Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(一)_大学英语阅读

Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(一)

　　Both Charing Cross Road and Farringdon Road are well-known places of the book buyer. Yet all over London there are bookshops, in places not so well known, where the books are equally varied and exciting. It is in the sympathetic atmosphere of such shops that the loyal book buyer feels most at home. In these shops, even the life-long book-browser is frequently rewarded by the accidental discovery of previously unknown delights. One could, in fact, easily spend a lifetime exploring Londons bookshops. There are many less pleasant ways of spending time!

　　Going to the Theatre

　　London is very rich in theatres: there are over forty in the West End alone--more than enough to ensure that there will always be at least two or three shows running to suit every kind taste, whether serious or lighthearted.

　　Some of them are specialist theatres. The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where the great opera singers of the world can be heard, is the home of opera and the Royal Ballet. The London Coliseum now houses the English National Opera Company, which encourages English singers in particular and performs most operas in English at popular prices.

　　Some theatres concentrate on the classics and serious drama, some on light comedy, some on musicals. Most theatres have a personality of their own, from the old, such as the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket, to the more modern such as the recently opened Baibican centre in the city. The National Theatre has three separate theatres in its new building by Waterloo Bridge. At the new Barbican centre the Royal Shakespeare Company has their London hometheir other centre is at Stratford-on-Avon.