Практикум по английскому языку (по истории Англии Средних веков). Пилипенко В.А - 23 стр.

V. Reading.

1. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary:
     converse, urban, match, splendour, surpass, sustain, claim, boast.

2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences:
     a) London can be compared with Paris or Rome.
     b) Parts of London are very beautiful.
     c) Oxford, Cambridge, Bath are not so beautiful as London.

3. Text for reading.
       The converse of my argument that civilization in the islands is
based on the countryside must be that our towns and cities are often
surpassed by the urban civilization of our West European neighbours.
That point of view is not difficult to sustain.
       I doubt whether anyone would claim that we have cities in
Britain that can match the perfection of Florence or Siena or Venice.
Neither, I imagine, would anyone seriously claim that London, as a
capital city, can be compared as a unity with Paris or Rome. Parts of
London are of unrivalled beauty. Edinburgh, of course, stands out in
splendour among British cities, and we can boast no other planned
city like it. Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, all have their devotees. On the
other hand, there are probably more individual buildings of outstanding
quality in Britain, and more beautiful villages, than in any other
comparably small area in the world.




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