【正文】 t about how far we had already travelled.We will reach Dali in Yunnan Province soon, where our cousins Dao Wei and Yu Hang will join us. We can hardly wait to see them! Unit 4 EarthquakesA NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN39。Reading and discussingJOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONGPART 2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINSAlthough it was autumn, the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet. Our legs were so heavy and cold that they felt like blocks of ice. Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles? That39。而當(dāng)它進(jìn)入東南亞以后，流速減慢，河水變寬慢慢地穿過低谷，到了長(zhǎng)著稻谷的平原。當(dāng)流出中國，流出高地后，湄公河就變寬，變暖了。有時(shí)，這條河形成瀑布進(jìn)入寬闊的峽谷。它穿過深谷時(shí)就變成了急流。我們從圖上可以看到，湄公河源于西藏一座山上的冰川。　　在我們旅行前的幾個(gè)月，王薇和我去了圖書館。我非常了解我的姐姐，她一旦下了決心，就什么也不能使她改變。當(dāng)我告訴她我們的旅行將從5000多米的的高地出發(fā)時(shí)，她似乎顯得很興奮。于是我告訴她湄公河的源頭在青海省。我老是問她：“我們什么時(shí)候動(dòng)身？什么時(shí)候回來？”我問她是否已經(jīng)看過地圖。盡管她對(duì)到某些地方的最佳路線并不清楚，她卻堅(jiān)持要把這次旅行安排的盡善盡美?，F(xiàn)在，她正為這次旅行制訂計(jì)劃。到大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，我們終于有了作一次騎車旅行的機(jī)會(huì)。他們是傣族人，在云南省西部靠近瀾滄江的地方長(zhǎng)大，湄公河在中國境內(nèi)的這一段叫瀾滄江，流經(jīng)其他國家后就叫湄公河。兩年前，她買了一輛價(jià)錢昂貴的山地自行車，然后她還說服我也買了一輛。t care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined look—the kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.　　Several months before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier on a Tibetan mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It bees rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river bees a waterfall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and the high altitude,the Mekong bees wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea.沿湄公河而下的旅行第一部分 夢(mèng)想與計(jì)劃　　我的名字叫王坤。t?！疽馑枷嗤脑~】subway←→underground （地鐵）righthand side←→right （右邊）street←→block 街道，街區(qū)第三單元Travel journalJOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN　　My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, Where are we going? It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip.I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shorting. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn39。艾米：多謝了。讀對(duì)話，然后圈出意思相同的詞。她們計(jì)劃去拜訪艾米的姑媽，并決定乘地鐵去，但是她們找不到最近的地鐵站。雖然許多美國人經(jīng)常搬家，但是他們?nèi)匀荒軌虮鎰e和理解彼此的方言。因此，美國東南部山區(qū)的人同美國西北部的人所說的方言就幾乎相同。住在美國東部山區(qū)的一些人說著比較古老的英語方言。美國英語之所以有這么多的方言是因?yàn)槊绹耸莵碜允澜绺鞯氐木壒省Ｃ绹⒄Z有許多方言，特別是中西部地區(qū)和南部地區(qū)的方言，以及美國黑人和西班牙人的方言。然而，在電視和收音機(jī)里，你也會(huì)聽出 人們?cè)谡f話時(shí)的差異。STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTSWhat is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV and the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who reported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak.When people use words and expressions different form “standard language”, it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because people have e from all over the world.Geography also plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved form one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other’s dialects.什么是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語？是在英國、美國、加拿大、澳大利亞、印度、新西蘭所說的英語嗎？信不信由你，（世界上）沒有什么標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語。當(dāng)今，在中國學(xué)英語的人數(shù)正在快速增加，事實(shí)上，中國可能是學(xué)英語人數(shù)最多的國家。在此期間，英語成了印度政府和教育所用的語言。English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English became the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell.現(xiàn)在英語在南亞地區(qū)也被作為外語或第二語言使用。韋伯斯特出版了《美國英語詞典》。當(dāng)時(shí)，英語的拼寫發(fā)生了兩個(gè)很大的變化：先是塞繆爾英語也就開始在這兩個(gè)國家使用。所以到17世紀(jì)初的時(shí)候，莎士比亞能夠得以使用比以往任何時(shí)候都豐富的詞匯。后來，大約在公元800年至1150年之間，英語慢慢變得不那么像德語，因?yàn)榻y(tǒng)治英格蘭的那些人開始是說丹麥語，后來說法語。開始，英格蘭人在大約公元450年到1150年之間所說的英語與我們今天所說的英語很不一樣。請(qǐng)看看這個(gè)例子：英國人貝蒂：來看看我的公寓嗎？美國人艾米：好的，我來看看你的公寓吧。今天，把英語作為自己的第一語言、第二語言或外語來使用的人比以往任何時(shí)候都多。幾乎所有這些講英語的人都住在英格蘭。如果你用英語寫日記的話，還可以幫助你提高