Explain the words/phrases in bold. Use some to complete the sentences.
1 10 Downing Street was..... a small terraced house before Sir Robert Walpole changed it.
2 There are 23........ who are members of the Cabinet.
3 The Queen attends many...... every year.
4 There are a number of .......... palaces and buildings in London.
10 Downing Street or •Number 10' as the British call it. is one of the
most famous addresses in the world 1).. However, it is also a
very busy place where hundreds of people work and where many
official functions. Cabinet meetings and stale dinners take place.
Many people will immediately recognise the front of the building
2)............
Number 10 was originally given to the first prime minister. Sir
Robert Walpole, as a gift. 3)... Before he moved in. though, he
joined 10 Downing Street to the large house behind it and had some
alterations made. So even though Number 10 looks like an ordinary-
terraced house from the outside. 4).. There are many beautiful
rooms with elegant decor and fine furniture including the State
Dining Room, the Study, the Terracotta Room and the White
Drawing Room. There are portraits of every past prime minister
hanging on the walls of the Grand Staircase 5).. The table in
this room is boat-shaped so that the Prime Minister can always see
everyone sitting around it!
The Prime Minister's private home is a furnished flat on the second
floor, once described by Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister
from 1979-1990) as 'living above the shop'. The Prime Minister also
has his own study 6)......... There, he often meets colleagues,
receives important guests, makes phone calls or gives interviews.
