【正文】 e along the enti re Mekong Ri ver from where i t begi ns to where it ends. Now she i s pl anni ng our schedule for the tri p. I am fond of m y si ster but she has one seri ous shorti 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 i n Qi nghai Provi nce. She gave me 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 begi n at an al ti tude of more than 5, 000 m etres, she seem ed to be exci ted about i t. When I tol d her the air woul d be hard to breathe and i t 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 . O nce she has m ade up her mi nd, nothi ng can change it. 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 detai l 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 ountain. At fi rst the ri ver is sm al l and the water i s cl ear and col d. Then i t begi ns to m ove qui ckl y. It be es rapids 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 hal f of the ri ver i s i n Chi na. After i t l eaves Chi na and the hi gh al titude,the Mekong be es wi de， brown and warm. As i t enters Southeast Asi a, i ts pace sl ows. It makes wi de bends or m eanders through l ow val l eys to the plai ns where rice grows. At l ast, the ri ver del ta enters the South Chi na Sea. PART2 A NIGH T IN TH E MOUNTAINS Al though i t was autum n, the snow was al ready begi nni ng to fal i n l egs were so heavy and col d that they fel t l ike bl ocks of ave you ever seen snowmen ride bicycl es?That’s what we l ooked li ke! Al ong the way chi l dren dressed i n l ong wool coats stopped to l ook at us. In the l ate afternoon we found it was so col d that our water botl es froze. However, the l akes shoneli ke gl as i n the setti ng sun and l oked wonderful . Wangwei rode i n front of me as usual. She is very rel iabl e and I knew I didn’t ned to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we l ooked around us, we were surpri sed by the vi ew. We seem ed to be abl e to see for m il es. At one poi nt we were so hi gh that we found oursel ves cycli ng through cl ouds. Then we began goi ng down the hi l s. It was great fun especi al l y as i t gradual y becam e m uch warm er. In the val eys col ourful butterfli es fl ew around us and we saw m any yaks and shep eati ng green grass. At thi s poi nt we had to change our caps, coats, gl oves and trousers for Tshi rts and shorts. In the earl y eveni ng we al ways stop to m ake cam p. We put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pil l ow and went to sl eep but I stayed awake. At mi dni ght the sky becam e cl earer and the stars grew bri ghter. It was so qui et. There was alm ost no wi nd—onl y the flam es of our fi re for pany. As I l ay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had al ready travel ed. We wi l reach Dal i in Yunnan Provi nce soon, where our cousi ns Dao Wei and Yu H ang wil l joi n us. We can hardly wai t to see them! PART 6 TH E END OF OUR JOUNEY Cam bodi a was i n m any ways simi l ar to Laos, al though i t has twi ce the popul ati on. At another i nn, we tal ked with a teacher who tol d us that hal f of the peopl e in her country coul dn’t read or write. H er vil l age coul dn’t even afford to buil d a school, so she had to teach outsi de under a l arge tent. When we sai d goodbye, we al l felt very l ucky to have studi ed i n col ege. Back on the road, we passed between m any hi l s and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ai ns and entered Phnom Penh, the capi tal of Cam bodi a. In many ways i t l ooked li ke Vi enti ane and Ho Chi Mi nh City。 it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the worl d is the O xford Engl ish Di ctionary, or O ED for short. The i dea for thi s di cti onary cam e from an im portant m eeti ng i n Bri tai n i n 1857. Twentytwo years l ater, O xford Uni versity asked Jam es Murray to be the edi tor of i ts new di cti onary. Murray had never been to col ege. At the age of fourten, he l eft hi s vil l 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 behi nd hi s house to do hi s work. Part of i t was one m eter underground. In wi nter i t felt l i ke a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet i n a box to keep warm. Every m orni ng, Muray got out of bed at five o’cl ock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he woul d work by the candl e light into the evening. Murray hoped to fi ni sh the new di cti onary i n ten years. But after fi ve years, he was sti l addi ng words for the l etter 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 until he was very ol d. Fortyfour years l ater, i n1928, other edi tors fi ni shed i t. It i ncl uded m ore than 15, 000 pages i n twelve books. And you thought your di cti onary was bi g! Uni t 3 JO URNEY DO WN THE M EKO NG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My nam e i s Wang Kun. Ever si nce mi ddle school, m y sister Wang Wei and I have dream ed about taki ng a great bi ke trip. 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 sited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu H ang at their col ege i n Kunmi 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 ed the Mekong River i n other countri es. Wang Wei