【正文】 than take the aeropl ane al l the way, they deci ded to fl y to Vancouver and then take the trai n west to east across Canada. The though that they coul d cross the whol e continent was exci ti ng. Thei r fri end, Danny Li n, was waiti ng at the ai rport. H e was goi ng to take them and thei r baggage to catch “The True N orth”, the cross Canada trai n. O n the way to the stati i on, he chatted about thei r tri p. “You’re goi ng to see som e great scenery. Goi ng eastward, you’l l pass m ountai ns and thousands of l akes and forests, as wel l as wi de ri vers and l arge ci ti es. Som e peopl e have the i dea that you can cross Canda i n l ess than fi ce days, but they fet the fact that Canada i s 5500 kil om eters from coast to coast. H ere i n Vancouver, you’re in Canada’s warm est part. Peopl e say i t is Canada’s m ost beauti ful ci ty, surrounded by m ountai ns and the Pacifi c O cean. Ski i ng in the Rocky Mountai ns and sail ing i n the harbour make Vancouver one of Canada’s m ost popular ci ti es to l ive i n. Its popul ati on is i ncreasi ng rapi dly. The coast north of Vancouver has som e of the ol dest and m ost beauti ful forests i n the worl d. It i s so wet there that the trees are extrem el y tal l, som e m easuri ng over 90 m etres.” That afternoon aboard the trai n, the cousi ns settl ed down i n thei r seats. Earli er that day, when they crossed the Rocky Mountai ns, they m anaged to catch si ght of som e m ountain goats and even a gri zzly bear and an eagle. Thei r next stop was Cal gary, which i s fam ous for the Cal gary Stam pede. Cowboys from al l over the worl d e to pete i n the Stam pede. Many of them have a gi ft for ri di ng wi ld horses and can win thousands of dol ars in pri zes. After two days’ travel, the gi rls began to real ize that Canada i s quite em pty. At school, they had learned that most Canadians li ve wi thi n a few hundred kil om etres of the USA border, and Canada’s popul ati on i s onl y sl ightly over thi rty m il li on, but now they were am azed to see such an em pty country. They went through a wheatgrowing provi nce and saw farm s that covered thousands of acres. Afrer di nner, they were back i n an urban area, the busy port ci ty of Thunder Bay at the top of the Great Lakes. Because of the Great Lakes, they learned, Canada has m ore fresh water than any other country i n the worl d. In fact, i t has onethi rd of the worl d’s total fresh water, and m uch of it i s i n the Great Lakes. That ni ght as they sl ept, the train rushed across the top of Lake Superi or, through the great forests and southward towads Toronto. “The True North” from Toronto to Montreal The next m orni ng the bushes and m apl e trees outsi de thei r wi ndow were red, gol d and orange, and there was frost on the ground, confi rmi ng that fal had ari ved in Canada. Around noon they arri ved i n Toronto, the bi ggest and m ost wealthy ci ty in Canada. They were not l eavi ng for Montreal unti l later, so they went on a tour of the ci ty. They went up the tal CN Tower and looked across the l ake. In the di stance, they coul d see the Mi sty cl oud that rose from the great N iagara Fal s, whi ch i s on the south si de of the l ake. The water fl ows i nto the Ni agara Ri ver and over the fal s on i ts way to the sea. They saw the covered stadi um, hom e of several fam ous basketbal teams. As they wal ked north from the harbour area, Li Dai yu sai d, “Li n Fang, one of m y m other’s ol d schoolm ates, li ves here. I shoul d phone her from a tel ephone booth. ” They m et Li n Fei around dusk i n downtown Chi natown, one of the three i n Toronto. O ver di nner at a restaurant cal ed The Pi nk Pearl , the cousi ns chatted with Li n Fei, who had m oved to Canada m any years earl i er. “We can get good Cantonese food here,” Li n Fei tol d them , “ because m ost of the Chi nese peopl e here e from South Chi na, especi al y H ong Kong. It’s too bad you can’t go as far as O tawa, Canada’s capi tal . It’s approxi matel y four hundred ki lom eters northeast of Toronto, so i t woul d take too long.” The trai n l eft l ate that ni ght and ari ved in Montreal at dawn the next m orni ng. At the stati on, peopl e everywhere were speaki ng French. There were si ghs and ads i n French, but som e of them had Engli sh words i n sm al er l etters. “We don39。t l eave until thi s eveni ng, ” sai d Li u Qi an. “Let’s go downtown. Old Montreal i s close to the water. ” They spent the afternoon i n l ovel y shops and visi ting artists i n their workplaces beside the water. As they sat in a Buffet restaurant looking over the broad St Lawrence River, a young man sat down wi th them . “H el lo, m y name i s Henri. I’m a student at the uni versity nearby,” he said,” and I was wonderi ng where you are from.” The girl s told him they were on a trp across Canada and that they had onl y on day in Montreal. “That39。a chance to make a tri p i nto space wi th m y friend Li Yanpi ng, an astronom er. We vi si ted the m oon i n our spaceshi p! Before we l eave, Li Yanping expl ai ned to m e that the forece of the gravi ty woul d change three ti m es on our journey and that the fi rst change woul d be the m ost powerful . Then we were off. As the rocket rose i nto the ai r, we were pushed back i nto our seats because we were tryi ng to escape the pul of the earth’s gravi ty. It was so hard that we coul d not say anythi ng to each other. Gradual y the wei ght l essened and I was abl e to tal k to hi m. “ Why i s the spaceshi p not fal i ng back to the earth? O n the earth i f I fal l from a tree I wil l fal l to ground. ” I asked. “ We are too far from the earth now to feel i ts pul, “ he expl ai ned, “ so we feel as i f there is no gravi ty at al. When we get cl oser to the m oon, we shal feel its gravity pul i ng us, but i t wi l not be as strong a pul l as the earth’s. “ I cheered up imm edi atel y and fl oated wei