【正文】 the ri ver is i n Chi na. After i t l eaves Chi na and the hi gh alti tude, the Mekong bees wi de， brown and warm. As i t enters Southeast Asi a, i ts pace sl ows. It m akes wi de bends or m eanders through l ow val eys to the pl ai ns where rice grows. At l ast, the ri ver del ta enters the South China Sea. PART2 A NIGH T IN TH E MOUNTAINS Al though i t was autum n,the snow was al ready beginni 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 sen snowmen ride bicycles?That’s what we looked like! Along the way children dressed in long wool coats stopped to lok at us. In the l ate afternoon we found i t was so col d that our water bottl es froze. However,the l akes shoneli ke gl as i n the setti ng sun and looked rode in front of me as usual. She is very reliable and I knew I didn’t need to encourage her. To cl im b the m ountains 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 mil 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 hi l s. It was great fun especi al l y as it gradual y becam e m uch warm er. In the val eys col ourful butterfli es fl ew around us and we saw m any yaks and sheep eati ng green grass. At thi s poi nt we had to change our caps, coats, gl oves and trousers for Tshi rts 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 i nn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldn’t read or write. Her vilage couldn’t even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lucky to have studi ed in col lege. Back on the road, we passed between many hi l s and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ains and entered Phnom Penh, the capi tal of Cambodia. In m any ways it looked l ike Vi entiane and H o Chi Mi nh Ci ty。t。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is the O xford Engl i sh Di cti onary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s di cti onary came from an im portant m eeti ng i n Bri tai n i n 1857. Twentytwo years l ater, O xford Uni versi ty asked James Murray to be the edi tor of its new dicti onary. 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 hi m the job, Murray had a pl ace bui l t in the garden behi nd hi s house to do hi s work. Part of it was one meter underground. In wi nter i t fel t li ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put hi s feet i n a box to keep warm . Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o’clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by the candl e li ght 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 stil addi ng words for the l etter A! then others went to work wi th Murray, i ncl uding hi s two daughters. H e worked on the di cti onary unti l he was very ol d. Fortyfour years l ater, i n1928, other editors fi ni shed it. It i ncl uded m ore than 15, 000 pages i n twel ve boks. And you thought your di cti onary was bi g! Uni t 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 mi ddle school, m y sister 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 vi si 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 Chi nese part of the ri ver that i s cal ed the Mekong River i n other countri es. Wang Wei soon got them i nterested i n cycli ng too. After graduati ng from col l ege. we final y got the chance to take a bi ke tri p. I asked m y si ster, Where are we goi ng? It was m y sister who fi rst had the i dea to cycl e al ong the enti re Mekong Ri ver from where i t begi ns to where i t ends. N ow she i s pl ani ng our schedul e for the trip. I am fond of my si ster but she has one serious shorti ng. She can be real y stubborn. Al though she di dn39。t care about detai ls. So I tol d her that the source of the Mekong is i n Qi nghai Provi nce. She gave m e a determi ned l ook —the ki nd that sai d she woul d 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 it. When I tol d her the ai r woul d be hard to breathe and i t woul d be very col d, she said i t woul d be an interesti 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 nall y, I had to gi ve i n. Several m onths before our trip, 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 atl as we coul d see that the Mekong Ri ver begi ns i n a gl aci er on a Ti betan m ountai n. At fi rst the ri ver i s sm al l and the water i s cl ear and col d. Then it begi ns to move qui ckl y. It bees rapi ds as i t passes through deep val ey