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Lesson 1 A
private conversation
私人谈话
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!
’
Lesson 2
Breakfast or
lunch?
早餐还是午餐?
It was Sunday. I never get up early on
Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunchtime.
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
asked.
‘
I'm having
breakfast,
’
I
repeated.
‘
Dear me,
’
she said.
‘
Do you always get up so
late? It's one o'clock!
’
Lesson 3
Please send me a
card
寄张明信片
Postcards always spoil my holidays.
Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited 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 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!
Lesson 4
An exciting trip
激动人心的旅行
I have
just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is
in Australia. 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 Australia.
He
has just bought an Australian car and has gone to
Alice Springs, a small town in the centre of
Australia. He
will soon visit Darwin
From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has
never been abroad before, so he is finding
this trip very exciting.
Lesson 5
No wrong numbers
无错号之虞
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.
Yesterday, a pigeon carried the first message from
Pinburst to Silbury. The bird covered the distance
the first 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.
Lesson 6
Percy Buttons
珀西·巴顿斯
I have
just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Yesterday
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.
Lesson 7
Too late
为时太晚
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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. T
o
their surprise,
the precious parcel was
full of stones and sand!
Lesson 8
The best and the worst
最好的和最差的
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 has 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!
Lesson 9
A cold welcome
冷遇
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 Year. At that
moment, everybody
began to laugh and
sing.
Lesson 10
Not for
jazz
不适于演奏爵士乐
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
keys 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.
Lesson 11
One
good turn deserves another
礼尚往来
I was having
dinner at a restaurant when Tony Steele came in.
Tony 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. Tony
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 twenty pounds.
To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately.
‘
I
have never
borrowed any money from you,
’
Tony said,
‘
so now you can pay for my
dinner!
’
Lesson
12
Goodbye and good luck
再见,一路顺风
Our
neighbour, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from
Portsmouth tomorrow. We'll 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'll have plenty of time. We'll see
his boat
and then we'll 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.
Lesson 13
The Greenwood
Boys
绿林少年
The
Greenwood Boys are a group of pop 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.
T
omorrow evening they will be singing
at the Workers' 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.
Lesson 14
Do you speak English?
你会讲英语吗?
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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 me for a lift. As soon as he had 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!
Lesson 15
Good news
佳音
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 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 receive an extra
thousand pounds 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 it. 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
holiday 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
青春常驻
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 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,
‘
Darling, it must be
terrible to be grown up!
’
Lesson 18
He often does
this!
他经常干这种事!
After I had had lunch at a village pub,
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 landlord 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 landlord 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!
’
Lesson 19
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.
I went back to the ticket office at
once.
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‘
Could I have those two
tickets please?
’
I asked.
‘
Certainly,
’
the girl said,
‘
but they're for next
Wednesday's performance. Do you still want
them?
’
‘
I might as well have them,
’
I said sadly.
Lesson 20
One man in a boat
独坐孤舟
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.
‘
You 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!
Lesson
21
Mad or not?
是不是疯了?
Aeroplanes
are slowly driving me mad. I live near an airport
and passing planes can be heard night and day.
The airport was built years ago, but
for some reason it could not be used then. Last
year, however, it came into
use. 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 will 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.
Lesson 22
A glass envelope
玻璃信封
My daughter,
Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a
girl of her own 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
threw the bottle
into the sea. She never thought of it again, but
ten months later, 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
will cost a little more, but they will certainly
travel faster.
Lesson 23
A
new house
新居
I
had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives
in Nigeria. In her letter, she 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. Work on it had begun before my
sister left. The house was completed five months
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.
Lesson 24
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 now.
’
The manager was
sympathetic, but he could do nothing.
‘
Everyone's losing money
these days,
’
he
said. He started to complain about this wicked
world but was
interrupted by a knock at
the door. A girl came in and put an envelope on
his desk. It contained
£
50.
‘
I found
this
outside this gentleman's room,
’
she said.
‘
Well,
’
I said to the
manager,
‘
there is still
some honesty
in this
world!
’
Lesson 25
Do the English speak English?
讲的是英语吗?
I arrived
in London at last. The railway station was big,
black and dark. I did not know the way to my
hotel, so I
asked a porter. I not only
spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as
well. The porter, however, could not
understand 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 smiled. Then he said
something and I understood it.
‘
You'll soon learn
English!
’
he
said. I wonder. In England, each person speaks
a different language. The English
understand each other, but I don't understand
them! Do they speak English?
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Lesson 26
The best art
critics
最佳艺术评论家
I am an art student and I paint a lot
of pictures. Many people pretend that they
understand modern art. They
always tell
you what a picture is
‘
about
’
. Of course, many pictures
are not
‘
about
’
p>
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.
‘
It'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 was right! It was!
Lesson 27
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 all hungry and the food smelled good. After a
wonderful meal, they told
stories and
sang songs by the campfire. But some time later it
began to rain. The boys felt tired so they put out
the fire and crept into their tent.
Their sleeping 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 water! They all leapt out of
their sleeping bags and hurried
outside. It was raining 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!
Lesson
28
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 cars and their owners.
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 he has put an ugly stone head over the
gate. It is one of the ugliest faces I have ever
seen.
I asked him what it was and he
told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon. Jasper
hopes that she will turn cars
and their
owners to stone. But none of them has been turned
to stone yet!
Lesson 29
Taxi!
出租汽车!
Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an
unusual taxi and has begun a new service. The
‘
taxi
’
is a small Swiss
aeroplane
called a
‘
Pilatus
Porter
’
. This wonderful
plane can carry seven passengers. The most
surprising
thing about it, however, is
that it can land anywhere: or snow, water, or even
on a ploughed field. 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. Captain 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.
Lesson 30
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 sitting by the Wayle on fine
afternoons.
It was warm last Sunday, so
I went and 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
them. The ball struck him so hard that
he nearly fell into the water. I turned to 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 and threw the ball
back to the bank.
Lesson 31
Success story
成功者的故事
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Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was
telling me about his experiences as a young man.
Before he retired,
Frank was the head
of a very large business company, but as a boy he
used to work in a small shop. It was his
job to repair bicycles and at that time
he used to work fourteen hours a day. He saved
money for years and in
1958
he bought a small workshop of his own.
In his twenties, Frank used to make spare parts
for aeroplanes.
At that time he had two
helpers. In a few years the small workshop 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
still smiling when the door opened and his wife
came in. She wanted him
to repair their
grandson's bicycle!
Lesson 32
Shopping made easy
购物变得很方便
People
are not so honest as they once were. The
temptation to steal is greater 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 woman
came in, So
it was easier for the
detective to watch her. The woman first 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
and walked out of the shop without paying.
When she was arrested, the detective
found out that the shop assistant was her girl
‘
gave
’
her
mother a tree dress once
a week!
Lesson 33
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 caught in a storm.
T
owards evening, the boat struck a rock
and the girl
jumped 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 next morning, she saw a light ahead. She
knew she was near the
shore because the
light was high up on the cliffs. On arriving at
the shore, the girl struggled up the cliff
towards the light she had seen. That
was all she remembered. When she woke up a day
later, she found herself
in hospital.
Lesson 34
Quick work
破案“神速”
Dan
Robinson has been worried all week. Last Tuesday
he received a letter from the local police. In the
letter he
was asked to call at the
station. Dan wondered why he was wanted by the
police, but he went to the station
yesterday and now he is not worried
the station, he was told by a smiling policeman
that his
bicycle had been found Five
days ago, the policeman 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. Dan was most surprised
when he heard the news.
He was amused
too, because he never expected the bicycle to be
found, It was stolen twenty years ago when
Dan was a boy of fifteen!
Lesson 35
Stop thief!
捉贼
Roy Trenton
used to drive a taxi. A short while ago, however,
he became a bus driver and he has not regretted
it. He is finding his new work far more
exciting. When he was driving along Catford Street
recently, he saw two
thieves rush out
of a shop and run towards a waiting car. One of
them was carrying a bag full of money. Roy
acted quickly and drove the bus
straight at the 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 bus and telephoned the police. The
thieves' car was badly
damaged and easy
to recognize. Shortly afterwards, the police
stopped the car and both men were arrested.
Lesson 36
Across the
Channel
横渡海峡
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Debbie Hart is going to swim across the
English Channel tomorrow. She is going to set out
from the French
coast at five o'clock
in themorning. Debbie is only eleven years old and
she hopes to set up a new world record.
She is a strong swimmer and many people
feel that she is sure to succeed Debbie's father
will set out with her
in a small boat.
Mr. Hart has trained his daughter for years.
Tomorrow he will be watching her anxiously as she
swims the long distance to England.
Debbie intends to take short rests every two
hours. She will have
something to drink
but she will not eat any solid food. Most of
Debbie's school friends will be waiting for her
on the English coast. Among them will
be Debbie's mother, who swam the Channel herself
when she was a girl.
Lesson 37
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 great many people will be
visiting the
country, the government
will be building new hotels, an immense stadium,
and a new Olympic-standard
swimming
pool. They will also be building new roads and a
special rail way line. The Games will be held 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
fantastic modern buildings have been
designed by Kurt Gunter. Everybody will be
watching 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.
Lesson 38
Everything except
the weather
唯没考虑天气
My old friend, Harrison, had lived in
the Mediterranean for many years before he
returned to England. He had
often
dreamed of retiring in England and had planned to
settle down in the country. He had no sooner
returned than he bought a house and
went to live there. Almost immediately he began to
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. In 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.
Lesson
39
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 following day, the patient asked for a
bedside telephone. When he was
alone,
he telephoned the hospital exchange and asked for
Doctor Millington. When the doctor answered the
phone, Mr. Gilbert said he was
inquiring about a certain patient, a Mr. John
Gilbert. He asked if Mr. Gilbert's
operation had been successful and the
doctor told him that it had been. He then asked
when t would
be allowed to go home and
the doctor told him that he would have to stay in
hosptial 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.
’
Lesson
40
Food and talk
进餐与交谈
Last week
at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit
next to 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 her
plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I
tried to make conversation.
‘
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.
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‘
Young man,
’
she
answered,
‘
if you ate more
and talked less, we would both enjoy our
dinner!
’
Lesson
41
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
answered as she looked at herself in the mirror.
I sat down on one of those modern
chairs with 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 needn't remind
you of that terrible tie you 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 looked like a lighthouse!
Lesson 42
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
square to have a rest.
After a time, we
noticed a snake charmer with two large baskets at
the other 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 began to play a tune, we had our
first glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the
basket and began to follow the
movements of the pipe. We were very much surprised
when the snake charmer
suddenly began
to play jazz and modern pop songs. The snake,
however, continued to
‘
dance
’
slowly. It
obviously could not tell the difference
between Indian music and jazz!
Lesson
43
Over the South Pole
飞越南极
In 1929,
three years after his flight over the North Pole,
the American 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
mountains that lay below, they soon ran into
serious trouble. At one point, it seemed
certain that their plane would crash.
It could only 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
miles
away, for there were
no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able
to fly over the endless white plains
without difficulty.
Lesson
44
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 after two men. They
had rushed up to her while she was
having a picnic at the edge of a forest with her
children and tried to steal
her
handbag. In the struggle, the strap broke and,
with the bag in their possession, both men started
running
through the trees. Mrs.
Sterling got so angry that she ran after them. She
was soon out of breath, but she
continued to run. When she caught up
with them, she saw that they had sat down and were
going through the
contents 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.
’
Lesson
45
A clear conscience
问心无愧
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The whole village soon learnt that a
large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton, the
local butcher, had lost
his wallet
while taking his savings to the post office. Sam
was sure that 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, together with a note which
said:
‘
A thief, yes, but only
50
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
now!
’
Lesson 46
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
woollen goods. He was so surprised at being
discovered that he did not
even try to
run away. 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 over eighteen
hours. The man was
ordered to pay
£
3,500
for the cost of the trip. The normal
price of a ticket is
£
2,000!
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.
Thompson is going to sell it
because it
is told me that he could not go to sleep one
night 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. Thompson 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 night
before. When I
suggested that some villagers must have come in
for a free drink, Mr. Thompson shook his
head. The villagers have told him that
they will not accept the pub even if he gives it
away.
Lesson 48
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 to say
something, but my mouth was full of cotton wool.
He
knew I collected match boxes and
asked me whether
my collection was
growing. He then asked me how my
brother was and whether I liked my 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 suddenly
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.
Lesson 49
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
bed. 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 house. He slept very well for the first two
nights, but on the third
night, a storm
blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof
and sent it crashing into the courtyard below.
The young man did not wake up until the
bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was
smashed to pieces,
the man was
miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still
on the mattress. 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 went 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.
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I went on an
excursion recently, but my trip took me longer
than I expected.
‘
I'm going
to Woodford Green,
’
I said to
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 some time, the bus 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 Woodford
Green?
’
asked.
‘
Oh
dear,
’
said the conductor
suddenly.
‘
I forgot to put
you off.
’
‘
It doesn't
matter,
’
I
said.
‘
I'll get off
here.
’
‘
We're going back
now,
’
said the
conductor.
‘
Well, in that
case, I prefer to stay on the
bus,
’
I answered.
Lesson 51
Reward for Virtue
对美德的奖赏
My friend,
Hugh, 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
list included
most of the things Hugh
loves: butter, potatoes,rice, beer, milk,
chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a
visit. I rang the bell and was not
surprised to see that Hugh was still as fat as
ever. He led me into his room and
hurriedly hid a large parcel under his
desk. It was obvious that he was very 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 that 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 sweets!
Lesson 52
A pretty carpet
漂亮的地毯
We have
just moved into a new house and I have been
working hard all morning. I have been trying to
get my
new room in order. This has not
been easy 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 moment, they cover every inch of
floor space and I actually have to walk
on them to get in or out of the room. A short
while ago, my sister helped
me to 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 prettiest
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
time and read the carpet!
’
Lesson 53
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
fires are often caused by broken glass or by
cigarette ends which people carelessly throw
away. Yesterday 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 start the fire.
This morning, however, a firemen accidentally
discovered the cause. He noticed the
remains of a snake which was wound round the
electric wires of a
16
,
000-volt power line. In
this way, he was able to solve the mystery. 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
ground and these immediately started a fire.
Lesson 54
sticky fingers
粘糊的手指
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After breakfast, I sent the children to
school and then I went to the shops. It was still
early when I returned
home. The
children were at school, my husband was at work
and the house was quiet. So I decided to make
some meat pies. In a short time I was
busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were
soon covered with
sticky pastry. At
exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing
could have been more annoying. I picked
up the receiver between two sticky
fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the
voice of Helen Bates. It
took me ten
minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At
last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There
was
pastry on my fingers, on the
telephone, and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner
got back to the kitchen than
the
doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This
time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign
for a
registered letter!
Lesson 55
Not a gold mine
并非金矿
Dreams of
finding lost treasure almost came true recently. A
new machine called
‘
The
Revealer
’
has been
invented and it has been used to detect
gold which 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 machine, a search party went into the
cave hoping to find
buried treasure.
The leader of the party was examining the soil
near the entrance to the cave when the
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
people are confident
that
‘
The
Revealer
’
may reveal
something of value fairly soon.
Lesson
56
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 last year and there was a
great deal of
excitement just before it
began. One of 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 oldest car taking part. After a
great
many loud explosions, the race
began. Many of the cars broke down on the course
and some drivers spent
more time under
their cars than in them! A few cars, however,
completed the race. The winning car reached a
speed of forty miles an hour---much
faster than any of 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.
Lesson 57
Can I help you, madam?
您要买什么,夫人?
A woman
in jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop.
Though she 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
assistant 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 seeking 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, the woman said she
did not like it.
She enjoyed herself making the assistant bring
almost everything in the window before finally
buying the dress she had first asked
for.
Lesson 58
A blessing
in disguise?
是因祸得福吗?
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