English learning

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Moscow

Moscow is the capital and th largest city of Russia. It stands on   the banks of the Moskva River. center of Moscow. The Kremlin has a red brick wall, up to 21 m in height with 19 towers that surrounds pal cathedrals, and other monuments. The Great Kremlin Palace, built in 1849, is the most Among many cathedrals, now used mainly as museums, are the Cathedral of the Assum (Успения) and the Archan  Cathedral, each with five gilded domes, and the Ca of the Annunciation (Благовещения) (built in 13th—14th century), with nine gilded domes. The bell tower of Ivan the Great has the height of 98 metres. On impressive structure inside the Kremlin. Other fa Kremlin palaces are the Granovitaya Palace (built in 1491) and the Terem (built in 1636).

a nearby pedestal is the Tsar Bell (nearly 200 tons), one of the largest in theworld. A recent addition to the Kremlin is the Palace of Congresses,  completed in 1961.
St. Basil's Cathedral, a masterpiece of Russian architecture was built in  1561 to celebrate Russian victory over Kazan kingdom. It has coloured domes, stands at one end of Red Square and at the other end there is Historical Museum. visit Tretyakov Gallery admiring beautiful pic of Russian painters.

There are a lot of big plants and factories in Moscow. Among the products  are aircraft, high-quality steel, ball bearings, cars and other motor vehicles, machine tools, electrical equipment, precision instruments, chemicals, textiles, shoes, paper, furniture. Food processing, printing, and the repair of rail equipment are important industries.

Other places of interest in Moscow include the Central Lenin Sta- dium and the tall Ostankino TV tower, which has a revolving restaurant. Moscow has a modern railway underground system (Metro) famous for its marble-walled stations.

Moscow is a scientific and cultural center with a lot of institutes, universities  , libraries and museums. The city leads a vast cultural life. It has a lot of cinemas, clubs, concert halls, more than 40 drama and musical theatres, including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Art Theatre, the Maly Thea the Vakhtangov Theatre.

Muscovites are proud of their museums: the Tretyakov Art Gallery,  the A. S. Pushkin

Museum of Fine Arts and the State Historical Mu Crowds of people

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London

London is the largest city in Western Europe. More than 7 million  people live there. It lies on both banks of the Thames.

Parts of London

London is traditionally divided into several parts: the City of London, which is the financial center of the United Kingdom, the West End, which is the area of museums, art galleries, largest department stores, cinemas,  and hotels. West End and is associated with wealth and luxury; and the  East End, which is the industrial part of London and is very important for the commerce.

The Tower of London

Most of London sights, such as the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and others are famous all over the world.

The Tower of London was founded in the 11 th century by William the Conqueror. The Tower in the past was a fortress, a palace, and a prison, Though the kings were born, lived and were married there, it happened also that kings and queens were murdered in the Tower. It was said that whoever held the keys to the Tower, held the keys to the kingdom.

The Tower of London

The Tower has several towers: the Jewel Tower, where the Royal precious jewels are kept, the White Tower, in which the Kings of England held their Court, and others. One of the towers is called the Bloody Tower where the king Edward V and his brother were murdered. The Duke оfYork. Queen Anne Boleyn, the Princess (afterwards Queen) Elisabeth and many other people were in prison in the Tower.

Now the Tower is a museum and the Crown jewels and other treasures are kept there. The Guard, known as "beefeaters" still keep watch. The Ceremony of the Key, that is centuries old takes place every night.

Now the only inhabitants of the Tower are ravens There is a legend that the Tower will fall if it loses its ravens. Therefore the birds with clipped wings are carefully The Beefeater guarded.

The Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament and the Clock tower "Big Ben" The Houses of Parliament are the most beautiful buildings not only in London, but in the whole Europe. The Houses of Parliament are also called the Palace of Westminster. The Queen enters the Palace of West-  minster only on the day of the opening of Parliament at the beginning of  the session. She wears a crown and many jewels when she makes her  speech from the Throne in the House of Lords.

A fire destroyed the old Houses of Parliament. The new Houses of  Parliament were built in 1857. The famous 320 foot (97.5 meters) clock Tower is called "Big Ben" after Sir Benjamin Hall under whose direction  the construction of the clock was conducted.

St. Paul's Cathedral

It took the architect Christopher Wren 35 years to build the Cathedral. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in Europe. It has  ahuge dome with a golden ball on the top. The interior of the Cathedral is very beautiful too.

The British Museum

There are many museums and art galleries in London. The British Museum is famous for its rich library (about 7 000 000 books). It is also the Museum of History, Archaeology, Art and Ethnogra The British Museum con the most important collec in Britain.

The Buckingham Palace

The Buckingham Palace the place where the Queen England lives.

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is the geo centre of London. It was named in the memory of Admiral Nelson's victory in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805

The tall Nelson's Column stands in the middle of the square. Oppo the Nelson monument is the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. They contain the finest art collections of the world.

Westminster Abbey

 Westminster Abbey is the place where the coronation of nearly all kings and queens has taken place since the time of the  Conquest. Many of them are bur here as well as some other famous people of the country. Westminster Abbey is famous for its architecture and history. There are the graves of some of the world's famous writers, poets and scientists: Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Kipling and others are buried here. There in the Poet's Corner there are memorials to Shakespeare and Milton, Burns, Byron, Scott, Thackeray  and Longfellow. Here is also the grave of the Unknown Soldier who was killed in the First World War.

Parks in London

SI James Park

There are many parks in London: Hyde Park with its Speaker's Cor St. James Park, and Kensington Park.

The East End is an industrial district of London. There are many factories there. The region is densely populated by working class families, those people who have built the palaces of the West End.