【正文】 9。but t hey are f or next Wednesday39。s perf orm ance. 39。I m i ght as wel have them ,39。 I sai d sadl y. Lesson20 O ne m an i n a boat 獨坐孤舟 Fi shi ng i s m y f avouri t e sport . I oft en fi sh for hour s wi thout cat chi ng anyt hi ng. But t hi s does not worr y me. Som e f isher men ar e unl ucky. I nst ead of cat chi ng f ish, t hey cat ch ol d boots and r ubbi sh. I am even l ess l ucky. I never cat ch anyt hi ng not even ol d boot s. Af ter havi ng spent whole m orni ngs on t he ri ver , I al ways go hom e wi th an em pt y bag. 39。You must gi ve up fi s hi ng!39。 my f ri ends say.39。 It 39。s a wast e of t im e. 39。 But t hey don39。t r eal i ze one im port ant t hi ng. I 39。m not r eal l y int er est ed i n f ishi ng. I am onl y int er est ed i n sit ti ng i n a boat and doi ng not hi ng at al ! Lesson21 Mad or not ? 是不是瘋了？ Aer opl anes ar e sl owl y dri vi ng me m ad. I l ive near an ai rport and pasi ng pl anes can be hear d ni ght and day. The air por t was built dur ing t he war, but for som e r eason it coul d not be used t hen. Last year, however , i t cam e i nt o use. Over a hundr ed peopl e m ust have been dr i ven away f r om t heir homes by t he noi se. I am one of t he few people l eft . Som et im es I t hink t hi s house wi l be knocked down by a pasing pl ane. I have been off ered a l ar ge sum of m oney t o go away, but I am determ i ned t o st ay here. Ever ybody says I must be m ad and they are pr obabl y ri ght . Lesson22 A gl ass envel ope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dr eamed of r ecei vi ng a l et ter fr om a gi rl of her own age i n Holl and. Last year, we wer e t ravel li ng acr oss t he Channel and Jane put a piece of paper wi th her nam e and addr es on i t i nt o a bott le. She thr ew t he bott l e i nt o the sea. She never t hought of i t agai n, but t en m ont hs lat er , she r ecei ved a let er f r om a gi rl i n Holl and. Bot h gir ls wr it e t o each ot her r egul ar l y now. However, t hey have deci ded t o use t he post off i ce. Let er s wi l cost a l it t1e m or e, but t hey wi l cert ainl y tr avel f aster. Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a let er fr om m y si ster yest er day. She li ves in Nigeri a. I n her let er, she sai d t hat she woul d e t o Engl and next year . If she c om es, she wil l get a sur pr i se. We ar e now li vi ng i n a beaut if ul new house i n t he countr y. Wor k on it had begun bef ore m y si ster left . The house was pl et ed fi ve m onths ago. I n m y let er, I t ol d her that she could st ay wit h us. The house has m any l ar ge r oom s and t her e i s a l ovel y gar den. I t is a ver y m odern house, so i t l ooks st range t o som e people. It m ust be t he onl y m odern house i n t he di st ri ct. Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I enter ed t he hotel manager39。s off ice and sat down. I had just l ost amp。 50 and I f elt very 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 int er rupt ed by a knock at 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 gent leman39。s r oom39。 she sai d. 39。Wel ,39。 I sai d t o t he m anager, 39。t her e i s st il some honest y i n thi s worl d !39。 l esson25 Do t he Engl ish speak Engl i sh? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ri ved i n London at last. The r ai l way st at ion was bi g, bl ack and dark. I did not know t he way to m y hotel, so I asked a por ter. I not onl y spoke Engli sh ver y car ef ul l y, but ver y clearl y as wel. The por ter, however , coul d not underst and m e。 I r epeated m y questi on several ti mes and at l ast he under st ood. He answer ed m e, but he spoke neit her sl owl y nor cl ear l y. 39。I am a f or eigner,39。 I sai d. Then he spoke sl owl y, but I coul d not understand hi m. My teacher never spoke Engl ish li ke t hat! The por ter and I l ooked at each other and smi l ed. Then he sai d som et hi ng and I under stood it . 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 other, but I don39。t underst and t hem ! Do t hey speak Engli sh ? l eson26 The best art cri ti cs 最佳美術(shù)評論家 I am an art student and I paint a l ot of pi ct ur es. Many people pr et end t hat t hey under st and modern ar t. They al ways t el l you what a pi ct ure i s 39。about 39。. Of course, m any pi ctur es ar c not 39。about39。 anythi ng. They are j ust pr et ty pat er ns. We l i ke t hem i n t he sam e way t hat we li ke pret y curt ai n m at er i al. I t hink t hat young chi l dr en oft en appr eci at e modern pi ct ures bet er t han anyone else. They noti ce mor e. My si ster is onl y seven, but she al ways tel s me whet her m y pict ur es ar e good or not . She cam e i nt o m y r oom yest erday. 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 t 39。s a new one. Do you l ike i t ?39。 She l ooked at it cri ti cal ly f or a m om ent. 39。 It39。s al r ight,39。 she sai d, 39。but i sn39。t it upsi de down ?39。 I l ooked at it agai n. She was r i ght ! It was! Lesson27 A wet ni ght 雨夜 Lat e in t he aft er noon, t he boys put up t heir t ent i n t he m iddl e of a f i el d. As soon as t hi s was done, t hey cooked a m eal over an open fi re. They wer e al hungry and t he f ood smelt good. Aft er a wonder ful meal, t hey t ol d st or ies and sang songs by the cam p f ir e. But som e t im e l ater it began to r ai n. The boys felt t ir ed so t hey pet out t he f ir e and crept int o their t ent . Thei r sl eepi ng bags wer e warm and f or table, so t hey al slept soundly. I n the mi ddle of t he ni ght , t wo boys woke up and began shouti ng. The t ent wa