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London
The capital city of England and the United Kingdom lies on the River Thames, which winds through the city. Its many bridges are a famous sight. The oldest is London Bridge, originally made of wood but rebuilt in stone in 1217. The most distinctive is Tower Bridge, which was designated to blend in with the nearby Tower of London.
1. Sightseeing. Getting around Town
London
The capital city of England and the United Kingdom lies on the River Thames, which winds through the city. Its many bridges are a famous sight. The oldest is London Bridge, originally made of wood but rebuilt in stone in 1217. The most distinctive is Tower Bridge, which was designated to blend in with the nearby Tower of London.
The Tower, which is guarded by the Yeomen Warders, was built in the 11th century. In the medieval period London grew rapidly in size and importance. Westminster Abbey and the Guildhall date from this time, and the Palace of Westminster became the meeting place of Parliament. In 1666 many buildings were destroyed in the Fire of London. This provided an opportunity for architects like Christopher Wren to redesign much of the city. As London’s population increased, new streets, squares and parks were added, and many public buildings. London was heavily bombed in World War II, after which a new cycle of rebuilding began.
Culture and Commerce London is a busy commercial and cultural center. Many important financial organizations, including the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange, are located in the area called the City. Part of the old port in east London has been redeveloped as a business center, called Docklands. In the West End there are theatres/cinemas, museums and shops. Many people who work in London commute by train or bus from the suburbs because buying a house or flat near the centre is very expensive. Different parts of the city are linked by the famous red London buses, black taxi cabs and the London Underground, often called the Tube.
People from all over the world have been attracted to London and it is now a cosmopolitan, multicultural city. People from other parts of Britain sometimes think that it is very noisy and dirty. Many go there only for the bright lights – the theatres round Shaftsbury Avenue or the shops of Oxford Street. Others take their children to see the sights, such as Buckingham Palace, where the Queen lives, and the clock tower from which Big Ben sounds the hours. Young people are attracted to the bars and comedy clubs of Covent Garden, to live music concerts, and to the stalls of Camden market. In the year 2000 many people visited the Millennium Dome.
New York
There is a great sense of excitement in New York and it has a reputation for being ‘the city that never sleeps’. The ‘Big Apple’, as it sometimes called, feels alive, fast and at the center of everything, with cars hooting, yellow taxis weaving through the traffic, brightly lit theatres, and restaurants busy late into the night.
Many Americans have never been to New York, but everyone knows something about the city. They are familiar with Times Square with its brightly lit advertisements, Madison Square Gardens, where many sports events take place, Wall Street, its financial heart, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, where many of their ancestors first arrived in the US, and the tall Manhattan skyline.
After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001, in which the Twin Towers were destroyed, the familiar skyline has changed, leaving a feeling of loss and sadness among Americans and visitors to New York.
The Growth of the City New York was founded in 1624 by the Dutch, who called it New Amsterdam. Its Dutch origins can be seen in the names of old New York families like Stuyvesant and Vanderbilt, and in place names such as Brooklyn (originally Breukelen) and Harlem. In 1664 the English gained control and changed the name to New York. In 1898 several towns were combined to make Greater New York City, which became the second largest city in the world, after London, though at the time part of it consisted of farms. Soon after, many new buildings were constructed, and in 1904 the New York subway was opened.
Many immigrants to the US stayed in New York, giving the city the variety of cultures it has today. During the 1920s New York had many speakeasies (=bars serving alcohol), which were illegal but very popular. This was also the time of the Harlem Renaissance, when Harlem became a center of African-American arts and culture. In the latter half of the century wealthier people began moving out to the suburbs. Today there are about 7 million people in the city and 18 million in the area around it.
New Yorkers speak in a very direct way which
can seem rude to people from other parts of the US. Some have little
patience with visitors who are not used to the fast pace of the city.
But for many visitors, meeting real, rude New Yorkers is part of the attraction of going to the city.
2. Transport
Most journeys in Britain and the US are made by road. Some of these are made on public transport but most are by private car.
In Britain many people rely on their car for daily local activities, e.g. getting to work, doing the shopping, and visiting friends. People living in urban areas may use buses, trains or, in London, the Underground, to get to city centers, mainly because traffic is often heavy and it is difficult to find anywhere to park a car. Some places in the country may have a bus only two or three times a week so people living there have no choice but to rely on their cars.
In the US large cities have good public transportation systems. The El railroad in Chicago and the underground systems of New York, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, DC are heavily used. Elsewhere, most Americans prefer to use their cars. Families often have two cars and, outside major cities, have to drive fairly long distances to schools, offices, shops, banks, etc. Many college and even high-school students have their own cars.
Long-distance travel in Britain is also mainly by road, though railways link most towns and cities. Most places are linked by motorways or other fast roads and many people prefer to drive at their own convenience rather than use a train, even though they may get stuck in a traffic jam. Long-distance coach / bus services are usually a cheaper alternative to trains, but they take longer and may be less comfortable. Some long-distance travel, especially that undertaken for business reasons, may be by air. There are regular flights between regional airports, as well as to and from London. A lot of freight is also distributed by road, though heavier items and raw materials often go by rail.
The main problems associated with road transport in both Britain and the US are traffic congestion and pollution. It is predicted that the number of cars on British roads will increase by a third within a few years, making both these problems worse. The British government would like more people to use public transport, but so far they have had little success in persuading people to give up their cars or to share rides with neighbors. Most people say that public transport is simply not good enough. Americans too have resisted government requests to share cars because it is less convenient and restricts their freedom. Petrol/gasoline is relatively cheap in the US and outside the major cities public transport is bad, so they see no reason to use their cars less.
Despite the use of unleaded petrol/gasoline, exhaust emissions (= gases) from vehicles still cause air pollution which can have serious effects on health. The US was the first nation to require cars to be fitted with catalytic converters (= devices that reduce the amount of dangerous gases given off). Emissions are required to be below a certain level, and devices have been developed to check at the roadside that vehicles meet the requirement. Stricter controls are also being applied to lorries/trucks. Car manufacturers are now developing electric cars which will cause less pollution.
The cheapest and most environmentally-friendly ways to travel are
to walk or ride a bicycle. In Oxford and Cambridge bicycles are common,
and many other cities now have special cycle routes or cycle lanes beside
the main road. Elsewhere, there are so many cars on the roads that cycling
can be dangerous. In the US bicycles are used mostly for fun or sport.
2. Traveling by air
The one thing that units all travelers by air is that you should first get to the airport before flying. Almost all airports have one thing in common – they are at some distance from the city that they serve. Getting to the airport usually takes from a few minutes to an hour or more. Other than private automobiles, the passengers can get to most airports by public transportation – buses, subways and taxis. Buses and subways are usually inconvenient, especially for a passenger burdened with a load of baggage, taxis are often expensive.
The normal check-in-time for international flights is an hour before the scheduled time of departure. For domestic flights, the check-in-time varies according to the type of flight and local customs.
Many of the problems that passengers have at the airport are compounded by faulty public address systems. Sometimes the passengers cannot hear them because of the volume of noise; at many airports they are not connected in restaurants and bars. Some airports have installed visual aids to replace or supplement the public address systems. For example in Moscow airport Sheremetievo close circuit television sets give whatever flight information the passengers need – the gate number, whether the flight is boarding at the moment, and whether the flight is on time or will be delayed.
Another problem has arisen in the last few years that may cause additional difficulty for the ground service agent. This is the matter of security procedures and searches. As a result of the airplane hijacking that were taking place with increasing frequency, almost all airports throughout the world instituted preboarding security checks for weapons and, even, in some places for potentially dangerous or demented persons. These procedures usually consist of a baggage search and some sort of personal search for concealed weapons. When I went to Moscow this winter in our Vladivostok airport and in Sheremetievo I had to out off my overcoat and even to put off my boots and make them pass through the scanner while I was walking on a cold floor in polyethylene thin shoe covers through electronic metal detector. Than I had to put on my coat and boots. But I not against such procedures because I know that they are done for my safety.
Most of the airlines have special categories of passengers who receive special attention. They include such passengers as:
This list could be expanded to include such groups as first-time passengers who have never flown before and who may be nervous about air travel; passengers on delayed flights who miss connections; the elderly and so on. The ground passenger service agents are responsible for taking care of all these passengers. They must provide courteous and efficient service at the airports.
So after passing registration, preboarding security checks and other
formalities you finally enter the plane. On the flight itself, there
is usually a distinction between first class and economy, which was
formerly known as tourist class. The first class passenger has more
space and receives more in-flight service. In most modern jets, the
seating plan in the first class is usually two seats on each side of
the aisle: in economy there are usually three seats side by side. The
first class seats are usually father apart so that passenger has more
room for his legs. To the passenger the chief difference between first
class and economy may well be the cost – first-class fares are much
higher than economy fares.
4. Restaurant. Meals. Table Manners
Americans and British people generally eat three meals a day though the names vary according to people's lifestyles and where they live.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. The traditional full English breakfast served in many British hotels may include fruit juice, cereal, bacon and eggs, often with sausages and tomatoes, toast and marmalade, and tea or coffee. Few people have time to prepare a cooked breakfast at home and most have only cereal or muesli (AmE granola) and/or toast with tea or coffee. Others buy coffee and a pastry on their way to work.
The traditional American breakfast includes eggs, some kind of meat and toast. Eggs may be fried, 'over easy', 'over hard' or 'sunny side up', or boiled, poached or in an omelette. The meat may be bacon or sausage. People who do not have time for a large meal have toast or cereal and coffee. It is common for Americans to eat breakfast in a restaurant. On Saturday and Sunday many people eat brunch late in the morning. This consists of both breakfast and lunch dishes, including pancakes and waffles that are eaten with butter and maple syrup.
Lunch, which is eaten any time after midday, is the main meal of the day for some British people, though people out at work may have only sandwiches. Some people also refer to the midday meal as dinner. Most workers are allowed about an hour off work for it, called the lunch hour, and many also go shopping. Many schools offer a cooked lunch (school lunch or school dinner), though some students take a packed lunch of sandwiches, fruit, etc. Sunday lunch is special and is, for many families, the biggest meal of the week, consisting typically of roast meat and vegetables and a sweet course. In the US lunch is usually a quick meal, eaten around midday. Many workers have a half-hour break for lunch, and buy a sandwich from near their place of work. Business people may sometimes eat a larger lunch and use the time to discuss business.
The main meal of the day for most people is the evening meal, called supper, tea or dinner. It is usually a cooked meal with meat or fish or a salad, followed by a sweet course. Some people have a TV supper, eaten on their knee while watching television. In Britain younger children may have tea when they get home from school. Tea, meaning a main meal for adults, is used especially in Scotland and Ireland; supper and dinner are more widely used in England and Wales. Dinner sounds more formal than supper, and guests generally receive invitations to 'dinner' rather than to 'supper'. In the US the evening meal is called dinner. It is usually eaten around 6 or 6.30 p.m and often consists of dishes bought ready-prepared that need only to be heated. In many families, both in Britain and in the US, family members eat at different times and rarely sit down at the table together. Unless it is a special occasion, few people drink wine with dinner.
Many people also eat snacks between meals. Most have tea or coffee at mid-morning, often called coffee time or the coffee break. In Britain this is sometimes also called elevenses. In the afternoon most British people have a tea break. Some hotels serve afternoon tea which consists of tea or coffee and a choice of sandwiches and cakes. When on holiday/vacation people sometimes have a cream tea of scones, jam and cream. In addition many people eat chocolate bars, biscuits or crisps. Some British people have a snack, sometimes called supper, consisting of a milk drink and a biscuit before they go to bed. In the US children often have milk and cookies after school. Adults are especially likely to snack (= eat snacks) while watching television.
Good manners are important at meal times, though people worry less
about table manners than they once did now that many meals are less
formal. When eating at a table with other people, it is considered polite
to keep your napkin below the table on your lap, to chew with
your mouth closed and not talk with food in your mouth, to keep your
elbows off the table, and to eat fairly slowly. It is bad manners to
take a lot of food all at once, or to take more until it is offered.
It is also better to ask somebody to pass the salt, etc. rather than
to reach across the table for it. When invited to a meal at somebody
else's house people often take a bottle of wine or chocolates or flowers,
as a gift. Apart from this, it is not usual to give presents to people
you do not know well. It is not considered polite to look round other
people's houses without being invited to do so, and people usually ask
where the toilet is rather than going to look for it. Many people do
not smoke and visitors should ask permission before they smoke in somebody's
house. Close friends are much less formal in each other's houses and
may get their own drinks and help to clear away the meal.
5. Customs-house. Passport control
The procedure of passing the customs is almost the same in every country. The moment a traveller crosses the border his luggage is taken to the customs house by porters. Every country has its own customs regulations, which stipulate what articles are liable to duty and what are duty-free. Sometimes an article, which falls under customs restrictions and is liable to duty, is allowed in duty-free if the traveller does not exceed a certain fixed quota. These are listed in a duty-free quota list. Customs restrictions also include a prohibited article list. This is a list of interns, which may not be brought into a country or taken out of it. An official paper (from the proper authorities) giving permission to take items, which fall under special customs restrictions, in or out of a country is known as an import or export licence.
If the traveller has any item, which comes under customs restrictions, he is asked to declare it. That is, he is asked to name the item, stating its value and other particulars. The declaration is made either orally or in writing on a special form. The practice seems to vary in different countries. Upon payment of duty the traveller is given a receipt. As a rule personal items are duty-free.
The formalities at file customs house usually take some time. Only after passing through the customs (Only when one's luggage has been cleared by the customs) does one realise that his journey is drawing to an end (or beginning, as the case might be). Though the procedure of passing customs in different countries is almost the same, the customs rules and regulations can differ a lot.
Russian customs regulations are tangled and have special features. Upon arrival in Russia it is necessary to complete a customs declaration form. Tarvellers must declare the amount of foreign currency in cash and travelling cheques that they are carrying with. Foreigners may enter Russia with up to 10,000 U.S. dollars without submitting a customs declaration. In order to ensure one's ability to leave with valuable items (such as expensive jewelry, PC notebooks, video cameras, etc.) that were brought into the country, travelers should be sure to declare all such items upon arrival and receive a stamp on their customs declaration form. The stamped form will have to be submitted upon exit from Russia. The customs declaration should be kept until the end of one`s stay in Russia, because it may be required for the departure formalities. Lost or stolen customs forms should be reported to the police, and a police report should be obtained to present to customs officials upon departure. Often, however, the traveler will find that the lost customs declaration cannot be replaced.
No customs duty is required for your personal belongings and other goods for a total price of two thousand US dollars. However, the amount of some items brought into Russia is limited by the local customs regulations. These are, for example, alcoholic beverages, etc. The customs requirements are subject to frequent changes, but any Russian Consulate, when issuing traveller`s entry visa, should always provide him with the information about the latest restrictions.
Import of goods for sale is fully regulated by appropriate laws and
regulations. It is prohibited to import into Russia narcotics, toxic
and radioactive items, explosives, explosive devices, and weaponry.
6. Postal Services
Most letters and packages posted in Britain are dealt with by the Post Office, a public authority. It is divided into three parts, the Royal Mail, which delivers letters, Parcelforce and Datapost, which deliver larger packages, and Post Office Counters, which manages the country's many post offices. As well as selling stamps, post offices take in letters and packages that are to be sent by special delivery. Post offices also sell vehicle and television licenses, pay out pensions and child benefit money, and sell greetings cards and stationery. In villages they are often combined with a newsagent's and general store. In recent years, many smaller post offices have been closed because they do not make a profit, though this often led to protests from local people.
Mail (= letters, bills, etc.) is often called post in British English. When sending a letter, people can choose between two levels of service, first class or the cheaper second class. Normally, first-class mail is delivered the day after it is posted and second-class mail within two or three days. Letters are posted in red postboxes, also called letter boxes. Each has a sign giving times of collections. Postmen also deliver mail each morning direct to homes and businesses. They put the mail through a flap in the door, which is also called a letter box. In the country they travel round in red vans, but in towns and villages it is common to see a postman on a bicycle.
The system that deals with mail in the US, the US Postal Service (USPS), is an independent part of the government. Its head is the Postmaster General. Mail carriers, sometimes called mailmen though many are women, deliver mail to homes and businesses once a day. Most homes have mailboxes fixed outside, near the door. It is very uncommon for a house to have a letter box in the door for letters. People whose houses are a long way from the road have a special rural mailbox by the road. This has a flag which the mail carrier raises so that the people in the house can see when they have mail. To mail (= send) a letter, people leave it on top of their own mailbox or put it in one of the many blue mailboxes in cities and towns. Every address in the US includes an abbreviation for the name of the state and a ZIP code, which is used to help sort the mail. Post offices sell stamps and deal with mail that has to be insured. Most cities have one post office which stays open until late. Americans complain about the Postal Service, but it usually does an efficient job at a reasonable price.