1、Journey Down the Mekong在湄公河下来的旅程PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLANMy 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 cousi
2、ns, 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 college, we final
3、ly 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.1.dream of /about 梦想，梦见 +n. /代词/动名词dream a good/bad drea
4、m 做了一个好梦、噩梦realize ones dream 实现某人的梦想ones dream comes true 某人的梦想得以实现第 1 部分梦想和计划 我的名字叫王昆。自从中学起我妹妹王薇和我就一直梦想着进行一次伟大的自行车旅行。两年前她买了一个很贵的山地车，然后她说服我买一辆。去年她看望我们的表兄弟在昆明读大学的刀伟和宇航。它们是傣族人，在云南西部靠近澜沧江的地方长大，湄公河在中国境内的这一段叫澜沧江，在其他国家中称为湄公河。王薇很快让他们对骑自行车旅行产生了兴趣。大学毕业后我们终于有机会骑自行车旅行了。 我问我的妹妹“我们要去哪呢？ “ 首先想到从起始位置到它的结束位置沿整个湄公河
5、流域骑行的想法的人是我妹妹。现在她正在安排我们这次的旅行时间表。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, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “
6、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 the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe kind that said she would not change her m
7、ind. 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 m
8、ind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in. 2.insist on/upon (doing) sth 坚持（做）某事insist that(should) do 坚决要求，坚持eg. My mother insisted that I (should) clean my room first.我喜欢我的妹妹，但她有一个严重的缺点。她有时候会非常固执。虽然她对去某些地方的最佳路线并不清楚，她却坚持把这次旅行安排的尽善尽美。现在我知道最佳路线就是她的路线。我一直问她：“我们什么时候出发?什么时候回来？”我问她是否已经看过地图了。当然
9、她没有。我的妹妹不考虑细节。 所以我告诉她的湄公河源头是青海省。 她给了我坚定的眼神 这眼神是表明她不会改变主意的那种。当我告诉她我们的旅程将开始在 5000 多米的高度时，她看起来很兴奋。当我告诉她，空气会呼吸困难，会很冷时，她说这是一个很有趣的经历。我很了解我的妹妹。一旦她下了决心，没有什么可以改变它的。 最后，我不得不屈服。 Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas(地图) with good maps that showed details of
10、world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier（冰河，冰川） on a Tibetan(西藏的) mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It becomes rapids（急流） as it passes through deep valleys（山谷）, travelling across wester
11、n Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a waterfall（瀑布） 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（海拔，高度）,the Mekong becomes wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes
12、 wide bends（弯，拐角） or meanders（蜿蜒缓慢流动） through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta（三角洲） enters the South China Sea.在我们旅行前的几个月，我和王微去了图书馆。我们找到了一本大的地图册，里面有一些详细的世界地理信息的。从地图册上，我们可以看到湄公河源于青海省一座山上的冰川。 起初，河很小，河水是清澈而冰冷。然后，它开始快速流动。 穿过深山谷，它就变成为急流，流经云南省西部。有时，这条河变成一个瀑布，进入宽阔的峡谷。我们两人都惊奇的发现，这条河有一半是在中国。它流出中国，流出高地之后，湄公河就变宽变暖了，河水也变成了褐色。进入东南亚以后，它的速度就慢下来了。河水蜿蜒缓慢的穿过低谷，流向长着稻谷的平原。最后，湄公河三角洲的各支流流入中国南海。
