端午節的這一天One the day of Dragon Boat Festival

今天是端午節。 Today is the Dragon Boat Festival.

划龍舟比賽在河邊舉行。

The dragon boat regatta will be held at the riverside.

中中和許多同學代表學校參加比賽，

Zhong-Zhong and many schoolmates represent their school in the competition.

張老師是他們的教練。

Teacher Zhang as their coach.

參加比賽的學校很多，

There are many schools participating in the regatta.

許多家長和同學都來加油，

Many parents and classmates came to cheer for their school teams.

河邊到處都是人非常熱鬧。

The riverside is packed with people and bustling with noise and excitement.

比賽開始了！

The race begins!

運動員在龍舟上，

Athletes sat on the dragon boats,

跟著鼓聲的節拍喊一二三！一二三！

Follow the beat of the drum and shout one, two, three! one two three!

他們用力的向前划。

They rowed forward vigorously(with all their might).

每條龍舟都划得很快！

Every dragon boat rows very fast!(moves quickly)

在河邊看比賽的人，緊張得大聲叫：

People watching the race on the river bank are so nervous so they shout:

加油！加油！快追！快追！

Go! Go! come on! come on! Chase! Chase! Faster! Faster!

結果，中中這一隊得到小學組冠軍。

As a result(In the end), Zhong-Zhong’s school team comes in first place at the primary school level.

大家跑過去向他們祝賀說：恭喜！你們好棒啊！

Everyone ran over to congratulate them and said: Congratulations! You guys are awesome!

大家高高興興地坐下來吃粽子。

Everyone happily(cheerfully) sat down to eat rice dumplings.

張老師說：吃粽子是紀念愛國詩人屈原，

Teacher Zhang said: Eating rice dumplings commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

今天也是詩人節。

Today is also Poet’s Day.

青青拿出許多香包分給大家。

Qingqing bring out many fragrant sachets and distributed them to everyone.

他說：這是我外婆和我做的。

She said: My grandma and I made these.

有草藥的香味，很好聞。

The herbs inside make them smell really nice (It has an herbal scent, which is nice.)

張老師說：每年夏季，端午節一過，天氣就很熱了。

Teacher Zhang said: Every summer, after the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather gets very hot.

戴香包，掛艾草是為了防蟲。

Wearing fragrant sachets and hanging calamus upside down on the front door are ancient traditions to prevent insects.

友友說：我爺爺已經把艾草掛在我們家的大門上了，

Friends said: My grandfather has hung calamus on our front door already,

他說毒蟲不敢靠近艾草！

He said poisonous insects are afraid to be near calamus!

中中说：太好了，下星期露营，
Zhongzhong said: Great, on the camping trip next week.

我要把很多香包和艾草都掛在身上，

I want to hang a lot of fragrant sachets and calamus on my body,

這樣就不怕蚊蟲來咬我了。

This way I won’t be afraid of mosquitoes or insect biting me.

明明笑著說：那就像稻草人啦！

Mingming smiled and said: Then you are just like a scarecrow!

假如你站在玉米田裡，鳥就不敢來吃玉米了！

If you stand in a cornfield, birds will not dare to eat the corn!

大家都笑了起來。

Everyone laughs.

北極星和指南針North star and compass

春假的時候，青青全家到山上露營。During spring break, Qingqing’s family went camping in the mountains.

吃完晚飯，爸爸、媽媽和青青一邊談天，一邊看天上的星星。After dinner, dad, mom and Qingqing were chatting while looking at the stars in the sky.

爸爸指著天空說：看！Milky Way，中文叫什麼？叫牛奶路嗎？

Dad pointed to the sky and said: Look! Milky Way, what is it called in Chinese?Is it called Milk Road right?

媽媽笑著說：不對！叫銀河.No, it’s called the silver river. Said Mom laughing.

媽媽說：他像一條閃閃發銀光的河，裡面有數不清的星星。Mom said: He is like a sparkling silver river (shimmering river) filled with countless stars in it.

爸爸說：這個名字取得很有道理。Dad said: This name makes sense to me.

媽媽又說：看！靠近北方天空有七顆星，排成鬥的樣子，叫北鬥七星，就是Big Dipper它的右上方就是北極星了。

Mom said again: Look! Near the northern sky seven stars line up like a dipper, It is the Big Dipper, which is called the NorthDipper in Chinese. On the upper right is the North Star.

爸爸說：青青，你知道嗎？北極星永遠在北極的上方，它在地球的正北方，英文叫North Star又叫Polaris。

Dad said: Qingqing, do you know? Polaris is always above the North Pole. It is in the true north of the earth. It is called North Star or Polaris in English.

青青說：老師說，如果迷路，找到北極星就能知道方向。Qingqing said: The teacher said that if you get lost, you can know the direction by finding the North Star.

爸爸，古代的人只靠北极星任方向吗？Dad, did people in ancient times only rely on the North Star to determine their direction?

爸爸回答：不是，他們靠指南針認方向。Dad replied: No, they rely on the compass to know the direction.

指南針就是compass它是兩千多年前中國人發明的。The compass is a compass, which was invented by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago.因為有指南針，所以中國古代的人，不怕到很遠的地方去;

Because of the compass, people in ancient China were not afraid to travel to faraway lands.

船在海上走，也不會迷失方向，後來指南針經過絲路，傳到亞洲其他國家和歐洲去。 世界的海運才發達起來。ships would not lose their way while traveling on the sea. Later, the compass spread to other Asian countries and Europe through the Silk Road. The world’s maritime transport has just developed.

青青說：真有趣！Qingqing said: How interesting! That’s really fascinating!

爸爸拿出一個指南針。他說：你看，裡面這根針，白色指南，紅色指北。 很有趣吧！

He said: Look, the white end of the needle inside points to the south, and the red end points to the north. Very interesting!

爸爸說：明天清早，我們全家去山上探險吧！Dad suggested: Early tomorrow morning, let’s go exploring in the mountains as a family!

青青拍拍手說：好極了，我們一定要帶著它。Qingqing clapped her hands and said: Marvelous!( Great,) we must take it. Be sure to bring the compass.

夏季運動會Summer Sport Games

今年的夏季運動會在州立大學舉行。

This year’s summer sport games are held at State University.

我們校車開到那裡的時候，

When our school bus arrived there,

看臺上已經是人山人海了。

The stands were already packed with people.(filled with huge crowds of people.

八點半比賽正式開始。

The game officially starts at half past eight.

At eight thirty AM, the competition officially began.

有跳高、跳远、赛跑、拔河等等，

There are high jumps, long jumps, running races, tug-of-war, etc.

場面十分熱鬧。

A bustling scene with noise and excitement. (The scene was very lively.)

唐國舟是少年足球隊的隊員，他跑得很快。

Tang Guozhou is a member of the youth soccer team and he can run very fast.

今天他參加一千米長跑。

He took part in the one-thousand-meter race today.

一開始他跑在最前面，

At first, he was running at the head of the pack,

其他的運動員遠遠地落在後頭。

While other athletes lag fell far behind.

忽然，唐國舟跌倒了，

All of a sudden, Tang Guozhou fell down.

啊！後面的幾個人追過了他。

ah! Those who were behind caught up to and went past him.

我們在場外緊張地大叫：

We nervously shouted from the sidelines:

「唐國舟快跑！」「唐國舟加油！」

“Tang Guozhou, run!”  “Come on, Tang Guozhou

果然，他很快地爬起來又向前面跑去。

Sure enough, he quickly got up and continued running forward.

結果唐國舟得了亞軍，

As a result(In the end), Tang Guozhou won the second place.

我們都跑過去向他祝賀。

We all ran over to congratulate him.