【正文】 abl e to t el us mor e about act i ve vol canoes t han any m an al i ve. Lesson68 Persist ent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed t he st reet t o avoi d m eeti ng him , but he saw m e and came r unni ng t owar ds m e. It was no use pret ending t hat I had not seen him, so I waved t o him. I never enj oy m eet ing Ber t Dykes. He never has anyt hi ng t o do. No mat er how busy you ar e, he al ways i nsi st s on i ng wi t h you. I had t o thi nk of a way of pr eventi ng him f rom f ol owi ng m e ar ound al m or ning. 39。Hul l o, Bert, 39。 I sai d. 39。Fancy meeti ng you her e !39。 39。Hul l o, El izabet h, 39。 Ber t answer ed. 39。 I was j ust wonder ing how t o spend t he m or ni ng unt il I saw you. You39。r e not busy doi ng anyt hi ng, ar e you ?39。 39。 No, not at al ,39。 I answer ed.39。 I 39。m going t o. . .39。 39。Woul d you mi nd my i ng wit h you ?39。 he asked, bef or e I had f i ni shed speaki ng. ‘ Not at al l,39。 I l ied, 39。but I39。m goi ng t o t he denti st .39。 39。 Then I39。l l e wit h you,39。 he answer ed.39。 Ther e39。s al ways pl ent y t o r ead i n t he 39。wai ti ng r oom !39。 l esson69 But not m urder! 并非謀殺！ I was being t est ed for a dri ving l icence f or the t hi r d tim e. I had been asked t o dri ve in heavy tr af ic and had done so successf ull y. Aft er havi ng been i nstr uct ed t o dr i ve out of t own, I began t o acqui re confi dence. Sur e t hat I had passed, I was alm ost begi nni ng t o enj oy m y t est. The exam i ner m ust have been pleased wi t h m y perf orm ance, f or he sm il ed and sai d, 39。Just one m or e t hi ng, Mr Eam es. Let us suppose t hat a chil d suddenly cr oses the r oad i n f r ont of you. As soon as I t ap on t he wi ndow, I want t he car t o be stopped imm edi at ely.39。 I cont i nued dri ving and aft er som e t im e, t he exami ner t apped l oudl y. Though t he sound coul d be hear d clearl y, i t took m e a long ti me t o r eact. I suddenl y pr esed t he br ake pedal har d and we wer e bot h t hr own f or war d. The exam i ner l ooked at m e sadl y. 39。Mr Eames, 39。 he sai d, i n a m our nf ul voi ce, 39。 you have j ust kil ed t hat chi l d !39。 l esson70 Red f or danger 危險的紅色 Dur i ng a bul lf ight, a dr unk suddenl y wander ed i nt o t he m iddle of t he ri ng. The cr owd began t o shout, but t he dr unk was unaware of t he danger. The bull was busy wit h t he m at ador at t he t im e, but it suddenl y caught si ght of t he dr unk who was shouti ng r ude r em ar ks and wavi ng a r ed cap. Appar entl y sensit i ve t o cri ti ci sm , the bull f ot al l about t he m at ador and char ged at t he drunk. The cr owd suddenl y gr ew qui et. The dr unk, however , semed quit e sur e of him self . When t he bul l got cl ose t o hi m, he cl um sil y st epped asi de to l et i t pass. The cr owd br oke i nt o cheer s and the dr unk bowed. By t hi s ti me, however, t hree m en had e i nt o t he ri ng and they qui ckl y dr agged t he dr unk t o saf et y. Even t he bul l semed t o f el sor r y for him, f or it l ooked on sym pat het i cal y unti l t he dr unk was out of the way bef or e once m ore t urni ng i t s at tenti on t o t he mat ador. Lesson71 A f am ous cl ock 一個著名的大鐘 When you vi si t London, one of t he fi rst t hi ngs you wi l see is Bi g Ben, the f am ous cl ock whi ch can be hear d al l over t he worl d on t he B. B. C. If t he Houses of Par li am ent had hot been bur ned down i n 1834, t he great cl ock woul d never have been er ect ed. Bi g Ben t akes it s nam e fr om Si r Benj am i n Hal l who was r esponsi ble f or t he m aki ng of t he cl ock when t he new Houses of Par li am ent wer e bei ng bui lt . It i s not only of im mense si ze, but is extr em el y accur ate as wel . Of i ci al s f rom Gr enwi ch Obser vat or y have t he cl ock checked t wice a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he cl ock when it i s act ual y str i ki ng because m icr ophones ar e connected t o t he cl ock t ower. Bi g Ben has r ar el y gone wrong. Once, however, i t f ail ed t o gi ve t he cor rect im e. A pai nter who had been worki ng on the t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of t he hands and sl owed it down ! Leson72 A car call ed Bl uebi rd “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dri ver , Si r Mal colm Cam pbel , was the f ir st m an t o dri ve at over 300 mi les per hour. He set up a new worl d r ecord i n September 1935 at Bonnevi l e Sal t Flats, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, the car he was dr i vi ng, had been speci al y bui lt f or hi m. I t was over 30 f eet i n lengt h and had a 2500 hor se power engi ne. Alt hough Cam pbel r eached a speed of over 304 m il es per hour, he had great di f i cult y i n cont r ol i ng t he car because a t yre bur st duri ng t he f ir st r un. Aft er hi s at t em pt , Cam pbel l was di sappoint ed t o l ear n t hat his aver age speed had been 299 mi l es per hour . However , a f ew days l at er, he was t ol d t hat a mi st ake had been m ade. His average speed had been 301 m il es per hour . Si nce that tim e, r aci ng dri ver s have reached speeds of over 400 mi l es an hour. Foll owi ng hi s fat her39。s f oot st eps m any years l at er, Si r Malcolm39。s son, Donald, al so set up a worl d r ecord. Li ke hi s fat her, he was dr i vi ng a car cal ed Bl uebir d. Lesson73 The record hol der 紀(jì)錄保持者 Lit tl e boys who play t ruant f r om school are unim agi nat i ve. A qui et day39。s fi shi ng, or ei ght hour s i n a cinem a seei ng t he sam e f ilm over and over agai n, i s usual y as f ar as t hey get. They have al l been put t o shame by a boy who, whi le pl ayi ng tr uant , t r a vel ed 1600 m il es. He hi tch hi ked t o Dover and, t owards eveni ng, went i nt o a boat t o fi nd som ewher e t o sl eep. When he woke up next mor ni ng, he di scovered t hat t he boat had, i n the m eantim e, t r avel ed t o Cal ais. No one not i ced t he boy as he cr ept of f. Fr om t her e, he hit ch hi ked t o Pari s in a l orr y. The dr i ver gave hi m a few bi scui t