London

London, the capital of Great Britain, is a very old town. It is two thousand years old. Many years ago
London was a small town on the Thames. There were a lot of villages round it and after many years
London and three hundred villages grew into a very large city. Some of the names of those villages you
can find in the names of the streets in modern London — Kensington, Westminster and others.
There were many wars in those days and people from other countries came to Great Britain and
destroyed London, but new houses of stone grew up.
London stands not far from the sea. Many ships from other countries came to the port of London and
brought cotton, food and other things. Factories grew in London and other cities. Many shops were
opened in the centre of London. In 1863 the first underground railway began to work. It was very short in
those days.
Now London is a beautiful city with large squares and parks. London is one of the biggest cities in the
world.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is a very old building in London. It is nine hundred years old. The Tower of London
stands on the Thames.
In the early days of the history of England the English kings lived in the Tower. Then it was a prison
where many people died, black ravens had much food near the walls of the Tower in those years.
The black ravens live in the gardens of the Tower now. The English people like them very much. A man
looks after the ravens and gives them meat in the morning and in the evening.
Now the Tower of London is a museum and many people from other countries come to see it. They see
the dark stone halls with small windows and thick doors. The walls of the Tower are five metres thick. In
the museum they can see many old guns.
At ten o’clock every evening the guards lock the big doors of the Tower for the night.

New York (2)

New York is one of the largest cities in the world and the biggest seaport. It's the financial capital of
the country. It's the business centre of the United States. The city is situated in New York State, at the
mouth of the Hudson river. It's population is over eight million. In early times the New York area was
populated by Indians. It is here in Wall Street many business offices, banks and world famous New
York stock exchange are situated.
New York is an industrial and cultural centre of the country. The most important branches of
industry are those producing vehicles, glass, chemicals. New York is also a great cultural centre. It
has many museums, art galleries, theatres. There are two world-famous streets in New York —
Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
Broadway is the centre of the theatres and night life. Fifth Avenue is the great shopping, hotel and
club avenue. 
The Empire State Building is at Fifth Avenue. It's a 102-storeyed building, was built in 1931. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art is at Fifth Avenue. It includes hundreds of world famous masterpieces
and attracts many visitors.
The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands on Liberty Island in New
York port. Liberty carries the torch of freedom in her right hand. In her left hand she is holding a tablet
with the inscription "July 4,1776" — American Independence Day.
Today New York City is informally called "The Big Apple". The origin of this name is unknown, but
it is popular all over the world.
 
Questions:
1. Is New York a capital of the USA? 
2. Where is New York situated? 
3. Is New York an industrial centre? 
4. What are the two world — famous streets in New York? 
5. What is the nickname of New York? 
6. Would you like to visit New York? 

Vocabulary:
stock exchange — биржа 
vehicles — средство передвижения 
include — включать 
masterpiece — шедевр 
torch — факел