1、The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of the most famous and prestigious higher education institutions of the world,averaging nine applications to every available place,and attracting 40%of its academic staff and 17%of undergraduates from overseas.It
2、 is currently ranked as the worlds number one university,according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings.Oxford is renowned for its tutorial-based method of teaching,with students attending an average of one one-hour tutorial a week.The University of Cambridge(informally Cambridge
3、University or simply Cambridge)is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge,England.Founded in 1209,Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the worlds fourth-oldest surviving university.The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the
4、University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople.8 The two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge.Following the public school tradition,Eton is a full boarding school,which means all pupils live at the school,and it is one of four such
5、remaining single-sex boys public schools in the United Kingdom(the others being Harrow,Radley,and Winchester)to continue this practice.Eton has educated 19 British prime ministers and generations of the aristocracy and has been referred to as the chief nurse of Englands statesmen.Eton is the sixth m
6、ost expensive HMC boarding school in the UK.Eton College is a boarding independent school for boys in Eton,Berkshire,near Windsor.It educates more than 1,300 pupils,aged 13 to 18 years.It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor making it the 18th
7、 oldest Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference(HMC)school.Eton is one of ten English HMC schools,commonly referred to as public schools,regulated by the Public Schools Act of 1868.Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingd
8、om.Located in the City of Westminster,the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality.It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning.Originally known as Buckingham House,the building at the core of todays palace was a large tow
9、nhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years.It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queens House.During the 19th century it was enlarged,principally by archit
10、ects John Nash and Edward Blore,who constructed three wings around a central courtyard.Buckingham Palace became the London residence 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 centuries,including the
11、 East front,which contains the well-known balcony on which the royal family traditionally congregates to greet crowds.The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II;the Queens Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal
12、Collection.Westminster Abbey,formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster,is a large,mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster,London,just to the west of the Palace of Westminster.It is one of the United Kingdoms most notable religious buildings and the traditional pl
13、ace of coronation and burial site for English and,later,British monarchs.Between 1540 and 1556 the abbey had the status of a cathedral.Since 1560,however,the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral,having instead the status of a Church of England Royal Peculiara church responsible directly to
14、 the sovereign.The building itself is the original abbey church.The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England.It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom,after the River Severn.While it is best known for flowing through London,the river
15、also flows alongside other towns and cities,including Oxford,Reading,Henley-on-Thames and Windsor.In an alternative name,derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock in south west London,the lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway.The section of the river running through Oxford
16、is traditionally called the Isis.Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London，and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower.The tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower,renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of E
17、lizabeth II in 2012;previously it was known simply as the Clock Tower.The tower holds the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world(after Minneapolis City Hall).The tower was completed in 1859 and had its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009,during which celebratory events took place.The towe
18、r has become one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and is often in the establishing shot of films set in London.Many historical bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark,in central London.The current crossing,which opened to
19、traffic in 1974,is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel.This replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge,which in turn superseded a 600-year-old medieval structure.This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges,the first built by the Roman founders of London.The current bridge stan
20、ds at the western end of the Pool of London but is positioned 30 metres(98 ft)upstream from previous alignments.The traditional ends of the medieval bridge were marked by St Magnus-the-Martyr on the northern bank and Southwark Cathedral on the southern shore.Until Putney Bridge opened in 1729,London
21、 Bridge was the only road-crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames.Its importance has been the subject of popular culture throughout the ages such as in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down and its inclusion within art and literature.The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel
22、 on the South Bank of the River Thames in London.Also known as the Millennium Wheel,it has also been called by its owners the British Airways London Eye,then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye,then the EDF Energy London Eye.Since mid-January 2015,it has been known as the Coca-Cola London Eye,follo
23、wing an agreement signed in September 2014.The structure is 443 feet(135 m)tall and the wheel has a diameter of 394 feet(120 m).When erected in 1999 it was the worlds tallest Ferris wheel.Supported by an A-frame on one side only,unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels,the Eye is described by its operators as the worlds tallest cantilevered observation wheel.It is Europes tallest Ferris wheel,and offered the highest public viewing point in London until it was superseded by the 804 feet(245 m)observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard,which opened to the public on 1 February 2013.
