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Unit 1 Festivals around the world
FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS
Festivals and
celebrations of all kinds have been held
everywhere since
ancient times. Most ancient
festivals would celebrate the end of cold
weather, planting in spring and harvest in
autumn. Sometimes
celebrations would be held
after hunters had caught animals. At that time
people would starve if food was difficult to
find, especially during the
cold winter
months. Today’s festivals have many origins, some
religious,
some seasonal, and some for special
people or events.
Festivals of the dead
Some festivals are held to honour the dead or
to satisfy the ancestors,
who might return
either to help or to do harm. For the Japanese
festival
Obon, people should go to clean
graves and light incense in memory of
their
ancestors. They also light lamps and play music
because they think
that will lead the
ancestors back to earth. In Mexico, people
celebrate the
Day of the Dead in early
November. On this important feast day, people
eat food in the shape of skulls and cakes with
“bones” on them. They
offer food, flowers and
gifts to the dead. The Western holiday Halloween
also had its origin in old beliefs about the
return of the spirits of dead
people. It is
now a children’s festival, when they can dress up
and go to
their neighbours’ homes to ask for
sweets. If the neighbours do not give
any
sweets, the children might play a trick on them.
Festivals to Honour People
Festivals can
also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon
Boat
Festival in China honours the famous
ancient poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA,
Columbus
Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher
Columbus in
the New World. India has a
national festival on October 2 to honour
Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain
India’s independence
from Britain.
Harvest
Festivals
Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals
can be very happy events. People are
grateful
because their food is gathered for the winter and
the agricultural
work is over. In European
countries, people will usually decorate
churches and town halls with flowers and
fruit, and will get together to
have
meals. Some people might win awards for their farm
produce, like
the biggest watermelon or the
most handsome rooster. China and Japan
have
mid-autumn festivals when people admire the moon
and in China
enjoy moon-cakes.
Spring
Festivals
The most energetic and important
festivals are the ones that look forward
to
the end of winter and to the coming of spring. At
the Spring Festival in
China, people eat
dumplings, fish and meat and may give children
lucky
money in red paper. There are dragon
dances and carnivals, and families
celebrate
the Lunar New Year together. Some Western
countries have
very exciting carnivals, which
take place forty days before Easter,
usually
in February. These carnivals might include
parades, dancing in
the streets day and night,
loud music and colourful clothing of al kinds.
Easter is an important religious and social
festival for Christians around
the world. It
celebrates the return of Jesus from the dead and
the coming
of spring and new life. Japan’s
Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little
later. The country, covered with cherry tree
flowers, looks as though it is
covered with
pink snow.
People love to get together to eat,
drink and have fun with each other.
Festivals
let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and
forget our work
for a little while.
A SAD LOVE STORY
LI
Fang was heart-broken. It was Valentine’s Day and
Hu Jin had said
she would meet him at the
coffee shop after work. But she didn’t turn up.
She could be with her friends right now
laughing at him. She said she
would be there
at seven o’clock, and he thought she would keep
her word.
He had looked forward to meeting her
all day, and now he was alone
with his roses
and chocolates, like a fool. Well, he was not
going to hold
his breath for her to apologize.
He would drown his sadness in coffee.
It was
obvious that the manager of the coffee shop was
waiting for Li
Fang to leave - he wiped the
tables, then sat down and turned on the TV -
just what Li Fang needed! A sad Chinese story
about lost love.
The granddaughter of
the Goddess of Heaven visited the earth. Her
name was Zhinü, the weaving girl. While she
was on earth she met the
herd boy Niulang and
they fell in love. (“Just like me and Hu Jin,”
thought Li Fang.) They got married secretly,
and they were very happy.
(“We could be like
that,” thought Li Fang.) When the Goddess of
Heaven
knew that her granddaughter was married
to a human, she became very
angry and made the
weaving girl return to Heaven. Niu Lang tried to
follow her, but the river of stars, the Milky
Way, stopped him. Finding
that Zhinü was
heart-broken, her grandmother finally decided to
let the
couple cross the Milky Way to meet
once a year. Magpies make a bridge
of their
wings so the couple can cross the river to meet on
the seventh
day of the seventh lunar month.
People in China hope that the weather
will be
fine on that day, because if it is raining, it
means that Zhinü is
weeping and the couple
won’t be able to meet.
The announcer said,
“This is the story of Qiqiao Festival. When
foreigners hear about the story, they call it
a Chinese Valentine’s story.
It’s a fine day
today, so I hope you can call all meet the one you
love.”
As Li Fang set off for home, he
thought, “I guess Hu Jin doesn’t love
me. I’ll
just throw these flowers and chocolates away. I
don’t want them
to remind me of her.” So he
did.
As he sadly passed the tea shop on the
corner on his way home, he
heard a voice
calling him. There was Hu Jin waving at him and
calling,
“Why are you so late? I’ve been
waiting for you for a long time! And I
have a
gift for you!”
What would he do? He had
thrown away her Valentine gifts! She
would
never forgive him. This would not be a happy
Valentine’s Day!
Unit 2 Healthy eating
COME AND EAT HERE (I)
Wang Peng sat in
his empty restaurant feeling very frustrated. It
had bee
n a very strange morning. Usually he
got up early and prepared his menu
of
barbecued mutton kebabs, roast pork, stir-fried
vegetables and fried ric
e. Then by lunchtime
they would all be sold. By now his restaurant
ought
to be full of people. But not today! Why
was that? What could have hap
pened? He
thought of his mutton, beef and bacon cooked in
the hottest, fi
nest oil. His cola was sugary
and cold, and his ice cream was made of mil
k,
cream and delicious fruit. “Nothing could be
better,” he thought. Su
ddenly he saw his
friend Li Chang hurrying by. “Hello, Lao Li,” he
cal
led. “Your usual?” But Li Chang seemed not
to hear. What was the ma
tter? Something
terrible must have happened if Li Chang was not
coming
to eat in his restaurant as he always
did.
Wang Peng followed Li Chang into a new
small restaurant. He saw a sig
n at the door.
Tired of all that fat? Want to lose weight?
Come inside Yong Hui's slimming restaurant.
Only slimming foods served here.
Make
yourself thin again!
Curiosity drove Wang
Peng inside. It was full of people. The hostess, a
very thin lady, came forward. “Welcome,” she
said. “My name is Yo
ng Hui. I’ll help you lose
weight and be fit in two weeks if you eat here
e
very day.” Then she gave a menu to Wang Peng.
There were few choice
s of food and drink on
it: just rice, raw vegetables served in vinegar,
fruit
and water. Wang Peng was amazed at this
and especially at the prices. It
cost more
than a good meal in his restaurant! He could not
believe his ey
es. He threw down the menu and
hurried outside. On his way home he th
ought
about his own menu. Did it make people fat?
Perhaps he should go
to the library and find
out. He could not have Yong Hui getting away
wit
h telling people lies! He had better do
some research!
At the library Wang Peng was
surprised to find that his restaurant served
far too much fat and Yong Hui’s far too little.
Even though her customer
s might get thin after
eating Yong Hui’s food, they were not eating
enoug
h energy-giving food to keep them fit.
They would become tired very qui
ckly. Wang
Peng felt more hopeful as he drove back home.
Perhaps with
a discount and a new sign he
could win his customers back. So he wrote:
Want to feel fit and energetic?
Come and
eat here! Discounts today! Our food gives you
energy all day
! The competition between the
two restaurants was on!
COME
AND EAT HERE (II)
A week later,
Wang Peng’s restaurant was nearly full and he felt
happi
er. Perhaps he would be able to earn his
living after all and not have to cl
ose his
restaurant. He did not look forward to being in
debt because his r
estaurant was no longer
popular. He smiled as he welcomed some
custom
ers warmly at the door but the smile
left his face when he saw Yong Hui
walking in.
She did not look happy but glared at him. “May I
ask what
you were doing in my restaurant the
other day? I thought you were a new
customer
and now I know that you only came to spy on me and
my men
u,” she shouted. “Please excuse me,” he
calmly explained, “I wante
d to know where all
my customers had gone last week. I followed one of
them and found them in your restaurant. I
don’t want to upset you, but I f
ound your menu
so limited that I stopped worrying and started
advertisin
g the benefits of my food. Why don’t
you sit down and try a meal?”
Yong Hui
agreed to stay and soon they were both enjoying
dumplings a
nd breast of chicken cooked with
garlic. When they were served the ice c
ream,
Yong Hui began to look ill. “I feel sick with all
this fat and heavy
food,” she said, “I miss my
vegetables and fruit.” Wang Peng was enj
oying
a second plate of dumplings so he sighed. “Yes,”
he added, “an
d I would miss my dumplings and
fatty pork. Don,t you get tired quickly
?”
“Well, I do have to rest a lot,” admitted Yong
Hui. “But don’t yo
u think it would be better
if you were a bit thinner? I’m sure you’d feel
m
uch healthier.”
They began to talk
about menus and balanced diets. “According to my
research, neither your restaurant nor mine
offers a balanced diet,” expla
ined Wang Peng.
“I don’t offer enough fibre and you don’t offer
enough
body-building and energy-giving food.
Perhaps we ought to combine our
ideas and
provide a balanced menu with food full of energy
and fibre.”
So that is what they did. They
served raw vegetables with the hamburger
s and
boiled the potatoes rather than fried them. They
served fresh fruit w
ith the ice cream. In this
way they cut down the fat and increased
thefibre
in the meal. Their balanced diets
became such a success that before long
Wang
Peng became slimmer and Yong Hui put on more
weight. After so
me time the two found that
their business cooperation had turned into a
p
ersonal one. Finally they got married and
live happily ever after.
Unit 3 The Million Pound Bank Note
THE
MILLION POUND BANK NOTE
Act I, Scene 3
NARRATOR: It is the summer of 1903. Two old
and wealthy brothers,
Roderick and Oliver,
have made a bet. Oliver believes that with a
million
pound bank note a man could survive a
month in London. His brother
Roderick doubts
it. At this moment, they see a penniless young man
wandering on the pavement outside their house.
It is Henry Adams, an
American businessman,
who is lost in London and does not know what
he should do.
RODERICK: Young man, would
you step inside a moment, please?
HENRY: Who?
Me, sir?
RODERICK: Yes, you.
OLIVER:
Through the front door on your left.
HENRY:
(a servant opens a door) Thanks.
SERVANT:
Good morning, sir. Would you please come in?
Permit me
to lead the way, sir.
OLIVER:
(Henry enters) Thank you, James. That will be all.
RODERICK: How do you do, Mr … er …?
HENRY: Adams. Henry Adams.
OLIVER:
Come and sit down, Mr Adams.
HENRY: Thank
you.
RODERICK: Your are an American?
HENRY: That’s right, from San Francisco.
RODERICK: How well do you know London?
HENRY: Not at all. It’s my first trip
here.
RODERICK: I wonder, Mr Adams, if you
mind us asking a few
questions?
HENRY:
Not at all. Go right ahead.
RODERICK: May we
ask what you’re doing in this country and what
your plans are?
HENRY: Well, I can’t
say that I have any plans. I’m hoping to find
work. As a matter of fact, I landed in
Britain by accident.
RODERICK: How is
that possible?
HENRY: Well, you see, back
home I have my own boat. About a
month ago, I
was sailing out of the bay
…
(his eyes
stare at what is left of the brothers’ dinner
on the table)
OLIVER: Well, go on.
HENRY: Oh, yes. Well, towards nightfall I
found myself carried out
to sea by a strong
wind. It was all my fault. I didn’t
know
whether I could survive until morning. The next
morning I’d just about given myself up for
lost when I
was spotted by a ship.
OLIVER:
And it was the ship that brought you to England.
HENRY: Yes. The fact is that I earned my
passage by working as an
unpaid hand, which
accounts for my appearance. I went to
the
American embassy to seek help, but … (the
brothers
smile at each other)
RODERICK:
Well, you mustn’t worry about that. It’s an
advantage.
HENRY: I’m afraid I don’t quite
follow you, sir.
RODERICK: Tell us, Mr Adams,
what sort of work did you do in
America?
HENRY: I worked for a mining company.
Could you offer me some
kind of work here?
RODERICK: Patience, Mr Adams. If you don’t
mind, may I ask how
much money you have?
HENRY: Well, to be honest, I have none.
RODERICK: (happily) What luck! Brother, what
luck! (claps his hands
together)
HENRY:
Well, it may seem lucky to you but not to me! On
the
contrary, in fact. If this is your idea
of some kind of joke,
I don’t think it’s very
funny. (Henry stands up to leave)
Now if
you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll be on my way.
RODERICK: Please don’t go Mr Adams. You
mustn’t think we don’t
care about you. Oliver,
give him the letter.
OLIVER: Yes, the
letter. (gets it from a desk and gives it to Henry
like a gift) The letter.
HENRY:
(taking it carefully) For me?
RODERICK: For
you. (Henry starts to open it) Oh, no, you mustn’t
open it. Not yet. You can’t open it until two
o’clock.
HENRY: Oh, this is silly.
RODERICK: Not silly. There’s money in it.
(calls to the servant)
James?
HENRY:
Oh, no. I don’t want your charity. I just want an
honest
job.
RODERICK: We know you’re
hard-working. That’s why we have given
you the
letter. James, show Mr Adams out.
OLIVER:
Good luck, Mr Adams.
HENRY: Well, why
don’t you explain what this is all about?
RODERICK: You’ll soon know. (looks at the
clock) In exactly an hour
and a half.
SERVANT: This way, sir.
RODERICK: Mr
Adams, not until 2 o’clock. Promise?
HENRY:
Promise. Goodbye.
Act I, Scene 4
(Outside a restaurant Henry looks at the
envelope without opening it and
decide to go
in. He sits down at a table next to the front
window.)
OWNER: (seeing Henry’s poor
appearance) That one’s reserved. This
way,
please. (to the waiter) Take this gentleman’s
order, Horace.
HENRY: (after sitting down
and putting the letter on the table) I’d
like
some ham and eggs and a nice big steak. Make it
extra thick. I’d also
like a cup of coffee and
a pineapple dessert.
WAITER: Right, sir. I’m
afraid it’ll cost a large amount of money.
HENRY: I understand. And i’ll have a large
glass of beer.
WAITER: OK. (The waiter leaves
and soon returns with all the food.)
HOSTESS:
My goodness! Why, look at him. He eats like a
wolf.
OWNER: We’ll see if he’s clever as a
wolf, eh?
HENRY: (having just finished every
bit of food) Ah, waiter. (the waiter
returns)
Same thing again, please. Oh, and another beer.
WAITER: Again? Everything?
HENRY:
Yes, that’s right. (sees the look on the waiter’s
face) Anything
wrong?
WAITER: No, not at
all. (to the owner) He’s asked for more of the
same.
OWNER: Well, it is well-known that
Americans like to eat a lot. Well,
we’ll have
to take a chance. Go ahead and let him have it.
WAITER: (reading the bill after the meal) All
right. That’s two orders of
ham and eggs, two
extra thick steaks, two large glasses of beer, two
cups
of coffee and two desserts.
HENRY:
(looking at the clock on the wall) Would you mind
waiting just
a few minutes?
WAITER: (in a
rude manner) What’s there to wait for?
OWNER:
All right, Horace. I’ll take care of this.
HENRY: (to the owner) That was a wonderful
meal. It’s amazing how
much pleasure you get
out of the simple things in life, especially if
you
can’t have them for a while.
OWNER:
Yes, very interesting. Now perhaps, sir, if you
pay your bill I
can help the other customers.
HENRY: (looking at the clock on the wall
again) Well, I see it’s two
o’clock. (he opens
the envelope and holds a million pound bank note
in
his hands. Henry is surprised but the owner
and the waiter are shocked)
I’m very sorry.
But … I … I don’t have anything smaller.
OWNER: (still shocked and nervous) Well, … er
… just one moment.
Maggie, look! (the hostess
screams, the other customers look at her and
she puts a hand to her mouth) Do you think
it’s genuine?
HOSTESS: Oh, dear, I don’t know.
I simply don’t know.
OWNER: Well, I did hear
that the Bank of England had issued two notes
in this amount … Anyway, I don’t think it’s a
fake. People would pay
too much attention to a
bank note of this amount. No thief would want
that to happen.
HOSTESS: But he’s in
rags!
OWNER: Perhaps he’s a very strange, rich
man. (as if he has discovered
something for
the first time) Why, yes! That must be it!
HOSTESS: (hits her husband’s arm) And you put
him in the back of the
restaurant! Go and see
him at once.
OWNER: (to Henry) I’m so
sorry, sir, so sorry, but I cannot change this
bank note.
HENRY: But it’s all I have on
me.
OWNER: Oh, please, don’t worry, sir.
Doesn’t matter at all. We’re so
very glad that
you even entered our little eating place. Indeed,
sir, I hope
you’ll come here whenever you
like.
HENRY: Well, that’s very kind of you.
OWNER: Kind, sir? No, it’s kind of you. You
must come whenever you
want and have whatever
you like. Just having you sit here is a great
honour! As for the bill, sir, please forget
it.
HENRY: Forget it? Well … thank you very
much. That’s very nice of
you.
OWNER: Oh,
it’s for us to thank you, sir and I do, sir, from
the bottom
of my heart. (The owner, the
hostess and the waiter all bow as Henry
leaves.)
Unit 4 Astronomy: the
science of the stars
HOW LIFE
BEGAN ON THE EARTH
No one knows exactly how
the earth began, as it happened so long ago.
However, according to a widely accepted
theory, the universe began with
a “Big Bang”
that threw matter in all directions. After that,
atoms began
to form and combine to create
stars and other bodies.
For several billion
years after the “Big Bang”, the earth was still
just a
cloud of dust. What it was to become
was uncertain until between 4.5
and 3.8
billion years ago when the dust settled into a
solid globe. The
earth became so violent that
it was not clear whether the shape would last
or not. It exploded loudly with fire and rock.
They were in time to
produce carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, water vapour and other gases, which
were to make the earth’s atmosphere. What is
even more important is that
as the earth
cooled down, water began to appear on its surface.
Water had also appeared on other planets
like Mars but, unlike the
earth, it had
disappeared later. It was not immediately obvious
that water
was to be fundamental to the
development of life. What many scientists
believe is that the continued presence of
water allowed the earth to
dissolve harmful
gases and acids into the oceans and seas. This
produced
a chain reaction, which made
it possible for life to develop.
Many
millions of years later, the first extremely small
plants began to
appear on the surface of the
water. They multiplied and filled the oceans
and seas with oxygen, which encouraged the
later development of early
shellfish and all
sorts of fish. Next, green plants began to grow on
land.
They were followed in time by land
animals. Some were insects. Others,
called
amphibians, were able to live on land as well as
in the water. Later
when the plants grew into
forests, reptiles appeared for the first time.
They produced young generally by laying eggs.
After that, some huge
animals, called
dinosaurs, developed. They laid eggs too and
existed on
the earth for more than 140 million
years. However, 65 million years ago
the age
of the dinosaurs ended. Why they suddenly
disappeared still
remains a mystery. This
disappearance made possible the rise of
mammals on the earth. These animals were
different from all life forms
in the past,
because they gave birth to young baby animals and
produced
milk to feed them.
Finally
about 2.6 million years ago some small clever
animals, now
with hands and feet, appeared and
spread all over the earth. Thus they
have, in
their turn, become the most important animals on
the planet. But
they are not looking after the
earth very well. They are putting too much
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which
prevents heat from escaping
from the earth
into space. As a result of this, many scientists
believe the
earth may become too hot to live
on. So whether life will continue on the
earth
for millions of years to come will depend on
whether this problem
can be solved.
A VISIT TO THE MOON
Last month I was lucky
enough to have a chance to make a trip into
space with my friend Li Yanping, an
astronomer. We visited the moon in
our
spaceship!
Before we left, Li Yanping
explained to me that the force of gravity
would change three times on our journey and
that the first change would
be the most
powerful. Then we were off. As the rocket rose
into the air,
we were pushed back into our
seats because we were trying to escape the
pull of the earth’s gravity. It was so hard
that we could not say anything
to each
other. Gradually the weight lessened and I was
able to talk to him.
“Why is the spaceship not
falling back to the earth? On the earth if I fall
from a tree I will fall to the ground.” I
asked. “We are too far from the
earth now to
feel its pull,” he explained, “so we feel as if no
gravity at all.
When we get closer to the
moon, we shall feel its gravity pulling us, but
it will not be as strong a pull as the
earth’s.” I cheered up immediately
and floated
weightlessly around in our spaceship cabin
watching the
earth become smaller and the moon
larger.
When we got there, I wanted to
explore immediately. “Come on,” I
said. “If
you are right, my weight will be less than on the
earth because
the moon is smaller and I will
be able to move more freely. I might even
grow
taller if I stay here long enough. I shall
certainly weigh less!” I
laughed and climbed
down the steps from the spaceship. But when I
tried
to step forward. I found I was carried
twice as far as on the earth and fell
over.
“Oh dear,” I cried, “walking does need a bit of
practice now that
gravity has changed.” After
a while I got the hang of it and we began to
enjoy ourselves.
Leaving the moon’s
gravity was not as painful as leaving the earth’s.
But returning to the earth was very
frightening. We watched, amazed as
fire broke
out on the outside of the spaceship as the earth’s
gravity
increased. Again we were pushed hard
into our seats as we came back to
land. “That
was very exhausting but very exciting too,” I
said. “Now I
know much more about gravity! Do
you think we could visit some stars
next
time?” “Of course,” he smiled, “which star would
you like to go
to?”
Unit 5 CANADA- “THE
TRUE NORTH”
A TRIP ON “THE TRUE
NORTH”
Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian were
on a trip to Canada to visit their
cousins in
Montreal on the Atlantic coast. Rather than take
the aeroplane
all the way, they decided to fly
to Vancouver and then take the train from
west
to east across Canada. The thought that they could
cross the whole
continent was exciting.
Their friend, Danny Lin, was waiting at the
airport. He was going to
take them and their
baggage to catch “The True North”, the cross-
Canada
train. On the way to the
station, he chatted about their trip. “You’re
going
to see some great scenery. Going
eastward, you’ll pass mountains and
thousands
of lakes and forests, as well as wide rivers and
large cities.
Some people have the idea that
you can cross Canada in less than five
days,
but they forget the fact that Canada is 5,500
kilometres from coast
to coast. Here in
Vancouver, you’re in Canada’s warmest part. People
say
it is Canada’s most popular cities to live
in. Its population is increasing
rapidly. The
coast north of Vancouver has some of the oldest
and most
beautiful forests in the world. It is
so wet there that the trees are
extremely
tall, some measuring over 90 metres.”
That
afternoon aboard the train, the cousins settled
down in their seats.
Earlier that day, when
they crossed the Rocky Mountains, they managed
to catch sight of some mountain goats and even
a grizzly bear and an
eagle. Their next stop
was Calgary, which is famous for the Calgary
Stampede. Cowboys from all over the world come
to compete in the
Stampede. Many of them have
a gift for riding wild horses and can win
thousands of dollars in prizes.
After
two days’ travel, the girls began to realize that
Canada is quite
empty. At school, they had
learned that most Canadians live within a few
hundred kilometres of the USA border, and
Canada’s population is only
slightly over
thirty million, but now they were amazed to see
such an
empty country. They went through a
wheat-growing province and saw
farms that
covered thousands of acres. After dinner, they
were back in an
urban area, the busy port city
of Thunder Bay at the top of the Great
Lakes.
The girls were surprised at the fact that ocean
ships can sail up the
Great Lakes. Because of
the Great Lakes, they learned, Canada has more
fresh water than any other country in the
world. In fact, it has one-third
of the
world’s total fresh water, and much of it is in
the Great Lakes.
That night as they slept,
the train rushed across the top of Lake
Superior, through the great forests and
southward towards Toronto.
“THE TRUE NORTH” FROM TORONTO TO MONTREAL
The
next morning the bushes and maple trees outside
their windows were
red, gold and
orange, and there was frost on the ground,
confirming that
fall had arrived in Canada.
Around noon they arrived in Toronto, the
biggest and most wealthy
city in Canada. They
were not leaving for Montreal until later, so they
went on a tour of the city. They went up the
tall CN Tower and looked
across the lake. In
the distance, they could see the misty cloud that
rose
from the great Niagara Falls, which is on
the south side of the lake. The
water flows
into the Niagara River and over the falls on its
way to the
sea.
They saw the covered
stadium, home of several famous basketball
teams. As they walked north from the harbour
area, Li Daiyu said, “Lin
Fei, one of my
mother’s old schoolmates, lives here. I should
phone her
from a telephone booth.”
They
met Lin Fei around dusk in downtown Chinatown, one
of the
three in Toronto. Over dinner at a
restaurant called The Pink Pearl, the
cousins
chatted with Lin Fei, who had moved to Canada many
years
earlier. “We can get good Cantonese food
here,” Lin Fei told them,
“because most of the
Chinese people here come from South China,
especially Hong Kong. It’s too bad you can’t
go as far as Ottawa,
Canada’s capital. It’s
approximately four hundred kilometres northeast of
Toronto, so it would take too long.”
The
train left late that night and arrived in Montreal
at dawn the next
morning. At the station,
people everywhere were speaking French. There
were signs and ads in French, but some of them
had English words in
smaller letters. “We
don’t leave until this evening,” said Liu Qian.
“Let’s
go downtown. Old Montreal is close to
the water.” They spent the
afternoon in lovely
shops and visiting artists in their workplaces
beside
the water. As they sat in a buffet
restaurant looking over the broad St
Lawrence
River, a young man sat down with them.
“Hello, my name is Henri. I’m a student at the
university nearby,” he
said, “and I was
wondering where you are from.” The girls told him
they
were on a train trip across Canada and
that they had only one day in
Montreal.
“That’s too bad,” he said. “Montreal is a city
with wonderful
restaurants and clubs. Most of
us speak both English and French, but the
city has French culture and traditions.
We love good coffee, good bread
and good
music.”
That night as the train was
speeding along the St Lawrence River
toward
the Gulf of St Lawrence and down to the distant
east coast, the
cousins dreamed of French
restaurants and red maple leaves.