【正文】 t, dri nk and have fun wi th each other. Festi val s l et us enjoy l ife, be proud of our custom s and fet ou work for a li ttl e whi le. A Sad Love Story Li Fang was heartbroken. It was Val eti ne’s Day and H u Ji n had sai d she woul d meet him at the coffee shop after work. But she di dn’t turn up. She coul d be wi th her fri ends ri ght now laughing at hi m. She sai d she woul d be there at seven o’ cl ock, and he thought she woul d keep her word. H e had l ooked forward to meeti ng her al day, and now he was al on with hi s roses and chocol ates, l i ke a fool. Wel , he ws not goi ng to hol d his breath for her to apol ogi ze. H e woul d drown hi s sadnes i n coffee. It was obvi ous that the m anager of the coffee shop was wai ti ng for Li Fang to l eave – 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 randdaughter of the Goddess of H eaven vi si ted the earth. H er nam e was Zhi nu, the weavi ng fi rl. Whi le she was on earth she m et the herd boy Ni ul ang and they fel l in l ove. ( “ Just li ke m e and H u Ji n,” thought Li Fang. ) They got m arri ed secretl y, and they were very happy. (“We coul d be l i ke that, “ thought Li Fang.) When the Goddess of Heaven knew that her granddaughter was m arri ed to a hum an, she becam e very angry and m ade the weavi ng gi rl return to H eaven. Ni ul ang tri ed to fol l ow her, but the ri ver of stars, the Mil ky Way, stopped him . Fi ndi ng that Zhi nu was heartbroken, her grandmother fi nal l y deci ded to l et the coupl e cross the Mi lky Way to m eet once a year. Magi pi es m ake a bri dge of thei r wi ngs so the coupl e can cross the river to m eet on the seventh day of the senveth lunar 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, i t m eans that zhi nu i s weepi ng and the coupl e won’t be abl e to m eet. The announcer sai d, “ Thi s i s the story of Qi qiao Festi val. When forei gners hear about the story they cal l i t a Chi nese Val enti ne’s story. It’s a fine day today, so I hope you can al m eet the one you l ove.” As Li Fang set off for home, he thought , “ I guess H u Ji n doesn’t l ove m e. I’ just throw these fl owers and chocolates away. I don’t want them to rem i nd m e of her. ” So he di d. As he sadly passed the tea shop on the corner on hi s wasy hom e, he heard a voi ce cal li ng him. There was H uji n wavi ng at him and cal li ng, “Why are you so late? I’ve been waiti ng for you for a l ong ti m e! An I have a gi ft for you!” What woul d he do? He had thrown away her Valentine fi ges! She woul d never fi ve hi m. Thi s woul d not be a happy Bal enti ne’s Day! Wi nter Carni val i n Quebec A group of very col d tourists are si ti ng i n a cafe i n ol d Quevec, dri nki ng hor coffee to try to warm up. The tem perature i s 32 degres bel ow freezi ng. The wi ndows are cobered wi th steam from the heat i nsi de. O utsi de, snow covers the streets and i s pil ed up al ong the si dewal ks. The musi c and li ghts of the Carni val conti nue, but after a whol e day of watchi ng parades, ri di ng i n horse carri ages and l i steni ng to the musi c, their feet are freezi ng and thei r noses are red. Every year, hundreds of thousands of peopl e e to Quebec to take part i n the weell ong winter festi val , the bi ggest i n the worl d. Everyone who es m ust be prepared to keep m ovi ng. As i t i s too col d to stand and watch for l ong. Earl y i n the morning, you can watch the snowboardi ng petiti ons on the hil l overl ooki ng the ri ver. Competitors 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 si x m en paddl e each canoe acros the partl yfrozen St Lawrence Ri ver. The ri ver i s ful of bi g pi eces of i ce, and i f you were to fal i n, you would freze i n l es than two m i nutes. O n of the favourite events i s the dogsl ed race, i n whi ch team s of about si x husky dogs pl l l ong sl eds at great speeds al ong a snowy track. O ne person runs behi nd 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 m ake an exci ti ng N othern experi ence. The dogs are beauti ful strong anim al s, wi th l ong, thi ck fur and many wi th bl ue eyes. Whil e admi ri ng the i ce scul ptures ecerywhere i n the ci ty, m uch l i ke those i n H arbi n i n Chi na, you can stop wi th other tourists i n an i gl oo for hot tea or coffee. It is am azi ng how warm these i ce howses can be! Late i n the eveni ng, 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 l dresed i n heavy cl othes – even som e thei r i nstrum ents are dressed up for wi nter. Fi nal ly, you wi l probabl y want to si t down i n a cafe wo warm up an to pl an tom orrow. You m i ght joi n the snowm obil e races – or m aybe you shoul d just sl ep i n! Unit 2 COME AND EAT H ERE (1) Wang Peng sat i n hi s em pty restaurant feli ng very frustrated. It had been a very strange m orni ng. Usual l y he got up earl y and prepared hi s m enu of barbecued m utton kebabs, roast pork, stirfri 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 people. But not today! Why was that? What coul d have happened? H e thought of hi s m utton, bef and bacon cooked i n the hottest, fi nest oi l. His col a was sugary and col d, and his ice cream was made of milk, cream and del icious fruit. “Nothing coul d be beter,” he thought. Suddenl y he saw his friend Li Chang hurying by. “Hel lo, Lao Li,” he cal led, “Your usual ?” But Li Chang seemed not to hear. What was the matter? Something 目 錄 第一章 總 論 ........................