LESSON ONE
Text: A Glimpse of London.
Grammar: The Verb. There + to be. Word Order. Questions. Subject-verb agreement. The Noun: Number and Case. The Pronoun: Indefinite Pronouns. Imperatives: Requests, Warnings, Instructions, Prohibition. Reported Speech. The Article.
A GLIMPSE OF LONDON
London is the capital of Great Britain.1 The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland2. London is one of the largest cities in the world. It is situated on both sides of the Thames. There are fourteen bridges across the river.
In fact there are several Londons3, as its different areas seem like different cities. There is the ancient City4, the oldest part of London, which includes the place of the original Roman town once London used to be. There are no dwelling houses in the City, only large office buildings. The City is the country’s financial and business centre. The Stock Exchange5, the Royal Exchange6, and the Bank of England7 are all there. As the City is one of the major banking centres of the world, there are a lot of banks of many nations in the Threadneedle Street and surrounding area. In Leadenhall Street is Lloyds, the most famous insurance company in the world. London’s new financial and commercial center is the Docklands area to the East of the City, dominated by the Canary Wharf complex. Fleet Street still stands for “the press”, but in fact most newspaper offices have moved to other areas of London. Although hundreds of thousands of people work in these offices during the day, the City is almost deserted at night. Only about eight thousand live within a square mile. There is no traffic and very few people. There are some historic buildings in the City. St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London are the most famous of them.
Westminster is a part of London connected with royalty and government. It contains several important buildings including the Houses of Parliament8, Whitehall9, Downing Street10 and Buckingham Palace11. They are all in the West End. Whitehall, used as a name for the government, is the heart of the government of Great Britain.
By day the whole London is busy. At night, offices are quiet and empty, but the West End stays alive. Its name is associated with glamour and bright lights as there are a lot of famous shops and hotels, theatres and cinemas, museums and picture galleries, long streets of fine shops and many big houses. There are beautiful parks there, too.
If the City is the “money” of London, and the West End is the “goods”12 of London, then the East End is the “hands” of London. The East End is the area closest to the original Port of London. The East End grew with the spread of industries to the East of the City, and the growth of the port of London. It covers a wide area. Down the river there are many wharves and warehouses. It is a district of docks, factories, poor little houses and narrow streets. Housing conditions in this part of London are very bad. Lots of old houses have no modern conveniences. They are damp, dirty and dark. The East End is unattractive in appearance, but very important to the country’s commerce. In fact, there is the district where mostly working people live. The East End is one of those areas of London, where people from abroad have come to find work. Some brought new skills and started new industries. The East End is especially famous as the centre of the clothing industry in London. The East End markets are famous throughout the world. Every large city has many faces, and London is one of them.
NOTES
1. Great Britain: Велика Британія. Though Britain, or Great Britain, is often used as a name for the country as a whole, it is, in fact, the name of the larger of the British Isles, and comprises England, Wales, and Scotland. The other big island, which lies to the West of Great Britain, is Ireland comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
2. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Oб’єднaне Королівство Великої Британії та Північної Ірландії. This is the country’s full official name since 1921 when the Irish Republic became independent. The following shorter names are also correct: the United Kingdom (informally the UK, Great Britain, and Britain.)
3. London stands for: the City of London (ділова частина міста); the county of London – графство Лондон; and Greater London (London with its suburbs) – Великий Лондон (місто з передмістями).
4. The City: Сiтi. The City, the oldest part of London, has an area of just over one square mile, and many centuries ago, there was a wall around the City with gates in it. Used figuratively, the City stands for the country’s commercial circles, and is often called “London’s square mile of money”.
5. The Stock Exchange: Лондонська фондова бiржа. It is the place where professional brokers buy and sell stocks, bonds and other securities of the big commercial firms. The Stock Exchange is an important part of the financial machinery of the country.
6. The Royal Exchange: Королiвська бiржа. At one time the building was used as a meeting place for the City merchants. Now it is no longer used commercially, the building houses the offices of several insurance companies.
7. The Bank of England: Англійський державний банк. The central bank of the United Kingdom acts as banker to the government and the commercial banks. It is responsible for managing the government’s debt and implementing its policy on other monetary matters: established in 1694, nationalized in 1946; in 1997 the government restored the authority to set interest rates to the Bank. The Bank of England is in Threadneedle Street. The Bank’s other name is “The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street”. Old Lady refers to its traditional conservatism in financial matters. The name of the street comes from “to thread a needle” – вдіти нитку в голку. In olden times it was a tailors’ street.
8. The proper name for the Houses of Parliament is the Palace of Westminster. The building of the Palace of Westminster is the seat of the British Parliament. The British Parliament has two Houses (Chambers): the House of Lords (палата лордів) and the House of Commons (палата общин). Used figuratively, Westminster stands for the British Parliament.
9. Whitehall: Уайтхол. In this street are the most important offices of the Government: the Home Office – Міністерство внутрішніх справ; the Treasury – Скарбниця, Мiнiстерство фінансів; the Ministry of Defense – Мiнiстерство оборони, and so on. Whitehall is synonymous with the British Government (its offices, or policy).
10. Downing Street: Даунінг-Стріт. This small street off Whitehall contains the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Мiнiстерство закордонних справ та у справах Співдружності), and № 10 the official London residence of the Prime Minister. Thus, Downing Street may stand for the British Government, Prime Minister, or Foreign Office.
11. Buckingham Palace: the official Residence of the Queen was built in the 18th century.
12. goods: тут – вітрина, де все виставлено для огляду.
VOCABULARY
Across prep – через; по інший бік (чогось). e.g. The post office is across the street. Вжив., коли йдеться про рух з одного боку площини до іншого. e.g. They walked across the road. – Вони перейшли дорогу. There is a bridge across the river. – Через річку є міст. Syn. through prep – через, крізь, вжив., коли йдеться про рух у трьохвимірному просторі. e.g. They walked through the forest. – Вони йшли крізь/через ліс. Syn. over prep – над, вжив., коли йдеться про рух над чимось. e.g. The plane was flying over the sea. – Літак пролітав над морем.
Differ v – відрізнятися, різнитися; відрізняти. e.g. The new Kyiv greatly differs from the old Kyiv. She differs from her sister in the colour of her eyes. – У її сестри інший колір очей./Вона відрізняється від сестри кольором очей. Tastes differ. – Про смаки не сперечаються.
Difference n – відмінність, різниця; несхожість. Означає сам факт несхожості одного об’єкту з іншим, але не уточнює, у чому ця різниця. There is no (little, some, a wide, big/major/important/significant, small/minor etc) difference between them; a difference in living conditions (colour, temperature, meaning, etc). e.g. Calculate the difference between the amount you started with and what you have left. Syn. distinction n – різниця, відмінність, розбіжність; характерна ознака, особливість, відмінна риса. Вказує на ясність та очевидність тієї риси, яка робить об’єкти несхожими. e.g. He saw no distinction between them.
Different adj – 1. несхожий, відмінний, інший. The street has a different name now. Basically/entirely/completely/totally different – зовсім інший/несхожий, slightly different – незначний/неяскраво виражений. e.g. The place looks completely different now. The absolute size of population gains and losses gives a slightly different picture of regional changes. – Дійсний показник доходів та збитків населення дає дещо іншу картину регіональних змін. Phr. be different from smb/smth – відрізнятися від когось/чогось. e.g. Our daughters are very different from each other. 2. різний, усілякий, різноманітний, усякий: different people (things, goods, places, questions, problems, etc). There are many different types of cloth. Syn. various adj – різний, різноманітний; різносторонній, різнобічний. Вжив. у функції означення зі злічуваними іменниками у множині. e.g. You must do various exercises on that rule. – Ви повинні робити різні вправи на це правило.
Empty a – 1. порожній, пустий; незаповнений: an empty bag (room, bus, seat, etc). e.g. The fuel tank’s almost empty. An empty room – кімната, в якій немає людей, a bare/naked room – кімната, у якій немає меблів, a vacant room – вільна, ніким не зайнята кімната. e.g. The room seemed quite bare. – Кімната здавалася досить порожньою. I came into the room and saw that it was empty. – Я увійшов до кімнати і побачив, що вона порожня (там нікого не має). The teacher asked us to look for a vacant room in which we could have a consultation. – Учитель попросив нас знайти вільну кімнату, де б ми змогли провести консультацію.2. легковажний, несерйозний, беззмістовний, пустопорожній: an empty promise (talk, etc). e.g. Unfortunately, his repeated promises to pay the money back were just empty words.
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