1、these cities are not as large as those in China, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two! It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the R
2、omans. There you will find out more about British history and culture. The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It is the centre of national government and its administration. It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the
3、 first century AD, the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 106os and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066. There have been four sets of invaders of England. The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Anglo-Saxon, left their langua
4、ge and their government. The third, the Vikings, influenced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England, and the fourth, the Normans, left castles and introduced new words for food. If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders. You must keep your
5、 eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile. SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON Worried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman i
6、nvaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This solid stone, square tower had remained standing for one thousand years. Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined. To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queens jewels guarded by special royal soldiers
7、 who, on special occasions, still wore the four-hundred-year-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I. There followed St Pauls Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666. It looked splendid when first built! Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting. It contained statues in mem
8、ory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour. She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queens house in London. Oh, she had so mush to tell her frie
9、nds! The second day the girl visited Greenwich and saw its old ships and famous clock that sets the world time. What interested her most was the longitude line. It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwich
10、, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on either side of the line. The last day she visited karl Marxs statue in Highgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London. Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Libr
11、ary of the British Museum. Sadly the library had moved from its original place into another building and the old reading room was gone. But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum. When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful ol
12、d Chinese pots and other objects on show, she felt very proud of her country. The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. “Perhaps I will see the Queen?” she wondered as she fell asleep. Unit 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spacemail: liqiang299AGreatAdventureSpaceS 15/11/3008(Earthtime) Dear Mum
13、 and Dad, I still cannot believe that I am taking up this prize that I won last year. I have to remind myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008 . Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days. As a result, I suffered from “time lag”. This is similar to the “jet lag” you get
14、from flying, but it seems you keep getting flashbacks from your previous time period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at first. However, my friend and guide, Wang Ping, was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot. Well-known for their expertise, his parents company,
15、called “Future Tours”, transported me safely into the future in a time capsule. I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening. The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink, we felt sleepy and closed our eyes.
16、The capsule began swinging gently sideways as we lay relaxed and dreaming. A few minutes later, the journey was completed and we had arrived. I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What would I find? At first my new surroundings were difficult to tolerate. The air seemed thin
17、, as though its combination of gases had little oxygen left. Hit by a lack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared. “Put on this mask,” he advised. “Itll make you feel much better.” He handed it to me and immediately hur
18、ried me through to a small room nearby for a rest. I felt better in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and flowing him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swiftly. Wang Ping fasten
19、ed my safety belt and showed me how to use it. Soon I could fly as fast as him. However, I lost sight of Wang Ping when we reached what looked like a large market because of too many carriages flying by in all directions. He was swept up into the centre of them. Just at that moment I had a “time lag
20、” flashback and saw the area again as it had been in the year AD 2008. I realized that I had been transported into the future of what was still my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Ping again and flew after him. Arriving at a strange-looking house, he showed me into a large, bright clean room. I
21、t had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting. Suddenly the wall moved it was made of trees! I found later that their leaves provided the room with much-needed oxygen. Then Wang Ping flashed a switch on a computer screen, and a table and some chairs rose from under the floor as if by magic. “W
22、hy not sit down and eat a little?” he said. “You may find this difficult as it is your first time travel trip. Just relax, since there is nothing planned on the timetable today. Tomorrow youll be ready for some visits.” Having said this, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the
23、floor. After he left, I had a brief meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I slid into bed and fell fast asleep. More news later from your loving son, Li Qing I HAVE SEEN AMAZING THINGS My first visit was to a space station considered the most modern in space. Described as an enormous round plate, it spins
24、 slowly in space to imitate the pull of the earths gravity. Inside was an exhibition of the most up-to-date inventions of the 31st century. A guide(G) showed us around along a moveable path. G: Good morning to all our visitors from 2008. First were going to examine one of the latest forms of communi
25、cation among our space citizens. No more typists working on a typewriter or computer! No more postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent using a “thoughtpad”. You place the metal band over your head, clear your mind, press the sending button, think your message and the next instant its sent. Its
26、 stored on the “thoughtpad” of the receiver. Its quick, efficient and environmentally friendly. The only limitation is if the user does not think his or her message clearly, an unclear message may be sent. But we cannot blame the tools for the faults of the user, can we? During the explanation I loo
27、ked at the pair of small objects called “thoughjtpads” on a table. They just looked like metal ribbons. So ordinary but so powerful! While I was observing them, the path moved us on. G: And now ladies and gentlemen, we are in the “environment area”. People used to collect waste in dustbins. Then the
28、 rubbish was sent to be buried or burned, am I right?(We nodded.) Well, now theres a system where the waste is disposed of using the principles of ecology. A giant machine, always greedy for more, swallows all the waste available. The rubbish is turned into several grades of useful material, such as
29、 “fertilizer” for the fields and “soul” for deserts. Nothing is wasted, and everything, even plastic bags, is recycled. A great idea, isnt it? I stared at the moving model of the waste machine, absorbed by its efficiency. But again we moved on. G: Our thirdthese cities are not as large as those in C
30、hina, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two! It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans. There you will find out more about B
31、ritish history and culture. The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It is the centre of national government and its administration. It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD, the oldest building begu
32、n by the Anglo-Saxons in the 106os and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066. There have been four sets of invaders of England. The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Anglo-Saxon, left their language and their government. The third, the Vik
33、ings, influenced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England, and the fourth, the Normans, left castles and introduced new words for food. If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your tr
34、ip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile. SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON Worried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman invaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This solid stone
35、, square tower had remained standing for one thousand years. Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined. To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queens jewels guarded by special royal soldiers who, on special occasions, still wore the
36、four-hundred-year-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I. There followed St Pauls Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666. It looked splendid when first built! Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting. It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shak
37、espeare. Then just as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour. She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queens house in London. Oh, she had so mush to tell her friends! The second day the girl visited Greenw
38、ich and saw its old ships and famous clock that sets the world time. What interested her most was the longitude line. It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on e
39、ither side of the line. The last day she visited karl Marxs statue in Highgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London. Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Library of the British Museum. Sadly the librar
40、y had moved from its original place into another building and the old reading room was gone. But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum. When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, s
41、he felt very proud of her country. The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. “Perhaps I will see the Queen?” she wondered as she fell asleep. Unit 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spacemail: liqiang299AGreatAdventureSpaceS 15/11/3008(Earthtime) Dear Mum and Dad, I still cannot believe that I am
42、taking up this prize that I won last year. I have to remind myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008 . Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days. As a result, I suffered from “time lag”. This is similar to the “jet lag” you get from flying, but it seems you keep getting
43、flashbacks from your previous time period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at first. However, my friend and guide, Wang Ping, was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot. Well-known for their expertise, his parents company, called “Future Tours”, transported me safel
44、y into the future in a time capsule. I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening. The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink, we felt sleepy and closed our eyes. The capsule began swinging gently sideways
45、as we lay relaxed and dreaming. A few minutes later, the journey was completed and we had arrived. I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What would I find? At first my new surroundings were difficult to tolerate. The air seemed thin, as though its combination of gases had li
46、ttle oxygen left. Hit by a lack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared. “Put on this mask,” he advised. “Itll make you feel much better.” He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for
47、a rest. I felt better in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and flowing him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swiftly. Wang Ping fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use
48、it. Soon I could fly as fast as him. However, I lost sight of Wang Ping when we reached what looked like a large market because of too many carriages flying by in all directions. He was swept up into the centre of them. Just at that moment I had a “time lag” flashback and saw the area again as it ha
49、d been in the year AD 2008. I realized that I had been transported into the future of what was still my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Ping again and flew after him. Arriving at a strange-looking house, he showed me into a large, bright clean room. It had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting. Suddenly the wall moved it was made of trees! I found later that their leaves provided the room with much-needed oxygen. Then Wang Ping flashed a switch on a compute
