Univerzitet u Sarajevu 2021/2022
Filozofski fakultet
Odsjek za anglistiku
Engleski jezik 1 – opći predmet (Odsjek za historiju, Katedra za historiju umjetnosti, Katedra za
arheologiju)
The story of London
LONDON. Capital of England, capital of Great Britain. Once the biggest city in the world, today just one of the
biggest in Europe. Yet if London is no longer one of the biggest cities in the world, it remains one of the most
important, and one of the most fascinating. In this article, you can learn something about the history of Britain's
capital city.
The history of London: A very historic city
When the French poet and traveller Théophile Gautier first reached London in 1843, by
ship, he was quite astonished. He wrote that London was the "capital of enormities and of proud
rebellion". "On this gigantic scale," he continued, "industry almost becomes poetry, a poetry in
which nature plays no part, but which is a result of the immense development of human will."
In 1843, London really was very different from any other city. It was much bigger than
any other city, and it was the capital of the most industrialised nation in the world. It was
already a city with a long history, of course. London had become the British capital in Roman
times, but since then, it had been built and destroyed and rebuilt so many times that there were
few traces left of the capital city of Roman Britain, except deep below the ground. Today, the
oldest buildings in London include the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, which are
almost a thousand years old.
Though the Tower was always a part of London, Westminster Abbey was once over a
mile from the capital city. For centuries, "London" just covered the area corresponding more or
less to the Roman city. Today, this part of London is still called the City of London, and is the
heart of the bigger "London".
Until recently, "the City" was home to hundreds of thousands of people; but today its
population is actually well less than ten thousand! Today the City is the heart of London's
financial district, full of bankers and businessmen by day, almost deserted by night.
Back in the Middle Ages, the City was already becoming too small. In the 11th century,
monks built a big new abbey at Westminster, and King Cnut began to build a palace beside it.
King Ethelred, his successor, then decided to move his court from the city of Winchester, to the
palace of Westminster. Westminster has been the seat of the English, then British, parliament
ever since, and London has been the capital city.
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While the parliament was established in Westminster, the City's growing population kept
spreading to other villages all round. Villages like Chelsea and Hackney eventually became
swallowed up by the metropolis which kept growing and growing. Today, Westminster, which
contains Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and London's
most famous shopping district, is part of Central London. Nearby, Chelsea is an expensive
residential area, and Hackney is a working-class district: they are all parts of London.
In spite of its age, Central London does not have many very old buildings. The City itself
was burnt to the ground in the terrible fire of 1666, and was almost totally rebuilt after it. Large
parts of London were also rebuilt in the nineteenth century and have been rebuilt again since
then, for different reasons. Charles Dickens, the author of Oliver Twist and other famous novels,
lived in the London that Théophile Gautier visited, and has left us with terrible descriptions of
the conditions in which the poor of London lived and worked in those days. Millions of people
worked in the great city, with its docks, its offices and shops, and its services. Most were poor,
living in squalid conditions, some were very rich, and a fair number belonged to the new "middle
classes". In this way, London, the biggest city in the world, was also the first "modern" city.
It remained the world's biggest city until after the Second World War. Since then it has
continued to change, but got smaller; but with over seven million inhabitants, today's "Greater
London" is, with Paris, one of the two biggest cities in Europe; and also one of the most
fascinating.
Different parts of London: LONDON RICH, LONDON POOR
Like almost every big city, London has its prosperity and its poverty. Most tourists visit
the "West End", with its shops, cinemas, theatres and monuments. This is London's front
window, where the streets are clean and most people, including the tourists, have jobs, and
money to spend. Harrod's store, in Knightsbridge, claims it is the most famous shop in the world;
in theory you can buy anything there, from an elephant to a pencil (though naturally, they would
have to order the elephant specially for you, there are none on the shelves!).
In the small streets behind Regent Street, there are all sorts of specialist shops, selling
high-quality products to people who can afford them. "Gentlemen's tailor since 1788," says the
sign outside a tiny shop with beautiful suits in its window. Expensive suits. Most of this shop's
customers are businessmen, celebrities and diplomats; here at least, the foreign customer, after
his first English lesson, can say "my tailor is rich".
Two miles to the north east of Regent Street, the scene is very different. Here you are in
the "inner city" district of London, where many of the streets are dirty, the shops look cheap, and
the people do not look rich. Few tourists visit Islington, Bethnal Green, Brixton and London's
other depressed areas. A lot of the inhabitants here are from ethnic minorities — mostly West
Indian or Asian — and many of them are unemployed.
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Those who do have work are often in unskilled jobs which do not pay well; bus
conductors, dustmen, shop assistants. Nevertheless, though these areas of London are poor, they
cannot be described as ghettoes, and while levels of crime are above average in many parts of the
inner city, these are not dangerous areas. Ten years ago, there was rioting in Brixton, but since
then things have been generally calm.
EXERCISES
Read the article above, then answer THREE of these questions. (Svako ima pravo odabrati tri
pitanja koja želi.)
1. Why was Gautier so surprised when he first saw London?
- He was astonished by its industry and ‘’capital of enormities and of proud rebellion". He wrote
that London was the "capital of enormities and of proud rebellion". "On this gigantic scale," he
continued, "industry almost becomes poetry, a poetry in which nature plays no part, but which is
a result of the immense development of human will."
2. How old is London?
3. Why did Westminster become an important part of London?
4. Why are there not many people in the City of London at night?
City of London is financial district – it means that City of London have is activity only
during ‘’9-5.’’. As text says:<<until recently, "the City" was home to hundreds of thousands of
people; but today its population is actually well less than ten thousand! Today the City is the
heart of London's financial district, full of bankers and businessmen by day, almost deserted by
night.>>
5. Explain why London does not have a lot of very old buildings.
6. Why was London the first "modern" city?
7. Why are there more tourists in Knightsbridge than in Brixton?
8. Why was Brixton in the news ten years ago?
Ten years ago, there was rioting in Brixton, mainly populated by poor Londoners. The 1981
Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the
Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981
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II
Define and translate the following nouns. You can google for definitions or consult your
dictionaries. Also, try to find at least one synonym per each word. (Sinonimi su riječi istog ili
sličnog značenja, npr. house: home, residence, abode, dwelling…)
NOUN DEFINITION TRANSLATION SYNONYM(S)
1. abbey the building or Opatija Nunnery, convent
buildings occupied by priory, friary
a community of monks
or nuns.
2. monk a member of a Monah Abbot, anchorite,
religious community of eremite
men typically living
under vows of poverty,
chastity, and
obedience.
3. successor a person or thing that Nasljednik Heritor, inheritor,
succeeds another. scion, next in line
4. rebellion an act of armed Pobuna Uprising, revolution,
resistance to an rising, defiance
established
government or leader.
5. will expressed decision, Volja Heart’s desire, wish,
which does not have inclination, feeling
to be executed (last
will of wills, wills,
etc.) and other
meanings of ‘’will’’
6. population all the inhabitants of a Stanovništvo Community, culture,
particular place. public, society,
citizenry
7. district an area of a country or Okrug Sector, territory,
city, especially one region
characterized by a
particular feature or
activity.
8. prosperity the state of being Prosperitet Benefit, success, well-
prosperous. being,
accomplishment
9. monument a statue, building, or Spomenik Gravestone,
other structure erected headstone, tombstone,
to commemorate a statue
notable person or
event.
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10. customer a person who buys Kupac Client, consumer,
goods or services from clientele
a shop or business.
M.K
