Задача по теме: "Понимание в прочитанном тексте запрашиваемой информации"

The London Tube

Julia was enjoying her trip. The girl had never left her small town before, and now her first destination was London. If you have ever been to London, you can understand her feelings, can’t you?

Julia came to London with her family. Her father worked as an engineer and their engineering team was impressively diverse. Along with a few Indians, there were Canadians, Germans, Russians and British. Once, Andrew, Dad’s British colleague came up with the idea: “Why don’t you go to London with me this year? My parents would be glad to invite you to our Christmas dinner. They always ask me about my work and friends in India. Your kids have never been to the UK and it'll be a good opportunity for them to practice their English, won’t it?”  

Why not? And there they were — travelling by the Tube, watching the passengers get in and out of the wagon. A pleasant female voice informed them about the names of the stations they were passing: Embankment... Waterloo... Elephant and Castle.

Elephant and Castle reminded Julia of India. “Why is it named like this?” Julia turned to Andrew, who volunteered to be their guide around London.

“Oh... It’s because my people have never been good at learning languages,” he said with a smile. “We've always preferred other people to learn English rather than learn the local languages.”

Julia looked at Andrew in surprise. She knew that along with being a qualified engineer, he spoke fluent French and Italian. And a little bit of Hindi. But Andrew’s joking about the British, their weather talks, golf and five o’clock tea puzzled her. Once she asked her dad about that. He said that only truly intelligent people can laugh at themselves. Those who are not smart enough try to make fun of others.

“But elephants have never lived on the British Isles,” Julia got back to the topic and tried to invent some explanation. “So, it may refer to the time when India was the colony. There was probably the Elephant that rescued a princess and then was offered the title of a royal pet and ... a castle to live in.”

Andrew burst into laughter. “No. The story was different and it happened in the thirteenth century when the King of England, Edward I, decided to get married. His bride was Eleanor of Castile also known as Infanta de Castile. She came to England from Spain for the wedding ceremony and stayed at the place we’ve just passed by. It became known as the place of the Infanta de Castile.

However, it wasn’t easy for us to pronounce the Spanish title of the honourable lady. That’s why Infanta de Castile gradually turned into Elephant and Castle, which was not difficult to pronounce. You see,” Andrew winked at me, “how good we are at foreign languages!”