TEXT 3. From the History of the Capital of Great Britain

Прослушайте и прочитайте несколько раз в парах следующие диалоги. Постарайтесь воспроизвести их по памяти

A: Excuse me, who is that gentleman?

B: That’s Mr. David Russell.

C: Thank you, Tell me Where is he from?

D: Mr. Russell is from Birmingham [ ] England.

E: What does he do, by the way?

F: He’s a chemist or a physicist, something like that.

A: Are you American, Mr. Miller?

B: Me? American? Oh no: I’m English. I’m an Englishman.

C: Is that lady English, too?

D: Who? Mrs. McCall? Well, she’s a Scot. We are both British.

E: And where is Mr. O’Kelly from?

F: He is an Irishman [ ]

A: What country are you from, Mr. Adams?

B: I’m from the USA, And you? Are you Russian?

C: Yes, I’m from Russia. My name is Kotov.

D: Glad to meet you, Mr. Kotov. By the way, I’m going to visit your country soon.

E: Really? When?

F: Next month.

A: Excuse me, where are you from?

B: From England. You have certainly heard something about Leeds. It’s the town I live in.

C: Of course. I have. Are you here as a tourist, Mr.?

D: Jones. No, I’m not. I work here. I am an engineer of the firm which is building an assembly line at the car factory in this town.

E: I see, Mr. Jones. My name is Glebov. I’m a student of the Institute of Foreign Languages. I’m glad to meet you.

A: What country are you from?

B: I’m from England and Mr. McIntosh is from Scotland.

C: Are you travelling together?

D: Yes, we are members of a tourist group.

E: Have you visited many places in Russia?

F: Quite a lot. We’ve been to Leningrad, Kviev, Odessa and the Crimea [ ]. And now we are in Moscow.

A: Where are you from, Mrs. Itill?

B: I’m from Coventry [ ]

C: And I’m from Volgograd. Coventry and Volgograd are twin-towns.

D: I was in Volgograd four years ago as a member of the delegation of the British Twin-Town Association.

E: Did you like my town?

F: Yes, very. Volgograd is really a very beautiful city.

A: Where are you from, Miss?

B: My name is Chie. I’m from Japan [ ].

C: I’m Andrei Kotov, from Russia. Are you visiting our country?

D: Yes, I’m a tourist. I have won a ten-day tour about Russia. I took part in the National Competition for the best knowledge of Russian in Japan.

E: Congratulations! Oh, but we might as well speak Russian.

1.12 Прочтите текст 3 “From the History of the Capital of Great Britain” и кратко передайте содержание на русском языке

Here are some words about the capital of England’s past. In 55 B.C. (Before Christ – до нашей эры) the Romans under Julius Caesar came to the British Isles and found a Celtic village Llyn-din on the bank of the river Thames.

The Romans started calling Llyn-din in their own way – Londinium. The greater part of goods that were sent to Rome from Britain went through Londinium. Because of its good position for navigation and defence Londinium became a rich city and the main trade centre of the country. The City, the business centre of modern London, is situated in the very place where Londinium had been.

The Romans stayed in Britain for four hundred years. After they left it in the fifth century, other people came from the continent. They were the Angles and Saxons.

The Angles and Saxons managed to occupy that part of the island which was the nearest to the continent and drove the Britons away to the north and to the west of the island. In time people started calling the southern part of the island England that means the land of the Angles.

In 1066, the Normans came from the north of France. They were met near Hastings [ ] by the Anglo-Saxons who fought bravely against the newcomers, but lost. The country was occupied by the Normans; and the life of the English people became rather hard. To guard themselves, since they were afraid of the Anglo-Saxons the Norman kings built a large fortress on the banks of the Thames - the Tower. Now it is a museum. If you go to London, you will see the famous Tower of London, which is by now almost nine hundred years old.

As time went on London developed into an important industrial and trading centre and one of the largest cities of the world. Today one of the most famous buildings in London is the Houses of Parliament. It is an impressive building with two tall towers, one of which is a clock tower with a bell called Big Ben. The clock in the Houses of Parliament tower is the main clock of Great Britain.

Among the squares the best known ones are Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. With its tall column to Admiral Nelson rising high above it, the Trafalgar Square has become the place where meetings the British workers, the fighters for peace are held, while the busiest square in London is the

Piccadilly Circus with the statue of Eros, the god of love, in the middle. It is interesting to note that the statue of Eros was made of aluminium when aluminium was thought to be a rare metal.

There are many interesting places in England and in London, its capital, but it is impossible to speak about them all. I think that some day you will read more about them or maybe even enjoy seeing them yourselves.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27