Вариант 1.

Barbican Centre.

Barbican is a district of the City of London. It was greatly destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Great construction has started since the end of the war. Nowadays Barbican is one of the most beautiful districts of London. It is also famous for the Barbican Centre.

The Barbican Centre is an enormous complex which contains two theatres, an art gallery, a library, three cinemas, two restaurants and two exhibition halls.

The building itself is very interesting: It is built on eight levels. Four of these levels are underground. On the fifth level there is a lake, complete with 45 fountains, the air terrace where you can have coffee.

The construction of the Centre was started in 1970. At that time it was expected to cost 190 million. At last on the 3^rd of March 1982 the Barbican Centre was opened by the Queen Elizabeth herself. At that time the final cost of the construction was 150 million.

There are two resident companies who are now based in the Barbican Centre. They are the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is these two companies which are providing a good part of the cultural programme for the public. At the same time there is a variety of exhibitions, musical and other entertainment.

Exercise 1.

Listen to the text “Barbican Centre” and determine what specialists can use the information it contains. Fill the following chart.

City	Cost	Date of opening	Function

Exercise 2.

Sum up the information about the barbican Centre.

Вариант 2.

A Frenchman in London.

I.A Frenchman once came to London. It was his first visit to the English capital. He stayed at a hotel, left his things there and sent a telegram to his wife in which he informed her that he had arrived safely. Then he decided to go sightseeing. He went to the old district at first. He paid attention to beautiful monuments and saw a great number of squares, palaces, buildings, streets, and shops. Then he had dinner at a restaurant. After dinner the Frenchman decided to see a play at a theatre. The play was excellent. The Frenchman thought that his first day in London was very successful and decided to return to the hotel. As he was tired he took the most rapid means o transport – the taxi. Suddenly he discovered that he forgotten the name and address of the hotel. He didn’t know what to do.

II. Then he remembered the telegram which he had sent to his wife in the morning. He asked the taxi-driver to take him to the nearest post-office. There he sent his wife another telegram with the words: “Send me the name of my hotel immediately to the following address”.

Exercise 1.

Listen to the story “A Frenchman in London”. This story is about a man who found himself in a desperate situation. Think of the advice you could give him.

Exercise 2.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who came to London?

2. How did the Frenchman spend his first day in London?

3. Why couldn’t the Frenchman find the way back to the hotel?

4. What way out of the situation he find at last?

5. How many telegrams did the Frenchman’s wife receive on that day?