【正文】 , I said good mor ning t o him in French and he repli ed in t he same langua ge. Apar t fr om a f ew wor ds, I do not know any French at al l. Neit her of us spoke dur ing t he journey. I had nearl y reached t he town, when t he young man suddenl y sai d, ver y sl owly, 39。Do you speak Engli sh?39。 As I soon l ear nt, he was English hi msel f! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr et ary t old m e that Mr . Harmswor th woul d se me. I f elt very ner vous when. I went i nt o his of fi ce. He di d not look up f rom his desk when I ent er ed. Af t er I had sat down, he sai d that busi ness was very bad. He tol d me t hat t he fi rm coul d not af f or d t o pay such l ar ge sal ari es. Twenty people had alr eady l ef t. I knew t hat m y tur n had e. 39。Mr. Har mswort h,39。 I sa i d in a weak voi ce. 39。Don39。t i nter upt, 39。 he Said. Then he smil ed and told me I would recei ve an ext ra amp。100 a year ! Lesson 16 A pol it e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car in the wr ong pl ace, a t raf ic pol iceman wi l soon fi nd it . You wil l be ver y l ucky i f he le ts you go wi thout a ti cket . However , t his does not al ways happen. Tr af fi c poli ce ar e som etim es ver y poli te. Duri ng a hol iday i n Sweden, I f ound t his note on my car: 39。 Si r, we wel e you to our cit y. Thi s is a No Par king area. You wil l enj oy your st ay her e if you pay at ent ion t o our st reet si gns. This note i s only a remi nder .39。 If you r eceive a request li ke this, you cannot fail t o obey it ! Lesson 17 Always young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer i s an act res. She must be at l east thir ty fi ve year s old. In spit e of thi s, she oft en appear s on t he st age as a young gir l. Jenni fer wi l have t o t ake part i n a new pl ay soon. This t ime, she wil l be a gi r l of seventeen. In t he play, she must appear in a br ight r ed dr es and l ong bl ack st ocki ngs. Last year i n anot her pl ay, she had to wear shor t socks and a bri ght , or ange col our ed dress. I f anyone ever asked her how ol d she i s, she always answer s, 39。My dear, it must be ter ri ble t o be grown up! 39。 l eson18 He oft en does thi s! 他經(jīng)常干這種事！ Af t er I had had lunch at a vil lage inn, I looked for my bag. I had left i t on a chai r beside t he door and now i t wasn39。t t her e ! As I was l ooki ng for i t, the i nn keeper cam e in. 39。Di d you have a good m eal ?39。 he asked. 39。Yes, thank you,39。 I answered, 39。but I can39。t pay the bi l . I haven39。t got my bag.39。 The i n keeper sm il ed and i mmediat el y went out . In a few minutes he r eturned wi th my bag and gave i t back t o me. 39。I 39。m ver y sorr y,39。 he sai d 39。 My dog had taken it i nto t he gar den. He of ten does thi s. 39。 Lesson19 Sold out 票已售完 39。The play may begin at any moment, 39。 I said. 39。I t may have begun alr eady,39。 Susan answered. 39。I hur r ied to the t icket of fi ce. 39。May I have t wo t ickets please ?39。 I asked. 39。I 39。m sor ry, we39。ve sold out, 39。 the gir l sai d. 39。What a pit y! 39。 Susan excl aimed. Just then, a man hur r ied t o the t icket of fi ce. 39。Can I retur n these two ti ckets?39。 he asked. 39。Cer tai nl y,39。 the gi rl sai d. 39。Coul d I have those two ti ckets pl ease ?39。 I asked. 39。Cer tainl y, 39。t he gir l sai d, 39。but t hey ar e for next Wednesday39。s per for mance. 39。I m ight as wel l have t hem ,39。 I said sadly. Leson20 One m an in a boat 獨坐孤舟 Fi shing i s my favour it e spor t. I of ten f ish for hours wi thout cat chi ng anyt hing. But t his does not wor ry me. Som e fi sher men a re unlucky. I nst ead of catching fi sh, they catch old boot s and r ubbish. I am even l es l ucky. I never cat ch anyt hi ngnot even ol d boot s. Af ter having spent whole morni ngs on t he ri ver , I al ways go home wi th an empt y bag. 39。You must gi ve up fi shi ng! 39。 my f ri ends say. 39。 It 39。s a waste of t ime. 39。 But t hey don39。t r eal ize one impor tant thing. I39。m not r eal y i nt erested i n fi shi ng. I am onl y i nt erested in si t ing i n a boat and doing not hi ng at al l ! Lesson21 Mad or not? 是不是瘋了？ Aer opl anes are sl owly dr ivi ng me mad. I li ve near an air por t and passing planes can be heard ni ght and day. The ai rport was bui lt duri ng the war , but for some r eason it could not be used t hen. Last year, however , it came int o use. Over a hundr ed peopl e must have been dr iven away f rom their homes by t he noi se. I am one of the f ew peopl e l ef t. Someti mes I thi nk thi s house wi l be knocked down by a passi ng plane. I have been of fer ed a large sum of money t o go away, but I am det er m i ned to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e probably r ight. Lesson22 A gl ass envelope 玻璃信封 My daughter , Jane, never dr eam ed of r ecei ving a l et ter f rom a gir l of her own age in Holl and. Last year , we wer e tr avel li ng acr oss t he Channel and Jane put a pi ece of paper wi t h her name and address on it int o a bott le. She thr ew the bot tle into the sea. She never t hought of i t again, but ten mont hs l ater, she received a l et ter fr om a gir l i n Hol land. Bot h gir ls wr i te t o each ot her r egul ar ly now. However , t hey have decided to use t he post off ice. Let ter s wil l cost a li t 1e more, but they wi l cer tai nl y t ravel f ast er . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et ter f rom my sister yest erday. She l ives in Nigeri a. I n her let er, she said that she woul d e to Engl and next year . If she es, she wi l l get a surpri se. We are now l iving i n a beaut if ul new house i n the count ry. Work on i t had begun befor e my sist er l ef t. The house was pl eted f ive months ago. In m y let ter, I t ol d her that she could stay wi t h us. The house has many l ar ge rooms and t her e i s a l ovel y gar den. It is a ver y m oder n house, so it l ooks st range to some people. It m ust be the onl y m oder n house i n t he di st ri c t. Le