【正文】 Although many Americans move a lot, they stil 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 Engli sh has al ways been a probl em but i t was m ore of a probl em i n the days before a di cti onary. Then peopl e coul d spel l word i n di fferent ways whi ch you mi ght fi nd it i nteresti ng. But i t made readi ng Engl i sh m uch more di fficult. So di cti onari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spel l the same. In fact, an Engl i sh dictionary 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 thei r di ctionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。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 i s 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 ooked at a m ap yet. O f course, she hadn39。 m y sister doesn39。l i ve in the m ountai ns of the eastern USA speak wi th an ol der ki nd of Engli sh di al ect. When Am ericans m oved from one place to another, they tok thei r di al ects with them. So peopl e from the m ountai ns i n the southeastern USA speak with alm ost the sam e di al ects as peopl e in the northwestern USA. The USA i s a l arge country i n which many diferent dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they stil recognize and understand each other’s di al ects. 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 Engli sh has al ways been a probl em but i t was m ore of a probl em i n the days before a di cti onary. Then peopl e coul d spel l word i n di fferent ways whi ch you mi ght fi nd it i nteresti ng. But i t made readi ng Engl i sh m uch more di fficult. So di cti onari es were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn’t made unti l the tim e of the l ate Qi ng Dynasty. There m en di d 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 m en spent nearl y al of thei r li ves tryi ng to col ect words for thei r di cti onari es. For them, i t wasn’t only a job。t。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The l argest di cti onary i n the worl d i s the O xford Engl i sh Di cti onary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s dicti onary 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 Muray to be the editor of i ts new di cti onary. Murray had never been to col ege. At the age of fourteen, he left hi s vil age school i n Scotl and and taught hi msel f whil 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 his house to do hi s work. Part of it was one m eter underground. In wi nter i t fel t li ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o’clock and worked several hours before breakfast. O ften he woul d work by the candle l i ght i nto the eveni ng. Murray hoped to fini sh the new di cti onary i n ten years. But after fi ve years, he was stil l addi ng words for the l eter A! then others went to work wi th Murray, i ncludi ng hi s two daughters. H e worked on the di cti onary until he was very ol d. Fortyfour years l ater, i n1928, other editors fini shed i t. It i ncl uded m ore than 15, 000 pages i n twel ve books. And you thought your di cti onary was bi g! Unit 3 JO URNEY DO WN THE M EKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My nam e i s Wang Kun. Ever si nce mi 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 ountai n bi ke and then she persuaded m e to buy one. Last year, she visi ted our cousi ns, Dao Wei and Yu H ang 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 Chinese part of the ri ver that i s cal ed the Mekong River i n other countri es. Wang Wei son got them i nterested i n cycli ng too. After graduating from col l ege. we fi nal y got the chance to take a bike tri p. I asked m y si ster, Where are we goi ng? It was m y si ster who fi rst had the i dea to cycl e al ong the enti re Mekong River from where it begi ns to where i t ends. N ow she i s pl ani ng our schedul e for the tri p. I am fond of m y si ster but she has one seri ous shorti ng. She can be real y stubborn. Al though she di dn39。t care about detail s. 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 i ned look—the ki nd that sai d she would not change her m i nd. 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 exci ted about i t. When I tol d her the ai r woul d be hard to breathe and i t woul d be very col d, she sai d i t woul d be an i nteresti ng experi ence. I know m y sister wel . O nce she has m ade up her mi nd, nothi ng can change it. Fi nal y, I had to gi ve 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 m aps that showed detail s of worl d geography. From the atl as we coul d see 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 is sm al l and the water i s clear and col d. Then it begi ns to m ove qui ckl y. It be es rapi ds as i t passes through deep val eys, travel li