【正文】 any ways simi l ar to Laos, al though i t has twi ce the popul ation. At another inn, we tal ked with a teacher who tol d us that hal f of the peopl e in her country coul dn’t read or write. H er vil age coul dn’t even afford to buil d a school , so she had to teach outside under a l arge tent. When we said goodbye, we al l felt very l ucky to have studi ed i n col ege. Back on the road, we pased between m any hil s and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ai ns and entered Phnom Penh,the capi tal of Cam bodi a. In m any ways i t l ooked li ke Vi enti ane and H o Chi Mi nh Ci ty。t know the best way of geti ng to places, she insi 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。 my si ster doesn39。 i t al so had wi de streets with trees i n rows and ol d French houses. Unli ke Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong River here. In the center of the ci ty we vi sited the pal ace and a beautiful whi te el ephant. It can onl y be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an earl y supper and went to see a great tem pl e wi th floors made of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group sl ept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycl ing i n the hi l s had been di ffcui ow our coui ns had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d, they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a ni ce outdoor cafe, then rode out of the ci ty. Two days l ater we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more peopl e,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atl as before our tri p that Vi etnam has al m ost seven tim es the popul ati on of Cam bodi a. We met a farm er who gave us di recti ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four tim es every year so he can feed m ore peopl e. H e al so tol d us that the northern part of hi s country has m any m ountai ns and i t i s m uch col er than here i n the south, where it i s fl at. Al though the fl at delta m ade it easi er for us to cycle. we got warm very qui ckl y. So we drank l ots of water and ate l ots of bananas. Soon the del ta separated i nto ni ne sm al l er ri vers. Two days l ater, after we had passed thousands of ri ce fi el ds, we cam e to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spiri ts: our dream to cycl e al ong the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal l y e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happeni ng in the countrisi de of northest H eBei . For there days the water in the vi l age wel s rose and fel , rose and fel . Farmers noticed that the wel l wal s had deep cracks i n them . A sm el y gas cam e out of the cracks. In the farm eryards, the chi ckens and even the pi gs were too nervous to eat. mi ce ran out of the fi el ds l ooki ng for places to hi sh jum ped out of their bowl s and about 3:00am on Jul y 28, 1976, som e people saw bright l ights i n the sound of the planes could be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought li ttle of these events,were asleep as usual that night. At3: 42 am everythi ng began to seemed as if the worl d was at an end!El even kilom etres di rectl y below the city the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t i n Beijing, which is m ore thantwo hundred ki lometres until the ti m 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 their lives trying to col ect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasn’t onl y a job。 i t al so had wi de streets with trees i n rows and ol d French houses. Unli ke Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong River here. In the center of the ci ty we vi sited the pal ace and a beautiful whi te el ephant. It can onl y be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an earl y supper and went to see a great tem pl e wi th floors made of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group sl ept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycl ing i n the hi l s had been di ffcui ow our coui ns had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d, they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a ni ce outdoor cafe, then rode out of the ci ty. Two days l ater we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more peopl e,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atl as before our trip that Vi etnam has al m ost seven tim es the popul ati on of Cam bodi a. We met a farm er who gave us di recti ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four tim es every year so he can feed m ore peopl e. H e al so tol d us that the northern part of hi s country has m any m ountai ns and i t i s m uch col er than here i n the south, where it i s fl at. Al though the fl at delta m ade it easi er for us to cycle. we got warm very qui ckl y. So we drank l ots of water and ate l ots of bananas. Soon the del ta separated i nto ni ne sm al l er ri vers. Two days l ater, after we had passed thousands of ri ce fi el ds, we cam e to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spiri ts: our dream to cycl e al ong the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal l y e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happeni ng in the countrisi de of northest H eBei . For there days the water in the vi l age wel s rose and fel , rose and fel . Farmers noticed that the wel l wal s had deep cracks i n them . A sm el y gas cam e out of the cracks. In the farm eryards, the chi ckens and even the pi gs were too nervous to eat. mi ce ran out of the fi el ds l ooki ng for places to hi sh jum ped out of their bowl s and about 3:00am on Jul y 28, 1976, som e people saw bright l ights i n the sound of the planes could be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought li ttle of these events,were asleep as