【正文】 A f ew car s, however, plet ed t he r ace. The winning car r eached a speed of f ort y m iles an hour m uch f ast er t han any of it s r ivals. I t sped downhil at t he end of t he r ace and it s driver had a lot of t r ouble t r ying t o st op it . The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pleasur e. I t was ver y dif f er ent f r om m oder n car r aces but no less ex cit ing. Lesson57 Can Ihelp you, m adam? 你要買什么，夫人？ A wom an in blue jeans st ood at t he window of an expensive shop. Though she hesit at ed f or a m om ent , she f inaly went in and as ked t o see a dr ess t hat was in t he window. The assist ant who ser ved her did not like t he way she was dr essed. Glancing at her scor nf uly, he t old her t hat he dr ess was sold. The wom an walked out of t he shop angr ily and decided t o punish t he assist ant next day. She r et urned t o t he shop t he f olowing m or ning dr essed in a f ur coat, wit h a handbag in one hand and a long um br ella in t he ot her . Af t er seeking out he r ude assi t ant she asked f or t he same dr ess. Not r ealizing who she was, t he assist ant was eager t o serve her t his t im e wit h gr eat dif f icult y, he clim bed int o t he shop window t o get t he dr ess. As soon as she saw it , t he wom an said s m any t ies. 39。 And a wom an can39。t have t oo m any hat s,39。 she answer ed. Ten m inut es lat er we walked out of t he shop t oget her. M y wif e was wear ing a hat t hat looked like a light house ! Lesson42 Not ver y m usical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long walk t hr ough one of t he m ar ket s of Old Delhi, we st opped at a squar e t o have a r est. Af ter a t im e, we not iced a snake charm er wit h t wo lar ge baskets at he ot her side of t he square, so we went t o have a look at him . As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe wh ich was cover ed wit h coins and opened one of t he basket s. When he began t o play a t une, we had our f ir st glim pse of t he snake. I t r ose out of t he basket and began t o f olow t he m ovem ent s of t he pipe. We wer e ver y m uch sur prised when t he snake charm er suddenly began t o play jazz t unes and m oder n pop songs. The snake, however , continued t o 39。dance39。 slowly. I t obviously could not t ell t he dif f er ence bet ween I ndian m usic and jazz! Lesson43 Over t he Sout h Pole 飛越南極 In 1929, t hr ee year s aft er his f light over t he Nor t h Pole, t he Am erican explor er, R. E. Byr d, successf uly f lew over t he Sout h Pole f or t he f ir st im e. Though, at f ir st , Byr d and his m en wer e able t o t ake a gr eat m any phot ogr aphs of t he m ount ains t hat lay below, t hey soon r an int o ser ious t r ouble. At one point , it seem ed cert ain t hat t heir plane would cr ash. I t could only get over t he m ount ains if it r ose t o 10, 000 f eet. Byr d at once or dered his m en t o t hr ow out wo heavy f ood sacks. The plane was t hen able t o r ise and it clear ed t he m ount ains by 400 f eet. Byr d now knew t hat he would be able t o r each t he Sout h Pole which was 300 m iles away, f or t her e wer e no m or e m ountains in sight . The air cr aft was able t o f ly over t he endless whit e plains wit hout dif f icult y. Lesson44 Thr ough t he f or est 穿過森林 M r s Anne St erling did not t hink of t he r isk she was t aking when she r an t hr ough a f or est af t er t wo m en. They had r ushed up t o her while she was having a piic at t he edge of a f or est wit h her childr en and t ried t o st eal her handbag. I n t he st r uggle, t he st r ap br oke and, wit h t he bag in t heir possession, bot h m en st art ed r unning t hr ough t he t r ees. M rs St er ling got so angry t hat she r an af t er t hem. She was soon out of br eat h, but she cont inued t o r un. When she caught up wit h t hem, she saw t hat hey had sat down and wer e going t hr ough t he content s of t he bag, so she r an st raight at t hem. The m en got such a f r ight hat hey dr opped t he bag and r an away. 39。The st r ap needs m ending, 39。 said M r s St erling lat er , 39。but t hey did not st eal anyt hing. 39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whole vilage soon lear nt t hat a lar ge sum of m oney had been lost . Sam Bent on, t he local but cher, had lost his walet wh ile t aking his savings t o t he post of ice. Sam was sur e t hat t he walet m ust have been f ound by one of t he vilager s, but it was not r et ur ned t o him . Thr ee m onths passed, and t hen one m or ni g, Sam f ound his walet out side his f r ont door . I t had been wr apped up in newspaper and it cont ained half t he m oney he had lost , t oget her wit h a not e which said: 39。A t hief , yes, 39。but only 5o per cent a t hief !39。 Two m ont hs lat er , som e m or e m oney was sent t o Sam wit h anot her not e:39。 Only 25 per cent a t hief now! 39。 I n t im e, al Sam 39。s m oney was paid back in t his way. The last not e said:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 lesson46 Expensive and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane f r om London ar r ived at Sydney air port , wor kers began t o unload a num ber of wooden boxes which cont ained clot hing. No one could account f or t he f act hat one of t he boxes was ext r em ely heavy. I t suddenly occur red t o one of t he wor kers t o open up t he box. He was ast onished at what he f ound. A m an was lying in t he box on t op of a pile of woo len goods. He was so sur prised at being discover ed t hat he did not even t r y t o r un away. Af t er he was ar r est ed, t he m an adm it t ed hiding in t he box bef or e t he plane lef t London. He had had a long and un f or t able t r ip, f or he had been confined t o t he wooden box f or over t en hours. The m an was or der ed t o pay amp。345 f or t he cost of t he t rip. The nor mal pr ice of a t icket is amp。230 ! Lesson47 A t hir st y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A public house which was r ecently bought by M r