【正文】 n touch wi th t he cl osest relat ives. Though they are r unning out of f ood and dri nk, t he men are cheer ful and conf ident that they wi l get out soon. They have been tol d that rescue operat ions ar e pr ogr esing smoothl y. I f they knew how di f icult i t was to dr il l through t he har d r ock, they would lose hear t. Lesson89 A sli p of the tongue 口誤 Peopl e wi l do anyt hing t o se a fr ee showeven if i t is a bad one. When the news got round that a vari et y show would be pr esented at our local cinema by the P. and U. Bir d Seed Company, we al l r ushed t o se it. We had to queue f or hours t o get in and t her e must have been several hundr ed people pr esent just be f ore t he show began. Unf ort unat el y, the show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who fail ed to get i n need not have f elt disappoi nted as many of the art ist es who should have appeared di d not e. The only f unny t hi ngs we hear d that evening came fr om t he advert iser at t he begi nni ng of the progr am me. He was obvi ousl y ver y nervous and for some mi nut es st ood awkwar dly bef ore t he micr 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。Thi s i s the Poo and Ee Seed Bir d Company. Good ladies, eveni ng and gent lemen ! 39。 l esson90 What s for supper ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Brazil is one of t he ri chest countr ies in the wor ld, much of it has not yet been devel oped. I t was mai nly f or thi s reason t hat t he Brazil ian government decided t o have a new cit y built 600 miles nort hwest of Rio de Janei ro. Designed by the gr eat archit ect Lucio Cost a, t he new city, Br asi li a, r epl aced Ri o de Janeir o as the c apit al of Br azi f in 1960. Brasil ia has been caref ully planned f or moder n l iving. I ts wi de roads, whi ch can t ake fourt een lanes of t raf fi c, have been kept away f r om l iving ar eas. Chil dr en do not have t o cross busy str eet s to go to school . Housewives can vi si t shoppi ng centr es on foot , f or in t hese speci al ly designed li ving ar eas, car s ar e unnecesary. At f ir st , the gover nment had gr eat dif fi culty in per suading peopl e to leave Rio and t o set tl e in Brasil ia. Since 1960, however , t he popul at ion has been growi ng al l the t ime. Br asi lia has quickly establ ished i tself as the capit al of t he countr y. The idea to have the capit al m oved so f ar i nland wi l have a great ef fect on the f uture of Br azil. Lesson91 Three men i n a basket 三人同籃 A pi lot noti ced a bal oon which seem ed to be maki ng for a Royal Air For ce Stati on near by. He i nfor med the st at ion at once, but no one t her e was able t o expl ain t he mystery. The off icer in the cont rol t ower was ver y angr y when he hear d t he news, because bal loons can be a gr eat danger t o air cr aft . He sai d that someone mi ght by spying on the stati on and the pil ot was or dered t o keep t rack of the str ange obj ect . The pi lot managed t o cir cle t he bal loon f or some t ime. He could make out t hree men i n a basket under it and one of them was hol ding f ield glases. When t he bal loon was over the stati on, t he pil ot saw one of the m en taking photographs. Soon aft erwar ds, the bal loon began t o descend and it landed near an air fi eld. The pol ice wer e cal led i n, but they could not ar est anyone, for the basket contained two Member s of Par li am ent and the Com mandi ng Of fi cer of the stat ion! As the Com mandi ng Of fi cer explained l at er , one hal f of t he stati on did not know wha t the other half was doing ! Leson92 Asking f or trouble 自找麻煩 It must have been about t wo i n the mor ning when I r etur ned home. I tr ied t o wake up my wif e by r inging t he door bel , but she was fast asl ep, so I got a l adder fr om t he shed i n t he gar den, put i t agai nst the wal l, and began cl imbi ng towards t he bedr oom wi ndow. I was al most t her e when a sar cast ic voice below sai d, 39。 I don39。t t hink t he windows need cl eaning at t hi s ti me of t he ni ght.39。 I l ooked down and near ly fel of f the l adder when I saw a policeman. I immedi at ely r egr et ed answeri ng in the way I di d, but I sai d, 39。I enj oy cl eani ng windows at night. 39。 So do I, 39。 answer ed t he poli cem an in t he same tone. 39。Excuse my i nter upting you. I hat e t o int er rupt a man when he39。s busy worki ng, but would you m ind i ng wit h me t o t he st at ion ?39。 39。Wel l, I 39。d pr ef er to stay her e, 39。 I said. 39。You see, I 39。ve f ott en my key.39。 39。Your what ?39。 he cal ed. 39。My key, 39。 I shouted.39。 For tunately, t he shouti ng woke up my wi f e who opened t he window just as t he pol iceman had st art ed to cl imb towards m e. Leson93 A nobl e gif t 崇高的禮物 One of the m ost f amous monuments in 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 ent h cent ur y by t he people of Fr ance. The great st at ue, whi ch was designed by t he sculpt or Auguste Bar tholdi , t ook ten years t o plete. The act ual f igur e was made of copper suppor ted by a metal fr amework which had been especi al ly constr uct ed by Eif fel. Bef ore i t could be tr ansport 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 isl and at the entr ance of New York Harbour. By 1884, a st atue whi ch was 151 f eet t al, had been er ect ed in Par is. The fol lowi ng year , i t was taken to pi eces and sent to Ameri ca. By the end of Oc tober 1886, the statue had been put t oget her agai n and it was of fi cial y present ed to t he Amer ican peopl e by Bart hol di. Ever si nce t hen, the gr eat m onument has been a symbol of l ibert y f or t he mi l ions of people who have pased t hr ough New Yor k Har bour to make their h