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The British Museum is the biggest one in the world. Inside, you feel smaller than usual. There are about a hundred things in the museum to see: which have been telling the time for six hundred years, Roman money, some of the earliest books in the world, including Shakespeare's own works...
The British Museum was set up nearly 300 years ago by a doctor, Sir Hans
Sloane. The man liked to such things as books, drawings, clothes, money, animals, flowers, and also hoped that his things would be well and so visited by people after his death.
His wish came true, and the museum opened in 1759, six years after Sir Hans Sloane died.
Later, more antiques (古董) arrived at the museum, more books, old and new, came to it, and more people wanted to visit it. The museum had a famous round Reading Room. There wasunusual in the room. Cool air came upmall holes in the tables. Hot air flowing under the floor kept readers' feet. Since its opening, many famous men have written and studied there, like Karl Marx. And the library is growing faster and faster — there are four kilometers of new shelves each year,it attracts increasing number of tourists each year.
It is now open every day of the year, except for two holidays (New Year's Day and Christmas).
Entrance (入场) is free. There are lots of special exhibitions and every day there are different films and talks, some of for children. Small machines tell you about the museum and as you walk around it, you can look and listen at the same time. So if you are one of the British Museum's twovisitors this year, don't try to see it all too. There is a lifetime of looking in the British Museum.
