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In 1789 he became the first president of the USA. Americans say about Washington that he

was "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".

Though Washington was sometimes hunted like a fox,

and the American army was soon able to drive the British forces from Boston.

When he arrived in Cambridge, he found an army without military training and set about drilling and training soldiers

he shared the cold and hunger of his ragged troops.

They had decided to make homes for themselves in

the new land across the ocean.

They hoped they would

have a better life there.

In 1620, a group of

people left England for America.

Those early settlers built their first colonies and began to

explore the new country which they called New England.

As their settlements were called "colonies", the people

the "Mayflower", reached the shores of the new land.

After a stormy voyage across the Atlantic, their small ship,

were called "colonists".

Soon more and more European settlers came and more

which was called the War of Independence.

The American colonies grew bigger and bigger, they prospered, but they were for a long time

colonies were formed.

In 1776 the thirteen young American colonies united and began a war against England for freedom and independence,

ruled by England, and all the riches of the new country belonged to England.

The leaders of the new state decided they would form a republic which would have no king but

would have a President, who was to be chosen every four years.

They won the victory and a new nation was born

American nation, and is called Independence Day.

July 4, 1776, is still celebrated as "the birthday" of the

which became the United States of America.

The battle of Hastings (Oct. 14, 1066) is a battle that ended in the defeat of Harold II of

England by William,duke of Normandy, and established the Normans as the rulers of England.

George Washington (1732-1799) who had led the

Americans in the war, became the first President.

He is now called

"The Father of the United States".

Harold's predecessor, the childless Edward the Confessor, had at first probably designated William, a cousin, as his heir but

13 was approaching Hastings with about 7,000 men, many of whom were half-armed, untrained peasants.

On September 27 William crossed to England unopposed, with an army of 4,000 to 7,000 cavalry and infantry, disembarking

at Pevenseyin Sussex and moving eastward along the coastto Hastings.

Harold, learning of his landing on about October 2, hurried southward and by October

on his deathbed (Jan. 5, 1066) granted the kingdom to Harold, earl of Wessex and the most powerful man in the kingdom; Harold was crowned king the next day.

At dawn on October 14 William moved toward Harold's army, which was occupying a

ridge 10 miles (16km) northwest of Hastings.

William disposed his army for attack, archers in

front, infantrymen behind, and the knights in three groups to the rear.

Harold's English army, lacking archers and cavalry, prepared

for defense on the protected summit of the ridge.

William checked its flight and throughout the day launched on the English position a

infantry, wielding two-handed battle-axes, that it fled.

William therefore threw in his cavalry, which was so badly mauled by the English

series of alternate cavalry charges and flights of arrows.

His men, too closely ranged, provided an excellent target for William's archers, who

opened the Norman attack but suffered heavily from English slings and spears.

By two feigned retreats he drew considerable numbers of Englishmen from

brothers fell, and in the late afternoon he himself was killed.

The leaderless English fought on until dusk, then broke; after a last rally they scattered,

leaving William the winner of one of the most daring gambles in history.

Gradually the English were worn down; two of Harold's

their position and then turned and annihilated them.

After the battle his army moved to isolate London,

where William I was crowned king on December 25.

Queen Elizabeth II, in full Elizabeth Alexandra Queen Elizabeth II, in full Elizabeth Alexandra Mary,

officially ElizabethII, by the Graceof God, of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith is the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from February 6, 1952.

Elizabeth was the elder daughter of Albert, duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. As the child of a younger son of King George V, the young Elizabeth had little prospect of acceding to the throne

until her uncle, Edward VIII (afterward duke of Windsor), abdicated in her father's favour on December 11, 1936, at which time her father became King George VI and she became heir presumptive.

During World War II she and her sister, Princess Margaret Rose, perforce spent much of their time safely away from

the London blitz and separated from their parents, living mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, and Windsor Castle.

The princess's education was supervised by hermother, who entrusted her daughters

queen to South Africa.

Early in 1947 Princess Elizabeth went with the king and

to a governess, Marion Crawford; the princess was also grounded in history by C.H.K. Marten, afterward provost of Eton College , and had instruction from visiting teachers in music and languages.

After her return there was an announcement of her betrothal to her distant cousin

place in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947.

The marriage took

Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten of the Royal Navy, formerly PrincePhilip of Greece and Denmark.

On the eve of the wedding her father, the king, conferred upon the bridegroom the titles

of duke of Edinburgh, earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich.

They took residence at

Clarence House in London.

In the summer of 1951 the health of King George VI entered into a serious decline, and

was born November 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace.

Their first child, Prince Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George),

Princess Elizabeth represented him at the Trooping the Colour and on various other state occasions.

During World War II she and her sister, Princess Margaret Rose, perforce spent much of their time safely away from

brothers fell, and in the late afternoon he himself was killed.

Gradually the English were worn down; two of Harold's

the London blitz and separated from their parents, living mostly at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, and Windsor Castle.

On October 7 she and her husband set out on a

highly successful tour of Canada and Washington , D.C.

Elizabeth, now queen,

at once flew back to England.

The first three months of her reign, theperiod of full

mourning for her father, were passed in comparative seclusion.

After Christmas in England she and the duke set out in January 1952 for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, but

en route, at Sagana, Kenya, news reached them of the king's death on February 6, 1952.

Beginning in November 1953 the queen and theduke of Edinburgh made a six-month round-the-world tour of the

June 2, 1953.

Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on

Commonwealth, which included the first visit to Australia and New Zealand by a reigning British monarch.

But in the summer, after she had moved from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace,

she undertook the routine duties of the sovereign and carried out her first state opening of Parliament on November 4, 1952.

In 1961 she made the first royal British tour of the Indian subcontinent in 50 years, and she was also the first reigning

of the Commonwealth, traveled allover Britain and Northern Ireland, and toured overseas in the South Pacific and Australia, in Canada, and in the Caribbean.

During her “Silver Jubilee” in 1977, she presided at a London banquet attended by the leaders of the 36 members

British monarch to visit South America (in 1968) and the Persian Gulf countries (in 1979).

In 1957, after state

visits to various European nations, she and the duke visited Canada and the United States.

On the accession of Queen Elizabeth, her son Prince Charles became heir apparent;

was born on November 15, 1977.

The queen's other children were Princess Anne (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise), born August 15, 1950; Prince Andrew (Andrew Albert Christian Edward), born February 19, 1960, and created duke of York in 1986;

he was named prince of Wales on July 26, 1958, and was so invested on July 1, 1969.

Elizabeth's first grandchild (Princess Anne's son)

and Prince Edward (Edward Anthony Richard Louis), born March 10, 1964. All these children have the surname “of Windsor,” but in 1960 Elizabeth decided to create the hyphenated name Mountbatten-Windsor for other descendants not styled prince or princess and royal highness.

The queen seemed increasingly aware of the modern role of the monarchy, allowing, for example, the televising of the royal

in 1997, popular feeling in Britain turned against the royal family, which was thought to be out of touch with contemporary British life.

However, after the failed marriage of her son and Diana, princess of Wales, and Diana's death

family's domestic life in 1970 and condoning the formal dissolution of her sister's marriage in 1978.

In line with her earlier attempts at modernizing the monarchy, the queen,

after 1997, sought to present a less-stuffy and less-traditional imageof the monarchy.

Her financial and property holdings have made her

informed interest in government business, aside from the traditional and ceremonial duties.

Privately she has become a keen horsewoman; she keeps racehorses, frequently

one of the world's richest women.

She is known to favour simplicity in court life and is also known to take a serious and

attends races, and periodically visits the Kentucky stud farms in the United States.

If you have excess luggage,

it can be expensive.

When travelling by air you have to get to the airport early

where someone will check your ticket and weigh your luggage.

If you have a lot of luggage, you can put it on a trolley and push it to the check-in desk

in order to check in about an hour before your flight.

Your heavy luggage is put

your hand luggage before you go into the departure lounge to wait till your flight is called.

An immigration officer looks at your passport and a security guard checks

on a conveyer belt and carried away.

A light bag is classified as hand luggage and you can

take it with you on the plane.

If you want to, you can

before you actually enter the plane.

You go through the departure gate, then there is sometimes a security check

buy some cheap duty free goods here.

Then you see on the departures board or hear an

announcement that you must board your plane.

I like being in a big airliner with the cabin crew (stewards

and his crew are ready in the cockpit, the plane begins to taxi to the end of the runway.

Finally, permission is received from the control tower

and stewardesses) looking after me.

When all the passengers are on board and when the captain

and the plane moves faster and faster in order to take off.

They walk up and down the aisle bringing meals and drinks;

the headphones available to all passengers, and sometimes I have a sleep.

I enjoy it all so much that

I never want the plane to land.

On a long flight I like listening to music through

and if the flight is going through some turbulence, they warn everybody that it might be a bit bumpy and ask us to fasten our seatbelts.

If, for instance, you are supposed to begin with going through the customs, you’d better fill

in the customs declaration before you talk to the customs officer.

The rules for passengers who are going abroad are similar in most countries: but sometimes

there might be a slight difference in formalities.

An experienced customs officer usually “smells” a smuggler,

but he may ask any passenger routine questions.

Then you go to the check-in counter where your ticket is looked at, your things

are weighed and labeled, a claim-check for each piece of luggage is inserted in the ticket and you are given a boarding pass, which has a seat number on it.

Of course, if your luggage weighs more than 20kgs, you have

to pay extra.

The next formality is filling in the immigration form and

going through passport control.