【正文】 li ving i n a beaut if ul new house i n the count r y. Wor k on i t had begun befor e m y si st er l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve m ont hs ago. In m y l et ter, I t ol d her t hat she could st ay wit h us. The house has m any l arge r oom s and t here i s a l ovel y gar den. It i s a very m oder n house, so it l ooks str ange t o som e people. It m ust be t he onl y m oder n house i n t he di str ict. Lesson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬(wàn)幸 I ent er ed t he hot el manager39。s off i ce and sat down. I had j ust lost amp。 50 and I felt ver y upset.39。 I l eft t he m oney i n m y room,39。 I said, 39。and it 39。s not t her e now. 39。 The m anager was sym pat heti c, but he coul d do not hi ng. 39。Ever yone39。s l osi ng money t hese days,39。 he sai d. He st art ed t o pl ai n about t hi s wi cked wor ld but was i nt er r upt ed by a knock at t he door. A gir l cam e in and put an envel ope on hi s desk. It cont ained amp。5o. 39。I f ound t hi s outsi de t his gent l em an39。s r oom 39。 she said. 39。Wel l, 39。 I sai d to t he manager, 39。t here i s stil l som e honesty i n t hi s worl d ! 39。 l eson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engli sh? 英國(guó)人講的是英語(yǔ)嗎？ I ar ri ved i n London at l ast . The rail way stati on was big, black and dar k. I di d not know the way t o m y hot el , so I asked a port er . I not onl y spoke Engli sh ver y car ef ul y, but ver y cl ear l y as wel l. The port er, however , coul d not under stand me。 I r epeat ed my quest i on sever al tim es and at l ast he under st ood. He answered m e, but he spoke nei t her slowl y nor cl ear ly. 39。I am a f or ei gner ,39。 I sai d. Then he spoke sl owl y, but I coul d not under st and him . My teacher never spoke Engli sh li ke that! The port er a nd I l ooked at each ot her and smil ed. Then he said somet hi ng and I underst ood i t. 39。You39。l l soon l ear n Engli sh! 39。 he sai d. I wonder. I n Engl and, each m an speaks a dif f er ent l anguage. The Engli sh underst and each ot her, but I don39。t under st and t hem ! Do t hey speak Engl ish ? l esson26 The best art crit i cs 最佳美術(shù)評(píng)論家 I am an art st udent and I pai nt a l ot of pi ct ures. Many peopl e pr etend t hat t hey under stand m oder n ar t. They al ways t el l you what a pi ct ure i s 39。about 39。. Of course, m any pi ct ur es ar c not 39。about39。 anyt hing. They ar e j ust pret y pat t er ns. We li ke t hem i n t he sam e way that we li ke pr et y curt ain m at eri al . I t hi nk t hat young chi l dr en oft en appr eci at e m odern pi ct ur es bet er t han anyone else. They noti ce m or e. My si st er i s onl y seven, but she al ways t el l s m e whet her my pi ct ures ar e good or not. She cam e i nt o m y r oom yester day. 39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。 she asked. 39。 I 39。m hangi ng t hi s pi ctur e on t he wal l,39。 I answer ed. 39。I t39。s a new one. Do you li ke it ?39。 She looked at i t cr it ical y f or a m om ent. 39。 It 39。s al r i ght, 39。 she said, 39。but isn39。t it upsi dedown ?39。 I looked at i t agai n. She was r ight! I t was! Lesson27 A wet night 雨夜 Lat e i n t he af t er noon, t he boys put up t heir t ent i n t he m iddl e of a fi el d. As soon as t hi s was done, t hey cooked a meal over an open fi re. They were al l hungr y and t he f ood sm el t good. Aft er a wonder f ul m eal, t hey tol d st ori es and sang songs by t he cam p fi r e. But som e tim e l at e r i t began t o r ai n. The boys f el t ti r ed so t hey pet out the f ir e and cr ept i nt o t hei r t ent. Their sl epi ng bags wer e warm and f or table, so they al slept soundly. I n the mi ddl e of t he ni ght , t wo boys woke up and began shouti ng. The t ent was f ull of wat er ! They al l leapt out of t heir sl eping bags and hur ri ed outsi de. It was r ai ni ng heavi l y and t hey f ound t hat a str eam had f or m ed i n t he fi el d. The st ream wound i ts way acr oss t he fi el d and t hen f l owed r i ght under t hei r tent! Lesson28 No parki ng 禁止停車 Jasper Whi te i s one of t hose rar e people who bel ieves in ancient m yt hs. He has just bought a new house i n t he ci t y, but ever si nce he m oved in, he has had t r oubl e wit h m otori sts. when he ret ur ns hom e at ni ght , he al ways fi nds t hat someone has par ked a car out side hi s gat e. Because of t hi s, he has not been abl e t o get hi s own car i nto hi s gar age even once. Jasper has put up39。 No Par ki ng39。 si gns out si de hi s gate, but t hese have not had any ef ect . Now he has put an ugl y st one head over t he gate. It i s one of t he ugl iest faces I have ever seen. I asked him what it was and he t ol d m e t hat i t was Medusa, t he Gor gon. Jasper hopes t hat she wil l tur n mot or ists t o st one. But none of t hem has been t ur ned t o st one yet! Lesson29 Taxi! 出租汽車！ Capt ai n Ben Fawcet t has bought an unusual t axi and has begun a new servi ce. The 39。t axi39。 i s a sm al Swi s aer opl ane cal ed a 39。Pil atus Port er39。. Thi s wonder ful plane can car r y seven passengers. The most sur pr isi ng t hi ng about i t, however , is t hat i t can l and anywher e: on snow, wat er, or even on a pl oughed f iel d. Captai n Fawcet 39。s f ir st passenger was a doct or who fl ew fr om Birm i ngham t o a l onel y vil lage i n t he Wel sh m ount ains. Si nce then, Capt ai n Fawcet t has f l own passengers t o many unusual pl aces. Once he l anded on t he r oof of a bl ock of fl at s and on anot her occasi on, he l anded i n a desert ed car par k. Captai n Fawcet has j ust r ef used a str ange request fr om a busi nessm an. The m an want ed to f l y to Rockal, a l onel y i sl and i n t he Atl ant i c Ocean, but Capt ai n Fawcet t di d not take him because the t ri p was t oo danger ous. Leson30 Foot ball or pol o? 足球還是水球？ The Wayl e is a sm al l r i ver t hat cut s across the par k near my hom e. I li ke si t i ng by t he Wayl e on fi ne aft er noons. It was war m l ast Sunday, so I went and sat on t he r i ver bank as usual . Som e chi