The City of London

Everyone knows Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge, but what else is there to the city of London? Learn about London's past, present and future in this video.

Instructions

 

Do the preparation task first. Then, watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Preparation

The words in this exercise appear in the video. Do the exercise before you watch. It will help you to understand.

Transcript

This is the River Thames. It is almost 346 kilometres long, and is the second longest river in Great Britain. It flows through London, and it’s this part of the river that most tourists see.  

But there’s more to the Thames than a trip down the river.

The Romans built a settlement on the River Thames, and over the centuries it grew into the City of London, with a huge port. Ships from around the world brought food, goods and people to the capital.

But by the 1980s, most of the docks had closed and the area became run-down.

A lot of money has been invested in this huge riverside area. And today it’s known as ‘Docklands’.  

The old warehouses are now attractive apartments. There are new office buildings, shopping centres and leisure facilities, too. People enjoy living and working by the river.

People also enjoy living on the water! This is a houseboat on the Thames.

......

Nick: Hi, Alistair.

Alistair: Hey, Nick, welcome aboard.

Nick: Thank you. So why do you live on a houseboat?

Alistair: I love being close to the water. And it’s a brilliant place to invite friends over.

Nick: What’s it like to live on a boat?

Alistair: In the summer, it’s beautiful. And in the winter, it’s a bit cold.

Nick: Could you give me a tour?  

Alistair: Please. Follow me. So this is the kitchen. The bedroom.

Nick: I like it. What’s the best thing about living on the river?

Alistair: For me, it’s being so close to nature.  And it’s really cheap.

Nick: Is there anything you miss about living on dry land?

Alistair: I miss not being able to grow my own food and not having a garden.

Nick: Do you think you will ever move?

Alistair: Only if I have to leave London. It’s a really brilliant place to live in the city.

......

The Thames has seen a lot of changes over the years. But perhaps the biggest change is still to come.

This image is of the River Thames frozen over. It’s not a real photograph. It’s been created digitally. It shows the effect climate change may have on the river if temperatures drop significantly.

They were created by two illustrators: Didier Madoc-Jones and Robert Graves.  

......

Nick: Didier, Tell us about this exhibition.

Didier: We wanted to create postcards from the future – well-known views of London – to show people how it might look with the effects of climate change.

Nick: Why does this one show the Thames frozen over?

Didier: Well some scientists think we might experience a new mini ice age with very cold winters and in the summer we’d experience flooding due to melting ice sheets.

Nick: Do you think that could really happen?

Didier: Nobody really knows. The point of our exhibition was to get people thinking about climate change and the future of London.

......

The River Thames has changed over the centuries, and will continue to do so. But hopefully it will always be here for both local people and tourists to enjoy and explore.

Discussion

Have you ever been to London? If so, what do you think of the city? If not, would you like to visit London one day?

Average: 4 (4 votes)
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Comments

Submitted by ElenaH on Thu, 01/28/2021 - 09:28

I‘ve never been to London but I think it‘s quite beautiful. At least the part I saw on pictures. I want to visit London someday.

Submitted by rosaduq02 on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 08:38

Yes I have, I already went 3 times, twice with my parents and my brother and once with school. I really love London, one off my favorite places is the London eye, when you're at the top of it you have a beautiful vieuw! I also love camden, it's totally different than the center off London, where you have the big ben, the tower bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster... . London is also a beautiful city to go shopping or to see a musical, like Mamma Mia or the lion king.

Submitted by Coline21 on Thu, 05/14/2020 - 13:02

Yes, I have already been to London with my family

Submitted by Nairobi07 on Thu, 05/14/2020 - 12:26

Yes, I have ! I already went to London with my parents five years ago. It was fantastic ! We visited London Eye, the natural history museum and the Tower of London. But I absolutely wanted to see Big Ben and Tower Bridge because I find it impressive and beautiful. I was able to discover typical dishes like fish and chips. Wath I preferred was taking the subway. There are so many lines of all colors that we could get lost. London is a city completely different from my city because there are many more people and more things to visit. This city is one of the world famous cities like New-York or Paris.

Submitted by Loulil on Thu, 05/14/2020 - 09:08

I have never been to London. I had to go this year but my trip was canceled. I really hope that I will go there one day.

Submitted by ts2611 on Wed, 05/13/2020 - 09:36

I've been to London twice, but I've never slept over. What impressed me is that I've seen a lot of different styles of clothing and that's very cool. It's really a beautiful city. London isn't similar to my city, it's much bigger.There's a lot of iconic places.

Submitted by MG5E on Tue, 05/12/2020 - 09:51

No, I've never been to London, but I would like to visit this city one day with my friends. London is very different from where I live, it's a big city and I live in a small town. I know that London is a beautiful city with a lot of places to visit.

Submitted by beasam0109 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 06:54

Yes, I have. I was in London 2 years ago with my parents and brother. we went to London for his birthday. I love everything related to this city, the food, the houses, the streets. but the thing I liked most are the people. they are always happy and welcoming

Submitted by giorgia_marchetti on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 08:52

Yes,I have in London 2 years ago Whit my Classroom, I enjoy London and i loved the Madame Tussaud museum. I don’t mind english food but i prefere Italian cusine

In reply to by beasam0109

Submitted by JasmineD03 on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 21:07

No, I never went to London. I would like one day to go there with my bf and my parents. The first thing I would go to visit is definitely the London Eye, then I would like to see Big Ben, the tower of London and Buckingham Palace. Also I would try all their typical dishes and go to visit the Hyde Park that many people have told me very well.

Submitted by BttChiara on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 17:18

Unfortunately, I've never been in London but I would like to come here, maybe with some friends. In my opinion I will enjoy the trip and I will have fun with my friends, but at the same time i will improve my English ( that is a really important thing). I will visit the most important monument and I will take some photos of them, too.

Submitted by Desy on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 11:57

I've never been to London, but I'd like to visit it, because it's a city with a lot of culture and art.

Submitted by MatildePace on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 11:11

Yes, I've already been to London. I enjoyed visiting London with my family two summers ago. My favorite part of London is the London Eye because when you are at the top of the wheel you can look at a beautiful landscape. I also enjoyed visiting the Natural Science Museum. One day I hope to go back and have a good time.

Submitted by FedericoB8 on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 10:13

No, I've never been to London. I think that London is a beautiful city and in fact I hope to go there soon.

Submitted by gattifederica on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 13:25

Yes, I have. I went to London last summer but I was only there one day. I did the boat tour on the river Thames and I saw the Tower Bridge and the London Eye. Then I went shopping and finally I visited the British Museum. I think that London is a very big and beautiful city, it’s very crowded and there are a lot of famous monuments and places. I’d like to visit the Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster and Buckingham Palace with the Changing of the guard. I’d also like to go to the London Eye to see the whole city.

Submitted by bea_mara on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 19:32

No, I never been to London, but I'd like to go with my family one day.

Submitted by Ely on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 15:10

i've never been to London,but I think it's very beatiful city if one day I will go there,I would like to see Tower Bridge

Submitted by wolfsrcool on Fri, 04/10/2020 - 09:17

I've never been to London. However, I would like to visit it once, because there are many famous and interesting places, such as Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge. In general, London is a very interesting and modern city, I would also like to see the River Thames and maybe even take a boat ride on it.

Submitted by Giordyyy on Thu, 04/25/2019 - 21:44

I have never been to London , but i think is a very modern city and with some very beautifull architectonics constructions and art works. I like to visit every place in the world i have not visit yet , so i like to visit London too.
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Submitted by Lenan on Sun, 04/22/2018 - 11:19

good video

Submitted by ErikaAVCU on Wed, 03/28/2018 - 00:03

I think it is a beautifull place and I would go to London because I would see the Big Ben and London eye .I hope that I can go to London and visit the Big Ben ,London eye and the tower of London . In London the people are very nice and it is bigger than the place that I lived in Germany.
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