New Concept English 2

New Concept English 2 Passage 1 A Private Conversation Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned round. I looked at the man and the woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned round again. “I can?t hear a word!”I said angrily. “It?s none of your business,”the young man said rudely. “This is a private conversation!” 第一课私人谈话 上星期我去剧院看戏。我的座位很好,戏也很好趣,可我却无法欣赏。我的后面坐着一对青年男女,他们大声说话,我很生气,我听不清演员的台词。我回过头去,生气地对这对男女瞪了一眼,他们却毫不理睬。到后来我忍无可忍,又回过头去生气地说:“我一个字也听不清!”那男青年却粗暴地说:“这与你无关,我们是私人谈话。” Passage 2 Breakfast or Lunch ? It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunch time. Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked out of the window. It was dark outside. “What a day!” I thought. “It?s raining again.” Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy. “I?ve just arrived by train,” she said. “I?m coming to see you.” “But I?m still having breakfast,” I said. “What are you doing?” she said. “I?m having breakfast,” I repeated. “Dear me,” she said. “Do you always get up so late? It?s one o?clock!” 第二课早饭还是午饭 这是星期天。星期天我从不早起,有时我一直睡到吃午饭。上星期天我起得很晚。我向窗外看去,外边一片漆黑。我想:“倒霉的天,又下雨啦!”就在这时电话铃响了,是我姑妈Lucy来的电话。她说:“我刚下火车。我准备来看你。” “可我正在吃早饭哩!”我说。 “你在做什么?”她问。 “我正在吃早饭。”我重复说。 她说:“哎呀!你总是起得这么晚吗?现在一点钟啦!” Passage 3 Please Send Me a Card Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited 1 museums and sat in public gardens. A friendly waiter taught me a few words of Italian. Then he lent me a book. I read a few lines, but I did not understand a word. Every day I thought about postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send any cards to my friends. On the last day I made a big decision. I got up early and bought thirty-seven cards. I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single card! 第三课请寄给我一张明信片 明信片总是破坏我的假日。去年夏天我到意大利去,我参观了博物馆,并去了公园坐坐。一位友好的服务员教我几句意大利语,后来又借给我一本书,我读了几行,却什么也看不懂。每天我都想着明信片的事。假日过得很快,可是我没有给我的朋友寄出任何明信片。最后一天我下了很大的决心。我起得很早,买了三十七张明信片。我在屋里呆了一整天,可连一张明信片也没写成。 Passage 4 An Exciting Trip I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australian. He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has already visited a great number of different places in Australian. He has just bought an Australian car and has gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the centre of Australia. He will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before, so he is finding this trip very exciting. 第四课一次令人兴奋的旅行 我刚收到我兄弟Tim的信,他正在澳大利亚,他在那儿已经六个月了。Tim 是位工程师,现在在一家大公司工作,他已经到过澳大利亚的许多地方。他刚刚买了一辆澳大利亚的小轿车,并去过澳大利亚中部的一座小城市艾利斯.斯普林斯,他不久将去达尔文,从那儿他还将乘飞机去珀思。我的兄弟以前从未去过其他国家,所以他感到这次旅行十分令人兴奋。 Passage 5 No Wrong Numbers Mr James Scott has a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought another garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr Scott cannot get a telephone for his new garage, so he has just bought twelve pigeons. Y esterday, a pigeon carried the first message from Pinhurst to Silbury. The b ird covered the distance in three minutes. Up to now, Mr Scott has sent a great many requests for spare parts and other urgent messages from one garage to the other. In this way, he has begun his own private “telephone” service. 第五课不会拨错的电话号码 James Scott 先生在塞尔铂里有个汽车修理工场。现在他又在平赫斯特买下另一个汽车修理工场。平赫斯特离塞尔铂里只有五公里,但Scott先生新买下的汽车修理工场装不上电话机,所以他买了十二只鸽子。昨天一只鸽子从平赫斯特 到塞尔铂里送了第一封信,全程飞行三分钟。到现在为止,Scott先生已经从一个汽车修理工场到另一个汽车修理工场传递了许多索取零件的信和其他紧急函件。就这样,他办起了自己的私人“电话”业务。 Passage 6 Percy Buttons I have just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Y esterday a beggar knocked at my door. He asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In return for this, the beggar stood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour told me about him. Everybody knows him. His name is Percy Buttons. He calls at every house in the street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer. 第六课乞丐———Buttons 我刚刚搬入布里奇大街的一幢房子里。昨天有个乞丐敲我家的门,他向我要了一顿饭和一杯啤酒,这个乞丐倒立着唱了几支歌作为报答。他吃了我给他的食物并喝了啤酒,然后把一块干酪放进衣袋里,走了。后来,有一位邻居跟我谈了关于他的事。大家都认识他,他的名字叫Percy Buttons,他每月一次到这条街来拜访每一户人家,而且总是要一顿饭和一杯啤酒。 Passage 7 Too Late The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning. They were expecting a valuable parcel of diamonds from South Africa. A few hours earlier, someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were waiting on the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the plane and carried it into the Customs House. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand! 第七课为时已晚 飞机晚点了。侦探们在机场等了整整一个上午,他们在等从南非来的一个装有钻石贵重包裹。几小时前,有人 报告 软件系统测试报告下载sgs报告如何下载关于路面塌陷情况报告535n,sgs报告怎么下载竣工报告下载 警察说,有窃贼想偷钻石。当飞机到达时,有几个侦探守候在主楼里,而另外的几个侦探则在外面机场上等候。有两个人拿着包裹走下飞机,并将它拎进了海关税务室。两个侦探在门外把守,另外两个侦探打开包裹。使他们惊讶的是:这珍贵的包裹里竟全是石头和沙子! Passage 8 The Best and the Worst Joe Sanders has the most beautiful garden in our town. Nearly everybody enters for “The Nicest Garden Competition” each year, but Joe wins every time. Bill Frith?s garden is larger than Joe?s. Bill works harder than Joe and grows more flowers and vegetables, but Joe?s garden is more interesting. He had made neat paths and has built a wooden bridge over a pool. I like gardens too, but I do not like hard work. Every year I enter for the garden competition too, and I always win a little prize for the worst garden in the town! 第八课最佳的和最差的 Joe Sanders 的花园是本镇上最漂亮的。每年,差不多每个人都有参加“最佳花园”竞赛,而Joe却每次都得最优奖。Bill Frith的花园比Joe的花园大,他比Joe勤劳,种的花和蔬菜也比Joe多。但Joe的花园更有趣味。他在花园里铺上整洁的小路,并在池塘上架起木桥。我也喜欢花园,可我不喜欢辛勤劳动。每年我也都参加花园竞赛,而且总是得到一个全镇啊差的花园的小奖品。 Passage 9 A Cold Welcome On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes?time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big minute hand did not move. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted, “It?s two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!” I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Y ear. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing. 第九课冷淡的迎接 星期三晚上,我们都去市政厅。那是除夕晚上,一大群人已聚集在市政厅的大钟下面。还有廿分钟它就该敲十二点了。十五分钟过去了,到十二点差五分的时候,钟停了,那根巨大的分钟不动了。我们等来等去,但一点儿动静也没有。忽然有人喊道:“现在是十二点过二分了。钟停啦!L”我看了一下手表,一点一假。这只大钟不愿迎接新年!这时候,大家便开始边笑边唱起来。 Passage 10 Not For Jazz We have an old musical instrument. It is called a clavichord. It was made in Germany in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in the living-room. It has belonged to our family for a long time. The instrument was bought by my grandfather many years ago. Recently it was damaged by a visitor. She tried to play jazz on it! She struck the key too hard and two of the strings were broken. My father was shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch it. It is being repaired by a friend of my father?s. 第十课不能用来弹爵士音乐 我们有一件古老的乐器,叫击弦古钢琴。它是1681年德国制造的,我们这架钢琴安放在客厅里。我们家拥有它很长时间了。这件音乐是许多年前我祖父买来的。最近它被一位客人弄坏了,她用它爵士音乐!她按键太猛。把两根弦按断了。我父亲为之震怒。现在他不允许我们再碰它。父亲的一位朋友正在修理这件古老的乐器。 Passage 11 One Good Turn Deserves Another I was having dinner at a restaurant when Harry Steel came in. Harry worked in a lawyer?s office years ago, but he is now working at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he always borrows money from his friends and never pays it back. Harry saw me and came and sat at the same table. He has never borrowed money from me. While he was eating, I asked him to lend me $2. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately. “I have never borrowed any money from you” Harry said, “so now you can pay for my dinner!” 第十一课善有善报 我正在一个餐馆里吃饭,Harry Steele走进来。Harry几年前在一家律师事务所里工作,现正在一家银行任职。他工资很高,可是他常常向朋友们错钱,而且从来为还。Harry看见我就走了过来,并在同一张桌子前坐了下来。他从来没向我借过钱。在他吃饭时,我向他借两英镑。使我吃惊的是,他立刻就给了我。“我从来没向你借过钱,”Harry说,“所以这次你可以替我付饭钱了!” Passage 12 Goodbye and Good Luck Our neighbour, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We shall meet him at the harbour early in the morning. He will be in his small boat, Topsail. Topsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atlantic many times. Captain Alison will set out at eight o?clock, so we shall have plenty of time. We shall see his boat and then we shall say goodbye to him. He will be away for two months. We are very proud of him. He will take part in an important race across the Atlantic.第十二课再见,一路顺风 我们的邻居Charles Alison船长明天将从朴次茅斯出海。我们明天一早将到港口去看他。他将乘坐他的托波赛尔号是一艘很有名的小船,曾多海外侨胞横渡大西洋。Alison船长将于八点出发,所以我们的时间很充裕。我们将参观他的小船,然后与他道别。他将同海两个月。我们为他感到骄傲,他将参加横渡大西洋的一次重要比赛。 Passage 13 The Greenwood Boys The Greenwood Boys are a group of popular singers. At present, they are visiting all parts of the country. They will be arriving here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the young people in the town will be meeting them at the station. Tomorrow evening they will be singing at the Worker?s Club. The Greenwood Boys will be staying for five days. During this time, they will give five performances. As usual, the police will have a difficult time. They will be trying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions. 第十三课绿林少年 绿林少年是一群深受欢迎的歌手。目前他们正在全同各地巡演出。明天他们将抵达这里。他们将乘火车来,届时镇上大多数看轻人将去站迎接。明晚他们将在工人俱乐部演唱。绿林少年要在这里逗留五天。在这期间,他们将有五场演出。如往常一样,警察的日子将不太好过。他们要设法维持秩序。在这种场合,情况是如此。 Passage 14 Do Y ou Speak English I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked for a lift. As soon as he got into the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, “Do you speak English?” As I soon learnt, he was English himself. 第十四课你会说英语吗? 去年,我曾有过一段有趣的经历。在我离开法国南部的一个小村庄以后,我继续驱车开往下一个城镇。途中,一个年轻人向我招手。我停下车,他请求搭车。他一上了车。我就用法语向他道声早安,他也用法语同样回了我一句。除了片言只语外,我根本不懂法语。在旅途中我们谁也没有说话。在快要到城镇时,这年轻人突然很慢地说:“你会说英语吗?那时我才明白,原来他也是英国人! Passage 15 Good News The secretary told me that Mr Harmsworth would see me. I felt very nervous when I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk when I entered. After I had sat down, he said the business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come. “Mr Harmsworth,” I said in a weak voice. “Don?t interrupt,” he said. Then he smiled and told me I would receive an extra ￡100 a year! 第十五课好消息 秘书告诉我Harmsworth先生找我。我忐忑不安地走进他的办公室。我进屋时他连头也没抬。当我坐下这后,他说业务很不景气,他告诉我公司付不起这么大的工资开支,已经有二十人离开了公司。我知道该轮到我了。 “Harmsworth先生,”我用微弱的声音说。 “别打断我的话。”他说。他笑着告诉我,我将得到一年一百镑的额外收入。Passage 16 A Polite Request If you park your car in the wrong place, a traffic policeman will soon find it. Y ou will be very lucky if he lets you go without a ticket. However, this does not always happen. Traffic police are sometimes very polite. During a holiday in Sweden, I found this note on my car: …Sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a “No Parking”area. Y ou will enjoy your staying here if you pay attention to our street signs. This note is only a reminder.? If you receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it! 第十六课客气的请求 如果你的车子停错了地方,交通警察马上会发现。如果不给你罚款单就让你把车开走,算你非常走运了。然而,这样的情况是不常有的。交通警察有时很有礼貌。我在瑞典度假时,在我的小轿车里发现了这样的条子:“阁下:欢迎您光临敝市。此系‘禁止停车’地段。你若留意我市路标,在您逗留期间您就会感到愉快,本通知仅提请注意。”如果你收到这样的一个请求,你不会不照办的! Passage 17 Always Wrong My aunt Jennifer is an actress. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this, she often appears on the stage as a young girl. Jennifer will have to take part in a new play soon. This time, she will be a girl of seventeen. In the play, she must appear in a bright red dress and long black stockings. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bright, orange-coloured dress. If anyone ever asks her how old she is, she always answers, …My dear, it must be terrible to be grown up!? 第十七课永葆青春 我姑母Jennifer是个演员。她至少有三十五岁了。尽管如此,她还常在舞台上扮演少女。Jennifer将在一出新戏里演出。这次,她将扮演一个十七岁的姑娘.。在这出戏里她得穿一件鲜红的长裙和长统的黑袜。去年,在另一出戏里,她穿着短袜和显眼的桔黄色的长裙。如果有人问她多大岁数了,她总是这样回答:“天哪,成了大人就不好受了!” Passage 18 He Often Does This! After I had had lunch at a village inn, I looked for my bag. I had left it on a chair beside the door and now it wasn?t there! As I was looking for it, the inn-keeper came in. “Did you have a good meal?” he asked. “Y es, thank you,” I answered, “but I can?t pay the bill. I haven?t got my bag.” The inn-keeper smiled and immediately went out. In a few minutes he returned with my bag and gave it back to me. “I?m very sorry,”he said. “My dog had taken it into the garden. He often does this.” 第十八课它总是干这种事 我在一个乡村小客店吃完午饭,就找我垢皮包。我刚才把、它放在门旁的一张椅子上,可现在找不着了!我正在寻找时,店主人走了进来。 “您吃得好吗?”他问。 “很好,谢谢,可我没法付账了,我的皮包丢了。”我回答说。 店主人笑了,马上走了出去。几分钟后,他把我的皮包拿来还给我。“对不起!”他说:“我的狗把您的皮包叼走放在花园里啦,它总是干这种事。Passage 19 Sold Out “The play may begin at any moment,” I said. “It may have begun already,” Susan answered. I hurried to the ticket-office. “May I have two tickets please?” I asked. “I?m sorry, we?ve sold out,” the girl said. “What a pity!” Susan exclaimed. Just then, a man hurried to the ticket-office. “Can I return these two tickets?” he asked. “Certainly,” the girl said. I went back to the ticket-office at once. “Could I have those two tickets please?” I asked. “Certainly,” the girl said, “but they are for next Wednesday?s performance. Do you still want them?” “I might as well have them,” I said sadly. 第十九课票已售完 我说:“戏随时都可能开演。”Susan 说:“可能已经开演拉。”我急忙跑到售票处,“买两张票行吗?”我问。“对不起,客满啦。”女售票员说。 “真倒霉!”Susan大声叫道。就在这时候一个人跑到售票处问:“退两张票行吗?”“行。”女售票员说。我马上返回售票处。“这两张票给我行不行?”我问。“当然可以。”女售票员说,“可这是下星期三的票,您还要么?”“我还是买下吧。”我沮丧地说。 Passage 20 One Man in a Boat Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anything. But this does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. Instead of catching fish, they catch old boots and rubbish. I am even less lucky. I never catch anything—not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the river, I always go home with an empty bag. “Y ou must give up fishing!”my friends say. “It?s a waste of time.” But they don?t realize one important thing. I …m not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all. 第二十课孤舟独影 钓鱼是我的爱好,我常常垂钓很长时间而一无所得,但这并不使我烦恼。有些玉夫不走运,他们没钓到鱼,钓着的却是破皮靴或废物。我则更不走运,我从来不曾钓到什么东西,就连破靴子也钓不着。我常常整整一上午都呆在河边,回家时空着手。朋友们劝我,“你还是放弃钓鱼吧!简直是浪费时间。”其实他们哪里知道其中的奥妙,我不是真正对钓鱼感兴趣,我只是觉得独乘小舟无所事事最为有趣。 Lesson 11 One good turn deserves another 礼尚往来 I was having dinner at a restaurant when Harry Steele came in. Harry worke d in a lawyer's office years ago, but he is now working at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he always borrows money from his friends and never pays it back. Harry saw me and came and sat at the same table. He has never b orrowed money from me. While he was eating, I asked him to lend me &2. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately. 'I have never borrowed any money from you,' Harry said, 'so now you can pay for my dinner!' Lesson 12 Goodbye and good luck 再见,一路顺风 Our ncighbour, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We shall meet him at the harbour early in the morning. He will be in his s mall boat, Topsail.Tapsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atla ntic many times. Captain Alison will set out at eight o'clock so we shall hav e plenty of time. We shall see his boat and then we shall say good-bye to h im. He will be away for two months. We are very proud of him. He will ta ke part in an important race across the Atlantic. Lesson 13 The Greenwood Boys 绿林少年 The Greenwood Boys are a group of popular singers. At present, they are vis iting all parts of the country. They will be arriving here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the young people in the town will be meeting them at the station. Tomorrow evening th ey will be singing at the Workers' Club. The Greenwood Boys will be stayin g for five days. During this time, they will give five performances. As usual, the police will have a difficult time. They will be trying to keep order. It i s always the same on these occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak English? 你会讲英语吗? I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in th e south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got i nto the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the sam e language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neith er of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, 'Do you speak English?' As I soon le arnt, he was English himself! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secretary told me that Mr. Harmsworth would see me. I felt very nervou s when. I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk when I en tered. After I had sat down, he said that business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come. 'Mr. Harmsworth,' I said in a weak voice. 'Don't interrupt,' he Said. Then he smiled and told me I would r eceive an extra &100 a year! Lesson 16 A polite request 彬彬有礼的要求 If you park your car in the wrong place, a traffic policeman will soon find i t. You will be very lucky if he lets you go without a ticket. However, this does not always happen. Traffic police are sometimes very polite. During a h oliday in Sweden, I found this note on my car:' Sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a "No Parking" area. You will enjoy your stay here if you pay attention to our street signs. This note is only a reminder.' If you receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it! Lesson 17 Always young 青年常驻 My aunt Jennifer is an actress. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this, she often appears on the stage as a young girl. Jennifer will ha ve to take part in a new play soon. This time, she will be a girl of seventee n. In the play, she must appear in a bright red dress and long black stocking s. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bright, orang e-coloured dress. If anyone ever asked her how old she is, she always answe rs, 'My dear, it must be terrible to be grown up!' lesson18 He often does this!他经常干这种事! After I had had lunch at a village inn, I looked for my bag. I had left it on a chair beside the door and now it wasn't there ! As I was looking for it, t he inn-keeper came in. 'Did you have a good meal ?' he asked. 'Yes, thank you,' I answered, 'but I can't pay the bill. I haven't got my bag.' The inn-kee per smiled and immediately went out. In a few minutes he returned with my bag and gave it back to me. 'I'm very sorry,' he said ' My dog had taken it into the garden. He often does this.' Lesson19 Sold out 票已售完 'The play may begin at any moment,' I said. 'It may have begun already,' Susan answered. 'I hurried to the ticket-office. 'May I have two tickets please ?' I asked. 'I'm sorry, we've sold out,' the girl said. 'What a pity!' Susan exclaimed. Just then, a man hurried to the ticket-office. 'Can I return these two tickets?' he asked. 'Certainly,' the girl said. 'Could I have those two tickets please ?' I asked. 'Certainly, 'the girl said, 'but they are for next Wednesday's performance. 'I might as well have them,' I said sadly. Lesson20 One man in a boat 独坐孤舟 Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anythin g. But this does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. Instead of catch ing fish, they catch old boots and rubbish. I am even less lucky. I never cat ch anything-not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the ri ver, I always go home with an empty bag. 'You must give up fishing!' my f riends say.' It's a waste of time.' But they don't realize one important thing. I 'm not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat a nd doing nothing at all ! Lesson21 Mad or not? 是不是疯了? Aeroplanes are slowly driving me mad. I live near an airport and passing pla nes can be heard night and day. The airport was built during the war, but fo r some reason it could not be used then. Last year, however, it came into us e. over a hundred people must have been driven away from their homes by the noise. I am one of the few people left. Sometimes I think this house wil l be knocked down by a passing plane. I have been offered a large sum of money to go away, but I am determined to stay here. Everybody says I must be mad and they are probably right. Lesson22 A glass envelope 玻璃信封 My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her ow n age in Holland. Last year, we were travelling across the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her name and address on it into a bottle. She thr ew the bottle into the sea. She never thought of it again, but ten months late r, she received a letter from a girl in Holland. Both girls write to each other regularly now. However, they have decided to use the post-office. Letters wi ll cost a litt1e more, but they will certainly travel faster. Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, sh e said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. W ork on it had begun before my sister left. The house was completed five mo nths ago. In my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. It is a very modern house, so it looks strange to some people. It must be the only modern house in the district. Lesson24 It could be worse 不幸中之万幸 I entered the hotel manager's office and sat down. I had just lost &50 and I felt very upset.' I left the money in my room,' I said, 'and it's not there no w.' The manager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing. 'Everyone's losin g money these days,' he said. He started to complain about this wicked worl d but was interrupted by a knock at the door. A girl came in and put an en velope on his desk. It contained &5o. 'I found this outside this gentleman's r oom' she said. 'Well,' I said to the manager, 'there is still some honesty in th is world !' lesson25 Do the English speak English? 英国人讲的是英语吗? I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, black and dark. I di d not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke Engl ish very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not u nderstand me; I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. He answered me, but he spoke neither slowly nor clearly. 'I am a foreigner,' I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smi led. Then he said something and I understood it. 'You'll soon learn English!' he said. I wonder. In England, each man speaks a different language. The En glish understand each other, but I don't understand them ! Do they speak En glish ? lesson26 The best art critics 最佳美术评论家 I am an art student and I paint a lot of pictures. Many people pretend that t hey understand modern art. They always tell you what a picture is 'about'. Of course, many pictures arc not 'about' anything. They are just pretty patterns. We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material. I think that young children often appreciate modern pictures better than anyone else. They notice more. My sister is only seven, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not. She came into my room yesterday. ' What are you doing ?' she asked. ' I'm hanging this picture on the wall,' I answered. 'I t's a new one. Do you like it ?' She looked at it critically for a moment.' It' s all right,' she said, 'but isn't it upside-down ?' I looked at it again. She wa s right! It was! Lesson27 A wet night 雨夜 Late in the afternoon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fire. They were al l hungry and the food smelt good. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the camp fire. But some time later it began to rain. The boys felt tired so they pet out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleepin g-bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly. In the middle of the night, two boys woke up and began shouting. The tent was full of wa ter! They all leapt out of their sleeping-bags and hurried outside. It was raini ng heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field. The stream wound its way across the field and then flowed right under their tent! Lesson28 No parking 禁止停车 Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths. He has just bought a new house in the city, but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with motorists. when he returns home at night, he always finds that someone has parked a car outside his gate. Because of this, he has not been able to get his own car into his garage even once. Jasper has put up' No Parking' signs outside his gate, but these have not had any effect. Now h e has put an ugly stone head over the gate. It is one of the ugliest faces I h ave ever seen. I asked him what it was and he told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon. Jasper hopes that she will turn motorists to stone. But none of them has been turned to stone yet! Lesson29 Taxi! 出租汽车! Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an unusual taxi and has begun a new servic e. The 'taxi' is a small Swiss aeroplane called a 'Pilatus Porter'. This wonderf ul plane can carry seven passengers. The most surprising thing about it, howe ver, is that it can land anywhere: on snow, water, or even on a ploughed fie ld. Captain Fawcett's first passenger was a doctor who flew from Birmingham to a lonely village in the Welsh mountains. Since then, Captain Fawcett has flown passengers to many unusual places. Once he landed on the roof of a block of flats and on another occasion, he landed in a deserted car park. Cap tain Fawcett has just refused a strange request from a businessman. The man wanted to fly to Rockall, a lonely island in the Atlantic Ocean, but Captain Fawcett did not take him because the trip was too dangerous. Lesson30 Football or polo? 足球还是水球? The Wayle is a small river that cuts across the park near my home. I like si tting by the Wayle on fine afternoons. It was warm last Sunday, so I went a nd sat on the river bank as usual. Some children were playing games on the bank and there were some people rowing on the river. Suddenly, one of the children kicked a ball very hard and it went towards a passing boat. Some people on the bank called out to the man in the boat, but he did not hear th em. The ball struck him so hard that he nearly fell into the water. I turned t o look at the children, but there weren't any in sight: they had all run away! The man laughed when he realized what had happened. He called out to the children Lesson31 Success story 成功者的故事 Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man. Frank is now the head of a very large business company, but a s a boy he used to work in a small shop. It was his job to repair bicycles a nd at that time he used to work fourteen hours a day. He saved money for years and in 1938 he bought a small work-shop of his own. During the war Frank used to make spare parts for aeroplanes. At that time he had two help ers. By the end of the war, the small work-shop had become a large factory which employed seven hundred and twenty-eight people. Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success. He was sti ll smiling when the door opened and his wife came in. She wanted him to r epair their son's bicycle! Lesson32 Shopping made easy 购物变得很方便 People are not so honest as they once were. The temptation to steal is greate r than ever before--especially in large shops. A detective recently watched a well-dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday mornings. One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the wo man came in, so it was easier for the detective to watch her. The woman fir st bought a few small articles. After a little time, she chose one of the most expensive dresses in the shop and handed it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her as quickly as possible. Then the woman simply took the parcel an d walked out of the shop without paying. When she was arrested, the detecti ve found out that the shop-assistant was her daughter. The girl' gave' her mot her a free dress once a week ! lesson33 Out of the darkness 冲出黑暗 Nearly a week passed before the girl was able to explain what had happened to her. One afternoon she set out from the coast in a small boat and was c aught in a storm. Towards evening, the boat struck a rock and the girl jump ed into the sea. Then she swam to the shore after spending the whole night in the water. During that time she covered a distance of eight miles. Early n ext morning, she saw a light ahead. She knew she was near the shore becaus e the light was high up on the cliffs. On arriving at the shore, the girl strug gled up the cliff towards the light she had seen. That was all she remembere d. When she woke up a day later, she found herself in hospital. Lesson34 Quick work 破案“神速” Ted Robinson has been worried all the week. Last Tuesday he received a lett er from the local police. In the letter he was asked to call at the station. T ed wondered why he was wanted by the police, but he went to the station yesterday and now he is not worried any more. At the station, he was told b y a smiling policeman that his bicycle had been found. Five days ago, the p oliceman told him, the bicycle was picked up in a small village four hundred miles away. It is now being sent to his home by train. Ted was most surpri sed when he heard the news. He was amused too, because he never expecte d the bicycle to be found. It was stolen twenty years ago when Ted was a b oy of fifteen ! Lesson35 Stop thief! 捉贼! Rov Trenton used to drive a taxi. A short while ago, however, he became a bus-driver and he was not regretted it. He is finding his new work far more exciting. When he was driving along Catford Street recently, he saw two thie ves rush out of a shop and run towards a waiting car. One of them was carr ying a bag full of money. Roy acted quickly and drove the bus straight at th e thieves. The one with the money got such a fright that he dropped the bag. As the thieves were trying to get away in their car, Roy drove his bus into the back of it. While the battered car was moving away, Roy stopped his b us and telephoned the police. The thieves' car was badly damaged and easy t o recognize. Shortly afterwards, the police stopped the car and both men wer e arrested. Lesson36 Across the Channel 横渡海峡 Erna Hart is going to swim across the English Channel tomorrow. She is goi ng to set out from the French coast at five o'clock in the morning. Erna is o nly fourteen years old and she hopes lo set up a new world record. She is a strong swimmer and many people feel that she is sure to succeed. Erna's fat her will set out with her in a small boat. Mr Hart has trained his daughter f or years. Tomorrow he will be watching her anxiously as she swims the long distance to England. Erna intends to take short rests every two hours. She will have something to drink but she will not eat any solid food. Most of Er na's school friends will be waiting for her on the English coast. Among them will be Erna's mother, who swam the Channel herself when she was a girl. Lesson37 The Olympic Games 奥林匹克运动会 The Olympic Games will be held in our country in four years' time. As a gr eat many people will be visiting the country, the government will be building new hotels, an immense stadium, and a fine new swimming pool. 'They will also be building new roads and a special railway-line. The Games will be h eld just outside the capital and the whole area will be called 'Olympic City'. Workers will have completed the new roads by the end of this year. By the end of next year, they will have finished work on the new stadium. The fine modern buildings have been designed by Kurt Gunter. Everybody will be wa tching anxiously as the new buildings go up. We are all very excited and are looking forward to the Olympic Games because they have never been held before in this country. Lesson38 Everything except the weather 惟独没有考虑到天气 My old friend, Harrison, had lived in the Mediterranean for many years befor e he returned to England. He had often dreamed of retiring in England and h ad planned to settle down in the country. He had no sooner returned than he bought a fine house and went to live there. Almost immediately he began t o complain about the weather, for even though it was still summer, it rained continually and it was often bitterly cold. After so many years of sunshine, Harrison got a shock. He acted as if he had never lived in England before. I n the end, it was more than he could bear. He had hardly had time to settle down when he sold the house and left the country. The dream he had had for so many years ended there. Harrison had thought of everything except the weather. Lesson39 Am I all right? 我是否痊愈? While John Gilbert was in hospital, he asked his doctor to tell him whether his operation had been successful, but the doctor refused to do so. The follo wing day, the patient asked for a bedside telephone. When he was alone, h e telephoned the hospital exchange and asked for Doctor Millington. When th e doctor answered the phone, Mr Gilbert said he was inquiring about a certai n patient, a Mr John Gilbert. He asked if Mr Gilbert's operation had been su ccessful and the doctor told him that it had been. He then asked when Mr G ilbert would be allowed to go home and the doctor told him that he would h ave to stay in hospital for another two weeks. Then Dr Millington asked the caller if he was a relative of the patient.' No,' the patient answered,' I am Mr John Gilbert.' Lesson40 Food and talk 进餐与交谈 Last week at a dinner-party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs Rumbol d. Mrs Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress. She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. Her eyes were fixed on h er plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I tried to make conversati on. ' A new play is coming to" The Globe" soon,' I said. 'Will you be seeing it ?' ' No,' she answered. 'Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year ?' I asked. ' No,' she answered. ' Will you be staying in England?' I asked. ' No,' she answered. In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner. ' Young man,' she answered,' if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner !' lesson41 Do you call that a hat? 你把那个叫帽子吗? 'Do you call that a hat ?' I said to my wife. 'You needn't be so rude about it,' my wife ans wered as she looked at herself in the mirror. I sat down on one of those modern chairs wi th holes in it and waited. We had been in the hat shop for half an hour and my wife was still in front of the mirror. ' We mustn't buy things we don't need,' I remarked suddenly. I regretted saying it almost at once. 'You needn't have said that,' my wife answered.' I need not remind you of that terrible tie y ou bought yesterday.' ' I find it beautiful,' I said. 'A man can never have too many ties.' 'And a woman can't have too many hats,' she answered. Ten minutes later we walked out of the shop together. My wife was wearing a hat that look ed like a lighthouse ! Lesson42 Not very musical 并非很懂音乐 As we had had a long walk through one of the markets of Old Delhi, we stopped at a squa re to have a rest. After a time, we noticed a snake-charmer with two large baskets at the ot her side of the square, so we went to have a look at him. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe which was covered with coins and opened one of the baskets. When he beg an to play a tune, we had our first glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the basket and bega n to follow the movements of the pipe. We were very much surprised when the snake char mer suddenly began to play jazz tunes and modern pop songs. The snake, however, continue d to 'dance' slowly. It obviously could not tell the difference between Indian music and jazz! Lesson43 over the South Pole 飞越南极 In 1929, three years after his flight over the North Pole, the A merican explorer, R. E. Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time. Though, at first, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountain s that lay below, they soon ran into serious trouble. At one point, it seemed certain that their plane would crash. It could o nly get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000 feet. Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet. Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole which was 300 m iles away, for there were no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able to fly over the endless white plains without difficulty. Lesson44 Through the forest 穿过森林 Mrs Anne Sterling did not think of the risk she was taking when she ran through a forest a fter two men. They had rushed up to her while she was having a picnic at the edge of a fo rest with her children and tried to steal her handbag. In the struggle, the strap broke and, wi th the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees. Mrs Sterling got s o angry that she ran after them. She was soon out of breath, but she continued to run. Whe n she caught up with them, she saw that they had sat down and were going through the co ntents of the bag, so she ran straight at them. The men got such a fright that they dropped the bag and ran away. 'The strap needs mending,' said Mrs Sterling later, 'but they did not steal anything.' Lesson45 A clear conscience 问心无愧 The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton, the lo cal butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post-office. Sam was sure tha t the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him. Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door. It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, tog ether w ith a note which said: 'A thief, yes, 'but only 5o per cent a thief!' Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note:' Only 25 per cent a thief now!' In time, all Sam's money was paid back in this way. The last note said:' I am 100 per cent honest no w!' lesson46 Expensive and uncomfortable 既昂贵又受罪 When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woo llen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run awa y. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for ove r ten hours. The man was ordered to pay &345 for the cost of the trip. Th e normal price of a ticket is &230 ! Lesson 47 A thirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thomps on is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to sleep one n ight because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr Thom pson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the nig ht before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, Mr Th ompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Did you want to tell me something? 你想对我说什么吗? Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had just pulled out one of my teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried t o say something, b ut my mouth was full of cotton-wool. He knew I collected birds' eggs and asked me whethe r my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether I liked m y new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenl y felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the dentist at last removed the cotton-wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美梦告终 Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real be d. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress. Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his hou se. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up. A g ust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below. The y oung man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was smas hed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still on the matt ress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly we nt to sleep again. Lesson 50 Taken for a ride 乘车兜风 I love travelling in the country, but I don't like losing my way. I went on an excursion rece ntly, but my trip took me longer than I expected. ' I'm going to Woodford Green,' I said t o the conductor as I got on the bus,' but I don't know where it is.' ' I'll tell you where to get off,' answered the conductor. I sat in the front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside. After some time, the bu s stopped. Looking round, I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on the bus. ' You'll have to get off here,' the conductor said. 'This is as far as we go.' ' Is this Woodf ord Green ?' I asked. 'Oh dear,' said the conductor suddenly.' I forgot to put you off.' 'It do esn't matter,' I said. 'I'll get off here.' 'We are going back now,' said the conductor. 'Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the bus Lesson 51 Reward for virtue 对美德的奖赏 My friend, Herbert, has always been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden. The list included most of the things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not surpri sed to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room an d hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious that he was ver y embarrassed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained that his diet was so strict tha t he had to reward himself occasionally. Then he showed me the contents of the parcel. It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pretty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all mo rning. I have been trying to get my new room in order. This has not been e asy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. At the m oment, they cover every inch of floor space and I actually have to walk on t hem to get in or out of the room. A short while ago, my sister helped me t o carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the floor. 'This is the pr ettiest carpet I have ever seen,' she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, 'You don't need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare tim e and read the carpet!' Lesson53 Hot snake 触电的蛇 At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fire are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away. Y esterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not sta rt the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the caus e. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wi res of a 16,000-volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the myster y. The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself round the wires. When it did so, it sent sparks down to the gr ound and these immediately started a fire. Lesson 54 Sticky fingers 粘糊的手指 After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It w as still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husban d was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some tarts fo r tea. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands wer e soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone ran g. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Mrs B ates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hun g up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the tele phone, and on the door-knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postm an and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter ! Lesson55 Not a gold mine 并非金矿 Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently. A new machine ca lled 'The Revealer' has been invented and it has been used to detect gold wh ich has been buried in the ground. The machine was used in a cave near the seashore where--it is said--pirates used to hide gold. The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it. Armed with the new mach ine, a search party went into the cave hoping to find buried treasure. The lea der of the party was examining the soil near the entrance to the cave when t he machine showed that there was gold under the ground. Very excited, the party dug a hole two feet deep. They finally found a small gold coin which was almost worthless. The party then searched the whole cave thoroughly but did not find anything except an empty tin trunk. In spite of this, many peo ple are confident that 'The Revealer' may reveal something of value fairly so on. Lesson56 Faster than sound! 比声音还快! Once a year a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for this race l ast year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it began. One o f the most handsome cars was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The most unusual car was a Benz which had only three wheels. Built in 1885, it was the old est car taking part. After a great many loud explosions, the race began. Man y of the cars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more time u nder their cars than in them ! A few cars, however, co mpleted the race. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour--much faster than any o f its rivals. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. It was very different from modern car races but no less exciting. Lesson57 Can I help you, madam? 你要买什么,夫人? A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop. Though s he hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant who served her did not like the way she was dressed. Glancing at her scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assista nt next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other. After s eeking out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, t he woman said she did not like it. She enjoyed herself XXXXXX the assista nt bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for. Lesson58 A blessing in disguise? 是因祸得福吗? The tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a 'cursed tree'. Because the tree was mentioned in a newspaper, the number of visitors to Frinley has now i ncreased. The tree was planted near a church fifty years ago, but it is only i n recent years that it has gained an evil reputation. It is said that if anyone t ouches the tree, he will have bad luck; if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists hav e been coming from all parts of the country to see it. In spite of all that ha s been said, the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk. So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ?进来还是出去? Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wa nted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an e xpert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last wee k, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so th at someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad ha bit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garde n and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets h im out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Y esterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Lesson60 The future 卜算未来 At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she told me to sit down. After I had given her som e money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: 'A relation of yours is com ing to see you. She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a fe w days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A wo man you know well will rush towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place. That is all.' As soon as I went outsi de, I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me. 'Where have you been hiding ?' she asked impatiently. 'Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her. We are late already.' As she walked away, I followed her out of the fair. Lesson61 Trouble with the Hubble 哈勃望远镜的困境 In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it. The ability to do this will be necessary in future flights to distant planets. Scientists are now trying to discover if this is possible. The spaceship Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will b e travelling three hundred miles into space. At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave the stationary s paceship and then return to it. We shall not know whether the experiment ha s been successful until we have received a radio message. The first message is expected to arrive at 7 o'clock this evening. By that time, the Astra will h ave been flying through space for seventeen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times. When the first radio messages have been received, the results of the trip will be announced immediately. Lesson62 After the fire 大火之后 Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the c ountryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the s urrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash awa y the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for near ly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the gra ss had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growin g there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil. Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不觉得好笑 Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his fine sense of humor--everybody, that is, exce pt his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Geoffrey's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thi ng that Geoffrey loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the we dding with Jenny. He had included a large number of funny stories in the sp eech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jen ny told him she wanted to go home. Geoffrey was a little disappointed by th is but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if sh e had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadn't. Geoffrey aske d her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so man y people laughing at him! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峡隧道 In l858, a French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England wit h a plan for a twenty-one mile tunnel across the English Channel. He said th at it would be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. Thi s platform would serve as a port and a railway station. The tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea-level. In 1860, a better plan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. He suggested that a double railway tunnel should be built. This would solve the problem of ventil ation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. Forty-two years later a tunnel was actually begun. If, at the time, the British had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. Recently, there has again been great interest in the idea of a Channel Tunnel. If it is built, it wi ll connect Britain to Europe for the first time in history. Lesson65 Jumbo versus the police 小象对警察 Last Christmas, the circus owner, Jimmy Gates, decided to take some present s to a children's hospital. Dressed up as Father Christmas and accompanied b y a 'guard of honour' of six pretty girls, he set off down the main street of the city riding a baby elephant called Jumbo. He, should have known that th e police would never allow this sort of thing. A policeman approached Jimm y and told him he ought to have gone along a side-street as Jumbo was hold ing up the traffic. Though Jimmy agreed to go at once, Jumbo refused to mo ve. Fifteen policemen had to push very hard to get him off the main street. The police had a difficult time, but they were most amused. 'Jumbo must we igh a few tons,' said a policeman afterwards, 'so it was fortunate that we did n't have to carry him. Of course, we should arrest him, but as he has a goo d record, we shall let him off this time.' Lesson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一样甜! The Hatheld Puffin is a modern aero-plane, but its designer, Mr John Wimpe nny, is finding it difficult to get it off the ground. The reason for this is tha t this plane is also a bicycle. Its pilot has to pedal hard to get it into the ai r. After Mr Wimpenny had the plane built, it was tested thoroughly. In 1961, it was the first man-powered aircraft to fly half a mile. While being flown by a champion amateur cyclist in 1963, the plane crashed on an airfield. Sin ce then, Mr Wimpenny has had it rebuilt. He has had the length of the wing s increased so that they now measure 93 feet--almost as long as those of a Dakota. Many people have shown interest in this new and unusual sport. But though air cyclists may learn how to fly over short distances, and may, eve ntually, even get across the English Channel, it is doubtful whether they will ever cycle across the Atlantic. Lesson67 Volcanoes 火山 Haroun Tazieff the Polish scientist, has spent his life-time studying active vol canoes and deep caves in all parts of the world. In 1948, he went to lake K ivu in the Congo to observe a new volcano which he later named Kituro. Ta zieff was able to set up his camp very close to the volcano while it was eru pting violently. Though he managed to take a number of brilliant photographs, he could not stay near the volcano for very long. He noticed that a river of liquid rock was coming towards him. It threatened to surround him complete ly, but Tazieff managed to escape just in time. He waited until the volcano became quiet and he was able to return two days later. This time, he manag ed to climb into the mouth of Kituro so that he could take photographs and measure temperatures. Tazieff has often risked his life in this way. He has been able to tell us more about active volcanoes than any man alive. Lesson68 Persistent 纠缠不休 I crossed the street to avoid meeting him, but he saw me and came running towards me. It was no use pretending that I had not seen him, so I waved t o him. I never enjoy meeting Bert Dykes. He never has anything to do. No matter how busy you are, he always insists on coming with you. I had to thi nk of a way of preventing him from following me around all morning. 'Hullo, Bert,' I said. 'Fancy meeting you here !' 'Hullo, Elizabeth,' Bert answered. ' I was just wondering how to spend the m orning--until I saw you. You're not busy doing anything, are you ?' ' No, not at all,' I answered.' I'm going to.. .' 'Would you mind my coming with you ?' he asked, before I had finished spe aking. … Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the dentist.' ' Then I'll come with you,' he answered.' There's always plenty to read in the 'waiting room !' lesson69 But not murder! 并非谋杀! I was being tested for a driving licence for the third time. I had been asked to drive in heavy traffic and had done so successfully. After having been inst ructed to drive out of town, I began to acquire confidence. Sure that I had p assed, I was almost beginning to enjoy my test. The examiner must have bee n pleased with my performance, for he smiled and said, 'Just one more thing, Mr Eames. Let us suppose that a child suddenly crosses the road in front o f you. As soon as I tap on the window, I want the car to be stopped immed iately.' I continued driving and after some time, the examiner tapped loudly. Though the sound could be heard clearly, it took me a long time to react. I suddenly pressed the brake pedal hard and we were both thrown forward. Th e examiner looked at me sadly. 'Mr Eames,' he said, in a mournful voice,' y ou have just killed that child !' Lesson 70 Red for danger 危险的红色 During a bullfight, a drunk suddenly wandered into the middle of the ring. T he crowd began to shout, but the drunk was unaware of the danger. The bull was busy with the matador at the time, but it suddenly caught sight of the drunk who was shouting rude remarks and waving a red cap. Apparently sens itive to criticism, the bull forgot all about the matador and charged at the dr unk. The crowd suddenly grew quiet. The drunk, however, seemed quite sure of himself. When the bull got close to him, he clumsily stepped aside to let it pass. The crowd broke into cheers and the drunk bowed. By this time, h owever, three men had come into the ring and they quickly dragged the drun k to safety. Even the bull seemed to feel sorry for him, for it looked on sy mpathetically until the drunk was out of the way before once more turning it s attention to the matador. 天之后,有人告诉他说弄错了。他的平均时速实际是301英里。从那时以来,赛车选手已达到每小时600英里的速度。很多年之后,马尔科姆爵士的儿子唐纳德踏着父亲的足迹,也创造了一项世界纪录。同他父亲一样,他也驾驶着一辆名叫“蓝鸟”的汽车。 Lesson 73 The record-holder课 记录 混凝土 养护记录下载土方回填监理旁站记录免费下载集备记录下载集备记录下载集备记录下载 保持者 Children who play truant from school are unimaginative. A quiet day's fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far as they get. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, travelled 1,600 miles. He hitchhiked to Dover and, towards evening, went into a boat to find somewhere to sleep. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais.No one noticed the boy as he crept off. From there, he hitchhiked to Paris in a lorry. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just outside the city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of children who dream of evading school. 逃学的孩子们都缺乏想像力。他们通常能够做到的,至多也就是安静地钓上一天鱼,或在电影院里坐上8个小时,一遍遍地看同一部电影。而有那么一个小男孩,他在逃学期间旅行了1,600英里,从而使上述所有逃学的孩子们都相形见绌了。他搭便车到了多佛,天快黑时钻进了一条船,想找个地方睡觉。第二天早上他醒来时,发现船在这段时间已经到了加。当男孩从船里爬出来时,谁也没有发现他。从那里他又搭上卡车到了巴黎。司机给了他几块饼干和一杯咖啡,就把他丢在了城外。男孩截住的下一辆车,没有像他希望的那样把他带到巴黎市中心,而是把他带到了法国和西班牙边界上的佩皮尼昂。他在那儿被一个警察抓住了,之后被当局送回了英国。他无疑为成千上万梦想逃避上学的孩子们创造了一项纪录。 Lesson 74 Out of the limelight舞台之外 An ancient bus stopped by a dry river bed and a party of famous actors and actresses got off. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special precautions so that no one should recognize them. But as they soon discovered, disguises can sometimes be too perfect.'This is a wonderful place for a picnic,' said Gloria Gleam.'It couldn't be better, Gloria,' Brinksley Meers agreed. 'No newspaper men, no film fans! Why don't we come more often?'Meanwhile, two other actors, Rockwall Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried two large food baskets to a shady spot under some trees. When they had all made themselves comfortable, a stranger appeared. He looked very angry. 'Now you get out of here, all of you!' he shouted. 'I'm sheriff here. Do you see that notice? It says "No Camping" -- in case you can't read!''Look, sheriff,' said Rockwall, 'don't be too hard on us. I'm Rockwall Slinger and this is Merlin Greeves.''Oh, is it?' said the sheriff with a sneer. 'Well, I'm Brinksley Meers, and my other name is Gloria Gleam. Now you get out of here fast!' 一辆古旧的汽车停在一条干涸的河床边,一群著名男女演员下了车。他们戴着墨镜,穿着旧衣裳,特别小心以防别人认出他们。但他们很快就发觉,化装的效果有时过分完美了。“在这个地方野餐简直太妙了,”格格利亚.格利姆说。“是再好不过的了,格格利亚。”布林克斯利.米尔斯表示同意,“没有记者,没有影迷!我们为什么不经常来这里呢?”此时,另外两位演员,罗克沃尔.斯林格和默林.格里夫斯,已经把两个大食品篮子提到了一片树荫下。当他们都已安排舒适时,一个陌生人出现了。他看上去非常气愤。“你们都从这里走开,全都走开!”他大叫着,“我是这里的司法长官。你们看到那个布告牌了吗?上面写着‘禁止野营’--除非你们不识字!”“好了,好了,司法官,”罗克沃尔说,“别使我们难堪。我是罗克沃尔.斯林格,这位是默林.格里夫斯。”“噢,是吗?”那位司法长官冷笑一声说道,“好,我就是布林克斯利.米尔斯。我还有一个名字叫格格利亚.格利姆。现在你们赶快滚吧!” Lesson 75 SOS 呼救信号 When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed in the mountains and its pilot was killed. The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground. The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away. When it grew dark, she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the children inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find. During the night, it got terribly cold.The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small. Early next morning, she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal. Then she had an idea. She stamped out the letters 'SOS' in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash. 不久前,一架轻型客机偏离了航线,在山区坠毁,飞行员丧生。机上仅有的乘客,一位年轻的妇女和她的两个女婴却平安无事。此时正值隆冬季节,地上积着厚厚的雪。这位妇女知道,即使最近的村庄也有数英里远。天黑下来的时候,她把提箱当作小床,把两个孩子放了进去,又把所有能找到的衣服都盖在了孩子们身上。夜里,天冷得厉害。这位妇女尽可能地靠近孩子,甚至自己也想钻进箱子里去,只是箱子太小了。第二天一大早,她听到头顶上有飞机飞过,但不知道怎样才能发个信号。后来她有了一个主意。她在雪地上踩出了“SOS”这3个字母。幸运得很,一位飞行员看到这个信号,用无线电给最近的城镇发了报。不久,一架直升飞机飞抵飞机失事现场,来搭救这几个幸存者。 Lesson 76 April Fools' Day 愚人节 'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of the television announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years. Two of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and Riccardo Brabante, tell me that they have been expecting a splendid crop this year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks.The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop before the September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs. Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now. Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed. This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest: the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating competition! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won it every year since 1991. And that ends our special bulletin for today, Thursday, April lst. We're now going back to the studio.' “作为我们专题新闻节目的结尾,”电视广播员说,“我们现在到克拉布利亚的通心粉田里。通心粉在这个地区已经种植了600多年了。两个主要种植者,朱塞皮.莫尔道瓦和里卡多.布拉班特告诉我,他们一直期待着今年获得一个大丰收,收割工作比往年开始要早些。这里您可以看到两个工人,他们协力割下了3车金黄色的通心粉秸。全村的人都日夜奋战,要赶在9月的雨季之前把今年的庄稼收获上来,打完场。在屏幕的右侧,您可以看到布拉班特太太本人,她已经帮了她的丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太现在正和负责通心粉加工的当地加工厂的经理交谈。这最后一个镜头向您展示了收获之后将发生的事情:著名的克拉布利亚人吃通心粉大赛!目前的冠军弗拉特里先生,自1991年以来,年年获胜。今天 -- 4月1日,星期四--的专题新闻节目到此结束。现在我们回到电视演播室。” Lesson 77 A successful operation一例成功的手术 The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation. The mummy is that of Shepenmut who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes. As there were strange marks on the X-ray plates taken of the mummy, doctors have been trying to find out whether the woman died of a rare disease. The only way to do this was to operate. The operation, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult because of the hard resin which covered the skin. The doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it to a laboratory. They also found something which the X-ray plates did not show: a small wax figure of the god Duamutef. This god which has the head of a cow was normally placed inside a mummy. The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation. 死于公元前800年的一位埃及妇女的木乃伊刚刚接受了一次手术。这是曾在底比斯神殿里当过歌手的赛潘姆特的木乃伊。由于在给这个木乃伊拍摄的X光片子上有点奇怪的斑点,所以,医生们一直试图搞清这位妇女是否死于一种罕见的疾病。搞清的唯一办法就是手术。手术持续了4个多小时,非常难做,因为皮肤上覆盖着一层硬硬的树脂。医生们从木乃伊身上取下一个切片,送去化验。他们还发现了X光片所没有显示的东西:一个蜡制 的杜瓦木特夫神小塑像。这种牛头人身的神像通常被放在木乃伊体内。医生们至今还未确定这位妇女的死因。他们曾担心在把木乃伊切开后,它会散成碎片,但幸运得很,这种情况并未发生。这具木乃伊成功地经受了这次手术。 Lesson 78 The last one?最后一根吗? After reading an article entitled 'Cigarette Smoking and Your Health' I lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. I smoked with concentration and pleasure as I was sure that this would be my last cigarette. For a whole week I did not smoke at all and during this time, my wife suffered terribly. I had all the usual symptoms of someone giving up smoking: a bad temper and an enormous appetite. My friends kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars. They made no effort to hide their amusement whenever I produced a packet of sweets from my pocket.After seven days of this I went to a party. Everybody around me was smoking and I felt extremely uncomfortable. When my old friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette, it was more than I could bear. I took one guiltily, lit it and smoked with satisfaction. My wife was delighted that things had returned to normal once more. Anyway, as Brian pointed out, it is the easiest thing in the world to give up smoking. He himself has done it lots of times! 读完一篇题为《吸烟与健康》的文章之后,我点上了一枝香烟,来镇定一下自己紧张的神经。我聚精会神而又愉快地吸着这枝烟。因为我确信这是我最后一枝烟了。整整一个星期我根本没有吸烟。在此期间,我妻子吃尽了苦头。我具备了戒烟者通常表现出来的所有症状:脾气暴躁和食欲旺盛。我的朋友们不断地向我递香烟和雪茄。每当我从口袋里掏出一包糖果时,他们都毫不掩饰地表现出他们对此感到非常好笑。这样过了7天以后,我去参加一次聚会。我周围的每个人都在吸烟,我感到非常不自在。当我的老朋友布赖恩极力劝我接受一枝香烟时,我再也忍不住了。我内疚地接过一枝点上,心满意足地抽起来。一切又都恢复了正常,为此我妻子十分高兴。不管怎么说,正如布赖恩指出的那样,戒烟是世界上最容易的事情,他自己就已戒了很多次了! Lesson 79 By Air?乘坐飞机? I used to travel by air a great deal when I was a boy. My parents used to live in South America and I used to fly there from Europe in the holidays. A flight attendant would take charge of me and I never had an unpleasant experience. I am used to traveling by air and only on one occasion have I ever felt frightened. After taking off, we were flying low over the city and slowly gaining height, when the plane suddenly turned round and flew back to the airport.While we were waiting to land, a flight attendant told us to keep calm and to get off the plane quietly as soon as it had touched down. Everybody on board was worried and we were curious to find out what had happened. Later we learnt that there was a very important person on board. The police had been told that a bomb had been planted on the plane. After we had landed, the plane was searched thoroughly. Fortunately, nothing was 36