Prezentare Marea Britanie

1. Prezentare Marea Britanie Clasa a X-a C, Data: 22.03.2007

2. Wax museum • A wax museum or waxworks consists of a collection wax figures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses. • Wax museums often have a special section dubbed the chamber of horrors in which the more grisly exhibits are displayed. • Wax museums can be credited to Marie Tussaud, who traveled Europe with wax sculptures in the late 1700s. • Madame Tussauds is perhaps the most famous name associated with wax museums. In 1835 Madame Tussaud established her first permanent exhibition in London's Baker Street. There are also Madame Tussauds in Dam Square, Amsterdam; Hong Kong; Shanghai; and two locations in the USA: the Venetian Hotel in LasVegas, Nevada, and in Times Square in New York City (with a third being built in Washington, D.C.). Louis Tussaud's wax museum in San Antonio, Texas, is across the street from the historic Alamo.

3. Wax museum • One of the most popular wax museums in the United States for decades was The Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, California, near Knott'sBerry Farm. The museum opened in 1962 and through the years added many wax figures of famous show business figures. Several stars in fact attended the unveilings of the wax incarnations. The museum closed its doors on October 31, 2005, after years of dwindling attendance; however, a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum nearby remains open. • Another popular wax museum is the MuseeConti Wax Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, which features wax figures portraying the city's history as well as a "Haunted Dungeon" section of wax figures of famous characters of horror films and literature. Another popular wax museum in the U.S. is the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California.

4. Wax museum • Madame Tussauds is perhaps the most famous name associated with wax museums. In 1835 Madame Tussaud established her first permanent exhibition in London's Baker Street. There are also Madame Tussauds in Dam Square, Amsterdam; Hong Kong; Shanghai; and two locations in the USA: the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Times Square in New York City (with a third being built in Washington, D.C.). Louis Tussaud's wax museum in San Antonio, Texas, is across the street from the historic Alamo. • One of the most popular wax museums in the United States for decades was The Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, California, near Knott'sBerry Farm. The museum opened in 1962 and through the years added many wax figures of famous show business figures. Several stars in fact attended the unveilings of the wax incarnations. The museum closed its doors on October 31, 2005, after years of dwindling attendance; however, a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum nearby remains open.

5. Wax museum • Another popular wax museum is the Musee Conti Wax Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, which features wax figures portraying the city's history as well as a "Haunted Dungeon" section of wax figures of famous characters of horror films and literature. Another popular wax museum in the U.S. is the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California.

6. Buckingham Palace • Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the Britishmonarch in London. The Palace is a setting for state occasions and royal entertaining, a base for many officially visiting Headsof State, and a major tourist attraction. It has been a rallying point for the British people at times of national rejoicing, crisis or grief. "Buckingham Palace", "Buck House" or simply "The Palace" commonly refers to the source of press statements issued by the offices of the Royal Household. • In the Middle Ages, Buckingham Palace's site formed part of the Manor of Ebury. It had several royal owners from Edward the Confessor onwards and was also the object of much property speculation. (A loophole in the lease of Charles I allowed the area to revert back to royal hands in the 18th century.) Precursors of Buckingham Palace were Blake House, Goring House, and Arlington House.

7. Buckingham Palace • Originally known as Buckingham House, the building forming the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and acquired by King George III in 1762 as a private residence. It was enlarged over the next 75 years, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th century, when the large east wing facing The Mall was added, and the former State entrance, Marble Arch, was removed to its present position near Speakers' Corner in HydePark. The east front was refaced in Portland stone in 1913 as a backdrop to the Victoria Memorial, creating the present-day public face of Buckingham Palace, including the famous balcony.

8. Buckingham Palace • The original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which still survive, included widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle epoque cream and gold colour scheme. Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House following the death of King George IV. The Buckingham Palace Gardens are the largest private gardens in London, originally landscaped by Capability Brown, but redesigned by William Townsend Aiton of Kew Gardens and John Nash. The artificial lake was completed in 1828 and is supplied with water from the Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park. • The State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used regularly by The Queen and members of the royal family for official and state entertaining. Buckingham Palace is one of the world's most familiar buildings and more than 50,000 people visit the palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the royal garden parties

9. National coin -Great Britain's national coin is pound

10. Tower Bridge • Tower Bridge is a bascule bridge in London, England over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name. It has become an iconic symbol of London and is sometimes mistakenly called London Bridge, which is the next bridge upstream. The bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London. • The original raising mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in six hydraulic accumulators. • The system was designed and installed by Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company of Gateshead. Water, at a pressure of 750psi was pumped into the accumulators by two stationary steam engines, each driving a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch ram on which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure. • In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only components of the original system still in use are the final pinions, which engage with the racks fitted to the bascules. These are driven by modern hydraulic motors and gearing, using oil rather than water as the hydraulic fluid.

11. Tower Bridge today • Although the bridge is an undoubted landmark, professional commentators have generally been very critical of its aesthetics. "It represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure", wrote H. H. Statham, while Frank Brangwyn stated that "A more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was never thrown across a strategic river“. • The high-level walkways between the towers gained an unpleasant reputation as a haunt for prostitutes and pickpockets and were closed in 1910. They have been reopened as part of the Tower Bridge Experience, an exhibition mostly housed in the bridge's twin towers. The exhibition also includes photos, holograms and a film detailing the build, along with access to the original steam engines that once powered the bridge bascules, housed in a building close to the south end of the bridge. • A Behind the Scenes tour can be booked in advance, on which it is possible to see the bridge's command centre, from where the raising of the bascules is controlled for a vessel to pass through. The bascules are raised around 900 times a year.

12. Tower Bridge today • River traffic is now a fraction of what it used to be, but it still takes priority over road traffic. This nearly caused a diplomatic incident in 1996, when the motorcade of United States President Bill Clinton got stuck on Tower Bridge while the bascules were opened unexpectedly. Nowadays 24 hours' notice is required before opening the bridge. • The bridge largely replaced Tower Subway, 400 m to the west, the world's first underground tube railway (1870). Until the bridge was opened, the subway was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark. • A computer system was installed in 2000 to control the raising and lowering of the bascules remotely. Unfortunately this has proved less reliable than desired, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on a number of occasions (most recently 2June 2005).

13. Autorii acestei prezentari sunt: Bors George-Catalin si Stanoaia Catalin