The Abbey contains many royal tombs, memorials to eminent men and women. But the most popular ones are those to writers, actors and musicians in Poet's corner.
Alongside the Abbey Edward the Confessor had a palace built The Palace of Westmi
nster was the royal residence and also the country's main court of law. Parliament met here from the 16th century until the 19th century. The present Houses of Parliament were built after the old palace was burnt down in 1834. The building contains the Ho
use of Commons and the House of Lords, the two chambers where parliamentary business is debated. On the corner next to Westminster Bridge stands Clock Tower, which houses the famous bell Big Ben.
Buckingham Place is the QueenТ s official London residence.
Built in 1702-1705 for the Duke of Buckingham, it was sold in 1761 to George III. The Palace was little used by royalty until Victoria's accession to the throne in 1837. Lon¬
don's most popular spectacle is Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It takes place in the forecourt and lasts about 30 minutes.

The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of London. It is the symbol of wealth and luxury. The best hotels, shops, restaurants, clubs and theatres are situated there. There are splendid h
ouses and lovely gardens belonging to wealthy people. Oxford Street is an endless shopping area which attracts visitors from all over in the world.
Going down Oxford Street you come to Trafalgar Square which is yet another symbol of London. This square
received its name from Trafalgar, the cape off which Lord Nelson defeated a Franco-Spanish fleet in 1805. Admiral Nelson, cast in bronze, stands on top of a tall column in the middle of the square.
On the north side of Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Not far away is the British Museum Ч
the biggest museum in London. It contains a priceless collection of ancient manuscripts, coins, sculptures etc., and is famous for its library.
The East End is the poorest di
strict of London. There are a lot of factories, workshops and docks here. The streets are narrow, the buildings are unimpressive. The East End is densely populated by working class families.

The Weather in UK ( Погода в Великобритании)

It is never too ho
t or too cold in Great Britain. This is because of the sea, which keeps the island warm in winter and makes the air cool in summer. The winds are also very often in Great Britain. They blow from the southwest two days out of every three. But the warm wind
s
from the Atlantic are very wet. They also bring a lot of rain to the island. The east or northeast winds are cold and dry. The weather very often changes in Great Britain. You can never have the same kind of weather for a long time. In spring, for exampl
e
, sunshine and showers follow each other so often during the day that an umbrella or a rain-coat is really necessary in Great Britain. The weather in spring is generally mild, but sometimes the days are really cold. The summer is not so hot as on the cont
i
nent, and warm days in autumn are beautiful. In winter they have all sorts of weather. Sometimes it rains and sometimes it snows. Still, in Great Britain it is never so cold in winter as in our country and they do not get so much snow there as we get here

in Russia. The rivers and lakes are seldom covered with ice. As the ice, if there is any, is not thick enough, they seldom go skating on the rivers in Great Britain. But the worst thing about the climate in Great Britain is the thick fog they so often hav
e in autumn and in winter. In London it often mixes with the smoke of plants and factories and they call it the «smog». It is sometimes so thick that cars may run into one another.

Some Outstanding Places of Great Britain
(Достопримечательности Великобрита
нии)


It has become a tradition to start sightseeing of some country from its capital. London is an ancient city with rich cultural achievements. Such sights as the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, Trafalgar
Square and Piccadilly circus are well known in the world. Besides these you are sure to have heard about the British Museum and the National Gallery in which the collections of genuine works of art are exhibited. Besides the capital of the country there
are many other places and regions which are worth speaking about and seeing. One of them is the most beautiful part of G.B. Ч
Wales, which is famous for its mountains and valleys. It's an ideal place for spending your vacations. Some people choose Snowdonia
, a national park around Snowdon, the highest peak of the Welsh Mountains. Wales has often been called the Land of Songs. One of the Welsh traditions is festivals. The Welsh sing their songs, wear their traditional clothes in their capital Cardiff as well

as in the other parts of the country. They say if you visit Great Britain you must visit the City of Bath, the splendid monument to the elegance and good taste of the 18-th century. The city took its name from the Roman bath, which can be seen in the hear
t
of the city. I don't think there is a person in the world who hasn't heard about Oxford and Cambridge, known as the most ambitious university cites They consist of a number of colleges which are autonomous parts of the University. They have their own pre
s
s centers, which impress everyone who has a chance of seeing them. To visit the country without visiting Stratford-on-Avon is unimaginable. The things that attract people's attention are the places connected with the name of William Shakespeare: the house

where he was born, the Grammar School where he studied, the little cottage near Stratford where his wife, Anne Hathaway lived as girl. But to my mind the biggest attraction is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. One of the most beautiful and interesting part o
f Great Britain is Scotland; especially the region usually called Highlands. The tourists go to Scotland to see its beautiful lakes (called «lochs»
). Loch Lomond one of the largest, the most beautiful Scottish lakes is situated near the West Coast. Edinburg
h, the capital of Scotland, is the beautiful and the old city. The first thing you see in it is the Rock, a very large hill in the middle of the city. The Edinburgh Castle stands on it. The Castle looks like a castle from a fairy-tale and parts of it are
more than a thousand years old. Scottish national and musical festivals are held there.

English Schools ( Школы Великобритании)



English children must go to school when they are five. First they go to infant schools, where they learn the first steps in reading, writing and using numbers. When children leave the infant school, at the age of seven, they go to
junior schools until they are about eleven years of age. Their school subjects are English, arithmetic, history, geography, nature study, swimming, music, art, religious instruction and organized games. Towards the end of their fourth year in the junior s
c
hool English schoolchildren have to write their Eleven-plus Examinations, on the result of which they will go the following September to a secondary school of a certain type. About 40% of elementary school leavers in Britain go to secondary modern schools
.
Modern schools are the most popular secondary schools, but they do not provide complete secondary education, because study programs are rather limited in comparison with other secondary schools. The secondary technical school, in spite of its name, is no
t a specialized school. It teaches many general subjects. The grammar school is a secondary school, which offers a full theoretical se¬
condary education, including foreign languages, and students can choose which subjects and languages they wish to study. T
hey leave the school after taking a five-year course. Then they may take the General Certificate of Education at the ordinary level. The others continue their studies for another two or three years to obtain the General Certificate of Education at the adv
a
nced level, which allows them to enter university. The comprehensive school combines in one school the courses of all types of secondary schools. There are many schools in Britain, which are not controlled financially by the state. They are private school
s
, separate for boys and girls, and the biggest and the most important of them are public schools. They charge high fees and train young people for political, diplomatic, military and religious service. Other non-tate schools, which chargelfees, are indepe
ndent and preparatory schools. Many of the independent schools belong to the churches. Schools of this type prepare their pupils for public schools.

American School ( Школы в Америке)


The American system of school education differs from the system in some countries. There are state-supported public schools, private elementary schools, and private secondary schools. Public schools are free and private schools are feep
aying. Each individual state has its own system of public schools. Elementary education begins at the age of six with the first grade and continues up to the eighth grade. The elementary school is followed by four years of the secondary school or high as
i
t is called. In some states the last two years of the elementary and the first years of the secondary school are combined into a junior high school. Besides giving general education, some high schools teach subjects useful to those who hope to find jobs i
n industry and agriculture. Some give preparatory education to those planning to enter colleges and universities.
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