【正文】 these ci ti es are not as l arge as those i n Chi na, they have worl dfam ous footbal teams and som e of them even have two! It i s a pi ty that the i ndustrial citi es bui l t i n the ni eenth century do not attract vi sitors. For hi stori cal architecture you have to go to ol der but sm al er towns buil t by the Rom ans. There you wi l fi nd out m ore about Bri ti sh hi story and cul ture. The greatest hi stori cal treasure of al l i s London with i ts m useum s, art col l ecti ons, theatres, parks and bui l di ngs. It i s the centre of nati onal governm ent and i ts adm i ni strati on. It has the ol dest port bui lt by the Romans i n the fi rst century AD, the ol dest bui l di ng begun by the Angl oSaxons i n the 106os and the ol dest castl e constructed by l ater Norm an rul ers i n 1066. There have been four sets of i nvaders of Engl and. The fi rst i nvaders, the Rom ans, l eft thei r towns and roads. The second, the Angl oSaxon, l eft thei r l anguage and thei r governm ent. The thi rd, the Vi ki ngs, i nfl uenced the vocabul ary and pl acenames of the N orth of England, and the fourth, the N orm ans, l eft castl es and introduced new words for food. If you look around the Bri ti sh countrysi de you wil fi nd evi dence of al l these i nvaders. You m ust keep your eyes open i f you are goi ng to m ake your trip to the United Ki ngdom enjoyabl e and worthwhil e. SIGH TSEEING IN LONDON Worried about the tim e avail able, Zhang Pi ngyu had m ade a l i st of the si tes she wanted to see i n London. H er first deli ght was goi ng to the Tower. It was buil t l ong ago by the N orm an invaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This sol id stone, square tower had rem ai ned standi ng for one thousand years. Al though the bui l di ngs had expanded around i t, i t rem ai ned part of a royal pal ace and pri son bi ned. To her great surprise, Zhang Pi ngyu found the Queen’s jewel s guarded by speci al royal soldi ers who, on speci al ocasions, sti l wore the fourhundredyearol d uni form of the tim e of Queen Eli zabeth I. There fol l owed St Paul’s Cathedral buil t after the teri bl e fi re of London i n 1666. It l ooked spl endi d when fi rst buil t! Westmi nster Abbey, too, was very i nteresti ng. It contained statues in m em ory of dead poets and wri ters, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she cam e out of the abbey, Pi ngyu heard the fam ous sound of the cl ock, Bi g Ben, ri ngi ng out the hour. She fi ni shed the day by looki ng at the outsi de of Bucki ngham Pal ace, the Queen’s house i n London. O h, she had so mush to tel her fri ends! The second day the gi rl vi si ted Greenwi ch and saw i ts ol d shi ps and fam ous cl ock that sets the worl d tim e. What i nterested her m ost was the l ongi tude l i ne. It i s an im aginary li ne di vi di ng the eastern and western hal ves of the worl d and i s very useful for navi gati on. It passes through Greenwich, so Pi ngyu had a photo taken standi ng on either si de of the li ne. The l ast day she visi ted karl Marx’s statue i n Hi ghgate Cem etery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed m uni sm shoul d have li ved and di ed i n London. N ot onl y that, but he had worked i n the famous reading room of the Li brary of the Bri tish Museum. Sadl y the l i brary had m oved from i ts ori gi nal pl ace i nto another buil di ng and the ol d readi ng room was gone. But she was thril l ed by so m any wonderful treasures from di fferent cul tures di spl ayed in the m useum . When she saw m any vi si tors enjoyi ng l ooking at the beauti ful ol d Chi nese pots and other objects on show, she fel t very proud of her country. The next day Pi ngyu was l eavi ng London for Windsor Castl e. “Perhaps I wi l see the Queen?” she wondered as she fel asl ep. Unit 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spac : l i qi ang299AGreatAdventureSpaceStati on. 15/11/3008(Earthti me) Dear Mum and Dad, I stil l canot beli eve that I am taking up thi s pri ze that I won l ast year. I have to rem ind m ysel f constantl y that I am reall y i n AD 3008 . Worri ed about the journey, I was unsettl ed for the fi rst few days. As a resul t, I suffered from “ti m e l ag”. Thi s i s simi l ar to the “jet l ag” you get from fl yi ng, but i t seem s you keep getti ng fl ashbacks from your previ ous tim e period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at fi rst. H owever, my fri end and gui de, Wang Pi ng, was very understandi ng and gave me som e green tabl ets whi ch helped a l ot. Wel lknown for thei r experti se, hi s parents’ pany, cal ed “Future Tours”, transported m e safel y i nto the future i n a ti m e capsul e. I can sti l rem em ber the mom ent when the space stewardess cal ed us al to the capsul e and we cl im bed i n through a sm al openi ng. The seats were fortabl e and after a calmi ng dri nk, we fel t sl eepy and cl osed our eyes. The capsul e began swi ngi ng gentl y si deways as we l ay rel axed and dreami ng. A few mi nutes later, the journey was pl eted and we had ari ved. I was sti l on the earth but one thousand years i n the future. What woul d I fi nd? At fi rst my new surroundings were di ffi cult to tol erate. The ai r seem ed thi n, as though i ts bi nation of gases had l i ttl e oxygen l eft. H i t by a l ack of fresh air, m y head ached. Just as I tri ed to m ake the necesary adjustm ent to thi s new si tuati on, Wang Ping apeared. “Put on thi s m ask, ” he advi sed. “It’l l m ake you feel m uch better.” H e handed i t to m e and imm edi atel y hurri ed m e through to a sm al l room nearby for a rest. I felt beter i n no tim e. Soon I was back on m y feet agai n and fl owi ng him to col ect a hoveri ng carri age dri ven by puter. These carri ages fl oat above the ground and by bending or pressing down i n your seat, you can move swi ftl y. Wang Pi ng fastened m y safety bel t and showed m e how to use i t. Soon I coul d fly as fast as hi m. H owever, I l ost si g