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ANN. You were rather quick, lads. Which way are we going now?

GEORGE. Let’s go as far as N. and then go back.

ANN. Good.

GEORGE. Well? How did you enjoy the joy-ride? ALL. It was fine, George. Thanks very much.

GEORGE. Don’t mention it.

Vocabulary Notes

1 to step on it — давать газ

2 to be on the move — быть в движении

11. AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE

P. Will you examine my things?

O. Presently, sir, I will ask you to look through these lists in the meantime, please.

P. What lists?

O. The Prohibited Articles List1 and the Duty-free Quota List2. Here they are, please.

P. Thank you.

O. What have you to declare, sir?

P. I have nothing that’s listed in this first list.

O. What have you above the fixed quote?

P. Well, I didn’t get through the second list, you know. They are both rather long.

O. Will you, please, open your trunks, sir?

P. Yes, of course. Here you are.

O. What are these things?

P. They are for my personal use.

O. You have suits above the fixed quote, sir.

P. But they are not new.

O. All the same. You will have to pay duty on this extra one.

P. Well, all right.

O. Now, I see you have books.

P. Yes. Are they prohibited?

O. They’ll have to be looked through, sir. I’d ask you to put them aside, please.

P. What! Are you going to read them all?

O. No, our interpreter will just skip through them, that’s all. Now, what are these things?

P. Oh, only a few trifles for my family. Are they liable to duty, too?

O. No, these are not. Well. The examination is over, sir. You may pay the duty for the suit over there, please.

P. Yes. Thank you.

O. When you bring the receipt, I’ll stamp your luggage, sir.

Vocabulary Notes

Prohibited Articles List — список 2 Duty-free Quota List — спи- товаров, ввоз и вывоз которых сок предметов, разрешенных к запрещен беспошлинному ввозу

12. AT THE HOTEL

(Two fellow-travellers have just embarked from the train.)

A. Where do you intend to put up, Mr. B?

B. No idea. And you?

A. The last time I was here I stayed at (the) “Europe.” Let’s try our luck there. It’s a pity I hadn’t time to book a room beforehand.

B. Do you think we’ll get anything there?

A. Well, I hope we shall. The touring season is over now.

B. Well, here is a taxi. Hotel “Europe,” please.

DRIVER. Yes, gentlemen.

B. Here we are.

DESK­

CLERK. What can I do for you, gentlemen?

B. We should like rooms — two single rooms or one two- bedded room. (To Mr. A.) Do you mind being together, Mr. A.?

A. Not in the least.

D-C. I am sorry, gentlemen, but we are all booked up. We are expecting a delegation.

B. No chance at all?

D-C. Sorry. W. have nothing at the moment.

B. You couldn’t possibly direct us somewhere?

D-C. One moment, gentlemen. 1’11 ring up the “Astoria.” Perhaps they can put you up there.

B. Please do.

D-C. In whose name shall I book it in case you are lucky.

B. Mr. Black, please. (The D-C. talks over the phone.)

D-C. Yes, gentlemen, they have rooms. Do you happen to know where the hotel is?

B. Sorry, but I don’t.

D-C. It’s in N. Street. Not far from the General Post Office.

B. Thank you. (To Mr. A.) Well, let’s go, Mr. A.

13. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND

On approaching the harbour of Dover, you perceive a white stripe on the horizon that, the nearer you get, appears to rise out of the ocean. Of a sudden, a flash of sunlight settles on it, making it glitter like diamonds; it is the white chalk cliffs of Dover.

Before setting foot on English soil, every traveller, be he British subject or not, must show the landing ticket, which he gets on the boat, and which entitles him to land. On the landing-stage you say “goodbye” to your mother tongue and nationality, and try to be as English as you can.

All is hurry and bustle now. Porters carry your luggage to the custom-house, where it is examined by custom-house officers, who label or mark every piece of your luggage. Then you have to show your passport, and now — if found all right — you may go where you like. You take the train, called the boat-train, for London.

You fly past many stations, the names of which you are almost unable to make out, as they are printed on lamps and benches. The walls of English stations are covered all over with advertisements, giving them a rather gay appearance. After a two hours’ run through a country of green meadows you arrive at Victoria station, London.

Taxis in abundance are waiting on the platform just where you get off the train. What a panorama London affords when you see it (for the first time) from a taxi or the top of a bus! One might think that he is at the cinema, with fine motion pictures rolling on. Gigantic palaces, theatres, monuments, bright shops all aglow at night with neon advertisements, road streets with countless pedestrians hurrying to and fro, buses, trams, cars — an endless stream of traffic. The first glimpse of London amazes the visitor.

But if you want to see the life of the working people, you just step down from the top of the bus and go along the southern bank of the Thames. There you will find quite a different world — a world of poverty, unemployment and disease.

Crowding down to the water are rows of houses, dirty and dark, inhabited by countless thousands of poor folk, whose days are spent in unending toil and the struggle to keep alive. It is indeed difficult to imagine that at no great distance from the splendid broad streets, is St. Giles — the heart of the London slums.