linguapress
Linguapress Intermediate English
Advanced level reading resources Intermediate reading resources English grammar online Language games and puzzles
Linguapress.com Intermediate English
linguapress





An intermediate level English resource on  London 

London: THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW

It is the oldest annual parade in the world, and it takes place in London. But since it takes place in the middle of November, when there are not too many tourists in the capital, the "Lord Mayor's Show" is an event that is not very well known outside the city.

Lord Mayor's show The first Lord Mayor's Show took place in the year 1215, after King John gave Londoners the right to choose their own representative. Like today's event, it was a fairly exciting procession, during which London's new "Lord Mayor" was "shown" to the people of the city.

Originally, the new Lord Mayor had to present himself to the Law Courts for approval by the King, and to swear loyalty. Today, the Show is always attended by representatives of the Crown.

For many years, until 1856 the procession included making part of the journey by barge along the Thames. Now the Show winds its way through the streets of the City.

 It is usually the biggest free show of the year for Londoners; and for many years, it has been an exotic or spectacular occasion. In the year 1602, for example, the ordinary people of London were able to see a lion and a camel in the procession. Most people had never seen these strange animals before!

The Lord Mayor

In the olden days, when "London" was all contained within the walls of the "City", the Lord Mayor was a powerful figure. He was the representative of the people of London, a man who was chosen by the most important people in the city; he was not appointed by the King.

Today, the "City" has a population of about 6,000 people - less than 0.1% of the population of the modern city of "Greater London". And as far as this modern London is concerned, the Lord Mayor of the City is not a very important person. For instance, he is far less important than the directly elected "Mayor of London", who is really in charge of the capital's affairs.

On the other hand, the Lord Mayor is a representative of the "City", the most important financial centre in Europe; and although many of his functions are ceremonial, he also plays an important role in the world of international business.

Naturally, the Lord Mayor's Show is has little to do with business. London's corporations may pay for it, but it is a show for the people.

THE MODERN SHOW

the Lord Mayor's show In today's Lord Mayor's Show, the new mayor rides in his ceremonial carriage at the head of a long procession of vehicles, floats and marching bands.

Recent processions have been 4 kilometres long, and involved about 150 different groups, including 70 floats, 2,000 military personnel, and over 3,000 civilians, as well as hundreds of horses. Among the participants are many of the City of London's institutions, as well as charities and many of the big companies that are based in the city.

Naturally, the City of London is rich, as are most of the big companies that work there; this means that the Lord Mayor's Show is not only one of the biggest annual parades in the world; it is also one of the most spectacular, as firms and institutions compete with each other to produce the most exciting and original floats.

Dominic Reid, the man in charge of the Show, says: "Every year we try to beat last year's show for spectacle."

Last year's show finished with the biggest firework display in Britain. This year, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to view the event. Everyone will be hoping that the rain holds off!


Word guide
WORD GUIDE
barge: boat - beat: do better than - carriage: coach pulled by horses - charity: charitable association -choose: select, nominate - event: happening, occasion - float: decorated vehicle - for approval: to be approved, accepted - hold off: be absent - is attended by ...: .... are present - law court: court of justice - on the other hand: however - swear: promise - winds: turns (the verb wind rhymes with mind) .


Return to Linguapress site index

Printing: Optimized for printing
Copyright
© Linguapress.  Do not copy this document to any other website

Copying permitted for personal study, or by teachers for use with their students.

   

Student worksheet

The Lord Mayor's show



Reusing information:

Use information from the text to complete these sentences in your own words:

   

For Teachers

Comprehension: divide your class into pairs or small groups, and have each pair/group make up a dozen questions, to which the answers can be found in this article. Then put two pairs/groups together, and make them quiz each other.



This teaching resource is © copyright Linguapress 2000-2022.

Originally published in Freeway, the intermediate level English newsmagazine.
Republication on other websites or in print is not authorised


Linguapress; home Découvrez l'Angleterre (en français) Discover Britain



 PRINTER FRIENDLY
The PRINT  FUNCTION for this page prints just the article and the worksheet

A Linguapress.com
Intermediate level EFL resource
Level - Intermediate.
CEFR
LEVEL : 
B2 intermediate
IELTS level: 5 - 6
Flesch-Kincaid  scores
Reading ease level:
60  Plain English
 
Grade level: 9

Also available in French


A selection of other resources in graded English
from Linguapress
Advanced level English (B2 to C2) :
Nevada and its Extraterrestrials
Who killed Martin Luther King ? with audio
Henry Ford, the man who changed America with audio
America's drive-in movie theaters
The American way of eating.    with audio
Just who are the English ?
Tea and the British   with audio
JRR Tolkien - The man behind the Hobbit
Short story : A few good reasons  with audio
More short stories  with audio
Intermediate level English (B1 - B2)
Alcohol, prohibition and Al Capone
George Washington, America's first president  with audio
The story of blue jeans 
USA: who was Buffalo Bill?    with audio
No more Fish 'n' chips ?  Britain's fast food.
New life for Big Ben  with audio
London's Notting Hill Carnival
Selected grammar pages
Verbs in English
Noun groups in English
Word order in English
Reported questions in English
Miscellaneous
Language and style 
Word stress in English  with audio
The short story of English




xmas shopping
Easy and online
clothes,  fashion,  souvenirs, British specialities, sportswear

Click to discover  UK stores that offer great prices and deliver all over the world



Copyright notice.


Copyright
Free to view, free to share,  free to use in class, free to print, but not free to copy..
If you like this page and want to share it with others,  just share a link, don't copy.
 All articles published on this website remain the copyright © of Linguapress.com and/or their individual authors.

This resource is © copyright Linguapress  renewed 2022

Multi-copying of this resource is permitted for classroom use. In schools declaring the source of copied materials to a national copyright agency, Linguapress intermediate level resources should be attributed to "Horizon" as the source and "Linguapresss France" as the publisher.