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The history of London goes back to Roman times. Due to favourable geographical position a small town soon became an important trade centre. Actually, London can be divided into several parts. First there is the City of London. It is the financial and business centre of Great Britain. Only a few thousand people live there, but in the day-time it is full of people: as about half of million people come to work there. The biggest Banks and offices are concentrated in the City. The East End, lying eastwards from' the City is very large, poor and crowded. The working class of London is concentrated there. It is a district of docks, factories, poor little houses and narrow streets. This district of London suffered greatly during World War II but carried on its work.
The West End makes a great contrast to the working district of London. It is full of richest hotels, largest super-markets, best cinemas and concert-halls. There are a lot of beatifull houses and gardens. Only well-to-do people can live there.
Another important district of London is Westminster, where most of Government buildings are situated. Westminster Palace is the seat of the British Parliament. The Towers of the Houses of Parliament stand high; above the city. On the highest tower there is the largest clock in the country which is known to the whole world as Big Ben. One can hear Big Ben strike every quarter of an hour.
Not far away is Westminster Abbey with its Poet's Corner. Many English outstanding statesmen, painters, poets were buried there. Among them Geoffrey Chaucer, the first English national poet, world famous scientists I.Newton and Ch.Darwin, Tennison and others.
There in London one can find places with the names of W.Shakespeare, who lived and worked there for more than twenty years, Karl Marx, who was buried in Highgate cemetery.
Every year many tourists come to London to see the places of interest. They make sightseeing tours of the City, visit the Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, the National Gallery. They also visit the most ancient historic monument dating back to Roman times: the Tower of London, which had been a fortress, a prison and a royal palace. Now it is one of the most interesting museums.
NEW ZELAND
New Zealand is an independent state. It has a total area of 269,000 square kilometres. It is (situated to south-east of Australia. Nearly 3,5 million people live in the country. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. (It has been the capital since 1865). The official language is English. The climate of New Zealand is moist. New Zealand is rich in minerals. There are some main industries in the country, for example, iron and steel industry. The country has gas and petroleum. There are many mountains in New Zealand. The highest is Mount Cook (12349 feet). There are many rivers in the country. The chief rivers are the Waikato and the Wairu. You can see many lakes in it. You have heard about the native animals in the country. One of them is the kiwi. This interesting bird lives in the wet parts of the thick bushes. In the day time the bird does not go out It comes out only at night to find food. Kiwis can not fly. Many years ago kiwis were hunted for food. Now the government does not permit the hunting of kiwis. The kiwi is now the symbol of the New Zealand people. Small children are often called kiwis.
New Zealand is a self-governing state. The Parliament consists of one House only, the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister is the head of the government
There are some political parties in New Zealand. They are: the Labour Party, the National Party, the Party of Socialist Unity and others.
New Zealand has heavy industry. There are many plants in the country. Paper and rubber industries are developed too. New Zealand exports apples and honey.
There are some big cities such as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson. Auckland, Dunedin, Wellington are the main ports of the country.
Реферат опубликован: 6/09/2006