ESPANSIONI DI TESTO

MODULE A - London's West End (p. 54)

TASK
Read about four London landmarks and underline all the words referring to their
'attractions' for visitors (e.g. meeting place, fountain, etc.).

Piccadilly Circus and Soho
Piccadilly Circus is considered the heart of the West End and is a meeting place for tourists and young people from all over the world. There is a fountain in the middle with a bronze statue of Eros on top. North of Piccadilly is Soho, a neighbourhood of food shops and restaurants which has long been known for its night clubs, strip-shows and sex-shops. Soho is a maze of narrow streets where the young and the fashionable gather to eat 'alfresco' and to do some people-watching. Many Soho bars, clubs, and cafés never close.
Soho has a cosmopolitan population and a thriving Chinese community. In the heart of Soho we find one of the best fruit and vegetable markets in London (in Berwick Street) and Chinatown, full of Chinese restaurants, shops and decorations, particularly lively and crowded for the celebration of Chinese New Year.

Trafalgar Square
The square was laid out in the 1830s and 1840s and dedicated to the memory of Admiral Lord Nelson who defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The square is dominated by a 50-metre-high column with the statue of Lord Nelson on top and four bronze lions around the base.
Today Trafalgar Square is a popular meeting place, especially on New Year's Eve, when people gather there to hear Big Ben strike midnight.
Along the north side of the square is the National Gallery, one of the most outstanding collections in the world and Britain's largest collection of paintings by Western artists.
In the north-east corner is the 18th century church of St Martin-in-the-Fields whose crypt was used as a bomb shelter during World War II.
Leading away from the square, beyond Admiralty Arch, is the Mall, a broad tree-lined avenue along St James's Park which leads to Buckingham Palace and is London's ceremonial way.

Buckingham Palace
The palace was built in the 18th century for the Duke of Buckingham and later bought by George III. In the early 19th century George IV commissioned his favourite architect John Nash to rebuild it on a more magnificent scale. It was Queen Victoria who made it the official royal residence in London (1837), and a memorial to her stands in front of the Palace.
There are about 600 rooms at the Palace, on three main floors. When the Queen is in residence the flag flies over the palace. The Foot Guards, who wear red jackets and furry hats called bearskins, guard the Palace and the Changing of the Guard ceremony attracts crowds of tourists.

South Kensington Museums
In South Kensington there is one of London's most popular museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum (generally known as the V&A). It was founded in 1852 and is Britain's national museum of art and decorative crafts (jewels, tapestries, textiles, glassware, furniture, etc.). Its 11 km of galleries also include exhibits from all nations and in all styles.
Not far from the V&A there is the Natural History Museum which has one of the best collections of dinosaurs anywhere. Next to it is the Science Museum. The three buildings are impressive examples of Victorian architecture.

For more information about London's buildings go to www.greatbuildings.com