Text A. London. Text B. Sightseeing in London

Text A. London

London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It was established soon after the Roman invasion in A. D. 43. In the second century London was a walled city, and by the 11^th century, it was the main city of England.

Greater London comprises the city of London and 32 bor­oughs or districts. The City of London, known as the "square mile," is the financial and commercial center of the United Kingdom. The population of Greater London is about 9 million people —this is one of the largest capital cities in the world.

From early Saxon times, the importance of London was as a big port on the Thames. The prime economic importance of modern London is as a financial center. There are various indus­tries, mainly on the outskirts of the city, as well as recording, broad­casting, television, and film studios, publishing companies, and the works and offices of the national press. Fleet Street in London has been traditionally the centre of British journalism. With adjoining streets it contains offices and printing works of many leading Brit­ish newspapers.

London contains buildings in all styles of English architec­ture since the 11^th century. The best known examples of the Nor­man style are the Tower of London and the Temple Church. The Tower of London is the most interesting work of military architec­ture in England. Started in 1080 by William I, it used to be a for­tress, a palace, and a prison.

There are also examples of the Gothic style in London: Westminster Abbey, Westminster Hall, Lambeth Palace.

London has a lot to offer to its visitors, and you will never be tired of its streets, squares, buildings, palaces, museums, and parks. It is said that if you are tired of London, you are tired of life. Fortunately, this rarely happens to those who come to this multinational city.

London can boast such magnificent museums, such as the British Museum with its enormous collection of sculptures from the earliest days of civilization; the National Gallery containing one of the world's greatest collections of European painting; the Tate Gallery founded by Henry Tate, the sugar refiner, who start­ed this collection of modern British and foreign painting; and of course the famous Madame Tussaud's Gallery with its exhibition of wax effigies of famous people, which is over 200 years old.

On any day there are people crowding near Buckingham Palace, the residence of every British sovereign since 1837. These people are waiting for the show of the changing of the Guard in the forecourt which usually takes place at 11:30 a.m.

Another place frequented by tourists is Downing Street with the humble house No. 10, which is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Almost everybody knows that the humble appearance of the house is illusory.

And of course, there are the Houses of Parliament, the spec­tacular building in a pseudo-Gothic style built in 1852, known to many people from pictures and photographs.

Even if you are tired of visiting London's museums, you can just walk along its streets, and you will inevitably feel a sense of history, and if you are well read in English literature, London streets will remind you of the famous heroes of Charles Dickens, John Galsworthy, Arthur Conan Doyle and others.

Answer the questions:

1. What explains London's significance from the early days of its foundation?

2. What major architectural styles are represented in London?

3. There is a saying that you will never get tired of London. Can you support this opinion?

 London has a lot to offer to its visitors. If you care for paint­ing you ought to visit the Na­tional Gallery. It contains a superb collection of Italian, Dutch and English Renaissance paintings. Canvases by contemporary artists are exhibited in the Na­tional Gallery of British Painting and of Modern Foreign Art. Though it seldom goes by that long name. Everybody calls it simply the Tate Gallery... But there's a lot to be seen in Lon­don besides the museums... Take the Houses of Parliament. The building itself is otherwise known as Westminster Palace. It dates from eighteen fifty-two and is an example of pseudogothic style. In one of the towers of the building is the Big Ben—that famous tower clock. It can be seen from afar... The Parliament building is open for visitors. You can take a guided tour. You may also get in to the debates in the House of Com­mons or in the House of Lords. The Royal residence is at Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guard in front of the Palace is a most picturesque sight. You should also sее the Prime Minister's residence—10 Downing Street. If you walk along Downing Street you'll come to Whitehall. It's a broad, busy thoroughfare running from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square. This is where most of the Government offices are concentrated. Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park are often the scenes of peace rallies and other political meetings.

 The City is the business part of London where big banks and offices are situated. That's where the cen­tre of the city is, and it is from there that London started growing. The district includes the Tower of London which was the Royal residence throughout the Middle Ages and a prison, too. In the courtyard you will see the scaffold and the ravens hopping about it on the green. There's a superstition that the British Empire will come to an end when the ravens leave the Tower. And they don't trust the birds much: their wings are clipped. The Tower was built in ten eighty-seven by William the Conqueror. Now the Tower is a museum and holds the crown jewels and other treasures. It is open to the public. If you visit the Tower you shouldn't miss Tower Bridge—it's close by. It is one of the finest bridges spanning the Thames. It was built at the close of the nineteenth century. In the City, too, is St Paul's Cathedral, a fine example of the classical style. It is the crown­ing achievement of England's greatest architect, Christopher Wren. The Cathedral was one of the highest buildings in the world before the sky­scrapers. Another work by Wren is the Monument. It is a Doric column commemorating the Great Fire of London in sixteen sixty-six. It has been erected near the spot where the fire started. An interior staircase leads to the very top of the column. You get a good view of thecity from there. The Tower and the banks, St Paul’s Cathedral and the of­fices—all that is the City. Once the workday is over, the City becomes deserted. The clerks are off to their homes. The bosses in their own cars drive over to West End, where the homes of the well-to-do, the fashionable restaurants and shops are situated.

But London is rich not only in historical events; it is rich in historic places, too. There is history in every stone of Lon­don. The Tower, the Monument, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey... Many famous people are buried in Westminster Abbey: Darwin, Chaucer, the great fourteenth century Eng­lish poet, Newton... There, too, is the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and memorials to Shakespeare and Dickens... In Westminster Abbey, nearly all English kings and queens have been crowned. Many of them are buried within its walls.

If you are a music-lover you should visit the Albert Hall in Ken­sington which is the best place for musical festivals and various concerts. Opera performances are chiefly given in the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The Royal Opera is famous for the great singers that have appeared on its stage. Sadler's Wells Theatre is well-known, too. It stages both opera and ballet. The best theatres staging drama in Lon­don are the Royal Theatre in Drury Lane—Lon­don's oldest, and the Old Vic—staging mainly Shake­speare's plays.

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