1 Comprehending 1 Read the passage carfully and answer the following questions. 1 What was Wang Kun and Wang Wei’s idea of a good trip? Their idea was to take a long bike trip. 2 Who planned the trip to the Mekong? Wang Wei planned the trip. 3 Where is the source of the Mekong and which sea does it enter? The source of the river is in Qinhai Province and it enters the South China Sea. 4 What can you see when you travel along the Mekong? You can see the source glacier, rapids, hills, valleys, waterfalls and plains. 5 What difficulties did Wang Kun and Wang Wei find about their journey? The journey will begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, where it is hard to breathe and very cold. 6 What do you think about Wang Kun and Wang Wei? Wang Kun’s character: enthusiastic, critical, sensible Wang Wei’s character: imaginative, organized, eager, persistent, stubborn, risk-taking 2 Look at the following sentences from the text and explain them in your own words. 1 She gave me a determined look – the kind that said that she would not 2 change her mind. She gave me a determined look ⋯ This sentence means that she has decided to do something and will not change her ideas. 2 ⋯ my sister does not care about details. ⋯ details are not important to my sister. This means that she concentrates on the broad outline of the trip but not the particulars: where they will stay, what they will take with them, etc. 3 It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. A meander is a geographical term to describe the snakelike bends that a river makes as it slows down to flow through valleys to the plains. The sentence means that the Mekong...
