Piccadilly Circus
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 787.
It is difficult to say what is the real centre of London, but many people would choose Piccadilly Circus. This is because it is not only central but also the heart of London's entertainment world. Within a few hundred yards of it we find most of London's best-known theatres and cinemas, the most famous restaurants and the most luxurious night-clubs.
In the middle of Piccadilly Circus there is a statue said to be of Eros, the god of love. Few people know that it really represents the Angel of Christian Charity. This statue is the first that was ever cast in aluminium. On Cup Final night and New Year's Eve it is boarded up to prevent over-enthusiastic revellers from climbing onto it. (The Cup Final is the match which decides the winning football team.)
The buildings around the Circus are rather nondescript, though some of them are large and quite imposing. Many of them are decorated with bright neon signs advertising goods and entertainments; Piccadilly Circus at night is a colourful sight.
Underneath Piccadilly Circus there is an important tube station with escalators leading down to two different lines. The ticket-hall, which is just below street-level, is a vast circular hall with showcases, hired by various stores, let into the walls. There are entrances from all the main streets that converge at the Circus.
It is particularly in the evening that Piccadilly Circus is thronged with people going to the theatre or the cinema, or perhaps to a restaurant. Many others have come for an evening stroll; they will probably have a cup of coffee or a glass of beer before they go home. The crowd is a motley one, for it is composed of people of many nationalities. The peoples of the British Commonwealth are well represented, as there are many Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians and Africans in London; they are either working here or studying.
Some of them wear their national dress. Many foreign visitors mingle with the crowd, some from the Continent, some from more distant places. It is interesting to try to identify different nationalities by their style and type of clothing. This is no longer as easy as it used to be. The atmosphere is distinctly cosmopolitan, and one hears around one a great variety of languages. It has been said that if you listen carefully, you may even hear English!
Vocabulary:
luxurious – áàãàòû, ðàñêîøíû
charity – ì³ëàñýðíàñöü
to board up – àáãàðîäæâàöü
reveller – ãóëÿêà, ï'ÿí³öà
nondescript – ÿê³ íå íåëüãà àï³ñàöü àáî êëàñ³ô³êàâàöü
imposing – óðàæàëüíû, çíà÷íû
converge – ñûõîäç³ööà
to throng – çàïà¢íÿöü
motley – ñòðàêàòû
to mingle – çë³âàööà, çìåøâàööà
Questions on 'Piccadilly Circus':
1. Why is Piccadilly Circus called the centre of London?
2. What is there in the middle of the Circus?
3. Why is it sometimes boarded up?
4. What makes Piccadilly Circus colourful at night?
5. What is there underneath the Circus?
6. How do people get down to the tube stations?
7. Why are there so many people in the Circus in the evening?
8. What sort of people does one find in the crowds in the Circus?
9. Does one hear only English in Piccadilly Circus?
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