【正文】 ing sun and looked wonderful. Wangwei rode in front of me as usual. She is very reliable and I knew I didn’t need to encourage her. To cli m b the mountai ns was hard work but as we l ooked around us, we were surpri sed by the vi ew. We seem ed to be abl e to see for mi l es. At one poi nt we were so hi gh that we found oursel ves cycl i ng through cl ouds. Then we began goi ng down the hil s. It was great fun especi al y as i t gradual y became m uch warmer. In the val eys col ourful butterfli es fl ew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eati ng gren grass. At this poi nt we had to change our caps, coats, gl oves and trousers for Tshirts and shorts. In the earl y evening we al ways stop to m ake cam put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pil l ow and went to sl eep but I stayed awake. At mi dni ght the sky becam e cl earer and the stars grew bri ghter. It was so qui et. There was alm ost no wi nd—onl y the fl am es of our fi re for pany. As I l ay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had al ready travel ed. We wi l reach Dal i n Yunnan Province soon, where our cousi ns Dao Wei and Yu H ang wi l join us. We can hardl y wait to see them! PART 6 TH E END OF OUR JOUNEY Cam bodi a was i n many ways sim il ar to Laos, al though it has twi ce the popul ati on. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldn’t read or write. Her village couldn’t even afford to build a schol, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said godbye, we al l fel t very l ucky to have studi ed i n col ege. Back on the road, we passed between many hi l s and forests. Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. In m any ways i t looked l ike Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh Ci ty。 it al so had wi de streets wi th trees in rows and old French houses. Unli ke Vientiane, ships coul d travel the Mekong River the center of the city we visited the pal ace and a beautiful whi te elephant. It can onl y be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with fl oors made of sl iver. The next morning our group sl ept late. We were very tired from the l ong bike ri de the day before. l i ve in the m ountai ns of the eastern USA speak with an ol der ki nd of Engli sh di al ect. When Am eri cans m oved from one pl ace to another, they took their di al ects wi th them . So peopl e from the m ountai ns i n the southeastern USA speak wi th alm ost the sam e di al ects as peopl e i n the northwestern USA. The USA i s a l arge country i n whi ch many di fferent di al ects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other’s dialects. TH E O XFO RD EN GLISH DICTION ARY You m ay thi nk that Engl i sh di ctionari es have ben used for m any, m any centuri es. The spel i ng of Engl i sh has al ways been a probl em but it was m ore of a probl em i n the days before a di cti onary. Then peopl e coul d spel word i n di fferent ways whi ch you m i ght fi nd i t i nteresti ng. But i t m ade readi ng Engli sh m uch m ore di fi cul t. So di cti onari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There m en did m ost of the im portant earl y work on di cti onari es: Sam uel Johnson, N oah Webster, and Jam es Murray. These men spent nearly al of their lives trying to colect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 it was a wonderful journey of di scovery. The l argest di cti onary i n the worl d i s the O xford Engl ish Dicti onary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s di ctionary cam e from an im portant m eeti ng in Bri tai n i n 1857. Twentytwo years l ater, O xford Uni versi ty asked Jam es Murray to be the edi tor of its new di ctionary. Muray had never been to col l ege. At the age of fourteen, he l eft hi s vil l age schol i n Scotl and and taught him sel f whi l e worki ng i n a bank. Later he becam e a great teacher. After O xford gave him the job, Murray had a pl ace bui lt i n the garden behi nd hi s house to do hi s work. Part of i t was one m eter underground. In wi nter i t fel t l i ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his fet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Muray got out of bed at five o’cl ock and worked several hours before breakfast. O ften he woul d work by the candl e l ight i nto the eveni ng. Murray hoped to fini sh the new di cti onary in ten years. But after fi ve years, he was sti l addi ng words for the l etter A! then others went to work with Murray, i ncl udi ng hi s two daughters. H e worked on the di cti onary until he was very ol d. Fortyfour years l ater, in1928, other edi tors fi ni shed i t. It i ncl uded m ore than 15, 000 pages in twel ve books. And you thought your di cti onary was bi g! Unit 3 JO URNEY DO WN THE M EKO NG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My nam e i s Wang Kun. Ever si nce m i ddl e school , m y si ster Wang Wei and I have dream ed about taki ng a great bi ke tri p. Two years ago she bought an expensi ve m ountain bi ke and then she persuaded m e to buy one. Last year, she vi si ted our cousi ns, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at thei r col l ege i n Kunmi ng. They are Dai and grew up i n western Yunnan Provi nce near the Lancang Ri ver, the Chi nese part of the ri ver that i s cal ed the Mekong Ri ver i n other countri es. Wang Wei soon got them i nterested i n cycli ng too. After graduati ng from col ege. we fi nal y got the chance to take a bi ke tri p. I asked m y si ster, Where are we goi ng? It was my si ster who fi rst had the i dea to cycl e along the enti re Mekong Ri ver from where i t begi ns to where i t ends. N ow she is pl anni ng our schedul e for the tri p. I am fond of m y sister but she has one seri ous short in