Today there are policemen everywhere，but in 1700，London had no policemen at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night and they were not paid.

    About 300 years ago, London, was starting to get bigger and more and more people began to live there. The city was very dirty and many people were poor. There were so many thieves who stole money in the streets. So people stayed in their homes as much as possible.

    In 1750, Henry Fielding started to pay a group of people to stop thieves. They were like policemen and were called " Bow Street Runners" because they worked near Bow Street.

    Fifty years later, there were 120" Bow Street Runners" ,but London had become very big and needed more policemen. So, in 1829, the first Metropolitan Police Force (警察部队) was started with 3,000 officers. Most of the men worked on foot, but a few rode horses. Until 1920, all the police in London were men.

    Today, London police are quite well paid and for the few police officers who still ride horses, the pay is even better than that for the others.

    Many years ago, a young man travelled all the way from Italy to China. He1a window to the East for westers. His name is Marco Polo, and it is 750 years since he was born.

    Marco Polo lived in Venice, a rich2in Italy. His father and uncle were merchants. They had travelled to the East, so when Marco was young, he enjoyed hearing3about the places they had visited. When he was 17, he left4China. After four years, Marco met Khan  (忽必烈可汗) who gave him a job. Marco worked for him for 17 years. He visited most places of China. He learnt lots of5things about Chinese life. He aslo got rich.

    When he returned home, he6about his trip in a book.

A.     B.    C.

D.    E.    F.

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    A friend of mine was fond of drawing horses. He drew the horses very well, but he always began at the tail. Now it is the western rule to begin at the head of the horse. That is why I was surprised. It struck me that it could not really make any difference whether the artist begins at the head or the tail or the belly(肚子) or the foot of the horse, if he really knows his business. And most great artists who really know their business do not follow other people's rules. They make their own rules. Every one of them does his work in a way peculiar( 奇特的) to himself; and the peculiarity means that only he finds it more easy to work in that way.

    Now the very same thing is true to literature(文学). And the question," How shall I begin?" only means that you want to begin at the head instead of beginning at the tail or somewhere else. That is, you are not yet experienced(有经验的) enough to trust to your own powers. When you become more experienced you will never ask the question, and I think that you will often begin at the tail- that is to say, you will write the end of the story before you have even thought of the beginning.

He has lunch at home, ?

    We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.

    It stood outside a furniture shop. "Buy it," she said at once. "We'll carry it home on the roof-rack(车顶架). I've always wanted one like that."

    What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied onto the roof-rock. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy, too.

    As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.

    After a time my wife said, "There's a long line of cars behind. Why don't they overtake(超车)?"

    Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile, they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me. "Right, Sir," he said. "Do you need any more help now?"

    I didn't quite understand. "Thanks, officer," I said. "You've been very kind. I lived just down the road."

    He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. "Well, well," he said and laughed. "It's a bookshelf you've got there! We thought it was something else. "My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here.

    I smiled at the officer. "Yes, it's a bookshelf, but thanks again." I drove home as fast as I could.