【文章內容簡介】 f the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved form one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other’s dialects. 什么是標準英語？是在英國、美國、加拿大、澳大利亞、印度、新西蘭所說的英語嗎？信不信由你，（世界上）沒有什么標準英語。許多人認為，電視和收音機里所說的英語就是標準英語，這是因為在早期的電臺節(jié)目里，人們期望新聞播音員所說的英語是最好的英語。然而，在電視和收音機里，你也會聽出人們在說話時的差異。 當人們使用不同于“標準語言”的詞語和表達時，那就叫做方言。美國英語有許多方言，特別是中西部地區(qū)和南部地區(qū)的方言，以及美國黑人和西班牙人的方言。即使在美國有些地區(qū)，兩個相鄰城鎮(zhèn)的人所說的方言也可能稍有不同。美國英語之所以有這么多的方言是因為美國人是來自世界各地的緣故。 地理位置對方言的形成也有所影響。住在美國東部山區(qū)的一些人說著比較古老的英語方言。當美國人從一個地方搬到另一個地方時，他們也就把他們的方言隨著帶去了。因此，美國東南部山區(qū)的人同美國西北部的人所說的方言就幾乎相同。美國是一個大國，有著許許多多彼此不同的方言。雖然許多美國人經常搬家，但是他們仍然能夠辨別和理解彼此的方言。Reading and speaking 讀與說 1 Amy and her American friends are visiting London. They plan to visit Amy’s aunt and decide to go there by underground, but cannot find the nearest underground station. So she asks directions and then tells her friends. Read the dialogue and circle the words that mean the same. 1 艾米和她的美國朋友正在參觀倫敦。她們計劃去拜訪艾米的姑媽，并決定乘地鐵去，但是她們找不到最近的地鐵站。所以她問問了路，然后告訴她的朋友。讀對話，然后圈出意思相同的詞。AMY: Excuse me, Ma’ma. Could you tell me where the nearest subways is?LADY: Er...the underground? Well, go round the corner on your lefthand side, straight on and cross two streets. It’ll be on your righthand side.AMY: Thanks so much.FRIENDS: What did she say, Amy?AMY: She told us to go around the corner on the left and keep going straight for two blocks. The subway will be on our right.艾米：對不起，夫人，你能告訴我去最近的地鐵站怎么走嗎？夫人：呃……地鐵？哦，往左邊拐過去，一直往前走，走過兩條街，地鐵就是右邊。艾米：多謝了。朋友：艾米，她說什么？艾米：她叫我們往左邊拐過去，一直往前走，走過兩條街，地鐵就是右邊?！疽馑枷嗤脑~】subway←→underground （地鐵）righthand side←→right （右邊）street←→block 街道，街區(qū)第三單元Travel journalJOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN　　My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, Where are we going? It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shorting. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn39。t know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, When are we leaving and when are we ing back? I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadn39。t。 my sister doesn39。t care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined look—the kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.　　Several months before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier on a Tibetan mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It bees rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river bees a waterfall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and the high altitude,the Mekong bees wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea.沿湄公河而下的旅行第一部分 夢想與計劃　　我的名字叫王坤。從高中起，我姐姐和我就一直夢想作一次偉大的自行車旅行。兩年前，她買了一輛價錢昂貴的山地自行車，然后她還說服我也買了一輛。去年她去看望了我們的表兄弟—在昆明讀大學的刀偉和宇航。他們是傣族人，在云南省西部靠近瀾滄江的地方長大，湄公河在中國境內的這一段叫瀾滄江，流經其他國家后就叫湄公河。很快，王薇使表兄弟也對騎車旅行產生了興趣。到大學畢業(yè)后，我們終于有了作一次騎車旅行的機會。我問姐姐：“我們要去哪里？”首先想到要沿湄公河從源頭到終點騎車旅行的是我的姐姐。