【正文】 f ul new house i n t he countr y. Wor k on i t had begun before m y sister left. The house was pl et ed f ive m ont hs ago. I n m y l et ter, I told her t hat she could stay wit h us. The house has m any large room s and ther e is a l ovel y gar den. I t i s a ver y m oder n house, so i t l ooks st range to som e peopl e. It must be the onl y m oder n house i n the di str ict. Lesson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I entered t he hot el m anager39。s of fi ce and sat down. I had just l ost amp。 50 and I f elt ver y upset .39。 I l ef t he m oney i n m y r om ,39。 I sai d, 39。and it39。s not t her e now.39。 The manager was sym pat heti c, but he coul d do nothing. 39。Ever yone39。s l osi ng money t hese days, 39。 he sai d. He st ar ted to plai n about this wicked worl d but was i nt er upt ed by a knock at the door. A girl cam e i n and put an envel ope on hi s desk. I t cont ai ned amp。5o. 39。I f ound this out si de t hi s gent lem an39。s r om 39。 she said. 39。Wel l,39。 I sai d t o the m anager, 39。t here i s sti l some honest y i n this worl d !39。 l esson25 Do t he English speak Engli sh? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ri ved in London at l ast . The r ail way stati on was bi g, black and dark. I di d not know the way t o m y hotel, so I asked a port er . I not onl y spoke Engl ish ver y carefull y, but ver y cl earl y as wel. The port er , however , coul d not underst and me。 I r epeat ed my quest i on sever al tim es and at last he under st ood. 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 sl owl y, but I could not understand him. My t eacher never spoke Engl ish l i ke that ! The por ter and I l ooked at each ot her and smi led. Then he said som et hi ng and I understood i t. 39。You39。l l soon lear n Engli sh!39。 he sai d. I wonder. In Engl and, each man speaks a di f er ent l anguage. The Engl ish under st and each ot her, but I don39。t underst and t hem ! Do they speak Engli sh ? leson26 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 pretend t hat they understand m oder n ar t. They al ways t el you what a pi ct ur e i s 39。about 39。. Of cour se, m any pictures ar c not 39。about 39。 anyt hi ng. They ar e just pret y pat er ns. We l i ke them in t he sam e way t hat we li ke pr et y cur tain materi al. I think t hat young chil dren of ten appreci at e m odern pictures bet er t han anyone el se. They noti ce more. My si st er is onl y seven, but she al ways tel s m e whether my pictures ar e good or not . She came i nt o m y r oom yest er day. 39。 What are you doing ?39。 she asked. 39。 I 39。m hangi ng t hi s pi ct ur e on t he wal, 39。 I answer ed. 39。It 39。s a new one. Do you l ike it ?39。 She l ooked at it cr it cal y f or a m om ent.39。 It 39。s al l ri ght,39。 she sai d, 39。but i sn39。t it upside down ?39。 I l ooked at i t agai n. She was ri ght! It was! Lesson27 A wet night 雨夜 Lat e i n the af t er noon, the boys put up t heir tent i n the middl e of a f ield. As soon as t hi s was done, t hey cooked a meal over an open f ire. They wer e al l hungry and the food smelt good. Aft er a wonderf ul meal , t hey told stori es and sang songs by t he camp f ir e. But some t ime later it began t o rain. The boys felt t he pol ice wil have a di f icul t ime. They wi l be t rying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions. Leson 14 Do you speak English? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an amusing experience l ast year . Aft er I had l ef t a smal l vi lage i n the south of Fr ance, I dr ove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lif t. As soon as he had got into t he car , I sai d good morning to him i n French and he repl ied in t he same l anguage. Apart fr om a few words, I do not know any French at al . Neit he r of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly r eached the town, when t he young man suddenly said, very slowly, 39。Do you speak English?39。 As I soon l earnt, he was Engli sh himself! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr et ar y told me t hat Mr. Har mswor th woul d see me. I felt ver y nervous when. I went i nt o hi s of fi ce. He did not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I entered. Aft er I had sat down, he sai d that business was ver y bad. He t ol d me that the f irm could not af or d to pay such large sal ar ies. Twenty people had alr eady lef t. I knew that my t ur n had e. 39。Mr . Harmswor th,39。 I said in a weak voice. 39。Don39。t i nt er rupt,39。 he Said. Then he smil ed and t ol d me I would r ecei ve an ext ra amp。100 a year ! Leson 16 A polit e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car i n the wrong pl ace, a tr af fi c poli ceman wi l soon find it . You wil l be ver y lucky i f he lets you go wit hout a t icket. However, this does not al ways happen. Tr af fic police ar e sometimes ver y poli te. Duri ng a holiday in Sweden, I found t hi s note on my car: 39。 Sir , we wele you to our cit y. This is a No Parking area. You wil l enjoy your stay her e if you pay at enti on t o our st reet signs. This not e is onl y a reminder. 39。 I f you receive a request l ike this, you cannot f ai l t o obey it! Lesson 17 Always young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actress. She must be at least thir tyfi ve year s ol d. In spite of this, she oft en appears on the stage as a young gi rl. Jennifer wil have to t ake par t i n a new play soon. This time, she wil l be agi rl of sevent en. I n the pl ay, she must appear in a bright r ed dr ess and long bl ack st ockings. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a br ight , or ange colour ed dr ess. If anyone ever asked her how old she is, she al ways answer s, 39。My dear , i t must be t er ri bl e to be gr own up!39。 lesson18 He of ten does this! 他經(jīng)常干這種事！ Aft er I had had l unch at avi l age inn, I looked for my bag. I had l ef t it on a chair beside the door and now it wasn39。t t here ! As I was l ooking for i t, the innkeeper came in. 39。Did yo