Theatres in England

1. There are a lot of places for entertainment in England. Almost every city and large town has a museum of arts, archaeology, natural history, and a theatre. In London most places of entertainment are concentrated in the West End and Soho, where you can find many concert halls, theatres, and international (Greek, Italian, Indian) restaurants. All this information can be found in the magazine 'Time out', newspaper 'Evening Standard' and many other publications.

2. But what are London theatres now? They are a bit of everything. Theatreland lies between Covent Garden and Haymarket. This is where most of London's major theatres cluster. The Covent Garden Theatre is famous for opera and ballet performances. The best English singers and ballet dancers are performing there. The National Theatre shows drama. Some theatres put on modern plays and at others you can sometimes enjoy good musicals, folk songs or concerts of "pop" music. The Aldwych Theatre is famous for its dramatic performances.

3. In provincial towns the system is different. They have a repertory theatre, which changes its play about every three weeks, whether it is successful or not. The National and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (which is situated in Stratford-on-Avon, the place where William Shakespeare was born), also present three or four plays in rotation for several weeks. In 1960 the Royal Shakespeare Company began to perform at the Aldwych Theatre. There is always a full house there, but the government has to support this type of theatre financially.

4. There is a system of "Club" theatres where you can see both well-known and financially risky experimental plays. A performance is produced both by professionals and amateurs for one or two weeks and any profit from this goes to pay for the next production. Money problem is not important since the actors are paid little or nothing.

5. When you are going to the theatre to see a popular play, you have to book the tickets in advance either on the phone or personally at the booking-office. You can also turn to much cheaper "Half Price Ticket Booth" on Leicester Square. Even nowadays British are great theatergoers and have a wide choice of entertainment at their disposal.

2. Переведите слова из первой колонки (1 – 10) и подберите их определения (a – j).

1. theatergoer	a) someone who does an activity for pleasure or interest, not as a job
2. cluster	b) to arrange with a hotel, restaurant, theatre, etc., to have a room, table, seat, etc. on a particular date
3. put on	c) to do something to entertain people, for example by acting a play, or playing a piece of music
4. perform	d) to arrange or perform a show, concert, play etc.
5. rotation	e) to form a group of things of the same kind in one place
6. support	f) someone who regularly watches plays at the theatre
7. amateur	g) the practice of changing regularly from one thing to another
8. profit	h) to encourage an organization by giving it money
9. book	i) a type of theatre work in which actors perform different plays on different days, instead of doing the same play for a long time
10. repertory	j) money that you gain by selling things or doing business

Переведите предложения и определите функцию инфинитива в них (выполняет инфинитив функцию подлежащего, дополнения, определения, обстоятельства или является частью составного сказуемого).

1. We believe them to follow our advice.

2. She gave us a list of books to be read.

3. Our aim is to master English.

4. It is not an easy thing to learn a foreign language.

5. The dog was the first to feel dander.

6. To grow fruit one must have good soil.

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