【正文】 was wai ti ng for Li Fang to leave – he wi ped the tabl es, then sat down and turned on the TV – just what Li Fang neded! A sad Chi nese story about l ost l ove. The randaughter of the Goddess of H eaven vi si ted the earth. H er name was Zhi nu, the weaving fi rl . Whil e she was on earth she m et the herd boy Ni ul ang and they fel i n l ove. ( “ Just li ke m e and Hu Ji n, ” thought Li Fang.) They got marri ed secretl y, and they were very happy. (“We could be li ke that, “ thought Li Fang.) When the Goddes of H eaven knew that her granddaughter was marri ed to a hum an, she becam e very angry and m ade the weavi ng girl return to H eaven. Ni ul ang tri ed to fol ow her, but the ri ver of stars, the Mi lky Way, stoped him . Fi ndi ng that Zhi nu was heartbroken, her grandm other final l y decided to l et the couple cros the Mil ky Way to meet once a year. Magi pi es m ake a bri dge of thei r wi ngs so the coupl e can cros the ri ver to m eet on the seventh day of the senveth l unar m onth. Peopl e i n Chi an hope that the weather wil l be fi ne on that day, because i f it i s rai ni ng, it means that zhinu i s wepi ng and the couple won’t be abl e to m et. The announcer sai d, “ Thi s is the story of Qi qi ao Festi val. When forei gners hear about the story they cal it a Chi nese Val enti ne’s story. It’s a fi ne day today, so I hope you can al m eet the one you love. ” As Li Fang set of for home, he thought , “ I gues H u Ji n doesn’t love m e. I’ just throw these flowers and chocol ates away. I don’t want them to remi nd m e of her. ” So he di d. As he sadl y passed the tea shop on the corner on his wasy hom e, he heard a voice cal li ng him. There was H uji n waving at him and cal ing, “Why are you so late? I’ ve been waiti ng for you for a l ong tim e! An I have a gi ft for you!” What woul d he do? He had thrown away her Val enti ne fi ges! She woul d never fi ve him . Thi s woul d not be a hapy Bal entine’s Day! Winter Carni val in Quebec A group of very col d touri sts are si ting in a cafe i n old Quevec, dri nking hor coffe to try to warm up. The tem perature is 32 degrees bel ow freezing. The wi ndows are cobered wi th steam from the heat insi de. Outsi de, snow covers the streets and i s pi led up al ong the si dewalks. The musi c and l ights of the Carni val conti nue, but after a whol e day of watching parades, ri di ng i n horse carri ages and l istening to the musi c, thei r fet are freezing and their noses are red. Every year, hundreds of thousands of peopl e e to Quebec to take part i n the weel l ong wi nter festi val, the bi ggest i n the world. Everyone who es m ust be prepared to keep m ovi ng. As i t is too col d to stand and watch for l ong. Earl y in the m orning, you can watch the snowboardi ng petitions on the hil overlooki ng the river. Competi tors speed down the track and through the ai r as though they coul d fl y. The more brave of heart m ay try the canoe races. Fi ve or six men padl e each canoe across the partl yfrozen St Lawrence Ri ver. The river i s ful of big pi eces of i ce, and i f you were to fal l i n, you woul d freeze i n less than two mi nutes. O n of the favourite events i s the dogsled race, i n which team s of about si x husky dogs pl long sl eds at great speeds al ong a snowy track. One person runs behind the sl ed, shouti ng to the dogs to encoutage them. The sound of the dogs barki ng, the cal s of the dri vers and the shouts of crowd make an exci ti ng N othern experi ence. The dogs are beautiful strong anim al s, with l ong, thick fur and m any wi th bl ue eyes. Whil e admi ri ng the i ce scul ptures ecerywhere in the ci ty, much l i ke those i n H arbi n i n Chi na, you can stop wi th other touri sts in an i gl o for hot tea or coffee. It i s amazing how warm these i ce howses can be! Late i n the evening, you can go to the snow pal ace, where Bonhomme the snowm an i s king, and joi n the crowd. You can dance outsi de to the m usi c of a band, who are al dressed i n heavy cl othes – even som e thei r i nstrum ents are dresed up for winter. Fi nal y, you wil probabl y want to si t down i n a cafe wo warm up an to pl an tomorrow. You mi ght joi n the snowmobil e races – or maybe you should just sleep in! Uni t 2 COME AND EAT H ERE (1) Wang Peng sat i n hi s em pty restaurant feeli ng very frustrated. It had ben a very strange m orni ng. Usual y he got up earl y and prepared his menu of barbecued m utton kebabs, roast pork, sti rfri ed vegetabl es and fri ed ri ce. Then by l unchtim e they woul d al be sol d. By now his restaurant ought to be ful l of peopl e. But not today! Why was that? What could have happened? H e thought of hi s m uton, beef and bacon cooked in the hottest, finest oil . Hi s col a was sugary and cold, and his ice cream was made of mil k, cream and del icious fruit. “Nothing coul d be better,” he thought. Sudenl y he saw his friend Li Chang hurrying by. “H el l o, Lao Li,” he cal ed, “Your usual ?” But Li Chang semed not to hear. What was the m atter? Som ethi ng r unni ng here and t here: they had just discovered that a pri soner had escaped. At that moment, a large black car wi th four of ficers insi de i t, st opped at the camp gates. The of fi cers got out and t he pri soner stood t o at tent ion and saluted as t hey passed. When they had gone, the driver of the car came towards hi m. The man obvi ously want ed to t al k. He was r at her el der ly wit h gr ey hair and clear blue eyes. The prisoner felt sorr y for hi m, but ther e was not hi ng else he coul d do. As t he man came near , t he pri soner knocked hi m to t he gr ound with a sharp blow. Then, j umping into t he car, he drove of f as qui ckly as he coul d. Leson82 Monster or fish? 是妖還是魚？ Fisher men and sailor s omet imes claim to have seen monsters in t he sea. Though people have of ten laughed at st or ies t old by seamen, i t i s now known that many of t hese