WESTMINSTER
The political centre of London is Westminster. It is that part of London where there are a lot of offices. If you go down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square on the right you will see a small street where the British Prime Minister lives. He lives at number 10 Downing Street. Whitehall is a wide street leading to Parliament Square. This square is very large.
On the left you can see a long grey building with towers which are the Houses of Parliament. The large clock in one of the towers is Big Ben. Big Ben is the name of the clock and the bell of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. You can hear the sound of Big Ben every hour in London. The clock and the bell got their names after Sir Benjamin Hall. He was a tall man, whose nickname was Big Ben. So people know the clock as Big Ben.
Behind the Houses of Parliament you can see the river Thames, the bridge across it is Westminster Bridge.
One the other side of Parliament Square you can find a magnificent building that is Westminster Abbey. It is one of the most famous and beautiful churches in London. It is very old too. It is more than 900 years old. There are so many monuments and statues there. Many English kings and queens are buried there. Westminster Abbey is famous for the Poet’s Corner too. Many great writers are buried there: for example, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling. The Abbey with its two tall towers is really wonderful.
Everybody knows that the Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace. It is a wonderful building with a monument in front of it which is the Queen Victoria Memorial. It takes people 10 or 20 minutes to get from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square, the centre of London. There are lots of other places to see and visit in London.
Answer the questions:
1) What is the political centre of London?
2) How can you get from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square?
3) What is Whitehall?
4) What is Big Ben? 6) What bridge is near the Houses of Parliament?
6) Where is Westminster Abbey? How old is it? What is it famous for?
7) Where does the Queen of England live?
8) What monument is in front of Buckingham Palace?
True, false, don’t know:
1) The people from France came to England and built the town of Londinium near the River Thames.
2) In Roman times Londinium was a big city.
3) There were many bridges in London at the beginning of the 11th century.
4) There were no houses and shops on London Bridge in the 18th century.
5) The British Prime Minister lives in Buckingham Palace.
6) Whitehall is a wide street leading to Trafalgar Square.
7) Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous and beautiful palaces in London.
8) Westminster Abbey is famous for the Poet’s Corner.
9) The Queen of England lives in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
10) It takes an hour to get from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square, the centre of London.
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