【过关版】
Dongting Lake is located in the northeast of Hunan Province. It is big in size, but the water is not deep. Dongting Lake stores the floods of the Yangtze River. The size of the lake depends largely on the change of seasons. The name of Hubei and Hunan Province come from their relative locations to the lake. Hubei means “the north of the lake”, while Hunan means “the south of the lake”. As the birthplace of dragon boat races, Dongting Lake is very famous in Chinese culture. It is said that dragon boat races started on the eastern side of the lake, in order to look for the body of Qu Yuan, a country-loving poet in the state of Chu. Dragon boat races and the beautiful scenery around Dongting Lake attract thousands of tourists from all over China and the world every year.
【高分版】
Enormous in its size, yet extremely shallow in its depth, Dongting Lake is located in northeastern Hunan province. Owing to the fact that Dongting Lake is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, the area that the lake covers depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their relative locations to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan, "South of the Lake". Dongting Lake is celebrated in Chinese culture as the place of origin of dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is said to have begun on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake as a search for the body of Qu Yuan, a patriotic Chu poet. Dragon boat racing and Dongting Lake, with the gorgeous scenery around it, attract thousands of tourists across China and the globe every year.