The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is called the "Ten thousand Ii Great Wall" in Chinese. In fact, it' s more than 6 000 kilometres long. It winds its way from west to east, across deserts, over mountains, through valleys till at last it reaches the sea. It is one of the wonders of the world.
The Great Wall has a history of over twenty centuries. The first part of it was built during the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Warring States Period, more walls were put up to defend the borders of the different kingdoms. It was during the Qin Dynasty that the kingdom of Qin united the dif ferent parts into one empire. To keep the enemy out of his empire, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had all the walls joined up. Thus, the Great Wall came into being.
The Great Wall is wide enough at the top for five horses or ten men to walk side by side. Along the wall are watchtowers, where soldiers used to keep watch. Fires were lit on the the towers as a warning when the enemy came.
It was very difficult to build such a wall in the ancient days without any modern machines. All the work was done by hand. Thousands of men died and were buried under the wall they built. The Great Wall was made not only of stone and earth, but of the flesh and blood of millions of men.
Today the Great Wall has become a place of interest not only to the Chinese but to people from all over the world. Many of them have come to know the famous Chinese saying: "He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man."
[點評]
長城是世界的奇跡，中國的驕傲，中國人對它了解甚多，但用英語將它描述出來恐非易事。此文描述較為詳細，是非常好的背景資料。
[參考譯文]
中國的長城
中國的長城漢語中常叫作“萬裏長城”。實際上它長 6 ooo多公裏。它從西到東，穿過沙漠，越過高山，跨過深谷，蜿蜒而行，最後直到海邊。它是世界上的奇觀之一。
長城有兩千多年的歷史。最早是在春秋時期開始修築的。戰國時期，各諸候國為了保衛自己的邊境，分別修築了更多的城牆。在秦朝時，秦國把各諸侯國統一起來，成為一個帝國。為了御敵于國門之外，秦始皇令人把所有的城牆連線起來。這樣，長城就形成了。
長城上面很寬，足夠五匹馬或10個人並排而行。沿城牆有許多烽火台，過去常有士兵駐守。敵人來時，就點燃烽火，以通知其他士兵。
沒有任何現代機器，要修築這樣一座長城是非常困難的。所有的工作都不得不用手來完成。成千上萬的人死了，被埋在自己修建的城牆下面。長城不僅是用石頭和土築成的，而且也是用數以百萬計的人的血肉築成的。
今天，長城不僅對中國人，而且對來自全世界各地的人們來說都是一處名勝。其中許多人都已知道這句中國名言佳句：“不到長城非好漢”。