【正文】 p i n touch wi th the closest rel at ives. Though they ar e running out of food and dri nk, t he men are cheerf ul and confi dent that they wi l get out soon. They have been t ol d t hat r escue oper at ions are pr ogresi ng sm oot hly. If t hey knew how dif fi cul t it was to dr il l thr ough t he har d r ock, t hey woul d lose hear t. Leson89 A sl ip of t he tongue 口誤 People wi l do anything to see a fr ee showeven i f it is a bad one. When the news got round t hat a vari ety show woul d be present ed at our local ci nem a by the P. and U. Bir d Seed Company, we al l rushed to see it . We had t o queue f or hour s to get in and t her e must have been several hundr ed peopl e present just be f ore t he show began. Unfor tunately, the show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who fai led t o get i n need not ha ve felt di sappointed as many of the ar ti st es who should have appear ed did not e. The onl y funny t hi ngs we hear d t hat eveni ng came fr om t he advert iser at t he begi nni ng of the pr ogr am me. He was obviousl y very nervous and for some mi nutes stood awkwardly bef ore t he mi cr ophone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, ever yone bur st out laughi ng. We al know what the poor man shoul d have said, but what he actual y sai d was: 39。This i s the Poo and Ee Seed Bir d Com pany. Good ladies, evening and gent lemen ! 39。 l eson90 What s for supper ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Brazil i s one of t he ri chest countr ies i n the wor ld, much of it has not yet been developed. I t was mainly for thi s reason that he Br azi lian government deci ded t o have a new cit y buil t 600 mil es nor thwest of Rio de Janei r o. Designed by the gr eat archi tect Lucio Cost a, t he new cit y, Br asi li a, r epl aced Ri o de Janei ro as t he capit al of Br azi f in 1960. Brasil ia has been car ef ull y planned for modern l ivi ng. I ts wi de roads, whi ch can take fourt een lanes of t raf fi c, have been kept away fr om l iving ar eas. Chil dr en do not have t o cross busy str eet s to go t o school. Housewi ves can vi si t shopping centr es on f oot, f or i n these special y desi gned livi ng areas, cars are unnecessar y. At fi rst, t he governm ent had great di f icul ty i n persuadi ng people to l eave Ri o and to set le i n Br asi li a. Si nce 1960, however, t he populati on has been gr owi ng al t he ti me. Brasil ia has qui ckl y establi shed it sel f as the capi tal of the count ry. The i dea t o have the capi tal moved so far inl and wil l have a gr eat ef ect on t he fut ur e of Br azi l. Leson91 Three m en in a basket 三人同籃 A pil ot not iced a baloon whi ch semed t o be making f or a Royal Ai r Force St at ion nearby. He inf orm ed the stati on at once, but no one ther e was abl e to explai n the m yst er y. The of fi cer i n t he contr ol tower was ver y angry when he heard the news, because bal oons can be a great danger to ai rcraf t. He said t hat someone might by spyi ng on t he st at ion and t he pi lot was or der ed to keep tr ack of t he str ange object. The pil ot managed to ci rcl e the bal oon for some ti me. He coul d make out thr e men in a basket under it and one of t hem was hol ding f ield glasses. When the bal oon was over t he st at ion, the pi lot saw one of t he men t aki ng phot ogr aphs. Soon af ter wards, t he bal loon began to descend and it l anded near an ai rf ield. The poli ce were cal ed in, but t hey coul d not ar rest anyone, f or t he basket contai ned t wo Member s of Parl iament and t he Commanding Of f icer of t he st ati on! As t he Commanding Of f icer explai ned l ater, one half of the stat ion di d not know what t he ot her half was doi ng ! Lesson92 Asking for t roubl e 自找麻煩 I t must have been about two in t he morni ng when I ret ur ned hom e. I t ri ed to wake up m y wi fe by r ingi ng the door bel l, but she was f ast asl eep, so I got a ladder f rom the shed in the garden, put it against t he wal , and began cl im bing t owar ds the bedroom window. I was al most there when a sarcasti c voi ce bel ow said,39。 I don39。t think t he wi ndows need cleani ng at this t im e of the night. 39。 I looked down and nearl y f el l off t he ladder when I saw a poli ceman. I immediately regret ted answer ing i n t he way I did, but I said, 39。I enjoy cl eani ng wi ndows at night .39。 39。So do I ,39。 answer ed the poli ceman i n t he same t one. 39。Excuse my i nter upt ing you. I hat e to inter rupt a man when he39。s busy worki ng, but would you m ind ing wit h me t o t he st at ion ?39。 39。Wel l, I 39。d pr ef er to stay here, 39。 I said. 39。You see, I 39。ve f ott en my key.39。 39。Your what ?39。 he caled. 39。My key, 39。 I shouted.39。 For tunately, t he shouti ng woke up my wi f e who opened t he window j ust as t he pol iceman had st art ed to cli mb t owards me. Leson93 A nobl e gif t 崇高的禮物 One of the m ost fam ous m onuments i n t he worl d, t he Statue of Li ber ty, was present ed to t he Unit ed States of Amer ica i n the ni enth centur y by t he people of Fr ance. The gr eat st at ue, whi ch was designed by t he sculptor Auguste Bar tholdi , t ook ten years t o plete. The act ual f igure was made of copper suppor ted by a metal fr amework whi ch had been especial ly const ructed by Eif fel. Bef or e i t could be tr anspor t ed to t he Unit ed States, a si te had t o be found f or it and a pedestal had to be buil t. The sit e chosen was an island at the entr ance of New Yor k Har bour . By 1884, a stat ue which was 151 f et tal l, had been er ected i n Pari s. The f oll owi ng year, it was t aken t o pieces and sent to Am er i ca. By t he end of Oct ober 1886, t he st atue had been put together agai n and it wa s off ici al ly pr esented t o the Am eri can people by Bar tholdi . Ever since then, the great monument has been a symbol of li ber ty for the m il li ons of peopl e who have passed through New York Harbour to m ake t hei r hom es