a trip to london

Close your eyes, think about London
and try to imagine it in your mind.
Describe what you “saw” in your mind.
What things do you associate with
London?
Make a list of your favourite
places in London
Which one do you like best? Why?

Find these places on the map (http://
maps.google.com/) click on the images and create sentences to describe the pictures:
Regent’s Park
Bloomsbury
Kings Cross
Hampstead Heath
Tufnell Park
The Thames

MAGIC BOOK
['tauə] Tower
[u:] book, soon,look
[ɛə] square, where,there
[ʌ ] London, country, come

GREATER LONDON
The Old City of London and the communities surrounding it form one political unit. This area is called Greater London or simply London.
London covers 1,580 square kilometers. The river Thames flows through the heart of London. London is divided into 32 boroughs plus the City.
The City and each borough have their own governments.

London does not have just
one centre, it has a number of
centers, each with a distinct character:
the financial and business centre called the City, the shopping and entertainment centre in the West End, and the government centre in Westminster.

The City
The City of London is one of the major banking centres of the world and you can find banks of many nations in the famous Threadneedle Street and the surrounding area. Here you will find the Bank of England. Nearby is the Stock Exchange which is like a busy market, except that here no food but shares in commercial companies are bought and sold.

The West End
The West End is the name given to the area of central London north from the Mall to Oxford Street. It includes :
Trafalgar Square, the main shopping areas, and the entertainment centers of Soho, Piccadilly Circus and Shaftsbury Avenue. Its name is associated with glamour and bright lights

Trafalgar Square, is an area of open pavement with statues and fountains. Whitehall and the Strand meet at the square.
Piccadilly Circus is the place where six busy streets come together. Many of London's finest shops are in this area, along Bond, Oxford, and Regent streets. Piccadilly Circus also forms the center of London's largest entertainment area.

Westminster
Britain's chief governmental buildings are in the City of Westminster. The Houses of Parliament tower along the Thames. From Parliament, the governmental buildings extend along a broad avenue called Whitehall. The home of Prime Minister, Number 10 Downing Street, is located just off Whitehall. Buckingham Palace lies a short distance of the Prime Minister's home.

The Tower of London
The Tower of London is the most outstanding link in the chain of the history of the country. William the Conqueror ordered the building of the great stone tower, later called the white Tower.
The Tower of London long continued to be both a fortress and a palace. It was also a prison. At first prisoners were often foreign princes and nobles, who had been captured in war. But later on, in Tudor times, the Tower became the place where famous and the infamous people were sent.

Nowadays the Tower is still a prison. Usually, a prison is a place where criminals are locked up. But in this prison the jewels are locked up. The jewels are the famous "crown jewels" of England. Crown jewels are treasures that belong to king or queen. According to tradition the Tower is guarded by the Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters. They still wear their 16th century bright and colourful Tudor uniforms.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Westminster Abbey is also full of history. It was founded in 1050 as a monastery, but later it was rebuilt by Henry III. In the 18th century the West Towers were added. The present building dates from about 1480. Nearly all the kings and queens of Britain were crowned and buried there.

Newton, Darwin, Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy are buried in the Abbey. One of the treasures of the Abbey is the ancient Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone upon which Scottish kings were crowned. Westminster Abbey is a symbol of English tradition at its best.

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
The Houses of Parliament serve as the meeting place of two legislative bodies, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The buildings are officially called the New Palace of Westminster. They were constructed to replace old palace buildings, which had burned down in 1834.
The Houses of Parliament has over 1000 rooms, and over 3 km of corridors. Laid out they stretch from Parliament to Saint Paul's Cathedral

Big Ben
Big Ben is the huge bell in the
clock of Saint Stephen's Tower.
It may have been named after
Sir Benjamin Hall, who
supervised the rebuilding of
Parliament, or after a famous
Victorian prizefighter. Big Ben
has boomed out the hours
since 1859. When Parliament
is sitting at night a light shines
above the clock.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of Her Majesty the Queen and her family. It was built in the 18th century and rebuilt later by the architect John Nash.
Nash began his work in 1825, but the palace was not completed until 1837. The first monarch who took residence there was Queen Victoria.

The Royal Standard flying over the east front of Buckingham Palace is the sign that the Queen is in the residence. The absence of the Royal Standard over Buckingham Palace means that the Queen is absent from London.Buckingham Palace is partially open to the public, but the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in front of it is a great tourist attraction.
Royal Horse Guard's ceremony takes place daily in the forecourt at 11.30 a. m. and lasts half an hour.

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
St Paul's Cathedral is the fifth church built on the same site. The earliest cathedral was erected in 604. The second, built in stone in 675—685, was burned by the Danes in 962, and the third was destroyed by fire in 1087.
After its destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. It took him 35 years to plan and build St Paul's Cathedral, which was completed in 1710.

The Whispering Gallery which fascinates all visitors is situated beneath the dome. In this Gallery the slightest whisper is audible 100 feet away. In the North Tower of the Cathedral there is a peal of twelve bells, while in the South or Clock Tower there is the largest bell in England, the Great Paul.

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is one of the landmarks of London. Tower Bridge is a fine example of Victorian engineering. This fairy-tale structure was built in 1894. Tower Bridge is the only Thames Bridge which can be raised. The road over the bridge is built on two central sections called bascules, which open two or three times a week to let ships through. The bridge has been open to the public since 1982. There are displays inside the bridge on its history.

MADAM TUSSAUD'S MUSEUM
Madam Tussaud's /1761—1850/ is the world's most famous wax museum.
In the days before television, cinema and radio, Madam Tussaud's figures were a sensation.
Over two million visitors go there to see the 500 lifelike figures of the famous people. You can see Henry VIII and his six wives, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Chamber of Horrors.

Today one will find models of well known sports personalities, musicians and film stars, statesmen from around the world, and even the Royal Family.
One can have fun in the new Superstars and Legends section by searching for his personal hero or heroine, or find his favourite film star and tell them he is their greatest fan.

Let's play a game "I agree ... I don't agree..."
Paris is the capital of the UK.
The Tower of London is a museum now
Buckingham Palace is the residence of the Queen
Westminster Abbey is a church
The heart of London is Khreschatyk.
London stands on the river Hudson

Find the pairs to the words
Big London
Tower Ben
Trafalgar Parliament
Westminster Square
The Houses of Abbey
The Tower of Bridge

Watch the video "London Sightseeing Tour".
Look at the map of London and try to find the places which we are going to see.

Say what you have already seen and what you have not seen in London yet.
We have already seen...
We haven't seen yet...

Answer the questions
What is Westminster Abbey?
What is Big Ben?
What is the Tower of London now?
What palace is the home of the Queen?
What famous London bridge do you know?
What is in the center of Trafalgar Square?
Is Covent Garden a market or a department store?

Read the dialogue and make your own.
A: How do you like London?
B: Oh, it's beautiful.
A: Yes, I think it's one of the most interesting and unusual cities in the world.
B: Oh, yesterday I saw the Houses of Parliament, heard the voice of Big Ben, and visited the famous Tower.
A: Have you visited Westminster Abbey?
B: Not, yet. What is it famous for?
A: It is the royal church
B: How can I get there?
A: By bus or just walk.

Read the sentences and say are they true or false?
London is the capital of Great Britain.
London is a very big port
London has three main parts
The City is the historical part of London
The West End is the richest part of London.
The East End is the poorest part of London

Write a postcard to your friend
From:
To:
Address:
Dear______ !
I'm in_____ now.
I have already been to _____.
And I ____
See you soon. Bye.