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them is the British Museum. It

is one of the largest

museums

in

the

world containing 7 million objects which illustrate

the

story of

human

culture from its beginning to the present. It also

houses

the

National

Library.

Other major museums are

the Victoria and

Albert

Museum,

the

collections

of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, jewellery, furniture,

ironwork,

sculpture. As for the Natural History Museum, it has exhibits

of birds,

animals and reptiles as well as life-size reconstructions of

Tussaud's

Waxwork Museum

containing

lifelike

wax figures

of many

famous people.

If you are keen on art

you can visit London art galleries. The

National

Gallery houses the

British

national

collection of

Western

modern

art.

There is

also the National Portrait Gallery

which

has

a

collection

of

portraits of historically

important and famous

British

people.

It was the

first

portrait

gallery in the world.

LONDON'S PARKS

There

is

hardly

another city in the world that

has

as

many

green

and open spots as London. In fact, the city

has

1,700

parks.

It

is

possible

to

walk from

the Houses

of Parliament

to

Olympia Exhibition

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is the most prominent and

famous park in London. It

was

once part of a wild ancient forest inhabited

by wolves,

wild bulls

and

boar. It

was made a royal deer park in

the

Tudor times and

later

open

to the

public.

Its area is 360 acres. In summer time

you can rent a small boat

and

paddle across the Serpentine pond, have refreshing

drinks

or

go

fishing in certain allocated places.

Another thing that makes this park

remarkable

is

the

famous

Speakers' Corner. There you can scream at

the whole world or have

normal debate with strangers about topics that

interest you.

Within reach of Hyde Park there is the Science Museum and the

great

shopping area of Oxford Street.

visit part

of it. Diana, Princess of Wales, lived there.

In Kensington Gardens there is a statue of Peter Pan, a

character

created by the

Scottish writer J.M. Barrie. Peter Pan is

a boy who can fly

and magically

refuses to grow up. You can also see

the

Diana

Princess

of Wales

Memorial Playground.

Not far from the park there is the Royal Albert Hall and Natural

History Museum.

Green Park

The park has a grand entrance facing Queen

Victoria's

memorial

outside Buckingham Palace. This entrance is called Canada

Gate. There

is

a memorial to the Canadians who died in the two World Wars nearby.

Green Park is known for its tree-lined avenues

such

as the

Broad

Walk and

the Queen's Walk.

St. James's Park

The

park

has a large lake with an island in

the

middle.

It

is

famous for the variety of ducks and geese and other

birds living

on

the

lake.

The

park

is surrounded by three Royal palaces.

Its elegant

grounds

are the setting

for many ceremonial parades.

Going out of the park you can make your way

to

the National

Portrait Gallery or London Eye.

Regent's Park

Regent's Park is situated in northwest London. It

was

originally a

Zoo.

The

nearby

attractions of the park include London Planetarium,

Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum and the Museum

of Sherlock Holmes.

Greenwich

Park

The

park is

situated in the small

town of

Greenwich which is part

9.

Give examples

of wildlife that can be seen in

London parks.

10. Which

of

the parks would you like to visit

first? Why?

BRIDGES OF LONDON

London is

a

city

with the dominating role of

the

river. 24

bridges

span the

Thames

in London. There are railway, road

as well

as foot

bridges. The oldest

one

is London Bridge.

London

Bridge is between the City of London

and

Southwalk. The

first

London

Bridge

was built

by the

Romans, with

several

rebuilds

over

the

centuries.

It was originally built from wood. In

1209

it

was

replaced

by a stone structure. This was followed by

a granite bridge

in 1871

and

the present concrete bridge in 1973.

Throughout its history London Bridge has been a busy thoroughfare,

and was once lined with shops and

houses (in

the

times

when

it

was

stone ). The road over the bridge was

only

about 4

metres

wide

between

the

shops. It

was so narrow that it was often jammed with people, horses

and

carts. In

1733 a «keep left» rule was enforced to keep the traffic

moving. Later this became the road rule in the whole of Britain.

Another

famous

bridge

is

Tower Bridge.

It has stood in

London

since 1894.

It is

one

of the

finest,

most

recognisable

bridges

in

the

literature

on London.

This bridge

is the

only Thames

bridge

which

can

be raised. It is 60 metres long with towers that rise

to a height of 43

metres. Its middle section goes up to permit large

vessels to

pass.

Massive

engines lift the bridge sections

which

weigh

about

1,000

tons

each in

just about a minute. It used to

be raised 50

times

a

day while

now only 4 to 5 times a week.

Westminster

Bridge.

It

is also worth

mentioning

It is

a

road

and

1862, is

the second on the site. It replaced an

earlier

bridge

that

had

opened

in

1750.

is the Millennium

Bridge

The

most recent bridge

constructed in

2000.

It

is a pedestrian steel suspension bridge connecting

the

Tate

Modern

Art Gallery with the

City. The bridge is

about 320 metres

long

while the modifications were made to

eliminate

the

wobble entirely. It

was reopened in

2002.

Comprehension

Check

Are thefollowing

sentences true or false?

1. Tower Bridge is the

oldest bridge in

London.

2. London

Bridge was

once lined

with

shops

and

houses.