【正文】 fast asleep. More news later from your l ovi ng son, Li Qing I HAVE SEEN AMAZING THINGS My first vi si t was to a space stati on consi dered the most modern i n space. Described as an enormous round plate, it spi ns slowl y in space to im itate the pul of the earth’s gravity. Insi de was an exhibi ti on of the m ost uptodate inventi ons of the 31st century. A gui de(G) showed us around along a m oveabl e path. G: Good morning to al our visi tors from 2020. First we’re goi ng to exami ne one of the latest forms of munication among our space citizens. No more typi sts working on a typewri ter or puter! No more postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent using a “thoughtpad”. You pl ace the metal band over your head, cl ear your mind, press the sending button, thi nk your message and the next i nstant it’s sent. It’s stored on the “thoughtpad” of the recei ver. It’s qui ck, effici ent and environmental ly fri endl y. The only li mitation is i f the user does not think his or her message clearly, an unclear m esage m ay be sent. But we cannot blame the tools for the faul ts of the user, can we? During the expl anati on I l ooked at the pair of smal objects cal led “thoughjtpads” on a table. They just l ooked li ke metal ribbons. So ordinary but so powerful! Whil e I was observing them , the path moved us on. G: And now ladi es and gentlemen, we are in the “environment area”. People used to col ect waste in dustbins. Then the rubbi sh was sent to be buri ed or burned, am I ri ght?(We nodded.) Wel , now there’s a system where the waste is disposed of using the pri nciples of ecol ogy. A gi ant machine, always greedy for more, swal ows al the waste avail able. The rubbi sh is turned i nto several grades of useful material, such as “fertil izer” for the fiel ds and “soul ” for deserts. N othing is wasted, and everythi ng, even pl asti c bags, i s recycl ed. A great i dea, i sn’t it? I stared at the moving model of the waste machi ne, absorbed by i ts effi ciency. But agai n we moved on. G: Our thi rd stop shows the changes that have happened to work practices. Manufacturing no longer takes place on the earth but on space stati ons li ke this one. A group of engi neers programmer robots to perform tasks in space. The robots produce goods such as drugs, cl othes, furni ture, hoveri ng carri ages, etc. There is no waste, no pol luti on and no environmental dam age! However, the panies have to train thei r representatives to l ive and work in space settlements. They have to m oni tor the robots and the production. When the goods are ready they’re transported by i ndustrial spaceshi p back to earth. My m ind began to wander. What job would I do? My m oti vati on increased as I thought of the wonderful worl d of the future. Uni t 4 MY FIRST WORK ASSIGNMENT “unfettabl e”, says new journal i st N ever wi l l Zhou Yang (ZY) fet hi s fi rst assi gnm ent at the offi ce of a popul ar Engl i sh newspaper. H i s di scussi on wi th hi s new boss, H u Xi n (H X), was to 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 realy in AD 3008 . Wori