LONDON – THE CAPITAL OF ТНЕ UK

1. BRAIN STORMING. Select the correct answer from the drop down list.

How Much Do You Know About London Quiz

1. … is a historic, financial and commercial part of London.

a) The West End

b) The City

c) Westminster

d) The East End

2. … is a district in London famous for theatres, restaurants and cinemas.

a) West Point

b) Broadway

c) Downing Street

d) The West End

3. The famous London art gallery is called …

a) the British Museum

b) the Metropolitan Museum

c) the National Gallery

d) the Art Exhibition

4. Madame Tussaud’s is a(n)… in London.

a) circus

b) museum

c) art gallery

d) theatre

5. St. Paul’s Cathedral, the greatest monument and Wren’s masterpiece, is situated in …

a) Westminster

b) Bloomsbury

c) the City

d) the West End

6. The Royal family lives in …

a) the Tower of London

b) Westminster Palace

c) Buckingham Palace

d) the Royal Albert Hall

7. The official residence of the British Prime Minister is at № 10…

a) Downing Street

b) Fleet Street

c) Oxford Street

d) Regent Street

8. What is the name of the river that goes across London from southwest to east?

a) Danube

b) Spree

c) Thames

d) Ebro

9. What airport is NOT serving near the city of London?

a) Heathrow

b) Birmingham

c) Luton

d) Gatwick

10. What is the name of the London metro?

a) the underground

b) the subway

c) the tube

11. What is the most popular sport in London with 12 league clubs?

a) Baseball

b) Football

c) Basketball

d) Rugby

12. What is known as the London Eye?

a) a giant (135-metre tall) observation wheel

b) a gossip popular newspaper

c) a midnight TV show about sex in London

d) a big bridge that only allows pedestrians

13. What is the name of a famous clock in London?

a) Big Apple

b) Big Eye

c) Big Dan

d) Big Ben

14. Which of these was the first bridge known in London?

a) London Bridge

b) Westminster Bridge

c) Tower Bridge

d) Southwark Bridge

15. One of the world’s busiest shopping streets with over 300 shops is ...

a) Canary Wharf

b) Oxford Street

c) Harley Street

d) Notting Hill

FIRST READING OF THE TEXT.

2.1 Read the text to find out what it is about in general.

London

Thousands of visitors come to London every year. Some come on business, others simply as tourists. We, too, are travelling to London. It is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union.

Modern London is not one city. It is a number of cities, towns and villages that have grown together in one enormous agglomeration also referred to as Greater London. Greater London is nearly 30 miles long (about 48 kms) and nearly 30 miles wide. It is governed by the elected Mayorof London and the London Assembly.

London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries. In July 2010 Greater London had an official population of 7,825,200, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union.

London consists of so many parts and they are all very different from each other. There is the West End and the East End; the City and Westminster. Kensington and Soho are parts of London. There is the Tower of London and the Docks; Historic London and Modern London; the Museums of London and the Art Galleries; the underground and the parks; the different traditions and the different people. What a lot to see! A great number of people have been to London. But they know nothing about it. It is so big that nobody knows much about it. I don’t think there is a man living in London who is well acquainted with all the parts and districts of this vast city.

The heart of London is the City. It is often referred to as the Square Mile, as it is just over one square mile (1.12 sq mi/2.90 km²) in area. The City is the historic core of London around which the modern metropolis grew. Here is situated the Tower of London which comes first among the historic buildings of London. If you want to have some glimpses of London it’s just from here that you had better start sightseeing. The Tower gives its name to Tower Bridge which has become an iconic symbol of London. A twenty minutes’ walk from the Tower will take you to another historic building – St. Paul’s Cathedral, the greatest of English churches with its huge dome and one of the largest bells in the world, Great Paul (17,5 tons).

Not far away, in Westminster, another important part of London where most of the Government buildings are situated, is Westminster Abbey. Across the road from Westminster Abbey is Westminster Palace, the seat of the British Parliament. The higher of its two graceful towers has the largest clock in the country and the famous bell Big Ben that strikes every quarter of the hour.

If now you walk along Whitehall, which is not at all a hall, but a street where the chief government offices are found, you will soon see Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. The fine building facing the square is the National Gallery and adjoining it is the Portrait Gallery. Not far away is the British Museum – the biggest museum in London – with its priceless collection of ancient manuscripts, coins, sculptures, etc.

Besides Whitehall the best known streets here are Fleet Streetused as a synonym for the British national press(even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005); Harley Street, where the highest-paid doctors live; Oxfordand Regent Streets which are the two busiest shopping streets in London.

And now, even if you have almost no time left for further sightseeing you cannot leave the city without visiting the Hyde Park (or ‘the Park’ as Londoners call it) with its Speaker’s Corner. When you are walking along its shady avenues, sitting on the grass, admiring its beautiful flower beds or watching swans and ducks floating on the ponds, it seems almost unbelievable that all around there is a large city with its heavy traffic and smoke. The open spaces of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Parkand St. James's Park together form an almost continuous ‘green lung’ in the heart of London.

There are a lot of other sights worth seeing in London: Piccadilly Circus with its underground station, Buckingham Palace, Madam Tussaud’s, Tate Gallery, the Royal Albert Hall and more. We have read about all that.

Well, London is much too big to be seen in a couple of days.

2.2 Choose a), b), or c) to complete the sentences.

1. The term ‘London’ is normally used in reference to …

a) Greater London

b) the ancient, tiny City of London (often referred to simply as "the City")

c) the County of London

2. Nobody knows much about London because it …

a) covers the territory of 1572 km2 (607 square miles)

b) has a population of 7,753,600

c) has a lot to see

3. The City is considered the heart of London because it is …

a) a small area within Greater London