【導(dǎo)讀】liveinthemountainsoftheeasternUSAspeakwithanolderkindofEnglishdialect.WhenAmericansmovedfromoneplacetoanother,theytooktheirdialectswiththem.SopeoplefromthemountainsinthesoutheasternUSAspeakwithalmostthesamedialectsaspeopleinthenorthwesternUSA.TheUSAisalargecountryinwhichmanydiferentdialectsarespoken.AlthoughmanyAmericansmovealot,theystillrecognizeandunderstandeachother’sdialects.THEOXFORDENGLISHDI

　　

【正文】 si ster, Where are we goi ng? It was my sister who first had the i dea to cycl e al ong the entire Mekong River from where i t begins to where it ends. N ow she i s pl aning our schedule for the tri p. I am fond of m y si ster but she has one seri ous short ing. She can be real ly stubborn. Al though she didn39。t know the best way of getti ng to pl aces, she i nsi sted that she anize the tri p properly. N ow, I know that the proper way i s always her way. I kept aski ng her, When are we l eaving and when are we i ng back? I asked her whether she had l oked at a m ap yet. Of course, she hadn39。t。 m y si ster doesn39。t care about detai ls. So I tol d her that the source of the Mekong is i n Qinghai Provi nce. She gave m e a determi ned l ook—the ki nd that sai d she woul d not change her m ind. When I tol d her that our journey woul d begin at an al ti tude of m ore than 5, 00 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 sai d i t woul d be an i nteresti ng experi ence. I know m y si ster wel. Once she has m ade up her m ind, nothi ng can change i t. Fi nal y, I had to gi ve i n. Several m onths before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the l ibrary. We found a large atlas with god maps that showed detai ls of worl d geography. From the atl as we coul d se that the Mekong River begins i n a gl aci er on a Ti betan mountain. At fi rst the ri ver is sm al l and the water is clear and col d. Then i t begins to m ove qui ckl y. It be es rapi ds as i t passes through dep val eys, travel ing across western Yunan Provi nce. Sometim es the river be es a waterfal l and enters wi de val eys. We were both surpri sed to learn that half of the ri ver i s i n Chi na. After i t l eaves Chi na and the hi gh al ti tude, the Mekong be es wi de， brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asi a, i ts pace sl ows. It makes wi de bends or m eanders through l ow val eys to the plains where rice grows. At l ast, the ri ver delta enters the South China Sea. PART2 A NIGH T IN TH E MOUNTAINS Although it was autum n, the snow was already begi nni ng to fal l i n ur l egs were so heavy and col d that they fel t li ke bl ocks of ave you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles?That’s what we looked like! Along the way children dresed in long wool coats stopped to look at the l ate afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottl es owever, the l akes shoneli ke gl as i n the seting sun and looked wonderful. Wangwei rode in front of me as usual. She is very reliable and I knew I didn’t ned to encourage her. To climb 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 se for mi l es. At one poi nt we were so hi gh that we found oursel ves cycli ng through cl ouds. Then we began goi ng down the hil ls. It was great fun especial y as i t gradual y becam e m uch warm er. In the val eys colourful butterfli es fl ew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eati ng green gras. At this point we had to change our caps, coats, gl oves and trousers for Tshi rts and shorts. In the earl y eveni ng we al ways stop to m ake cam p. We put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pil low and went to sl eep but I stayed awake. At m i dnight the sky becam e cl earer and the stars grew bri ghter. It was so qui et. There was alm ost no wind—onl y the flam es of our fire for pany. As I l ay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had already travel l ed. We wil l reach Dali i n Yunnan Provi nce son, where our cousins Dao Wei and Yu Hang wi l joi n us. We can hardl y wait to se them! PART 6 TH E END OF OUR JOUNEY Cambodi a was i n many ways sim il ar to Laos, al though i t has twice the popul ati on. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldn’t read or write. H er village couldn’t even afford to buil d a school , so she had to teach outside under a l arge tent. When we sai d godbye, we al felt very l ucky to have studi ed in col ege. Back on the road, we pased between m any hil s and forests. Then we cam e to the plains and entered Phnom Penh, the capi tal of Cam bodi a. In m any ways i t looked l ike Vienti ane and H o Chi Mi nh Ci ty。 it also had wi de streets with trees in rows and old French houses. Unli ke Vienti ane, ships coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver the center of the ci ty we visited the palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an early super and went to see a great temple wi th fl ors m ade of sl iver. The next morni ng our group sl ept l ate. We were very tired from the long bi ke ri de the day before. Cycli ng i n the hi l s had been di fcui lt. Now 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 l unch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the ci ty. Two days later we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atlas before our tri p that Vietnam has al most seven times the popul ation of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directi ons and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every year so he can fed more also tol d us that the northern part of his country has many mountains and it is much coler than here in the south,where it is fl though the fl at delta made it easi er for us to cycl e. we got warm very qui we drank l ots of water and ate lots of bananas. Son the del ta separated into ni ne smal er ri vers. Two days later,after we had passed thousands of ri ce fiel ds,we came to the sea. We were tired but also in high spirits: our dream to cycle al ong the Mekong River had finaly e true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happening i n the countri si de of northest there days the water i n