【正文】 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. Al though m any Am eri cans m ove a l ot, they stil l recogni ze 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 spel l the sam e. In fact, an Engli sh di cti onary li ke the ki nd you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionaries: Sam uel Johnson, N oah Webster, and Jam es Murray. These m en spent nearl y al of thei r li ves tryi ng to col ect words for their di ctionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is 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 hi s fet i n a box to keep warm. Every morning, Muray got out of bed at five o’clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would 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 ing. She can be real l y stubborn. Although she di dn39。t know the best way of getti ng to pl aces, she i nsi sted that she ani ze the tri p properl y. N ow, I know that the proper way is al ways her way. I kept aski ng her, When are we l eavi ng and when are we i ng back? I asked her whether she had l oked at a m ap yet. Of course, she hadn39。t。 my si ster doesn39。t care about detai ls. So I tol d her that the source of the Mekong i s i n Qi nghai Provi nce. She gave m e a determ ined l ook—the ki nd that sai d she woul d not change her m ind. When I tol d her that our journey woul d begi n at an al ti tude of m ore than 5, 000 m etres, she seem ed to be excited about i t. When I tol d her the ai r woul d be hard to breathe and it woul d be very col d, she sai d i t woul d be an i nteresti ng experi ence. I know m y si ster wel l. O nce she has m ade up her mi nd, nothi ng can change i t. Fi nal ly, I had to give i n. Several m onths before our tri p, Wang Wei and I went to the li brary. We found a l arge atl as wi th good maps that showed detail s of worl d geography. From the atlas we coul d se that the Mekong Ri ver begi ns i n a gl aci er on a Ti betan mountai n. At fi rst the ri ver i s sm al l and the water i s cl ear and col d. Then i t begins to m ove qui ckl y. It bees rapi ds as it pases through deep val l eys, travel li ng across western Yunnan Provi nce. Som eti mes the ri ver be es a waterfal l and enters wi de val l eys. We were both surpri sed to l earn that hal f of the ri ver is i n Chi na. After i t l eaves Chi na and the hi gh al ti tude, the Mekong be es wi de， brown and warm. As i t enters Southeast Asi a, its pace sl ows. It m akes wi de bends or m eanders through l ow val eys to the pl ains where ri ce grows. At l ast, the river del ta enters the South Chi na Sea. PART2 A NIGH T IN TH E MOUNTAINS Although i t was autum n,the snow was al ready begi ni ng to fal l i n Ti ur l egs were so heavy and col d that they fel t li ke bl ocks of i ave you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles?That’s what we looked like! Along the way children dresed in long wool coats stopped to look at us. In the l ate afternoon we found i t was so col d that our water bottl es froze. .H owever, the lakes shonel i ke glass i n the sett