1. In 1970 the BBC showed a program about the history of the British Empire. They described it as England's history. They received thousands of angry phone calls about this. Who do you think the angry caller were? Why were they angry? Why did the BBC apologise? 2. The Union flag is a combination of three of the national flags. Which three? 3.What symbols are used as emblems of your nationality? 4. Are there any regional loyalties in your country? 5. Is the relationship between the regions in any way like that in Britain? 6. Can you think of other countries where these loyalties exist? 7. Another way of referring to Britain is the British Isles. Look in an atlas and find out the names of some of the other islands in the group.
Ex. 10. Complete the following table using the information from the text.
Identifying symbols of the four nations
| England | Wales | Scotland | Ireland | |
| Flag | ||||
| Plant | ||||
| Colour | ||||
| Patron Saint | ||||
| Saint's Day |
Ex. 11. Project Work. Find the additional information and tell about the history of Great Britain.
Unit 5
London
Topical Vocabulary
1) to consist ;
2) to extend ;
3) goods , ;
4) in commemoration of ;
5) to allow ;
6) must ;
7) to bury ;
8) touching ;
9) grief ;
10) grave ;
11) warrior ;
12) luxury ;
13) to include ;
14) to depend ;
15) to surround ;
16) permission ;
17) to raise ;
18) to witness ;
19) execution ;
20) imprisonment ( );
21) to bestow , .
Ex. 1. Read the text.
Text A
Modern London is not one city that has steadily become larger through the centuries; it is a number of cities, towns, and villages that have, during the past centuries, grown together to make one vast urban area.
London is situated upon both banks of the River Thames, it is the largest city in Britain and one of the largest in the world. Its population is about 7 million l.
London dominates the life of Britain. It is the chief port of the country and the most important commercial, manufacturing and cultural centre. There is little heavy industry in London, but there is a wide range of light industry in Greater London.
London consists of three parts: the City of London, the West End and the East End.
The City extends over an area of about 2,6 square kilometres in the heart of London. About half a million people work in the City but less than 6,000 live here. It is the financial centre of the UK with many banks, offices and Stock Exchange, but the City is also a market for goods of almost every kind, from all parts of the world.
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The West End can be called the centre of London. Here are the historical palaces as well as the famous parks. Hyde Park with its Speaker's Corner is also here. Among other parks are Kensington Gardens, St. James's Park. In the West End there is Buckingham Palace, which is the Queen's residence, and the Palace of Westminster which is the seat of Parliament.
Trafalgar Square is so-named in commemoration of Nelsons great victory. In the middle stands the famous Nelson Column with the Statue of Nelson 170 feet high so as to allow him a view of the sea. The column stands in the geographical centre of the city.
One of the musts of the sightseer are the Houses of Parliament, facing the Thames, on one side, and the Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey, on the other. The House of Commons sits to the side of the Clock Tower (Big Ben), the House of Lords to the Victoria Tower side.
Westminster Abbey is the crowning and burial place of British monarchs. It has its world famous Poets Corner with memorials to Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, the Bronte sisters, Tennyson, Longfellow, Wordworth, Burns, Dickens, Thackeray, Hardy, Kipling and other leading writers. Only a few, however, are actually buried there.
Here too is that touching symbol of a nations grief, the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The name West End came to be associated with wealth, luxury, and goods of high quality. It is the area of the largest department stores, cinemas and hotels. There are about 40 theatres, several concert halls, many museums including the British, and the best art galleries.
It is in the West End where the University of London is centred with Bloomsburry as Londons student quarter.
The Port of London is to the east of the City. Here today are kilometres and kilometres of docks, and the great industrial areas that depend upon shipping. This is the East End of London, unattractive in appearance, but very important to the countrys commerce.
The best-known streets of London are Whitehall with important government offices, Downing street, the London residence of Prime Minister and the place where the Cabinet meets. Fleet street where most newspapers have their offices, Harley Street where the highest-paid doctors live, and some others.
The names of the streets and districts are often connected with the history of the city and the country. But very often the names of the streets are so old and so changed that only few people know how this or that street got its name.
Piccadilly Circus is a fine street which has seen much history over the centuries. For generations the Piccadilly has been the heart of London. Nowadays it is such a focal point that on special occasions, such as a Coronation or on New Years Eve, as many as 50,000 people gather there. Actually it immortalised a man who is now forgotten. The man was a tailor who grew rich by making his collars called picadillies. He built a grand house which he called Picadilla Hall. And the name, slightly changed has lived on.
Charing Cross is one of the oldest spots in London Once there was a small village in that place. The villages were charring wood, making charcoal of it. That is why the village was named Charing. In 1921 Elenor, the English Queen died outside London. Her husband wanted her body to be taken to Westminster Abbey and buried there. At every place where the funeral procession stopped a wooden cross was erected. The last place was at Charing and since then the Place is called a Charing Cross. Nowadays a Charing Cross Road is known by its bookshops where one can buy books in different languages and of new and old editions.
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No one, however, can explain Soho convincingly. The legend goes that in the old days there used to be green fields there and the people around went fox hunting a great deal. When a hunter saw a fox he called to the dogs so-ho or So Ho. Now Soho is the district where one can see people of different types, hear then speaking different languages. It is famous for its various restaurants. There are some short streets in Soho in which six or seven restaurants of different national cooking stand one after another in a line. One can have breakfast in a Greek restaurant, dinner in Italian and supper in American.
These are only a few examples, but all Londons long-past history can be told by its street and district names.
In recent times London has grown so large, that the Government has decided that it must spread no farther. It is now surrounded by a green belt a belt of agricultural and wooded land on which new buildings may be put up only with the permission of the planning authorities.
