【正文】 of the N orth of England, and the fourth, the N orm ans, l eft castles and introduced new words for food. If you l ok around the Bri tish countrysi de you wi l find evidence of al l these i nvaders. You must keep your eyes open i f you are goi ng to make your trip to the Uni ted Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhi l e. SIGH TSEEING IN LONDON Worried about the ti me avai lable, Zhang Pi ngyu had made a li st of the si tes she wanted to see i n London. H er first deli ght was going to the Tower. It was bui lt l ong ago by the Norman i nvaders of AD 1066. Fancy! Thi s soli d stone, square tower had remai ned standi ng for one thousand years. Although the bui ldi ngs had expanded around it, it rem ai ned part of a royal palace and pri son bined. To her great surpri se, Zhang Pingyu found the Quen’s jewel s guarded by special royal sol diers who, on special occasi ons, stil l wore the fourhundredyearol d uniform of the tim e of Quen Eli zabeth I. There fol l owed St Paul ’s Cathedral bui lt after the terri ble fire of London i n 1666. It l oked spl endid when first buil t! Westmi nster Abbey, too, was very interesti ng. It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she cam e out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ri ngi ng out the hour. She fi ni shed the day by looking at the outsi de of Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s house i n London. O h, she had so m ush to tel her friends! The second day the gi rl vi sited Greenwi ch and saw i ts old shi ps and famous cl ock that sets the world ti me. What interested her most was the l ongi tude li ne. It is an imagi nary line dividi ng the eastern and western hal ves of the worl d and i s very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwi ch, so Pi ngyu had a photo taken standi ng on ei ther side of the li ne. The last day she visited karl Marx’s statue i n Hi ghgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the m an who had developed munism shoul d have l ived and di ed i n London. N ot only that, but he had worked in the fam ous readi ng room of the Library of the Bri ti sh Museum. Sadl y the l ibrary had m oved from its ori ginal place i nto another bui lding and the old readi ng room was gone. But she was thri l ed by so many wonderful treasures from different cul tures di splayed i n the museum. When she saw many visi tors enjoying l ooki ng at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, she fel t very proud of her country. The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. “Perhaps I wil l see the Queen?” she wondered as she fel l asl eep. Uni t 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spacemai l: li 15/1/3008(Earthtime) Dear Mum and Dad, I sti l cannot believe that I am taki ng up this pri ze that I won last year. I have to remi nd myself constantl y that I am really in AD 3008 . Wori ed about the journey, I was unsettled for the fi rst few days. As a result, I suffered from “time lag”. This is si mil ar to the “jet lag” you get from fl ying, but i t seems you keep getting fl ashbacks from your previous ti me period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at first. However, my fri end and gui de, Wang Pi ng, was very understandi ng and gave me some green tablets whi ch helped a l ot. Wel known for thei r experti se, hi s parents’ pany, cal ed “Future Tours”, transported me safely into the future in a tim e capsul e. I can stil l rem em ber the mom ent when the space stewardess cal ed us al l to the capsul e and we cli mbed i n through a smal l openi ng. The seats were fortable and after a calmi ng drink, we fel t sleepy and closed our eyes. The capsul e began swi ngi ng gently si deways as we l ay relaxed and dreaming. A few mi nutes l ater, the journey was pleted and we had arrived. I was sti l on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What woul d I find? At first m y new surroundi ngs were diffi cul t to tolerate. The air seem ed thin, as though its bination of gases had littl e oxygen left. Hit by a l ack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustm ent to this new situation, Wang Pi ng appeared. “Put on this mask, ” he advi sed. “It’l l make you feel m uch better.” He handed i t to m e and i mmedi atel y hurri ed m e through to a smal room nearby for a rest. I fel t better in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and flowi ng him to col ect a hovering carriage driven by puter. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swi ftl y. Wang Pi ng fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use i t. Soon I could fl y as fast as hi m. However, I l ost si ght of Wang Ping when we reached what looked l ike a large market because of too many carriages flyi ng by i n al l di recti ons. H e was swept up into the centre of them . Just at that moment I had a “tim e lag” fl ashback and saw the area again as it had ben in the year AD 2020. I realized that I had been transported i nto the future of what was stil l my hom etown! Then I caught si ght of Wang Ping agai n and fl ew after him . Arri ving at a strangel ooki ng house, he showed me into a large, bri ght clean room. It had a green wal , a brown fl or and soft li ghti ng. Suddenl y the wal m oved –it was made of trees! I found later that their l eaves provi ded the room wi th m uchneeded oxygen. Then Wang Pi ng flashed a switch on a puter screen, and a table and some chai rs rose from under the floor as i f by magic. “Why not si t down and eat a l ittle?” he sai d. “You m ay find thi s di fi cul t as i t i s your first tim e travel trip. Just relax, since there i s nothing pl aned on the tim etabl e today. Tom orrow you’l l be ready for some vi sits.” H avi ng said thi s, he spread som e food on the tabl e, and produced a bed from the fl oor. After he left, I had a bri ef meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I sli d i nto bed and fel