【正文】 new Houses of Parl i am ent wer e bei ng bui lt . It i s not only of im m ense si ze, but is extr em el y accur ate as wel . Of fi 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 arel y gone wrong. Once, however, i t f ail ed t o gi ve t he cor rect t 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 “藍鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dr i ver, Si r Mal colm Cam pbel , was t he fi r 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 Flat s, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, the car he was dr i vi ng, had been special y buil t f or him. I t was over 30 f eet i n l ength and had a 2500 horsepower engi ne. Al though Cam pbel l reached a speed of over 304 mil es per hour, he had gr eat dif fi cul ty i n cont r ol li ng t he car because a tyr e bur st dur ing t he fi rst r un. Af ter his at em pt, Campbel l was disappoi nt ed t o l earn t hat hi s aver age speed had been 299 m il es per hour. However, a f ew days lat er , he was t ol d t hat a m ist ake had been m ade. Hi s aver age speed had been 301 mi les per hour. Si nce t hat im e, r aci ng dri ver s have r eached speeds of over 400 mi les an hour. Foll owing his f at her39。s f oot st eps m any years l at er, Sir Malcolm39。s son, Donal d, al so set up a wor l d record. Like hi s fat her, he was dr ivi ng a car cal ed Bluebi r d. Lesson73 The record hol der 紀錄保持者 Lit tl e boys who pl ay tr uant f r om school ar e unim agi nat ive. A quiet day39。s fi shi ng, or eight hour s i n a ci nem a seei ng the sam e fi lm over and over agai n, i s usual y as f ar as t hey get. They have al l been put to sham e by a boy who, whil e pl ayi ng t r uant, t r avel ed 1600 m il es. He hit ch hi ked to Dover and, t owards eveni ng, went i nt o a boat t o f ind som ewher e t o sl eep. When he woke up next m or ning, he di scovered t hat t he boat had, i n t he m eanti m e, tr avel led t o Calai s. No one noti ced the boy as he crept of f. Fr om t here, he hi t ch hi ked to Par is i n a l or r y. The dr iver gave him a f ew bi scuit s and a cup of cof f e and l ef t him j ust out si de t he cit y. The next car t he boy stopped di d not take him i nt o t he centr e of Par i s as he hoped it woul d, but t o Per pignan on t he Fr ench Spani sh bor der . Ther e he was picked up by a poli cem an and sent back t o Engl and by t he l ocal authori ti es. He has surel y set up a r ecor d f or t he thousands of boys who dr eam of evadi ng school . Leson74 O ut of t he l im el i ght 舞臺之外 An anci ent bus st opped by a dr y ri ver bed and a part y of f am ous actor s and actr eses got of f. Dr esed i n dar k gl asses and ol d cl ot hes, t hey had t ake n speci al pr ecauti ons so that no one should r ecogni ze t hem . But as t hey soon discover ed, di sguises can someti mes be t oo per fe ct. 39。Thi s i s a wonder f ul pl ace f or a pi ic,39。 sai d Gl ori a Gl eam. 39。 It coul dn39。t be bet t er , Glori a,39。 Br inksl ey M ers agr eed. 39。No newspaper m en, no fi lm f ans! Why don39。t we e m or e of t en ?39。 Meanwhil e, t wo ot her act ors, Rockwal l Sl i nger and Merl i n Gr eves, had car ri ed t wo lar ge food baskets t o a shady spot under som e t rees. When t hey had al l made t hemsel ves fort abl e, a st r anger apear ed. He l ooked ver y angry. 39。Now you gut out of her e, al of you!39。 he shout ed: 39。 I39。m sheri f her e. Do you see t hat not i ce ? It says No Cam pi ng i n case you can39。t r ead !39。 39。 Look, sher if f, 39。said Rockwal ,39。 don39。t be too har d on us. I39。m Rockwal l Sl i nger and thi s i s Mer li n Gr eeves. 39。 39。 Oh, i s it ?39。 sai d the sher if f wit h a sneer . 39。Wel l, I 39。m Bri nksl ey Meers, and m y ot her nam e i s Gl or ia Gl eam . Now you get out of here f ast ! 39。 l eson75 SO S 呼救信號 When a l ight passenger plane fl ew of f cour se some t im e ago, it cr ashed i n the m ount ai ns and i ts pi lot was kil led. The onl y pa senger s, a young woman and her t wo baby daught ers, were unhurt. I t was t he m iddle of wi nter. Snow l ay t hi ck on t he gr ound. The woman knew t hat t he near est vil lage was mi les away. When it gr ew dar k. she t urned a suit case i nt o a bed and put t he chi l dr en i nside i t, cover ing t hem wi th al l t he cl ot hes she coul d fi nd. Dur i ng the ni ght, i t got t er r ibl y col d. The wom an kept as near as she coul d t o t he chi l dr en and even tr i ed t o get int o the case her self , but i t was too smal . Ear l y ,next m or ni ng she hear d pl anes pasing over head and wonder ed how she coul d send a si gnal. Then she had an i dea. She st amped out t he l et ers39。 SOS39。 i n t he snow. Fort unat el y, a pi l ot saw t he si gnal and sent a m essage by r adi o t o the nearest t own. I t was not l ong bef or e a hel icopt er ar ived on t he scene t o r escue t he sur vi vor s of t he pl ane cr ash. Lesson76 Apri l Fool s Day 愚人節(jié) 39。To end our speci al news bull et in,39。 sai d t he voi ce of t he t el evi si on announcer ,39。 we ar e taki ng you t o t he m acar oni f iel ds of Calabri a. Macar oni has been gr own i n t hi s ar ea f or over si x hundr ed year s. Two of t he l eading gr ower s, Giuseppe Mol dova and Ricar do Br abant e, t el l m e t hat t hey have been expect ing a splendid cr op t hi s year and har vesti ng has begun earl ier t han usual . Her e you can se t wo wor ker s who, bet ween them , have j ust f i ni shed cutti ng t hr ee car t l oads of gol den br own m acar oni st alks. The whol e vil lage has been wor ki ng day and ni ght gat her i ng and t hr eshi ng thi s year39。s crop bef or e t he Septem ber r ai ns. On t he r i ght, you can see Mrs Br abante