Liu Kong is a young boy. He has a dog called Xiao Long. It means “small dragon.” Xiao Long is small, but she is smart and fierce.

Kong’s mother and grandmother are at the kitchen table. They have a big bowl of rice and some long, green leaves.

“Mom,” says Kong. “Can I watch the dragon boat races?”

“First, help your grandmother to make the zongzi,” says Mom. “Then you can watch the races.”

“OK,” says Kong. He sits at the table. Xiao Long sits under the table.

Grandmother picks up a leaf. She puts some rice in the leaf. She puts some beans in the leaf. She ties the leaf with string. She is so fast! Kong tries to make a zongzi. He puts a little rice in the leaf. He drops a lot of rice on the table. Grandmother makes six zongzi. Kong makes one.

Grandmother puts the zongzi in a big pot of water.

“Now, we cook them for six hours,” says Grandmother. “Are you hungry now?”

“Yes,” says Kong. “And I want to watch the races.”

“Take this money,” says Mom. “You can buy zongzi at the lake.”

“Thanks, Mom!” says Kong.

Kong holds Xiao Long. He walks to the lake. There are a lot of dragon boats. Kong buys a zongzi from a woman at a stall. He tries to open it. It is very hot. He gets a lot of sticky rice on his hands. He tries to eat the zongzi, but Xiao Long takes it first. She jumps out of his arms!

The drummers start drumming. The first race starts.

Xiao Long jumps into the first boat! The boat is moving fast. The drumming is loud. Kong runs after the boat.

“Long!” shouts Kong. People think he is cheering for the dragon boats.

“Long, long, long!” they shout back.

Xiao Long runs to the front of the boat. She jumps onto the dragon’s head.

Kong runs faster. Xiao Long’s boat wins! She sees Kong and jumps. But she can’t jump far. She nearly falls into the lake. Kong tries to catch her.

He nearly drops her! But his hands are still sticky with rice. They get stuck in Xiao Long’s fur. She is sticky, but she is dry. And she still has the zongzi!

Kong is too tired to watch the races now. He walks home slowly. He holds Xiao Long tightly. He lets her eat the zongzi.

“So, who won the race?” asks Mom.

“The smallest, stickiest dragon!” says Kong.

The End

Question: Do you like to eat zongzi? What is your favorite kind of zongzi?

核心詞匯和語法

fierce adj. 兇猛的，猛烈的

tie v. （用帶、繩、線等）系，縛，拴

pot n. 鍋，罐，壺

stall n. 貨攤，攤位

sticky adj. 黏性的，黏的

drummer n. 鼓手

cheer v. 歡呼，喝彩

nearly adv. 幾乎，差不多stick (stuck) v. 使停留，阻塞fur n. 柔毛，毛皮衣服

But his hands are still sticky with rice. 但他的手因為粘了黏米而仍然很黏。

with 在這里為帶著，有著的意思，間接表示雙手很黏的原因。

Kong is too tired to watch the races now. 劉孔現在太累了而不能看賽龍舟了。

too…to…表示太……而不能……

The smallest, stickiest dragon. 那條最小的最黏的龍。

stickiest 為 sticky 的最高級，此處是指小狗身上粘了黏米，所以是最黏的龍。

以下翻譯來自百度翻譯：劉空是個小男孩。他有一只叫小龍的狗。它的意思是“小龍”。小龍很小，但她又聰明又兇猛。孔的母親和祖母在廚房的餐桌旁。他們有一大碗米飯和一些長長的綠葉。“媽媽，”孔說我可以看龍舟比賽嗎？”“首先，幫你奶奶做粽子，”媽媽說然后你就可以看比賽了。”“好的，”孔說。他坐在桌子旁。小龍坐在桌子下面。祖母撿起一片葉子。她在葉子里放了一些米。她在葉子里放了一些豆子。她用繩子把葉子系好。她跑得真快！孔試著做一個粽子。他在葉子里放了一點大米。他把很多米掉在桌子上。奶奶做了六個粽子。香港制造了一個。奶奶把粽子放在一大鍋水里。“現在，我們煮六個小時，”祖母說你現在餓了嗎？”“是的，”孔說我想看比賽。”“拿著這些錢，”媽媽說你可以在湖邊買粽子。”“謝謝，媽媽！”孔說。孔抱著小龍。他走到湖邊。有很多龍舟。孔劉在一個攤位上從一個女人那里買了一個粽子。他試著打開它。天氣很熱。他手上有很多糯米。他試著吃粽子，但小龍先吃了。她從他的懷里跳了出來！鼓手們開始打鼓。第一場比賽開始。小龍跳上了第一條船！船開得很快。鼓聲很響。金剛追著船跑。“再見！”孔喊道。人們認為他是在為龍舟喝彩。“長，長，長！”他們回擊。小龍跑到船頭。她跳到龍的頭上。孔跑得更快。小龍的船贏了！她看見了孔，跳了起來。但她跳不遠。她差點掉進湖里。孔試圖抓住她。他差點把她甩了！但是他的手上仍然粘著米飯。他們被小龍的毛皮卡住了。她很粘，但很干。她還有粽子！孔太累了，現在不能看比賽了。他慢慢地走回家。他緊緊地抱著小龍。他讓她吃粽子。“那么，誰贏了比賽？”媽媽問。“最小最粘的龍！”孔說。