The English Language

Cambridge

Cambridge is one of the best known towns in the world and it can be found on most tourists' lists of places to visit. Cambridge is famous for its university, which started during the 13th century and grew steadily, until today there are more than twenty colleges. The oldest one is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284. And the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. But the most famous is King's College, because of its magnificent chapel. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is well known all over the world. The Universities were only for men until 19th century when the first women's college was opened. Later the doors of colleges were opened to both men and women. Nowadays almost all the colleges are mixed. To the north of Cambridge is the Cambridge Science Park, the modern face of the University. This park has developed in response to the need for universities to increase their contact with high technology industry. It is now home to more than sixty companies and research institutes. The whole area is in fact very attractively designed, with a lot of space between each building. The planners thought that it was important for people to have a pleasant, park like environment in which to work. Every year thousands of students come to Cambridge from overseas to study English.

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    Oxford — the University Town
    

This university town is very beautiful. The oldest university there is Oxford. The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university now has thirty-five colleges and about thirteen thousand students, many of them from other countries. There were no women at Oxford until 1878. When the first women's college Lady Margaret Hall, opened. Now most colleges are open to men and women. It is not easy to get a place at Oxford University to study for a degree. But outside the university there are many smaller private colleges which offer less difficult courses and where it is easy to enrol. Most students in these private school take business, secretarial or English language courses. Oxford is, of course, famous for its first-class education as well as its beautiful buildings. Some of the most intelligent men and women in the country live and work here. Oxford gives them what they need: a quiet atmosphere, friendly colleagues and the four-hundred-year-old library, which has about five million books. Oxford has same of the finest architecture in Britain. Some of their colleges, chapels and libraries are there, four and even five hundred years old, and are full off books and precious paintings. You can see there many lovely gardens, where the students can read and relax in the summer months.

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