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.

美麗的行星Beautiful Planet

太陽才下山，天邊就升起一顆明亮的星星，

The sun had just gone down, and a bright star rose in the sky.

Just after the sun went down, there rose a bright star on the horizon,

金光閃閃，好看極了！

Glittering gold, so beautiful!

twinkling with golden rays, and so very beautiful!

青青指著那顆星說：「它是金星，太陽的行星。 」

Qingqing pointed to the star and said, “It is Venus, one of the sun’s planet.”

媽媽說：「妳好棒啊！」

Mom complimented, “You are awesome!”

青青說：「我知道六顆行星的中文名字。

Qingqing said: “I know the Chinese names of six planets.

最靠近太陽的是水星，然後排下去就是金星、地球、火星、木星和土星。 」

The planet closest to the sun is Mercury, followed by Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. ”

Followed in order are

媽媽說：「這些星球的名字好記嗎？」

Mom said: “Are the names of these planets easy to remember?”

青青說：「我有個方法，就是記星球的顏色

Qingqing said: “I have a method, which is to remember the color of the planet.

Mercury 看起來像水一樣清叫水星，

Mercury looks like water and is called Mercury. (As clear as water)

Venus 像金子一樣亮叫金星，

Venus is as shiny as gold and is called Venus,

Mars 像火一樣紅叫火星，

Mars is as red as fire and is called Mars,

Jupiter 像木頭的顏色叫木星，

The color of Jupiter is like wood, which is called Jupiter.

Saturn 像土一样黄叫土星。 很有趣吧！」

Saturn is as yellow as dirt (or earth) and is called Saturn. Very interesting (Isn’t that fun)! ”

媽媽說：「嗯！不但有趣，而且很有道理。 」

Mom said, “Yeah! Not only is it interesting, but it also makes sense.”

青青說：「古代的人很會取名字，他們好聰明哦！」Qingqing said: “People in ancient times were very good at naming. They were so smart!”

媽媽笑著說：「妳也很聰明呀！」

Mom smiled and said: “You are also very smart!(So are you)”