1
徐霞客一生周游考察了十六个省，足迹几乎遍及全国。他在考察的过程中，从来不盲目迷信书本上的结论。他发现前人研究地理的记载有许多很不可靠的地方。为了进行真实细致的考察，他很少乘车坐船，几乎全靠双脚翻山越岭，长途跋涉;为了弄清大自然的真相，他总是挑选道路艰险的山区，人迹稀少的森林进行考察，发现了许多奇山秀景;他常常选择不同的时间和季节，多次重游各地名山，反复观察变换的奇景。
Xu Xiake toured and investigated 16 provinces in his lifetime, covering almost the whole of China/ the whole country. When he was carrying out his investigations, he never took blind belief in the conclusions in the books. Instead he found a lot of unreliable points in the geographic records taken by his predecessors. In order to make his investigations reliable and thorough, he seldom traveled by carriage or boat. Instead, he took long, arduous trips on foot almost all the time, climbing mountains and hills. In order to learn about the truth of nature, he always chose to conduct investigations in mountainous areas with dangerous roads and in lonely / untraveled woods, where he discovered a lot of magnificent peaks and beautiful sights.
2
可是我却哭了。哭那陌生的、但却疼爱我的卖灶糖(candy)的老汉。
后来我常想，他为什么疼爱我呢?无非我是个贪吃的、因为丑陋而又少人疼爱的吧。
等我长大以后，总感到除了母亲，再没有谁能够像他那样朴素地疼爱过我——没有任何希求，也没有任何企望的。
我常常想念他，也常常想要找到我那个像猪肚子一样的烟荷包。可是，它早已不知被我丢到哪里去了。
But I cried for the strange old candy peddler who had been so fond of me.
Later on, I wondered why. For no other reason than that I was a foolish little thing who loved candy, with few to love me because of my plain face.
When I glow up, I could never forget that apart from my own mother, no one had loved me so fondly and so disinterestedly, with no expectations whatever.
I often think of him now, and have tried to find that tobacco pouch that had looked like a piece of pork liver. But I don’t know what became of it.
3
多少年来，我养成了一个习惯：每天早晨四点在黎明以前起床工作。我不出去跑步或散步，而是一下床就干活儿。因此我对黎明前的北京的了解是在屋子里感觉到的。我从前在什么报上读过一篇文章，讲黎明时分******广场上的清洁工人。那情景必然是非常动人的，可惜我从未能见到，只是心向往之而已。
For many years, I have been in the habit of getting up before daybreak to start work at four. Instead of going out for a jog or walk, I’ll set about my work as soon as I’m out of bed. As a result, it is from inside my study that I've got the feel of predawn Beijing. Years ago, I hit upon a newspaper article about street cleaners in Tian’anmen Square at daybreak. It must have been a very moving scene, but what a pity I haven’t seen it with my own eyes. I can only picture it in my mind longingly.
4
长沙是一个有3000多年历史的美丽古城。城市的西边是秀美的岳麓山，山下有千年书院“岳麓书院”等众多古迹。市区中心的古城楼天心阁，距今有1000多年的历史。千百年来水质清纯，终年不断的白沙古井也坐落在长沙城中。今天的长沙市民还常常在这里打水饮用。湘江中的橘子洲头，是当年毛泽东先生经常漫步思考的地方，后来还写了一首非常著名的诗来赞美她。
Changsha is a beautiful ancient city with a history of over 3,000 years. West of the city is the beautiful Yuelu Hill, at the foot of the hill, are many historic sites such as Yuelu Academy. In the center of the city is the ancient city gate tower --Tianxin Tower, which was first built 1000 years ago. Also located in the city is the ancient Baisha Well, from which clear and pure water has been gushing out nonstop throughout the year for thousands of years. Inhabitants in Changsha today still come here to fetch water for drinking. Orange Island in the Xiang River was where Mr. Mao Zedong often rambled and meditated. Later he wrote a very famous poem in its praise.
5
洞庭湖是中国第二大淡水湖。洞庭湖畔的岳阳楼，是中国三大名楼中唯一保持原址原貌的国家重点保护文物。岳阳楼所处的位置极好，它屹立于岳阳古城之上，背靠岳阳城，俯瞰洞庭湖，遥对君山岛，北依长江，南通湘江。自古以来，就是人们观光旅游的好地方。
（责任编辑:tysd002）
