【正文】 but f or some r eason it coul d not be used t hen. Last year, however , it cam e i nt o use. Over a hundr ed peopl e must have bee n dr i ven away f r om t heir hom es by t he noi se. I am one of t he few people l eft. Som et im es I t hi nk t hi s house wi l be knocked down by a passi ng pl ane. I have been of f er ed a l ar ge sum of m oney to go away, but I am det ermi ned to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e probabl y r ight. Lesson22 A gl ass envelope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dream ed of r eceivi ng a let er f r om a gi rl of her own age i n Hol land. Last year, we were t r aveli ng across the Channel and Jane put a pi ece of paper wit h her nam e and addr ess on i t i nt o a bot tl e. She t hrew t he bottl e i nt o t he sea. She never thought of it again, but t en m onths l at er , she recei ved a let er fr om a gi rl i n Holl and. Bot h gi rl s wr it e t o each ot her r egul ar ly now. However, t hey have deci ded t o use t he post of fi ce. Let ers wil cost a li t 1e m ore, but t hey wil l cer tai nl y tr avel f ast er . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et er f r om m y si st er yester day. She li ves i n Ni ger ia. I n her l et ter, she sai d t hat she woul d e t o England next year. If she es, she wil l get a sur pr ise. We ar e now li ving i n a beaut if ul new house i n t he count r y. Wor k on i t had begun bef or e m y sist er l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve months ago. I n m y let er, I t ol d her t hat she coul d stay wi t h us. The house has many l ar ge r ooms and t her e is a l ovel y gar den. It i s a ver y m oder n house, so i t l ooks st range t o some people. It m ust be t he onl y m oder n house i n t he di st ri ct. Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬(wàn)幸 I ent er ed the hotel manager39。s off i ce and sat down. I had just l ost amp。 50 and I f elt ver y upset .39。 I l ef t the m oney i n my r oom ,39。 I sai d, 39。and it39。s not t here now.39。 The m anager was sympat heti c, but he coul d do nothi ng. 39。Ever yone39。s l osi ng m oney t hese days, 39。 he sai d. He st ar ted t o plai n about thi s wicked worl d but was i nt er rupt ed by a knock a t the door. A gi rl came i n and put an envel ope on his desk. I t cont ai ned amp。 5o. 39。I found t hi s out si de t hi s gentl eman39。s r oom39。 she sai d. 39。Wel, 39。 I sai d t o t he m anager , 39。t her e is sti l som e honest y in t his wor l d !39。 lesson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engl ish? 英國(guó)人講的是英語(yǔ)嗎？ I ar ri ved in London at last . The r ail way st ati on was bi g, bl ack and dark. I di d not know t he way to m y hot el, so I asked a port er. I not onl y spoke Engli sh ver y caref ul l y, but ver y clearl y as wel. The por ter, however , coul d not underst and m e。 I r epe ated m y questi on sever al ti mes and at l ast he under stood. He answer ed m e, but he spoke neit her sl owl y nor cl earl y. 39。I am a f or ei gner,39。 I said. Then he spoke slowl y, but I coul d not underst and him . My t eacher never spoke Engli sh l i ke t hat ! The port er and I l ooked at each ot her and sm il ed. Then he sai d som ethi 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 fer ent l anguage. The Engl i sh understand each ot her , but I don39。t under st and them ! 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 modern ar t. They always tel l you what a pi ct ure i s 39。about 39。. Of course, m any pi ct ures arc not 39。about39。 anyt hing. They ar e just pr et y pat ter ns. We li ke them i n t he same way that we li ke pret y curt ai n mat er ial . I t hink t hat young chi ldr en of te n appreciat e moder n pi ct ures bet ter t han anyone el se. They notice m ore. My sist er i s only seven, but she always t el ls m e whet her m y pict ur es ar e good or not . She came into my r oom yest er day. 39。 What are you doing ?39。 she asked. 39。 I 39。m hanging t his pict ure on t he wal ,39。 I answered. 39。I t39。s a new one. Do you l ike i t ?39。 She l ooked at it cri ti cal ly f or a moment. 39。 I t39。s al ri ght,39。 she sai d, 39。but i sn39。t i t upside down ?39。 I l ooked at it agai n. She was r ight ! It was! Lesson27 A wet night 雨夜 Late in t he af ter noon, the boys put up their t ent in the mi ddle of a f ield. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fi re. They were al l hungr y and the f ood smel t good. Aft er a wonder ful meal, t hey t old st or ies and sang songs by the camp f ir e. But some t ime later it began to r ain. The boys f elt di nner !39。 Lesson 12 G oodbye and good l uck 再見(jiàn)，一路順風(fēng) Our nci ghbour, Captai n Char les Al ison, wil sail f r om Port sm out h t om or r ow. We shal l m eet him at t he har bour ear l y in t he mor ni ng. He wil l be in hi s sm al l boat, Topsai l. Tapsail i s a f am ous l it l e boat. I t has sail ed acr oss t he Atl ant i c m any tim es. Captai n Ali son wil l set out at eight o39。cl ock so we shal l have pl ent y of tim e. We shal l se hi s boat and t hen we shal say good bye t o him . He wil l be away f or t wo m ont hs. We ar e very pr oud of him . He wi l t ake part i n an im port ant r ace acr oss t he At l anti c. Lesson 13 The Greenwood Boys 綠林少年 The Gr eenwood Boys are a gr oup of popul ar si ngers. At present, t hey ar e vi sit i ng al l par ts of t he countr y. They wi l be ar ri vi ng here t om orr ow. They wil l be i ng by t rai n and m ost of t he young peopl e in t he t own wil l be m eet i ng t hem at the st ati on. Tom or r ow eveni ng they wi l be singi ng at t he Wor ker s39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l be staying f or fi ve days. Dur i ng t his t im e, t hey wil l gi ve fi ve per f or mances. As usual, t he poli ce wil l have a di f icult ti me. They wil l be tr yi ng t o keep or der . It