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

　　

【正文】 that I had been transported i nto the future of what was sti l m y hom etown! Then I caught sight of Wang Ping agai n and flew after hi m. Arri vi ng at a strangel ooking house, he showed me i nto a l arge, bri ght clean rom . It had a green wal l, a brown floor and soft li ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal l m oved –i t was made of trees! I found l ater that their l eaves provi ded the room with muchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Ping fl ashed a swi tch on a puter screen, and a table and som e chairs rose from under the floor as i f by m agic. “Why not sit down and eat a little?” he sai d. “You may find this difficul t as i t is your first ti me travel tri p. Just relax, since there is nothing planned on the ti metabl e today. Tomorrow you’l be ready for some visits. ” Having sai d thi s, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the floor. After he left, I had a bri ef meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I slid into bed and fel fast asleep. More news later from your lovi ng son, Lipart of Irel and was unwil li ng and broke away to form i ts own governm ent. So onl y Northern Irel and joi ned wi th England, Wal es and Scotland to be e the Uni ted Ki ngdom and this was shown to the worl d i n a new flag cal led the Uni on Jack. To thei r credi t the four countri es do work together in som e areas(eg, the curency and international rel ati ons), but they sti l have very di ferent insti tuti ons. For exam pl e, N orthern Irel and, England and Scotl and have di ferent educational and l egal systems as wel l as di ferent fotbal teams for petiti ons li ke the Worl d Cup! Engl and i s the l argest of the four countri es, and for convenience i t is di vi ded roughl y i nto three zones. The zone nearest France is cal led the South of England, the mi 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 find most of the popul ati on settl ed i n the south, but most of the industri al ci ti es in the Mi dl ands and the N orth of England. Although, nati onwi de, these ci ti es are not as large as those i n Chi na, they have worl dfamous fotbal teams and som e of them even have two! It i s a pi ty that the i ndustrial ci ti es buil t i n the ni eenth century do not atract vi si tors. For hi stori cal architecture you have to go to older but sm al l er towns bui lt by the Romans. There you wi l fi nd out more about Bri ti sh hi story and culture. The greatest hi stori cal treasure of al is London with its museum s, art col ections, theatres, parks and buil di ngs. It i s the centre of nati onal governm ent and its admi ni strati on. It has the oldest port buil t by the Rom ans i n the fi rst century AD, the ol dest bui lding begun by the AngloSaxons i n the 106os and the oldest castl e constructed by l ater Norman rul ers in 1066. There have ben four sets of i nvaders of England. The fi rst i nvaders, the Romans, l eft their towns and roads. The second, the AngloSaxon, l eft their l anguage and their government. The thi rd, the Vi ki ngs, i nfl uenced the vocabul ary and pl acenam es of the N orth of England, and the fourth, the N ormans, left castl es and i ntroduced new words for food. If you l ook around the British countrysi de you wil l fi nd evi dence of al these invaders. You m ust kep your eyes open i f you are goi ng to m ake your tri p to the United Ki ngdom enjoyabl e and worthwhi le. SIGH TSEEING IN LONDON Worri ed about the time avai labl e, Zhang Pi ngyu had m ade a li 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 bui lt l ong ago by the N orman i nvaders of AD 106. Fancy! Thi s sol id stone, square tower had remained standi ng for one thousand years. Al though the bui l di ngs had expanded around i t, i t remained part of a royal pal ace and pri son bi ned. To her great surpri se, Zhang Pingyu found the Queen’s jewels guarded by speci al royal sol di ers who, on special occasi ons, sti l wore the fourhundredyearold uniform of the tim e of Queen Eli zabeth I. There fol lowed St Paul’s Cathedral bui lt after the terri bl e fi re of London i n 1666. It l oked splendi d when fi rst bui lt! Westm inster Abbey, to, was very i nteresti ng. It contai ned statues i n m emory of dead poets and writers, 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 l oki ng at the outsi de of Bucki ngham Palace, the Quen’s house in London. O h, she had so mush to tel l her fri ends! The second day the gi rl vi si ted Greenwich and saw i ts old ships and fam ous clock that sets the world time. What i nterested her most was the l ongitude l i ne. It i s an im agi nary l i ne divi di ng the eastern and western hal ves of the worl d and is very useful for navigati on. It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standi ng on either si de of the l ine. The l ast day she visited karl Marx’s statue i n H ighgate Cem etery. It seem ed strange that the man who had devel oped muni sm should have l ived and di ed i n London. N ot onl y that, but he had worked in the famous readi ng room of the Li brary of the Bri ti sh Museum. Sadl y the li brary had m oved from i ts ori gi nal place into another buil ding and the ol d readi ng room was gone. But she was thri l ed by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures di spl ayed i n the m useum . When she saw many visitors enjoyi ng l ooki ng 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 Pingyu was l eavi ng London for Wi ndsor Castl e. “Perhaps I wil see the Queen?” she wondered as she fel l asl ep. Uni t 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spacem ail : li qi ang299A@GreatAdventureSpaceStati 15/11/3008(Earthtime) Dear Mum and Dad, I sti l canot beli eve that I am taking up thi s prize that I won l ast