1、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 college.we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?“ It was my
2、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 shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didnt know the best way of getting to places
3、, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?“ I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that
4、the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe 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 a
5、nd 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 detai
6、ls 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 becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Provi
7、nce. Sometimes the river becomes 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 becomes wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders t
8、hrough low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea. PART2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS Although 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 r
9、ide bicycles?Thats what we looked like! Along the way children dressed in long wool coats stopped to look at us.In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze.However,the lakes shonelike glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful.Wangwei rode in front of me as usual.Sh
10、e is very reliable and I knew I didnt need to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles. At one point we were so high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. Then we began going down th
11、e hills. It was great fun especially as it gradually became much warmer. In the valleys colourful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eating green grass. At this point we had to change our caps, coats,gloves and trousers for T-shirts and shorts. In the early evening we always s
12、top to make camp.We put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight the sky became clearer and the stars grew brighter. It was so quiet. There was almost no windonly the flames of our fire for company. As I lay
13、beneath the stars I thought 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! PART 6 THE END OF OUR JOUNEY Cambodia was in many ways similar to Laos, although it has twice the popula
14、tion. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldnt read or write. Her village couldnt even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lucky to have studied in college.Back on
15、the road, we passed between many hills and forests. Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia. In many ways it looked like Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh City; it also had wide streets with trees in rows and old French houses.Unlike Vientiane, ships could travel the Mekong
16、 River here.In the center of the city we visited the palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with floors made of sliver. The next morning our group slept late. We were very tired from the lon
17、g bike ride the day before. Cycling in the hills had been diffcuilt.Now our couins had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and me. Perhaps,they said,they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the city. Two days later we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began
18、 to see many more people,but I wasnt surprised .I read in an atlas before our trip that Vietnam has almost seven times the population of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directions and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every year so he can feed more people.He also told us that th
19、e northern part of his country has many mountains and it is much cooler than here in the south,where it is flat.Although the flat delta made it easier for us to cycle.we got warm very quickly.So we drank lots of water and ate lots of bananas.Soon the delta separated into nine smaller rivers.Two days
20、 later,after we had passed thousands of rice fields,we came to the sea. We were tired but also in high spirits:our dream to cycle along the Mekong River had finally come true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDT SLEEP Strange things were happening in the countriside of northest HeBei.For there days the wa
21、ter in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell.Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmeryards,the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat.mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide.fish jumped out of t
22、heir bowls and ponds.At about 3:00am on July 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky.The sound of the planes could be heard outside the city,who thought little of these events,were asleep as usual that night. At3:42 am everything began to shake.It seemed as if the world was at an end!Eleven
23、 kilometres directly below the city the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,which is more thantwo hundred kilometres away. One-third of the nation felt it .A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses,roads and canals.Steam burs
24、t from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme. Tow-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake.Thounds of families were killed and many chidren were left without parents. Th
25、e number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000. But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the citys hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90%of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground li
26、ke red autumn leaves. No wind, however,could below they away. Two dams and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead
27、. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were ha
28、rd to get. People began to wongder how long the disater would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those were trapped and to bury the
29、 dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that
30、people die in earthquakes from falling furniture and bricks. Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in an earthquake area,you should prepare carefully before the earthquake comes. First, make sure you buy a house
31、which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the most important ways of protecting a house. Make sure the building has no breaken windows and
32、 is well repaired. Second ,look at the objects in your house. Those in the living room,which are the most likely to hurt us, are computers, televisions and lamps. They can be tied to tables or them so they wont easily move around. The kitchen, which is also very dangerous, must have strong doors on
33、all the cupboards. This is the place where many small things are stored that might fall down. The water heater should have a case round it too. Windows are special problem. When they break, glass can cause many accidents,. It is better to use safety glass if you can, especially for pictures. Always
34、remember:” It is better to be safe than sorry.” THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS By Jack London Never before in history has a city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing is left of it but memories and some houses far from the centre of the city. Its buniness are gone. The factories,h
35、otelsand palace are all gone too. Within an hour after the earthquake, the smoke of SanFrancios fires could been seen 160 kilometres away. The sun is red in the dark sky. There was no stopping the fires. There was no way to organize or communicate. The steel railway tracks were now useless. And the
36、great pipes for carrying water under the streets had burst. All of the ways man had madeYunnan 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 college.we finally
37、 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 shortcomin
38、g. She can be really stubborn. Although she didnt know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?“ I asked her whether she had looked at a
39、 map yet. Of course, she hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe 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 metre
40、s, 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,Wan
41、g 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
42、becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes 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 becomes wide，brown
43、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. PART2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS Although it was autumn,the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet.Our le
44、gs were so heavy and cold that they felt like blocks of ice.Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles?Thats what we looked like! Along the way children dressed in long wool coats stopped to look at us.In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze.However,the lakes shoneli
45、ke glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful.Wangwei rode in front of me as usual.She is very reliable and I knew I didnt need to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles. At one point we
46、were so high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. Then we began going down the hills. It was great fun especially as it gradually became much warmer. In the valleys colourful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eating green grass. At this point we had to change our c
47、aps, coats,gloves and trousers for T-shirts and shorts. In the early evening we always stop to make camp.We put up our tent and then we eat. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight the sky became clearer and the stars grew brighter. It
48、was so quiet. There was almost no windonly the flames of our fire for company. As I lay beneath the stars I thought 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! PART 6 THE END O
49、F OUR JOUNEY Cambodia was in many ways similar to Laos, although it has twice the population. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who told us that half of the people in her country couldnt read or write. Her village couldnt even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lucky to have studied in college.Back on the road, we passed between many hills and forests. Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambod
