这是一篇香港人写的文章，除了极少笔误外，措辞和语法可以打九十五分。这篇节选主要是关于亚罗号事件的部分，这也是第二次鸦片战争的导火线，在这次战争中，广州，天津，北京相继失守，英法联军火烧圆明园，清政府在《北京条约》中割让了九龙。

在这篇文章里我们会谈到的人物有巴夏礼和包令，在香港佐敦道我们还能发现以他们名字命名的白加士街和宝灵街。此外在这次事件中的中方官员是叶名琛，他虽然被讥为不战、不和、不守、不死、不降、不走的六不总督，但其实也是一条有气有节的好汉。第二次鸦片战争广州失守，叶名琛被英军掳到印度的加尔各答后， 绝食而死。

Random Thoughts about National Flags
http://www.topproxy.co.uk/

Speaking of the national flag, a war triggered by a dispute over a flag led to the concession of part of Hong Kong to the Britain. But the flag in question was not a Chinese flag, but the Union Jack.

1. Speaking of 说到 常用于句子开头
2. national flag 国旗 顺便提提 national emblem 国徽

3. trigger 触发
这个句子有笔误，应该写成a war which was triggered by 同样的句型还有
But computer viruses can also be triggered at a specific time (time bomb).
但是，计算机病毒还有可能在特定的时间发作(定时炸弹)。

4. a dispute over... 一个围绕...的争论
5. lead to 导致 引起
6. concession n.妥协, 让步
7.part做动词 part one's hometown离别故乡 part gold from copper 把金和铜分离
8. in question 考虑之中的; 被谈论着的
That is not the point in question.
那不是要考虑的要点。
9. the Union Jack n.英国国旗

On October 8, 1856, marine police of the Qing government boarded a lorcha called Arrow on the river of Canton to arrest pirate suspects. Arrow was registered in Hong Kong, so the British regarded it as a British vessel. The British contended that the Union Jack flying on the ship was hauled down and saw it as an outrageous insult to the dignity of the British Empire. Parkes, the deputy consul to Canton, and John Bowring, minister plenipotentiary and Hong Kong governor, pressured for an apology. Imperial Commissioner Yeh Ming-chen insisted that his men had done nothing wrong and refused to yield to the British threat. This led to the Arrow War, which is also known as the Second Opium War. Yeh was captured by the British and sent to India and died there. One of the results of the war was the signing of the Convention of Peking, under which the Kowloon Peninsula was ceded to the British.


1. board vt.上(船、车或飞机)
2. lorcha n.划艇 西式中国三桅帆船 中文又译作「绿壳」，「老闸船」，其实是指西式船身，中式帆具的船。
3. Arrow n.箭 这里被翻译成“亚罗号”
4. arrest vt.逮捕; 拘捕
5. pirate n.海盗
6. suspect n.嫌疑犯
7. contend vt.声称, 主张
8. haul down 降下, 拽下, 拉下
9. see..as.. 把..看作..
10. outrageous adj.骇人的; 残暴的; 无耻的; 不道德的
11. insult vt.侮辱, 冒犯
12. dignity n.庄严, 端庄, 尊严
13. Parkes 巴夏礼（H. S.Parkes）
14. deputy consul 副领事

15. John Bowring 包令，又译作宝宁 第四任港督，懂汉语，会说广东方言，号称“中国通” （关于包令，参阅http://baike.baidu.com/view/271450.htm?tp=belinked）

16. minister plenipotentiary n.全权公使
17. Hong Kong governor 港督
18. pressure 给...压力 这里是名词作动词用
19. commissioner n.专员, 长官

20. Yeh Ming-chen 叶名琛 广东巡抚 也算一条荡气回肠的好汉 但被清政府刻意丑化
（关于叶名琛，参阅（1）http://bbs.book.sina.com.cn/tableforum/App/view.php?bbsid=16&subid=5&fid=185958&tbid=5633 （2）http://lsfyw.net/Article/HTML/24073.html）

21. yield to 让步于, 屈服于; 使自己受到…的支配
22. captured vt.俘获
23. Convention of Peking 北京条约
24. Kowloon Peninsula 九龙半岛
25. cede vt.让给, 割让; 放弃 上文用part 这里用cede 变化多端的词汇 是Ielts考官的最爱

Recent research shows that the British was in the wrong. Firstly, the register of Arrow had expired when it reached Canton. That means it was not entitled to fly the British flag and British protection. Secondly, it was the usual practice for British ships to lower their flags when they were anchored in a foregin port. It was extremely unlikely that Arrow still flew the Union Jack when the Chinese marine police boarded the ship. The so-called insult to the British flag was fabricated by the captain the ship to cover up their illegal trafficking. And Bowring and Parkes used this incident as a casusbelli to settle personal scores and expand the interests of the British empire.

1. entitle to 赋予…做(某事); 拥有…的权利
2. fly the British flag 悬挂英国国旗 注意这里悬挂用的是fly

3. 这里有个笔误 句子谓语搭配问题
可以说it was not entitled to fly the British flag 或者it was not entitled to British protection，但合在一起可以说成：it was not entitled to fly the British flag or wield the British protection.

4. it was the usual practice 当时通常的习惯是
5. lower the flag v.降旗表示投降或致敬
6. anchor v. 抛锚
7. extremely unlikely 完全不可能
8. so-called adj.所谓的 号称的
9. fabricate vt.编造, 捏造, 虚构; 伪造
10. trafficking n.非法交易
11. casusbelli n.开战的理由,宣战的借口
12. settle personal scores 算私账

Bowring street and Parkes street in Jordan, Kowloon were named from these two imperialists. Nowadays, people walking on these two streets probably don't have clue about the Arrow War.

1. Bowring street and Parkes street 香港的白加士街和宝灵街
2. Jordan 香港的佐敦道
3. imperialist n.帝国主义者
4. don't have clue about 不知道 这句也常常写成have not a clue about； haven't got a clue about 或者have no a clue about