V. Make up your own sentences with the words (see tasks 1,2,5).

VI. Finish up the following sentences:

1. Office costs have just been …

2. They have hеlp to make London …

3. The impact on business …

4. His approach is …

5. To bring down office costs …

6. Insiders say the government, which …

7. There are plenty of informed observers who …

VII. Write down a summаry of the text.

VIII. Discuss the following topics:

1. Imagine that you are a member of British government. What would you do to solve the problem of public transport in London?

2.What are the main problems of the city you live in? Do you know the way out?

The British Bobby

THE ENGLISH POLICEMAN has several nicknames but the most frequently used are 'copper' and 'bobby'. The first name comes from the verb to 'cop' (which is also slang), meaning to 'take' or 'capture', and the second comes from the first name of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth century politician, who was the founder of the police force, as we know it today. An early nickname for the policeman was 'peeler', but this one has died out. Whatever we may call them, the general opinion of the police seems to be a favourable one; except, of course, among the criminal part of the community where the police are given more derogatory nicknames which originated in America, such as 'fuzz' or 'pig'. Visitors to England seem, nearly always, to be very impressed by -the English police. It has, in fact, become a standing joke that the visitor to Britain, when asked for his views of the country, will always say, at some point or other, 'I think your policemen are wonderful'. Well, the British bobby may not always be wonderful but he is usually a very friendly and helpful sort of character. A music-hall song of some years ago was called, 'If You Want To Know The Time Ask A Policeman'. Nowadays, most people own watches but they still seem to find plenty of other questions to ask the policeman. In London, the policemen spend so much of their time directing visitors about the city that one wonders how they ever find time to do anything else! Two things are immediately noticeable to the stranger, when he sees an English policeman for the first time. The first is that he does not carry a pistol and the second is that he wears a very distinctive type of headgear, the policeman's helmet. His helmet, together with his height, enables an English policeman to be seen from a con­siderable distance, a fact that is not without its usefulness. From time to time it is suggested that a policeman should be given a pistol and that his helmet should be taken from him, but both these suggestions are resisted by the majority of the public and the police themselves. However, the police have not resisted all changes: radios, police-cars and even helicopters give them greater mobility now. The policeman's lot is not an enviable one, even in a country, which prides itself on being reasonably law-abiding. But, on the whole, the English policeman fulfils his not often thankless task with courtesy and good humour, and an understanding of the fundamental fact that the police are the country's servants and not its masters.

Answer the questions:

1. Who was Sir Robert Peel?

2. What is the general opinion of the English police?

3. Which people disagree with it?

4. What comment is always expected, sooner or later from a visitor to Britain?

5. Why is it no longer necessary for most people to ask a policeman, if they wish to know the time?

6. What do policemen in London spend a large part of their time in doing?

7. What two things does a stranger immediately notice about an English policeman?

8. Why can an English policeman be seen from some distance away?

9. Why is it good thing that a policeman can be seen from a distance?

10. What fundamental fact is the English policeman aware of?

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1427