【正文】 word i n di fferent ways whi ch you mi ght fi nd it i nteresti ng. But i t made readi ng Engl i sh m uch m ore di ffi cult. So di cti onari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spel the sam e. In fact, an Engli sh di cti onary like the kind you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the im portant earl y work on di cti onari es: Sam uel Johnson, N oah Webster, and James Murray. These m en spent nearl y al l of their l i ves tryi ng to col l ect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 m y si ster doesn39。t know the best way of getti ng to pl aces, she i nsi sted that she ani ze the tri p properl y. N ow, I know that the proper way is 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 looked at a m ap yet. O f course, she hadn39。l i ve in the m ountai ns of the eastern USA speak with an ol der ki nd of Engli sh di al ect. When Am eri cans m oved from one pl ace to another, they took thei r di al ects wi th them. So peopl e from the mountai ns i n the southeastern USA speak with alm ost the sam e di al ects as peopl e i n the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country i n whi ch m any di fferent di alects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other’s dialects. TH E O XFO RD EN GLISH DICTION ARY You may thi nk that Engl i sh di ctionari es have ben used for m any, m any centuri es. The spel i ng of Engl i sh has al ways ben a probl em but i t was m ore of a probl em i n the days before a di cti onary. Then peopl e coul d spel word i n di fferent ways whi ch you mi ght fi nd it i nteresti ng. But i t made readi ng Engl i sh m uch m ore di ffi cult. So di cti onari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spel the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late 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 James Murray. These m en spent nearl y al l of their lives trying to collect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The l argest di cti onary in the worl d i s the O xford Engl i sh Di cti onary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s di ctionary cam e from an im portant m eti ng i n Bri tai n i n 1857. Twentytwo years l ater, O xford Uni versi ty asked Jam es Muray to be the editor of i ts new di cti onary. Murray had never been to col ege. At the age of fourteen, he left hi s vil age school i n Scotl and and taught hi msel f whil e worki ng i n a bank. Later he becam e a great teacher. After O xford gave him the job, Murray had a pl ace buil t i n the garden behind hi s house to do hi s work. Part of i t was one m eter underground. In wi nter i t fel t li ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o’clock and worked several hours before breakfast. O ften he woul d work by the candl e li ght i nto the eveni ng. Murray hoped to fi nish the new di cti onary i n ten years. But after fi ve years, he was stil l adding words for the letter A! then others went to work wi th Murray, i ncl udi ng hi s two daughters. H e worked on the di cti onary unti l he was very ol d. Fortyfour years l ater, in1928, other edi tors fi ni shed i t. It i ncl uded m ore than 15, 000 pages i n twel ve books. And you thought your di cti onary was bi g! Unit 3 JO URNEY DOWN THE M EKO NG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My nam e is Wang Kun. Ever since mi ddl e school , m y si ster Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taki ng a great bi ke tri p. Two years ago she bought an expensi ve mountai n bi ke and then she persuaded m e to buy one. Last year, she vi sited our cousi ns, Dao Wei and Yu H ang at thei r col ege i n Kunm i ng. They are Dai and grew up i n western Yunnan Provi nce near the Lancang Ri ver, the Chi nese part of the ri ver that i s cal l ed the Mekong Ri ver in other countri es. Wang Wei soon got them i nterested i n cycl ing too. After graduati ng from col l ege. we fi nal y got the chance to take a bike tri p. I asked m y si ster, Where are we going? It was m y si ster who fi rst had the i dea to cycl e al ong the entire Mekong Ri ver from where i t begi ns to where i t ends. N ow she is pl anni ng our schedul e for the tri p. I am fond of m y si ster but she has one seri ous short i ng. She can be real y stubborn. Al though she di dn39。t。t care about detail s. So I tol d her that the source of the Mekong i s in Qi nghai Provi nce. She gave m e a determi ned l ook—the ki nd that sai d she woul d not change her mi nd. When I tol d her that our journey woul d begin at an alti tude of m ore than 5, 000 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 it 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 l. O nce she has made up her mi nd, 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 li brary. We found a l arge atl as wi th good m aps that showed detail s of worl d geography. From the atl as we coul d see that the Mekong Ri ver begi ns i n a gl aci er on a Ti betan m ountai n. At fi rst the ri ver i s sm al and the water i s cl ear and col d. Then i t begi ns to m ove qui ckly. It be es rapi ds as i t passes through deep val l eys, travel i ng across western Yunnan Provi nce. Som etim es the ri ver be es a waterfal and enters wi de val eys. We were both surpri sed to l earn that half of the ri ver i s i n Chi na. After it l eaves China and the hi gh al ti tude, the Mekong be es wi de， brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asi a, its pace sl ows. It m akes wi de bends or meanders through l ow val eys to the pl a