Hong Kong is a very big island city, which lies in the south of China。 It consists of Hong Kong Island, Jiulong and Xinjie。
   It has a total area of 1092 square kilometres 。 It is known as one of “the four little dragons” in Asia, and is referred to as “the Eastern Pearl”。
   But in the 19th century the British government forced the Qing government to sign a series of unequal treaties①。 From then on Hong Kong was ruled by the U。
   K。
We owe it to our chief designer② Deng Xiaoping that the agreement of Hong Kong's return has finally been reached between China and England。
   It was he who creatively conceived③ the idea of “one country with two systems”, which directly led to the possibility of Hong Kong's return。
  
Today, Hong Kong has returned to our motherland。 In order to celebrate this occasion, we students have been holding lots of activities, such as the competitions of drawing, compositions, photo-taking, lecturing④ and so on。
   All the Chinese people are doing a great deal to celebrate the return of Hong Kong。
Led by the Party, the Eastern Pearl will surely be even brighter。
  
（选自《英语画刊》1997年第7期）
【词语解释】
①to sign a series of unequal treaties 签订一系列不平等条约
②chief designer 总设计师
③creatively conceived 创造性地构想
④lecturing ['lektM riR] n．演讲
。