Ch3-The Sleeping Dragon

The Sleeping Dragon Oh, brother, thought Jack, hurrying after Annie. By the time he entered the bike shop, she was already talking with the man who worked there. "Good news!" Annie said, rushing over to Jack. "He says we can get to the panda center on mountain bikes! And it's only thirty yuan a day per bike!" "Did he say how long it takes to get there?" asked Jack. "Not too long," said Annie. She clapped her hands. Her eyes were shining. "Jack! I can't believe this!" Annie was so excited about the panda center that Jack just couldn't say no. He reached into his pocket and took out three twenty-yuan notes and gave them to the shopkeeper. The man handed Jack and Annie their helmets. "It's a beautiful ride up the mountain, but be very

哦，兄弟，杰克想，急忙跟在安妮后面。 当他走进自行车店时，她已经在和那里的工作人员交谈了。 “好消息!”安妮说着，冲到杰克跟前。 “他说我们可以骑山地自行车去熊猫中心！”而且一辆自行车一天只要30元！”“他说到那里需要多长时间了吗？”杰克问。 “不会太久，”安妮说。 她拍了拍手。她的眼睛闪闪发光。 “杰克!我简直不敢相信！”安妮对熊猫中心太兴奋了，杰克无法拒绝。 他把手伸进口袋，掏出三张20元的钞票给了店主。 那人把头盔递给杰克和安妮。 “爬山很美，但要非常

careful," he said as Annie put her helmet on. "Thanks! See you later!" said Annie. She grabbed a blue mountain bike and steered it out of the store. "Be very careful!" the man called after her again. Very careful of what? wondered Jack. But tucking his helmet under his arm, he grabbed a red bike and followed Annie. "So the bike guy told me to go up this street and turn left onto the highway," Annie said. "Then we just stay on it until we come to the panda center." "Cool. How far away is it?" asked Jack as he put on his helmet. He snapped the strap under his chin. "Not far, just five or six miles," said Annie. "What?" said Jack. "Don't worry, we can do it. Easy." Annie pushed off and pedaled away. "To panda paradise!" she shouted, zooming up the street. "Five or six miles," muttered Jack. "Up a mountain. Great." He got on his bike and followed Annie. She reached the end of the street and turned left onto the highway. Jack hurried to catch

小心点，”他说，这时安妮戴上了头盔。 “谢谢!再见！”安妮说。 她抓起一辆蓝色的山地车，把它开出了商店。 “小心点！”那人又在她身后喊道。 非常小心什么？杰克想知道。 但他把头盔夹在腋下，抓起一辆红色的自行车跟着安妮。 “骑自行车的人告诉我沿着这条街走，然后左转上高速公路，”安妮说。 “然后我们就一直呆在上面，直到我们来到熊猫中心。” “酷。有多远？”杰克戴上头盔问。 他啪地一声把皮带扣在下巴下面。 “不远，只有五六英里，”安妮说。 “什么？”杰克说。“别担心，我们能做到。 容易。”安妮下车，蹬着车走了。 “去熊猫乐园！”她喊道，沿着街道疾驰而过。 “五六英里。”杰克喃喃地说。 “在一座山上。好了。”他骑上自行车跟着安妮。 她走到街的尽头，左转上了高速公路。 杰克急忙赶过去

up. As he pedaled up the highway, he glanced at the scenery. On one side of the road was a steep mountain slope. It was covered with fir trees and bushes with purple and pink flowers. On the other side of the road was a steep drop down into a river valley. The river sparkled with sunlight as it rushed through green farmland. More cloud-covered mountains loomed in the distance.

向上。当他在高速公路上骑车时，他瞥了一眼风景。 路的一边是陡峭的山坡。 它被冷杉树和开着紫色和粉红色花朵的灌木丛覆盖着。 在路的另一边，有一个陡峭的斜坡，直通河谷。 这条河穿过绿色的农田时，阳光闪闪发光。 更多的云雾笼罩的山脉隐约出现在远处。

A blue bus suddenly roared past. Jack almost lost his balance. "Good grief!" he said. "That was close!" Then a car that looked like a taxi flew by. "This is definitely not safe!" Jack said aloud. How could he have let Annie talk him into riding bikes on a highway? They should have taken a bus or a taxi, or better yet, not gone at all! "Annie!" Jack shouted. She was so far ahead that he could barely see her. "Annie!" Jack yelled again as loudly as he could. "Slow down! Annie! Slow down!" Annie rounded a sharp curve and disappeared from sight. Jack stood up on his pedals and pumped with all his might. He imagined Annie veering into the path of a vehicle or driving off the cliff! When Jack finally came around the curve, he saw Annie up ahead, waiting beside the road. A big grin lit up her face. "Thank goodness, you're okay!" she called. "I was worried about you!" Jack rode to her and stopped his bike. "This road isn't safe, you know," said Annie. "You're telling me?" said Jack, panting.

一辆蓝色的公共汽车突然呼啸而过。 杰克几乎失去了平衡。 “天哪！”他说。“好险啊！”然后，一辆看起来像出租车的汽车飞驰而过。 “这绝对不安全！”杰克大声说。 他怎么能让安妮说服他在高速公路上骑自行车呢？ 他们应该坐公共汽车或出租车，或者更好的是，根本不去！“安妮!”杰克喊道。 她走在前面很远，他几乎看不见她。 “安妮!”杰克又尽可能大声地喊了一声。 “慢!安妮!慢下来!”安妮拐了个急转弯，就不见了。 杰克踩着踏板站起来，用尽全身力气踩着油门。 他想象着安妮突然冲进一辆车的车道上，或者开车掉下悬崖！当杰克终于绕过弯道时，他看见安妮在前面，在路边等着。 她的脸上露出灿烂的笑容。 “谢天谢地，你没事！”她喊道。 “我很担心你！”杰克骑向她，停了下来。 “你知道，这条路不安全，”安妮说。 “你在告诉我？”杰克气喘吁吁地说。

"But I can understand how that dragon felt. Can't you?" said Annie. "It's so beautiful!" Jack caught his breath and looked around. "Yeah, it is," he said. "But how much farther do we have to go? We can't forget about our mission." "I don't think it's much farther. Come on, we'll hurry," said Annie. She climbed back onto her bike. "I'll go first," said Jack. "Let's stay together and keep as close as we can to the side of the road. I'm serious, Annie." He gripped his handlebars and started pedaling again. Leading the way, Jack hugged the side of the road. He glanced back a couple of times to make sure Annie was doing the same. As they struggled uphill, huffing and puffing, a light rain started to fall. Mist gradually descended over the valley and the highway as they biked higher and higher up the mountain. More vehicles roared by, but Jack tried to ignore them. He couldn't believe they were biking up a mountain on a Chinese highway in foggy weather!

“但我能理解那条龙的感受。 你不能吗？”安妮说。“太美了！”杰克屏住呼吸，环顾四周。 “是啊，”他说。“但是我们还要走多远呢？” 我们不能忘记我们的使命。” “我觉得不会再远了。 来吧，我们要快点，”安妮说。 她爬回到自行车上。 “我先去，”杰克说。 “让我们呆在一起，尽可能靠近路边。 我是认真的，安妮。”他抓住车把，又开始蹬车。 杰克抱着路边领路。 他回头看了几次，以确保安妮也在做同样的事情。 当他们气喘吁吁地挣扎着上山时，下起了小雨。 当他们向山上越骑越高时，薄雾逐渐笼罩了山谷和公路。 更多的车辆呼啸而过，但杰克试图无视它们。 他简直不敢相信他们在大雾天气里在中国的高速公路上骑车上山！

Finally Jack and Annie came to a sign that said: CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE GIANT PANDA "Yay! We're here!" said Annie. The rain had stopped. Jack was wet, exhausted, and out of breath. "I hope you're—you're happy," he said. Annie gave Jack a big smile. "I am," she said. "Totally." The panda center was nestled between two tall mountains. It was on the far side of a narrow river. A small bridge crossed the river to the entrance gate. Near the gate a group of grown-ups was waiting to go inside. Jack and Annie rode to the parking lot and parked their bikes next to a small blue bus. They took off their helmets and hung them from their handlebars. "Oh, no!" cried Annie. She pointed to the panda center sign. At the bottom it said:

最后，杰克和安妮来到一块牌子前，上面写着：大熊猫保护与研究中心。我们来了！”安妮说。 雨停了。杰克浑身湿透，筋疲力尽，上气不接下气。 “我希望你——你是幸福的，”他说。 安妮给了杰克一个大大的微笑。 “是的，”她说。“完全”。 熊猫中心坐落在两座高山之间。 它在一条狭窄河流的另一边。 一座小桥横跨河到大门。 在大门附近，一群成年人正等着进去。 杰克和安妮骑到停车场，把自行车停在一辆蓝色的小公共汽车旁边。 他们摘下头盔，挂在车把上。 “哦，不！”安妮叫道。她指着熊猫中心的招牌。 下面写着：