【正文】 te an earl y supper and went to see a great tem pl e wi th floors m ade of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group slept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycli ng i n the hil ls had been di ffcuil t. N ow our coui ns had the chance to m ake jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d, they were the strong ones!We had l unch at a ni ce 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 trip that Vi etnam has al most seven ti mes the popul ati on of Cambodi a. We met a farmer who gave us directions and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four ti mes every year so he can feed more people. He al so told us that the northern part of hi s country has m any mountai ns and i t is much cooler than here in the south,where i t i s though the flat del ta made i t easier for us to cycl got warm very quickl we drank lots of water and ate lots of the del ta separated i nto nine smal ler ri days l ater,after we had pased thousands of rice fields, we came to the sea. We were tired but al so in high spi rits:our dream to cycl e along the Mekong Ri ver had final ly e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happening in the countrisi de of northest H there days the water in the vi l age wel ls rose and fel l, rose and fel .Farmers noticed that the wel l wal s had deep cracks i n them. A sm el y gas came out of the cracks. In the farmeryards, the chi ckens and even the pi gs were too nervous to eat. mice ran out of the fiel ds looki ng for places to hi jumped out of their bowl s and about 3:00am on July 28,1976, som e people saw bri ght l ights in the sound of the planes could be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought li ttl e of these events, were asleep as usual that night. At3: 42 am everything began to shake. It seemed as i f the worl d was at an end!Eleven ki lometres di rectly below the city the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t i n Bei ji ng, whi ch i s m ore thantwo hundred ki l om etres Engl ishm an, Wil l i ve i n the m ountai ns of the eastern USA speak wi th an ol der kind of Engl i sh dial 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 m ountai ns i n the southeastern USA speak with alm ost the sam e di alects as people i n the northwestern USA. The USA i s a large country i n whi ch m any di fferent di alects are spoken. Al though m any Am eri cans m ove a l ot, they stil l recogni ze and understand each other’s dialects. TH E O XFO RD EN GLISH DICTION ARY You may thi nk that Engl i sh dicti onari es have been used for m any, m any centuri es. The spel i ng of Engl i sh has al ways been a probl em but it 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 m ight fi nd i t interesti ng. But i t m ade readi ng Engl i sh m uch m ore di fficul t. So di ctionari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spel the sam e. In fact, an Engli sh di cti onary l ike the ki nd you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionaries: Sam uel Johnson, N oah Webster, and Jam es Muray. These men spent nearl y al l of thei r l ives trying to col l ect words for thei r dicti onaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 my 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 l oked at a m ap yet. Of 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 their di al ects wi th them . So peopl e from the m ountai ns i n the southeastern USA speak wi th alm ost the sam e di al ects as peopl e i n the northwestern USA. The USA i s a l arge country i n whi ch many di fferent di al ects are spoken. Al though m any Am eri cans m ove a l ot, they stil l recogni ze and understand each other’s dialects. TH E O XFO RD EN GLISH DICTION ARY You m ay 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 been a probl em but it 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 m i ght fi nd i t i nteresti ng. But i t m ade readi ng Engli sh m uch m ore di fi cul t. So di cti onari es were i nvented to encourage everybody to spel l the sam e. In fact, an Engli sh di cti onary li ke the ki nd you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionari es: Sam uel Johnson, N oah Webster, and Jam es Murray. These m en spent nearl y al of thei r li ves tryi ng to col ect words for their di ctionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is the O xford Engl ish Dicti onary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s di ctionary cam e from an im portant m eeti ng in Bri tai n i n 1857. Twentytwo years l ater, O xford Uni versi ty asked Jam es Murray to be the edi tor of its new di ctionary. Muray had never been to col l ege. At the age of fourteen, he l eft hi s vil l age schol i n Scotl and and taught him sel f whi l 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 bui lt i n the garden behi nd hi s house to do hi s work. Part of i t was one m eter underground. In wi nter i t fel t l i ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put hi s fet i n a box to keep warm. Every morning