THIS IS LONDON!

1) Every year, more than nine million people come from countries all over the world to visit London. They go to the theatres and museums; they look at interesting old buildings, many of them hundreds of years old; they sit or walk in the beautiful parks, or have а drink in а pub. They go to Oxford Street to look at the shops, or to Harrods. Two million visitors go to the Tower of London. А million come go to see St. Paul's Cathedral. Yes, London is а big and beautiful city with lots to see and do. www.lcblondon.com

But how did it all begin...?

2) The name London comes from the Romans. There were people living here before they came, but we do not know very much about them. The Romans came to England in AD 43. They built houses and other buildings and made а town next to the River Thames. They called the town Londinium. They built а bridge over the river, and ships came up to Londinium from the sea. The town got bigger and bigger. Important new buildings went up, and you cаn see some of the Roman city wall today, near the Museum of London. It was а rich town with about 50,000 people living in it. But soon after AD 400, the Romans left Londinium to go back to Rome, and nobody lived in the town, for many hundreds of years. The buildings began to fall down. Danish soldiers destroyed more buildings nearly five hundred years later. King Alfred was king of England then. Не got the Danes to leave London and his men built the town again. In 1066, William the Conqueror came to England from France to be king. Soon after, he began to build the Towеr of London. When Henry the Eighth was king in 1509, 50,000 people lived in London again. Bу the уear 1600, there were 200,000, but а lot of them lived in old and dirty buildings. In 1665, 100,000 people died from an illness called the plague. This was called the year of 'The Great Plague'. А year later, in 1666, there was а big fire - The Great Fire of London. It began in а house in Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. More than а quarter of а million Londoners lost their homes in the fire. It destroyed St. Paul's Cathedral and eighty-eight other churches the only building which survived was Guildhall, because it was build out of stone. But the fire also destroyed most of the worst old buildings, and the new houses that went up after this were better for people to live in. А new St. Paul's Cathedral was built between 1675 and 1711. Вy 1881, more than three million people lived in London.

3) Today, London is one of the world's leading business, financial and cultural centres with an official population of 7.5 million people. It is an international transport hub, with five international airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the world, and its main airport, the multi terminal Heathrow, carries more international passengers than any other airport in the world. It also has Europe's largest underground railway system when measured by route length.

4) The city’s tourists attractions are sights you’ve heard about all your life. You will want to see them all but some are absolute musts: The Tower of London that served as a castle in wartime, a king's residence in peace time, and, most notoriously, as the prison and execution site of rebels; Huge St. Paul's Cathedral, built by architect Sir Christopher Wren, can take hours to wander through if you're in the right mood. The other famous top attraction - church, Westminster Abbey, is where royalty are crowned and some are buried. Across the street from the abbey is Big Ben clock tower, attached to the Houses of Parliament – the home for the British government. When you are tired of looking at buildings you can walk in one of London’s beautiful parks: Hyde Park with a lake in the middle called the Serpentine, you can listen to the speakers at Speakers’ Corner there; Regent’s Park is the home of London Zoo; in Kensington Gardens you can see the statue of Peter Pen. There are many other sights in London which are worth seeing (9, 23).

3. Read the text carefully. What paragraph contains the following information:

1) London experienced plague and devastating fire.

2) Lots of people visit London every year.

3) London is a major tourist destination, with world heritage sites and numerous iconic landmarks.

4. Answer these questions:

1) How old is London?

2) What river flows through London?

3) What does the word ‘London’ come from?

4) Who was the king of England in 1066?

5) Who built the Tower of London?

6) When was ‘The Great Fire’ of London?

7) Where did the fire start?