【正文】 e ol d m en used to m ake one i n a few hours. They used to l i ve i n ski n tents in summ er – the tents were easy to m ove so the people coul d fol ow the anim als.” A few m i nutes l ater they ari ved i n Iqal ui t, a town wi th a populati on of 6000, on Sim on?s snowm obi le. It was two o?cl ock i n the afternoon, but i t was al ready dark, and al the houses shone wi th bri ght l i ghts. Beth sai d, “ Why i s i t so dark? It?s the mi ddl e of the day!” Si m on repli ed, “It?s dark i n the day because we are so far north. You shoul d e i n June. The sun shines al ni ght i n the north then. That39。s too bad, ” he sai d. “Montreal is a city wi th wonderful restaurants and cl ubs. Most of us speak both Engli sh and French, but the ci ty has French cul ture and traditi ons. We l ove good coffe, good bread and good m usi c.” That ni ght as the transfer was speedi ng al ong the St Lawrence River toward the Gul f of St Lawrence and down to the di stant east coast, the cousi ns dream ed of French restaurants and red m apl e l eaves. Iqal uit – the frozen town The reporter, Beth Al l en, arri ved i n a northern m unity cal ed Iqal ui t i n Nunavut. N unavut was created i n 1999 as a speci al area for Inui t peopl e. Its name m eans “O ur Land” i n thei r l anguage. It i s i n the farthest northeastern area of Canada, north or the Arcti c Ci rcl e, and is very col d – the average wi ter tem perature i n N unavut i s 35 degrees bel ow zero. Beth sai d, “ I knew i t woul d be coul d i n January, but not this col d! Maybe there i s a dog sl ed that can take m e i nto town. ” The qui et man who had been on the pl ane wi th her sai d, “I?l l take you i nto town, but I don?t hace a dog sl ed. Most peopl e onl y use the dogs for peti ti ons, why are you vi si ti ng Iqal uit?” Beth answered, “ I?m wri ting a story for m y newspaper about Iqal ui t – we?d li ke to adverti se i t as a hol i day pl ace, but I thi nk i t?s too col d. ” The m an laughed. “My nam e i s Sim on and I am Inui t, ” he sai d. “I thi nk i t?s too far north here for holi days but m ore and m ore touri sts are i ng. They l i ke ice fi shi ng and photographi ng polar bears. I star as far away from pol ar bears as possi bl e. I l ike m y warm offi ce and m y warm house.” “I?m busi ness m an. My grandfather woul d li ve i n ice houses when he hunted i n wi nter, but not so many peopl e do that now. the ol d m en used to m ake one i n a few hours. They used to l i ve i n ski n tents in summ er – the tents were easy to m ove so the people coul d fol ow the anim als.” A few m i nutes l ater they ari ved i n Iqal ui t, a town wi th a populati on of 6000, on Sim on?s snowm obi le. It was two o?cl ock i n the afternoon, but i t was al ready dark, and al the houses shone wi th bri ght l i ghts. Beth sai d, “ Why i s i t so dark? It?s the mi ddl e of the day!” Si m on repli ed, “It?s dark i n the day because we are so far north. You shoul d e i n June. The sun shines al ni ght i n the north then. That39。a chance to make a tri p i nto space wi th m y friend Li Yanpi ng, an astronom er. We vi si ted the m oon i n our spaceshi p! Before we l eave, Li Yanping expl ai ned to m e that the forece of the gravi ty woul d change three ti m es on our journey and that the fi rst change woul d be the m ost powerful . Then we were off. As the rocket rose i nto the ai r, we were pushed back i nto our seats because we were tryi ng to escape the pul of the earth?s gravi ty. It was so hard that we coul d not say anythi ng to each other. Gradual y the wei ght l essened and I was abl e to tal k to hi m. “ Why i s the spaceshi p not fal i ng back to the earth? O n the earth i f I fal l from a tree I wil l fal l to ground. ” I asked. “ We are too far from the earth now to feel i ts pul, “ he expl ai ned, “ so we feel as i f there is no gravi ty at al. When we get cl oser to the m oon, we shal feel its gravity pul i ng us, but i t wi l not be as strong a pul l as the earth?s. “ I cheered up imm edi atel y and fl oated wei ghtl esl y around i n our spaceshi p cabi n watchi ng the earth be e sm al l er and the m oon l arger. When we got there, I wanted to expl ore i mm edi atel y. “ Com e on, ” I sai d. “ If you are ri ght, m y m as wi l be l ess than on the earth because the m oon is sm al l er and I wi l be abl e to m ove m ore freel y. I mi ght even grow tal er i f I stay here l ong enough. I shal certai nl y weigh l ess!” I l aughed and cli mbed down the steps from the spaceshi p. But when I tri ed to step forward, I found I was carri ed twi ce as far as on the earth and fel l over. “ O h dear, ” I cri ed, “ wal ki ng does need a bi t of practi ce now that gravi ty has changed. ” After a whil e I got the hang of i t and we began to enjoy oursel ves. Leavi ng the m oon?s gravi ty was not as pai nful as l eavi ng the earth?s. But returni ng to the earth was very fri ghteni ng. We watched, amazed as fi re broke out on the outsi de of the spaceship as the earth?s gravi ty increased. Agai n we were pushed back hard i nto our seats as we cam e back to l and. “ That was very exhausti ng but very exciti ng too, ” I sai d. “N ow I know m uch m ore about gravi ty! Do you thi nk we coul d bisi t som e stars next tim e?” “O f course,” he sm il ed, “ whi ch star woul d you l i ke to go to?” Caught by a bl ack hol e The spaceship warned Li Yanpi ng and m e to be ready as we were approachi ng the “black hol e”. We coul d see som e fai nt l i ghts around what l ooked li ke an em pty space. Li Yanpi ng sai d, “ That em pty hol e i s l i ke a m outh al ways needi ng to be fed. Those l i ghts are thi ns that are being pul ed i nto tim e by the gravity of the hol e.” We watched with i nterest and am azem ent at the li ghts whi ch seem ed to be goi ng fai nter and fai nter round the edge of the bl ack hol e. Just then the li ghts on our spaceshi p went our the and the puter stopped working. What was h