Abbey, is remembered here. So are Spenser, Dryden, Ben Jonson, and Milton. There are also memo­rials to Shakespeare, Burns, Byron, Walter Scott, Thackeray and to the American poet Longfellow. A full length statue of Shake­speare by Scheemakers was erected in 1741, and just opposite is a monument to the actor David Garrick. He is aptly shown parting the curtains. Dr Johnson is represented with a magnifi­cent bust by Nollekens, and there is a remarkable renderings of Blake’s life-mask by Epstein.

Nearly all English kings and queens have been crowned in Westminster Abbey.

aptly — подходяще, удачно

rendering — воспроизведение

Whitehall

The street called Whitehall stretches from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square. Just as Westminster or the Palace of West­minster frequently stands for the Houses of Parliament, so White­hall is often used as a name for the Civil Service.

Downing Street, which is a small side street off Whitehall, is the home of the Prime Minister, who lives at number ten. Next door at number eleven lives the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is responsible for financial planning and the British economy. Just around the corner in Whitehall itself are all the important ministries: the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the Treasury.

In the middle of Whitehall is the Cenotaph where the Queen lays the first wreath of poppies on Remembrance Day. On that day each year the people of Britain remember their dead from the two world wars of this century by wearing a red paper poppy.

Civil Service — государственная служба (аппарат не меняется при смене правительства)

Chancellor of the Exchequer — канц­лер казначейства, министр финансов

Foreign Office —Ми­нистерство иностранных дел

Ministry of Defence — Министерство обороны

Ноmе Office — Министерство внут­ренних дел

Treasury — казначейство, Мини­стерство финансов

Cenotaph — Сенотаф, Кенотаф (обе­лиск в Лондоне на улице Уайтхолл, воздвигнут в 1920 в честь погиб­ших во время первой мировой вой­ны)

wreath of poppies — венок (гирлян­да) из цветов мака

SECTION RECAP

1. What do you know about the Palace of Westminster? Where is it situated? What government office is there?

2. When does the flag fly on top of Victoria Tower? When does a light burn above Big Ben? What does it signal for the people of London?

3. Why is the hour bell in Clock Tower called “Big Ben”?

4. What can you say about the two Houses of Parliament?

5. What is Westminster Abbey famous for? What prominent people are burried there?

6. What important administrative offices are there in Whitehall?

7. What is in Downing Street at number ten? Who occupies this house now?