When four-year-old Alice Maines released her balloon at her school fete on a rainy day in Manchester, UK, on July 15,never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that the balloon would fly alone for 9,656 kilometers and finally end up being found by Xie Yufei, a Chinese boy in a park of Guangzhou, China .
The balloon, which cost just one pound, was one of the 100 that were launched in a balloon race at Alice’s Flixton Junior School’s annual summer fair. Each one of the balloons carried a numbered ticket promising the finder a prize: a visit to Chester Zoo. In the weeks that followed, balloons were posted back to the school, mostly from suburbs a few miles west of Manchester, although a couple made it to Liverpool. Alice’s balloon gave everyone quite a start when a letter with a Chinese postmark and stamp arrived on September 5 at the headmaster’s office .According to the Daily Mail, the letter read: “I picked up this balloon when my friends and I were playing on August 25. I am in China ,so I think it has traveled the furthest . Left is my picture. I am happy to pick it up.”
26-yer-old Xie Yufei, who designs air conditioning units ,revealed just how he had come across the balloon . “We were playing basketball in a park. I saw it by the edge of the court . It was shrunk ,and there was an address attached .”
Shrunk though it was ,the balloon had not burst –something that had meteorologists surprised .The school is now sending Xie a parcel of letters and drawings from the pupils .

七月15日是个雨天,当4岁的Alice Maines 在英国曼彻期特她的学校庆典大会上放飞气球的时候,她怎么也想象不到这个气球会自己飞行9,656公里,落到中国,被在广洲公园里的谢予飞发现.

这个气球,只值1镑,它只是Alice所在的Flixton Junior School学校所举行的每年一度的气球放飞活动中100个气球中的一个.在每一个放飞的气球上都有一个带有数字号码的票,票上的承诺是让发现者参观Chester动物园，做为奖励.在接下来的几周时间内,气球被陆续邮寄回来,大多数都是从距曼彻期特西部几英里远的近郊寄回来,只有有一对夫妻把气球放飞到了利物浦.9月5日，当上面带有中国邮戳和邮票的ALICE所放飞的气球被送到校长办公室的时候，所有人都十分惊讶，跟据DAILY MAIL 所提供的信件，上面写着：我在中国，8月25日，当我的朋友和我在玩的时候，我捡到了这个气球，所以我想它会是飞行最远的。左面是我的照片。捡到它，我感到十分高兴。
26岁的谢予飞，担任空调设备的设计工作,向大家解释了他是怎样发现这个气球的。他说："当时我们正在公园打篮球，我看见它在球场边上，已经瘪了，上面还带着地址”。
尽管这个气球已经瘪了，但却没有爆裂，这使气象学家们感到吃惊。这个学校现在在给谢予飞发一包来自小学生们的信和图画。

本人认为：
Alice’s balloon gave everyone quite a start
应为：
Alice’s balloon gave everyone quite a startle
如果说错了，请别见笑。