Welcome to London! Now let me tell you something about this wonderful city. London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is the biggest city in Western Europe with over 7 million people. It sits by the River Thames. London has a history of more than 2,000 years. People all over the world are familiar with the city's red double-decker（双层的）buses and black taxis.

People

    The British Empire used to rule around the world, so many people from around the world moved to London. They have brought with them their own languages and cultures. More than 300 different languages are spoken in London.

Culture

    London is known for its museums. One important museum is British Museum. It is the oldest public museum in the world. There are two main art museums in London: the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. Besides, London is also home to arts, such as theatre and music. The Globe Theatre, which was popular in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, was opened for performances of William Shakespeare's Central London.

Tourist attractions

    London has many wonderful places to visit. For example, the well-known Clock Tower, a 320-foot-high tower, was called the Big Ben. Another famous London building is Buckingham Palace. The members of royal（皇家的）family of England live there. Besides, Hyde Park is the largest open area in central London.

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    Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.

    He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

    In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

    He found a taxi and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.

    "Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."

    John was well known in his village as a mean(吝啬) man. One day, he said to a poor hungry boy, "I will give you three meals and twenty-five pence if you are willing to do a day's work for me." The boy agreed. But in fact, he was more interested in the meals than the money.

    "You can have breakfast," said John, "and then you can start work." After John gave the boy a very small breakfast, he said, "Now you can have your lunch. This will save us a lot of time." The boy agreed and had a poor lunch. Then John said, "What about having dinner now?"

    When the boy finished his dinner, John looked very pleased and said, "Now you can do a long day's work." "Sorry," said the boy as he stood up to leave John's house, "I never work after dinner."

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the emperor of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The emperor wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasure, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new emperor had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

    It was a Christmas night. I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on such a beautiful festival. When I was complaining(抱怨)about it, three people appeared at my desk — a tired woman and two children.

     "Are you all sick?" I asked doubtfully because they seemed all right.

    "Yes," the woman answered weakly and lowered her head.

    But when they started to present their problems, things became unclear. One child had a fever, but his temperature was OK. The other child had an earache, but she could not tell me which ear hurt. It seemed that the mother was pretending(假装)to cough.

    Something was wrong. But I only explained that it might take a while before a doctor could meet them. "Take your time, please," said the mother. I checked their charts — no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless while the hospital was warm.

    The family huddled(蜷缩)together under the Christmas tree, smiling and talking with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to the nurses' station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses' station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for "a Christmas emergency(急诊)".

    We took out our meals for our Christmas "patients". We also put together oranges and apples as presents. We tried to exceed the needs of a family who only wanted a warm place on Christmas night. Later, the little girl kissed me and said, "Thanks for being our angel(天使)."