【正文】 and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o vi sit a fort une t el ler cal led Madam Beli nsky. I went int o her t ent and she tol d m e t o si t down. Aft er I had gi ven her som e m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng t o see you. She wi l be ar ri vi ng t hi s eveni ng and i ntends to st ay for a f ew days. The m om ent you leave t hi s tent, you wil l get a bi g surpri se. A woman you know wel l wil l r ush t owar ds you. She wi l speak t o you and then she wil l lead you away fr om t his pl a ce. That i s al l. 39。 As soon as I went out side, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because m y wi fe hur ri ed t owar ds m e. 39。Where ha ve you been hi di ng ?39。 she asked i m pati ent l y. 39。Your sist er wi l be here i n l ess t han an hour and we m ust be at t he st ati on to m eet he r. We are l at e alr eady.39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requi r ed to descend f r om a spaceshi p whi l e it i s st il i n space and t o r et ur n t o it . The abi li ty t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y i n fut ur e fl i ght s to di st ant pl as . Sci ent i st s ar e now t r yi ng to di scover i f t hi s is possi bl e. The spaceshi p Ast r a whi ch l ef t the eart h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t r avel ing t hr ee hundr ed mil es i nt o space. At a cer tai n poi nt , t he Ast ra wi l st op f or a shor t tim e and an ast r onaut wil at tempt t o l eave t he stati onar y spaceshi p and then r et urn t o it . We shall not know whet her t he exper im ent has been successf ul unti l we have r ecei ved a r adi o message. The f ir st m esage i s expect ed t o ar i ve at 7 o39。cl ock t his eveni ng. By that tim e, t he Astr a wil l have been fl yi ng t hr ough space f or sevent een hour s and wil have c ir cl ed t he eart h a gr eat m any t im es. When t he f ir st radio m essages have been r ecei ved, the r esult s of the t ri p wil l be announced i mm edi at el y. Lesson62 Aft er t he f i re 大火之后 Fir em en had been f ighti ng t he f orest fi re f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get it under contr ol. A shor t im e bef or e, gr eat tr ees had cover ed t he count r ysi de f or mil es around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over t he desol at e hil s. Wi nt er was i ng on and t he hil l s t hr eat ened t he surr oundi ng vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy r ai n would not only wash away t he soil but woul d cause ser ious fl oods as wel . When t he fi re had at l ast been put out , the f orest aut hor it es order ed sever al t ons of a speci al type of grass sed whi ch woul d gr ow quickly. The sed was sprayed over t he ground i n huge quant it ies by aeropl anes. The pl anes had been pl a nti ng seed f or near ly a m ont h when i t began t o rai n. By t hen, however , i n m any pl aces t he gr as s had al ready taken root. I n place of the gr eat tr ees whi ch had been gr owi ng t her e f or cent ur ies, pat ches of gr een had begun t o appear i n t he bl ackened soi l. Leson63 She was not am used 她并不覺得好笑 Geoff r ey Ham pden has a l ar ge cir cl e of fr i ends and is ver y popul ar at par ti es. Everybody adm ir es him f or his f ine sense of hum orever ybody, t hat i s, except his si x year ol d daught er, Jenny. Recent l y, one of Geof fr ey39。s closest fr i ends asked him t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng recept ion. Thi s i s t he sor t of thi ng t hat Geof fr ey l oves. He pr epar ed t he speech car ef ul l y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had included a l ar ge num ber of f unny st or i es i n t he speech and, of course, i t was a gr eat succes. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t ol d hi m she want ed t o go home. Geoff rey was a l it tl e disappoi nt ed by t hi s but he di d as hi s daught er asked. On t he way hom e, he asked Jenny if she had enj oye d t he speech. To hi s sur pri se, she sai d she hadn39。t . Geof fr ey asked her why t hi s was so and she t ol d him t hat she di d not li ke t o see so m any peopl e laughi ng at hi m! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l 858, a Fr ench engi neer, Aim e Thome de Gam ond, ar ived i n Engl and wit h a pl an f or a t went y one mi le t unnel acr oss t he Engl i sh Channel . He sai d t hat i t woul d be possi bl e t o bui l d a pl atf orm i n t he cent re of t he Channe l. Thi s pl at f or m woul d serve as a port and a r ai l way st at i on. The t unnel woul d be wel venti lat ed i f t al chim neys wer e bui lt above seal evel . In 1860, a bet ter pl an was put f or war d by an Engli shm an, Wi l i am Low. He suggested t hat a doubl e r ai l way tunnel shoul d be buil t. This woul d sol ve t he pr obl em of vent il ati on, f or i f a t rai n ent er ed t hi s tunnel , it woul d dr aw i n f resh ai r behi nd it . Fort y t wo year s lat er a t unnel was act ual l y begun. If , at t he t im e, t he Bri ti sh had not f ear ed i nvasi on, i t woul d have been pl et ed. Recent ly, t her e has agai n been great int er est i n the i dea of a Channel Tunnel . If i t is buil t, i t wil l connect Br it ai n t o Eur ope f or t he fi r st ti me i n hi st or y. Lesson65 Jum bo versus t he pol ice 小象對警察 Last Chr i stm as, t he ci rcus owner, Jimm y Gat es, deci ded t o t ake som e pr esent s t o a chi l dr en39。s hospit al . Dr essed up as Fat her Chr istm as and ac pani ed by a 39。guar d of honour39。 of si x pr et y gir ls, he set off down t he mai n st reet of t he cit y ri ding a baby elephant cal ed Jum bo. He, shoul d have known t hat t he poli ce woul d neve r al l ow thi s sor t of t hing. A poli cem an appr oached Ji mm y and t old him he ought to have gone al ong a si destr eet as Jum bo was hol di ng up t he tr af ic. Though Jimm y agreed t o go at once, Jumbo r efuse