[00:12.49]lesson 13 1. Read and act
[00:18.86]Many people think that dragons are not real.
[00:23.90]Do you believe in dragons? I'm not sure.
[00:28.94]What do you mean?
[00:31.97]Well,dragons seem mysterious and wonderful.
[00:37.62]So,I'd like to think they are real.
[00:41.67]Don't you agree?
[00:44.70]I didn't before but I do now.
[00:49.24]Why is that?
[00:52.30]I saw a story about dragons on television.
[00:57.57]What kind of show was it?
[01:01.83]It was a nature show.All the stories were about nature.
[01:08.08]Where do the dragons live?
[01:11.92]On two islands in the South Pacific.
[01:16.64]Do they live in jungles?
[01:20.43]No,they live in a hot,dry place with a few palm trees.
[01:27.38]Are they friendly to people?
[01:31.22]No.You must be very careful when you are near them.
[01:37.07]I see.you know,my grandmother says that dragons lived in China long,long ago.
[01:45.93]Really? How about you? Do you think she's right?
[01:52.09]I'm not sure. Dragons were important in ancient China.
[02:01.65]Lesson 14
[02:04.81]2. Read The Dragons of Komodo
[02:10.38] The sound of Li Hua's heart was nearly as loud as the waves of the sea.
[02:16.23]She was so excited that she couldn't speak.
[02:20.90]She wasn't deeply afraid like her mother.
[02:24.95]She had decided to be brave like her father.
[02:29.92]Mr Li was sitting quietly in the boat.
[02:34.57]He saw the island getting bigger and bigger.
[02:39.11]At last,they reached the beach.
[02:42.87]Tian Fend,their tour guide,got out of the boat first.
[02:48.75]Then she helped the others to get out.
[02:52.59]Li Hua jumped out.
[02:55.65]Although there was a village on the island,
[02:59.91]nobody was there to give them a warm welcome.
[03:04.58]Before she left the holiday town of Bali,
[03:09.26]Li Hua looked at a map of eastern Indonesia.
[03:14.40]She saw that the Island of Komodo is small:
[03:19.26]no more than 280 square kilometres.
[03:24.62]It lies between two larger islands.
[03:29.48]It has many hills but little grass.
[03:33.92]Li Hua read that Komodo is a very dry and hot place most of the year.
[03:41.57]From the beach,only a few palm trees could be seen here and there.
[03:47.94]But where were the dragons?
[03:51.39]Li Hua was eager to see dragons.
[03:55.62]Tian Feng told her to be patient.
[03:59.67]They ate a quick lunch,drank some water,and began to hike.
[04:06.15]After a while,they came to some bushes.
[04:10.91]Tian Feng suddenly stopped.
[04:14.35]Listen! Li Hua didn't hear anything.
[04:18.59]Look! She looked but saw nothing.
[04:22.64]The sun was shining very brightly,
[04:26.48]so Li Hua put her hands over her eyes to see better.
[04:32.04] From behind the bushes something was moving.
[04:36.30]It was huge!
[04:39.14]It was more than one metre high and nearly three metres long.
[04:44.89]Mr Li guessed it must weigh about 140 kilos.
[04:50.53]Its yellow tongue was long and moved very quickly.
[04:56.10]So this was a real dragon!
[04:59.94]Just then Tian Feng told everyone not to move.
[05:05.08]However,the dragon didn't notice them.
[05:09.73]It was looking at something else.
[05:13.57]Nearby,Li Hua saw a deer.
[05:17.52]It seemed to be ill and fell to the ground.
[05:22.98]In the next moment,the dragon was running to the deer.
[05:27.84]It made a quick bite in the deer's leg and it was a poisonous bite.
[05:34.50]Soon other dragons came running to the deer,too.
[05:39.46]While they were eating,the larger dragons kept pushing the smaller ones away.
[05:46.02]Some of the small dragons were less than one metre long
[05:50.88]and no more than 20 kilos.
[05:54.74]These little ones had to wait to eat.
[05:58.69]All dragons have very sharp teeth.
[06:02.95]Li Hua closed her eyes.
[06:07.02]When she opened them several minutes later,she didn't see any of the deer left |