When we think of Paris， Rome， Madrid， Lisbon， Athens and other European capitals， we think of them as “cities”. When we think of the whole of modern London， that great area covering several hundred square miles， we do not think of it as “a city”， not even as a city and its suburbs. Modern London is not one city that has steadily expanded① through the centuries； it is a number of cities， towns and villages that have， during the past centuries， grown together to make one vast urban area.
If you could fly low over London， in a helicopter， for example， you would see below you the winding course of the River Thames， flowing from west to east and dividing London into the two parts known as the north bank and the south bank. The division between “the City” and the “West End” would be less obvious② from this bird’s-eye view.
The Port of London is to the east of the City. Here， today， are miles and miles of docks. This is the East End of London， unattractive in appearance， but very important to the country’s commerce. On the river there are ocean-going ships， and lines of barges pulled along by tugs. Ships up to 6，000 tons can come as far as London Bridge， below which is the part of the river called the Pool. They can pass under Tower Bridge. It takes only five minutes to raise③ the two halves of the roadway to allow a ship to pass.
Some of the London Boroughs are not very well known to people outside Great Britain. Some names are widely known. Chelsea， which is now united with Kensington， is known to many because of the great writers (for example Steele， Smollett， Carlyle) and artists (for example Turner and Whistler) who have lived there. Kensington is well known， partly because of the royal palace and Kensington Gardens， and partly because of the large museums④ within its boundaries. Greenwich is known because Greenwich time， the time for the meridian of Greenwich， was， until 1968， standard time in Britain.
Greater London， with its nine million population， includes not only the area of the G.L.C. and the City， but the outer suburbs. It has no definite boundaries， but covers an area of about twenty miles radius from Oxford Circus. Because London has grown so large， the Government has decided that it must spread⑤ no farther. It is now surrounded by a “green belt”， on which new buildings may be put up only with the permission⑥ of the planning authorities.
① expandv. 扩大，发展
② obviousadj. 明显的，显著的
③ raisev. 举起，抬起，提升
④ museumn. 博物馆
⑤ spreadv. 使扩展，使延伸
⑥ permissionn. 允许，许可，同意
伦敦
当我们想到巴黎、罗马、马德里、里斯本、雅典和其他欧洲国家的首都时，总把它们看作是一个个“城市”。整个现代伦敦面积大到几百平方英里，我们想到它时却并不把它看作是“一个城市”，也不把它看作是一座城市带郊区。现代伦敦并不是由一座城市经过好几个世纪不断扩大而成，它是由许多城市、乡镇和村庄在过去的几个世纪中共同形成的一个庞大的市区。
如果你有机会乘直升飞机在伦敦上空低飞，就会看到下面的泰晤士河由西向东蜿蜒流去，把伦敦分成两个部分，即北岸和南岸。但是，从飞机上往下看，“伦敦城”和“伦敦西区”之间似乎没有明显的界线。
伦敦港位于该城的东部。现在这里的码头鳞次栉比，长达好多英里。这儿就是伦敦东区，虽然景色不美，但在整个国家的商业中起着极为重要的作用。在泰晤士河上可以看到远洋轮以及由拖轮牵引的一排排驳船。6，000吨级的船只可以直达伦敦桥，桥下那部分河段称为“港”。船只可以从塔桥下通过，桥面车行道的两半部只需5分钟就可升起。
伦敦市镇中有的市镇外国人可能不很熟悉，有的可能广为人知。许多人都知道切尔西（现已和肯辛顿合并），因为一些伟大的作家（如斯悌尔、斯摩莱特和卡莱尔）和艺术家（如透纳和惠斯勒）都曾经住在这儿。肯辛顿部分因王宫和肯辛顿公园，部分因大型博物馆而十分闻名。格林尼治所以会有名气，是因为以格林尼治本初子午线所定的格林尼治时间在1968年前一直是英国的标准时间。
“大伦敦”不仅包括大伦敦市政会管辖的地区和伦敦城，还包括外围郊区，共有900万人口。“大伦敦”没有明确的边界，但其大小是以牛津广场为中心约20英里半径之内的区域。由于整个伦敦的规模现已过大，所以政府决定不能让它进一步扩展。如今，伦敦周围是一片“绿化地带”，只有经城市规划部门批准后才许在这里建房。