【正文】 since mi ddl e school, m y si ster Wang Wei and I have dream ed about taking a great bi ke tri p. Two years ago she bought an expensi ve m ountai n bi ke and then she persuaded m e to buy one. Last year, she vi si ted our cousi ns, Dao Wei and Yu H ang at thei r col ege i n Kunm ing. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Provi nce near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the ri ver that i s cal ed the Mekong River i n other countri es. Wang Wei soon got them i nterested i n cycli ng too. After graduati ng from col ege. we fi nal l y got the chance to take a bi ke tri p. I asked m y si ster, Where are we goi ng? It was m y si ster who first had the i dea to cycl e al ong the entire Mekong River from where it begi ns to where i t ends. N ow she i s pl ani ng our schedul e for the trip. I am fond of my si ster but she has one seri ous shorti ng. She can be real y stubborn. Al though she di dn39。10 Jul y 1942 When we arri ved at Pri nsengracht, we went quickl y upstai rs and the hi di ng pl ace. We cl osed the door behi nd us and we were al one. Margot had e faster on her bi cycl e and already wai ti ng for us. Al the rooms were ful l of boxes. They l ay on the fl or and the beds. The li ttl e room was fi l ed wi th bedcl othes. We had to start cl eari ng up at once, i f we wi shed to sl eep in fortable beds that ni ght. Mum m y and Margot were not abl e to hel p. They were ti red and l ay down on their beds. But Daddy and I, the two “hel per” of the fam il y, started at once. The whol e day we unpacked the boxes, fil l ed the cupboards and ti di ed, unti l we were extrem el y ti red. We di d sl eep i n cl ean beds that night. We hadn’t had any warm food to eat al day, but we didn’t care. Mumm y and Margot were too tired and woried to eat, and Daddy and I were too busy. FRIENDSH IP IN H AWAII Every cul ture has i ts own ways to show fri endshi p. O n the i slands of H awai i, fri endshi p i s part of the “al oha spirit”. In the l anguage of the H awaians who first settl ed the isl ands l ong ago, al oha had a very special m eaning. That is “to be with happiness”. Hawai ans beli eve that once som ebody l oves the l and, they are ready to l ove their peopl e or m uni ty. This is the second m ost im port sign of friendship. It is cal ed l okahi in Hawaian l anguage, which m eans “oneness with all people”. To enjoy the l and you shoul d not be sel fish. The l and is for everyone who l ives on it. Today m any different peopl e cal l Hawai thei r hom e. Indeed, H awai i is a place where peopl e m ake one bi g m uni ty from m any sm al er muniti es. Each person gives kokua (hel p) to other peopl e so that al l fel l stronger. It’s believed that the isl ands can be a paradise when the peopl e l i ve i n peace. Peopl e are tol d that thei r acti ons shoul d be as gentl e as the wind that bl ows from the sea. When probl ems happen, peopl e are asked to sol ve them wi th understandi ng. So when peopl e of H awai talk about ohana (fam il y), they are real y tal ki ng about al l those who li ve on the i slands. Li vi ng i n peace, H awai i ans have devel oped a thi rd si gn of fri endshi p. Thi s personal fri endshi p i s shown by gi vi ng l ei s to one another. The lie, a string of fl owers, is put over a friend’s neck. Then the friend is given a ki ss on cheek. Vi si tors to the i sl ands are al so gi ven l i es. When they hear al oha, vi si tors begi n to feel at hom e. Al oha al so m eans “goodbye”, so visitors wil hear it again when they l eave. It can al so m ean “our hearts singing together”. Perhaps thi s i s how m ost vi si tors wil l rem em ber their new fri endshi p. Uni t 2 TH E RO AD TO MO DERN EN GLISH At the end of the 16th century, about fi ve to seven m il li on peopl e spoke Engli sh. N earl y al of them li ved i n England. Later i n the next century, peopl e from England m ade voyages to conquer other parts of the worl d and because of that, Engli sh begi n to be spoken i n many other countri es. Today, more peopl e speak Engl ish as thei r fi rst, second or a forei gn l anguage than ever before. N ati ve Engl i sh speakers can understand each other even i f they don39。t speak the sam e ki nd of Engli sh. Lok at thi s ki nd of exam pl e: Briti sh Betty: Woul d you l i ke to see m y fl at? Am eri can Am y: Yes. I’d l ike to e up to your apartm ent. So why has Engli sh changed over ti m e? Actual y al l anguages change and devel op when cul tures m eet and m unicate wi th each other. At fi rst the Engli sh spoken i n Engl and between about AD 450 and 150 was very different the Engl i sh spoken today. It was based m ore on Germ an than the Engl ish we speak at present. Then gradual l y between about AD800 to 1150, Engli sh becam e l ess li ke germ en because those who rul ed Engl and spoke fi rst Dani sh and l ater French. These new settlers enriched the Engl ish l anguage and especi al l y its vocabul ary. So by the 1600’s Shakespeare was abl e to m ake use of a wi der vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 som e Bri ti sh settl ers m oved to Am eri can. Later i n the 18th century som e Briti sh peopl e were taken to Austral i a too. Engli sh began to be spoken i n both countri es. Fi nal l y by the 19th century the language was settl ed. At that tim e two bi g changes i n Engli sh spel i ng happened: first Sam uel Johnson wrote his di ctionary and l ater N oah Webster wrote The Am eri can Dicti onary of the Engli sh Language. The latter gave a separate i denti ty to Am eri can Engl i sh spel li ng. Engl ish now is al so spoken as a foreign or second l anguage i n South Asi a. For exam pl e, India has a very l arge num ber of fl uent Engl i sh speakers because Britai n rul ed Indi a from 1765 to 1947. during that tim e Engli sh becam e the l anguage for governm ent and educati on. Engl i sh is al so spoken i n Si ngapore and Mal aysi a and countri es i n Afri ca such as South Afri c