government.然而，爱尔兰的南部却不愿意而分离出去了，并建立了自己的政府。So only Northern Ireland joined with England, Wales and Scotland to become the United Kingdom and this was shown to the world in a new flag called the Union Jack.因此只有北爱尔兰同英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰联合起来，而组成了联合王国，这一点从新的联合王国国旗上就可以看得出来。
To their credit the four countries do work together in some areas (eg, the currency and international relations), but they still have very different institutions.值得赞扬的是，虽然这四个国家的确在一些方面共同合作，例如在货币和国际关系方面；但是它们在制度上仍然存在很大的区别。For example, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland have different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup!例如，北爱尔兰、英格兰和苏格兰在教育体制和立法体制上都存在着差异。在参加像世界杯之类的比赛时，它们有着各自的足球队。
England is the largest of the four countries, and for convenience it is divided roughly into three zones.在这四个国家中，英格兰是最大的。为了方便起见，它大致可以划分为三个地区。The zone nearest France is called the South of England, the middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known as the North.最靠近法国的那个地区叫做英格兰南部，中部地区叫做英格兰中部，最靠近苏格兰的那个地区叫做英格兰北部。You find most of the population settled in the south, but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England.你可以看到英国的大部分人口聚居在南部，而多数大工业城市都位于中部和北部。Although, nationwide, these cities are not as large as those in China, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two!尽管，英国任何一个城市都不像中国的城市那样大，但是他们都有着自己的享有威名的足球队，有的城市甚至还有两个队。It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors.很遗憾，这些建于19世纪的工业城市对游客并没有吸引力。For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans.要找历史性建筑你得去更古老的、比较小些的由古罗马人建造的城镇。There you will find out more about British history and culture.在那儿你才可能找到更多的有关英国历史和文化的东西。
The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings.最具历史意义的宝地是伦敦。那儿有博物馆，有艺术珍品、剧院、公园和各种建筑物。It is the centre of national government and its administration.它是全国的政治中心。It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD, the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 1060s
and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066.它有公元一世纪由罗马人建造的最古老的港口，有由盎格鲁——撒克逊人始建于11世纪60年代的最古老的建筑，还有公元1066年由后来的诺曼人统治者建造的最古老的城堡。There have been four sets of invaders of England.曾经有四批侵略者到过英国。The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads.最早的入侵者是古罗马人，他们留下了他们的城镇和道路。The second, the Anglo-Saxons, left their language and their government.接着是盎格鲁——撒克逊人，留下了他们的语言和政体。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.第三是斯堪的纳维亚人，他们对词汇和北部的地名造成了一定影响；第四是诺曼人，他们留下了城堡和新的食物名称的词语。If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders.如果你到英国乡间去看看，你就会找到所有这些入侵者的痕迹。You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile. 如果想使你的英国之旅不虚此行又有意义，你就必须留心观察。
4.必修五Unit 2 SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON伦敦观光记
Worried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London.由于担心时间不够，张萍玉早就把她想要在伦敦参观的地点列了一张单子。Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman invaders of AD 1066.她最先想参观的地方是伦敦塔，它是很久以前由入侵的诺曼人在公元1066年修建的。Fancy!This solid stone, square tower had remained standing for one thousand years. 真是太棒了！这个坚实的用石头砌的方形塔已经在那儿屹立一千年了。Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined.尽管在塔的四周扩建了一些建筑，但它仍然是皇宫和监狱联合体的一个组成部分。To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queen's jewels guarded by special royal soldiers who, on special occasions, still wore the four-hundred-year-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I.让张萍玉很惊讶的是，她发现女王的珠宝由皇家的特别卫士守护着，而这些卫士在一些特殊的日子仍然穿着400年前伊丽莎白一世女王时代的制服。
There followed St Paul's Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666.接着参观的是圣·保罗大教堂，它是公元1666年伦敦大火以后建造的，It looked splendid when first built!刚建成的时候，它看起来真是金碧辉煌。Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting.伦敦威斯敏斯特大教堂也是很有意思的地方，It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare.里面珍藏着一些
已故诗人和作家的雕像，例如莎士比亚的雕像。Then just as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour.正当萍玉从大教堂往外走的时候，她听到了著名的大本钟在整点敲响的钟声。She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queen's house in London.她参观了女王伦敦住所白金汉宫的外景，以此结束了一天的观光。Oh, she had so much to tell her friends!啊，她要同朋友们讲的实在太多了！
The second day the girl visited Greenwich and saw its old ships and famous clock that sets the world time.第二天，萍玉姑娘参观了格林尼治天文台，看到了古老的轮船和那座著名的为世界定时的时钟。What interested her most was the longitude line.她最感兴趣的是那条通过天文台的经线。It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation.这是一条假想的线，它把世界分成东西两半球，从而有利于航海。It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on either side of the line.这条线穿过格林尼治，萍玉就跨着这条线拍了一张照片。
The last day she visited Karl Marx's statue in Highgate Cemetery.最后一天，她参观了伦敦海洛特公墓里的卡尔·马克思的雕像。It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London.这似乎是一件怪事：这位发展了共产主义的人竟然在伦敦生活过，并且在伦敦去世。Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Library of the British Museum.不仅如此，他还在大英博物馆著名的图书阅览室里工作过。Sadly the library had moved from its original place into another building and the old reading room was gone.遗憾的是，这个图书馆已经从原来的地方搬到另一座大楼里去了，而原来的阅览室也没有了。But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum.但是她感到最为震惊的却是博物馆里展出的那么多来自不同文化的奇妙宝物。When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, she felt very proud of her country.当萍玉看到那么多参观者用欣赏的目光注视着古老漂亮的中国陶瓷和其他展品时，心里充满了对祖国的自豪感。 The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle.再过一天，萍玉就要离开伦敦去温莎城堡了。\I will see the Queen?\she wondered as she fell asleep.她边睡觉边想：“也许我能见到女王呢？”
5.必修五Unit 3 FIRST IMPRESSIONS第一印象
Spacemall: liqiang299A@GreatAdventureSpaceStation.com 太空邮件：liqiang299A@GreatAdventureSpaceSation.com
15/11/3008 (Earthtime)(地球时间)
Dear Mum and Dad, I still cannot believe that I am taking up this prize that I won last year.亲爱的爸爸妈妈：我现在仍然无法相信我是在接受去年获得的这个奖励。I have to remind myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008.我得不断提醒自己，我真的已经进入到公元3008年了。Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days. As a result, I suffered from “Time lag”.因为担心这次旅行，头几天我心里总是不踏实，结果我得了时间滞后症。This is similar to the “jet lag” you get from flying, but it seems you keep getting flashbacks from your previous time period.这就与你乘坐飞机会产生时差反应相似，所不同的是，在你的脑子里似乎会不断闪现以前的时光。So I was very nervous and uncertain at first.因此，我一开始就感到神经过敏和心神不定。However, my friend and guide, Wang Ping, was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot.但是我的朋友兼导游王平很细心体贴，给了我几粒绿色药片，倒是挺起作用的。Well-known for their expertise, his parents' company, called \capsule.他父母的公司叫做“未来之旅”，以其技术高超而闻名。他们把我装在一个时间舱里，平安地把我送入了未来。
I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening.我仍旧记得我们被太空服务员一起叫到时间舱，爬上去进入一个小门。The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink, we felt sleepy and closed our eyes.座位是很舒适的，喝了点镇静剂后，我们的眼睛就闭上了，感到昏昏欲睡似的。The capsule began swinging gently sideways as we lay relaxed and dreaming.时间舱在轻轻左右摇晃，我们放松地躺在那里做梦。A few minutes later, the journey was completed and we had arrived.几分钟以后，旅程结束，我们就到了。I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What would I find?我仍然在地球上，但是进入到了未来的一千年。我们会看到什么呢？
At first my new surroundings were difficult to tolerate.一开始新的环境让我很难忍受。The air seemed thin, as though its combination of gases had little oxygen left.空气似乎很稀薄，好像在混合的气体中剩下的氧气很少。Hit by a lack of fresh air, my head ached.由于缺乏新鲜空气，我感到头痛。Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared.正当我想努力调整适应新环境时，王平出现了。\on this mask,\he advised. \make you feel much better.\他告诉我，“把这个面罩戴上。它会使你感觉好得多。” He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a rest.他把面罩递给我，敦促我马上走进附近的一个小房间，叫我休息。I felt better in no time.我立刻就感到舒服些了。