【導(dǎo)讀】partofIrelandwasunwillingandbrokeawaytoformitsowngovernment.SoonlyNorthernIrelandjoinedwithEngland,WalesandScotlandtobeetheUnitedKingdomandthiswasshowntotheworldinanewflagcalledtheUnionJack.Totheircreditthefourcountriesdoworktogetherinsomeareas(eg,thecurrencyandinternationalrelations),buttheystillhaveverydiferentinstitutions.Forexample,NorthernIreland,EnglandandScotlandhavedifferenteducationalandl

　　

【正文】 your seat, you can m ove swi ftl y. Wang Pi ng fastened m y safety belt and showed m e how to use i t. Soon I coul d fl y as fast as him . H owever, I lost si ght of Wang Pi ng when we reached what l ooked l i ke a l arge m arket because of too m any carri ages fl yi ng by i n al di recti ons. H e was swept up i nto the centre of them . Just at that m oment I had a “ti m e lag” fl ashback and saw the area agai n as i t had been i n the year AD 2020. I reali zed that I had been transported i nto the future of what was stil l my hom etown! Then I caught si ght of Wang Pi ng agai n and fl ew after hi m. Ari vi ng at a strangel ooki ng house, he showed m e i nto a l arge, bri ght cl ean room. It had a green wal , a brown fl oor and soft li ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal m oved –i t was m ade of trees! I found later that thei r l eaves provi ded the room with muchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Ping fl ashed a swi tch on a puter screen, and a tabl e and some chai rs rose from under the fl or as if by magic. “Why not sit down and eat a little?” he sai d. “You may fi nd this di fficult as it i s your fi rst ti me travel tri p. Just rel ax, si nce there is nothing planned on the ti metable today. Tomorrow you’l be ready for som e visi ts. ” Having sai d this, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the floor. After he l eft, I had a brief meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I sl id into bed and fel fast asl eep. More news l ater from your loving son, Lipart of Irel and was unwil li ng and broke away to form its own government. So onl y N orthern Irel and joi ned wi th Engl and, Wal es and Scotland to be e the Uni ted Kingdom and thi s was shown to the worl d i n a new fl ag cal l ed the Uni on Jack. To thei r credi t the four countri es do work together i n som e areas(eg, the currency and i nternational rel ati ons), but they stil l have very di fferent i nsti tuti ons. For exam pl e, N orthern Irel and, Engl and and Scotl and have di ferent educati onal and l egal system s as wel l as different footbal teams for peti ti ons li ke the Worl d Cup! Engl and i s the l argest of the four countri es, and for conveni ence i t i s di vi ded roughl y i nto three zones. The zone nearest France i s cal ed the South of Engl and, the m i ddl e zone i s cal ed the Mi dl ands and the one nearest to Scotl and i s known as the N orth. You fi nd m ost of the populati on settl ed in the south, but m ost of the i ndustri al ci ti es i n the Mi dl ands and the N orth of Engl and. Al though, nati onwi de, these citi es are not as large as those i n Chi na, they have worl dfam ous footbal team s and som e of them even have two! It i s a pi ty that the i ndustrial citi es bui l t in the ni eenth century do not attract vi si tors. For hi stori cal archi tecture you have to go to ol der but sm al l er towns bui lt by the Romans. There you wil l find out m ore about Bri tish hi story and cul ture. The greatest histori cal treasure of al i s London wi th i ts m useums, 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 stration. It has the ol dest port buil t by the Rom ans i n the first century AD, the ol dest buil di ng begun by the Angl oSaxons i n the 106os and the ol dest castl e constructed by l ater N orm an rul ers i n 1066. There have been four sets of invaders of England. The fi rst i nvaders, the Rom ans, l eft thei r towns and roads. The second, the Angl oSaxon, l eft thei r language and their governm ent. The third, the Vi ki ngs, i nfl uenced the vocabul ary and pl acenam es of the N orth of Engl and, and the fourth, the N orm ans, l eft castl es and i ntroduced new words for food. If you l ook around the Bri tish countrysi de you wi l fi nd evi dence of al these i nvaders. You m ust kep your eyes open i f you are goi ng to m ake your tri p to the Uni ted Ki ngdom enjoyabl e and worthwhi l e. SIGH TSEEING IN LONDON Worri ed about the tim e avail abl e, Zhang Pi ngyu had m ade a l i st of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her fi rst del i ght was goi ng to the Tower. It was buil t l ong ago by the N orm an i nvaders of AD 1066. Fancy! Thi s sol i d stone, square tower had rem ained standi ng for one thousand years. Al though the buil di ngs had expanded around i t, i t remai ned part of a royal pal ace and prison bi ned. To her great surpri se, Zhang Pi ngyu found the Queen’s jewel s guarded by speci al royal sol di ers who, on speci al occasi ons, sti l wore the fourhundredyearol d uni form of the ti me of Queen El i zabeth I. There fol owed St Paul’s Cathedral bui lt after the terri bl e fire 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 contai ned statues i n m emory 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 clock, Bi g Ben, ri ngi ng out the hour. She fi ni shed the day by l oki ng at the outsi de of Bucki ngham Pal ace, the Queen’s house i n London. O h, she had so m ush to tel l her fri ends! The second day the gi rl vi sited Grenwi ch and saw i ts ol d shi ps and famous 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 agi nary li ne di vi di ng the eastern and western halves of the worl d and i s very useful for navi gati on. It passes through Greenwi ch, so Pi ngyu had a photo taken standi ng on ei ther si de of the l i ne. The l ast day she vi si ted karl Marx’s statue i n H ighgate Cemetery. It seem ed strange that the m an who had devel oped 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 fam ous readi ng room of the Li brary of the Bri ti sh Museum . Sadly the l i brary had m oved from i ts ori gi nal place i nto another bui ldi ng and the ol d readi ng room was gone. But she