I , will Fly High

Lesson 1

                                          The Dull Ice Flower                               Jinni

在BBC網站上看到他們介紹台灣的天氣, 感覺很有趣 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/country_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT002880

Taiwan is an independent state not recognized as such by the government of mainland China. It consists of an island rather larger than Wales or the state of Vermont, situated between 22° and 25°N and lying about 160 km/100 miles off the coast of China. It is mountainous and rugged with the highest peak rising to over 4,000 m/13,000 ft.

The whole island shares the tropical monsoon climate experienced on the southern Chinese mainland. Rainfall almost everywhere is over 2,000 mm/80in a year at low levels and much more in the mountains. More rain falls in the period May to September than in the rest of the year. Some of the heaviest falls of rain from July to September are brought by the typhoons of the South China Sea. As they move northwards towards Japan they bring strong winds and heavy rain to the whole island.

In winter, disturbed weather with cloud and rain affects the north and east coasts rather more than the south. This can be seen by comparing the table for Taipei, in the north, with that for Hengch'un in the extreme south. Taipei not only has more rain in winter but on many more days.

The summer heat is made more oppressive by high humidity so that at low levels some days can be distinctly unpleasant. The winter and spring weather of Taiwan, however, can be very pleasant. The north of the island has a cooler winter than the south.

The climate is quite sunny for much of the year, with sunshine hours averaging six hours a day in winter to seven or eight in summer. These amounts are much reduced in the cloudy wetter hills.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA

David Weinlick, 28 and still single, was sick and tired of the question "When are you going to get married? " So he set a date for his wedding--June 13--and began to get ready for it. He handed out wedding invatations, got a tuxedo and bought the wedding rings.

There was only one problem : David didn't have a bride. He wasn't even going out with anyone! So he began to organize a bridal contest. It would take place on June 13 at a shopping mall, and he would marry the winner immediately afterwards. He invited his friends and relatives to come and choose the perfect wife for him. Some people thought he was out of his mind, but only his father refused the invitatation. " I think a bridal contest makes light of something serious ," he said.

On June 13, the wedding day, 25 single women showed up at the mall. David's friends interviewed the women and then they voted. The winner was Elizabeth Runze, who, like David, is a student at the University of Minnesota. Moments later, Eliazbeth and David tied the knot. The lucky bride was flying high. " This is the most increible day of my life, " Eliabeth told the crowd of friends, shoppers, and reports.
David is happy too. He and his new bride have hit it off. "She is marvelous," he says.