Lost-in-the-Dark Bells (Last Day) In the Lincolnshire village of Burgh-le-Marsh there was once a chunk 1 of land called Bell String Acre. It got its name, the local legend tells, because of a near esc...
Pubs in Britain There are 70,000 pubs in England and Wales and several thousand more in Scotland. Every country has its drinking shop, but none has an institution quite like the British pub. The essen...
Diaries in Ireland Feb. 9, 2003 Sunday My Stay with Lough Gill When I woke up, it was broad day, with sunshine. Outside the windows was a row of dense green trees, outside the green trees were a lot o...
March 28: “Oranges and Lemons” Service Generations of London children have prattled 1 the nursery rhyme that begins, “Oranges and lemons,” say the bells of Saint Clement’s; “You owe me fiv...
The Golden Box The mysterious golden box was tied with crimson 1 ribbon and sat upon a shelf above the sideboard 2 in the dining room. During my childhood, I would often wonder where it had come from...
I Can’t Believe You “I can't believe you tell people your age,” my friend commented. Hey, I don't mind. Really. In fact, I love my age, because every single birthday means more than just present...
Learn English for the 2008 Olympics ——Going Abroad Foreigner: I know it’s a good thing to go abroad, and you suffered for being a closed society for too long, but now I find this craze for going...
Charms and Symbols Cornerstone 1 Even buildings made of steel and glass usually have a cornerstone, often engraved with the date construction began. It is a talisman 2 intended to bring luck not only...
Living Like Ronnie The students at Beijing Hongzhi Middle School, where I teach English once a week, are an impressive group, but like so many kids in Beijing they are also under tremendous pressure f...
To Live or to Die The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vege...