【正文】 have shown interest in t hi s new and unusual sport . But t hough air cycli st s may l earn how to f ly over short di st ances, and may, eventualy, even get across t he Engl ish Channel, it is doubtful whether t hey wil l ever cycle acr oss the Atl anti c. Lesson67 Volcanoes 火山 Har oun Tazief the Pol ish scientist, has spent his li fet ime st udying acti ve volcanoes and deep caves i n al l part s of the wor ld. In 1948, he went to l ake Kivu in t he Congo to observe anew volcano which he later named Kituro. Tazief was able to set up hi s camp ver y cl ose to the vol cano whi le it was erupting violent ly. Though he managed to t ake a number of br il iant photographs, he could not stay near t he volcano for very l ong. He noticed that a ri ver of l iqui d rock was ing towards hi m. I t threat ened t o surr ound him pl et el y, but Tazief managed t o escape just in t ime. He waited unt il the volcano became quiet and he was abl e t o return t wo days l at er . This t ime, he mana ged to cli mb into t he mouth of Ki turo so that he could take phot ogr aphs and measure temper at ur es. Tazief has often ri sked hi s l if e in this way. He has been abl e to tel us mor e about acti ve volcanoes than any man al ive. Leson68 Persi st ent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed the st reet to avoi d meti ng him, but he saw me and came running towards me. It was no use pretendi ng t hat I had not seen him, so I waved t o hi m. I never enjoy meti ng Bert Dykes. He never has anyt hi ng t o do. No mat ter how busy you are, he always i nsis ts on ing wit h you. I had t o think of a way of preventing him f rom f ollowing me ar ound al mor ni ng. 39。Hullo, Ber t,39。 I said. 39。Fancy meeting you here !39。 39。Hull o, Elizabeth,39。 Ber t answered. 39。 I was just wonderi ng how to spend the mor ni ngunt il I saw you. You39。r e not busy doing anything, are you ?39。 39。 No, not at al l, 39。 I answer ed.39。 I39。m goi ng t o. . 39。 Would you mind my i ng wi th you ?39。 he asked, befor e I had f inished speaki ng. ‘ Not at al, 39。 I li ed, 39。but I39。m goi ng t o the dentist. 39。 Then I39。l l e with you, 39。 he answer ed.39。 There39。s always plent y to r ead in t he 39。wait ing room !39。 leson69 But not murder! 并非謀殺！ I was bei ng t ested for a dr iving licence for the third time. I had been asked to dri ve i n heavy t rafi c and had done so succe sfull y. Aft er having been inst ruct ed t o dr i ve out of town, I began to acqui re conf idence. Sur e t hat I had passed, I was almost beginning to enj oy m y test. The exami ner must have been pleased with my perf or mance, for he smil ed and said, 39。Just one more t hi ng, Mr Eames. Let us suppose t hat a child suddenl y cr osses the road i n fr ont of you. As soon as I tap on t he wi ndow, I want the car to be st opped i mmediately.39。 I continued dri vi ng and af ter some time, the examiner tapped loudl y. Though t he sound could be heard clear ly, i t ook me a long ti me t o react. I suddenly presed t he brake pedal har d and we wer e both t hr own f orward. The examiner looked at me sadly. 39。Mr Eames, 39。 he said, in a mour nful voice, 39。 you have j ust ki led that child ! 39。 leson70 Red f or danger 危險(xiǎn)的紅色 Dur ing a bul lfi ght, a drunk suddenl y wander ed i nt o the middl e of the ri ng. The crowd began t o shout , but t he drunk was unaware of t he danger. The bul l was busy wit h the m at dor at he t ime, but it suddenl y caught si ght of the drunk who was houti ng r ude r emarks and wavi ng a r ed cap. Apparent ly sensi tive to cri ti ci sm, the bull f or got al l about the mat ador and char ged at the dr unk. The crowd suddenl y gr ew qui et. The dr unk, however , seemed qui te sur e of himself . When the bul l got close to him, he clumsi ly stepped aside to let it pass. The crowd broke i nt o cheer s and the dr unk bowed. By t hi s t ime, however, three men had e into t he r ing and they quickly dragged the dr unk to saf et y. Even t he bull seemed to f el sorr y for hi m, f or i t l ooked on sympat heti cal y unti l the dr unk was out of the way before once more turni ng i ts at tent ion to t he matador . Lesson71 A famous clock 一個(gè)著 名的大鐘 When you visit London, one of the fir st things you wil l se i s Bi g Ben, the famous cl ock which can be hear d al l over t he worl d on t he . C. I f t he Houses of Par li ament had hot been burned down in 1834, t he great clock would never have been erect ed. Big Ben takes its name f rom Sir Benj ami n Hal l who was r esponsi ble for the making of t he clock when the new Houses of Par li ament were bei ng built . It is not onl y of immense size, but is extremely acur at e as wel. Of ficials f rom Greenwi ch Observatory have the clock checked twi ce a day. On the B. . you can hear t he cl ock when i t i s actualy str iking because mi cr ophones are connect ed t o the clock tower . Bi g Ben has r ar el y gone wrong. Once, however , i t failed to give the cor rect ti me. A pai nter who had been working on t he t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of the hands and slowed i t down ! Lesson72 A car cal led Bl uebird “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The great r acing dr iver , Si r Mal colm Campbel , was the fi rst man to dri ve at over 300 mil es per hour. He set up a new world r ecord i n September 1935 at Bonnevil le Sal t Fl at s, Utah. Bluebi rd, t he car he was dri vi ng, had been speci al ly bui lt for hi m. I t was over 30 f et in lengt h and had a 2500 hor sepower engine. Al though Campbel l r eached a speed of over 304 miles per hour, he had gr eat di f icul ty in cont roll ing the car because a tyre burst duri ng t he f irst run. Aft er his atempt, Campbel l was di sappointed to l earn t hat hi s aver age speed had been 299 mil es per hour. However, a few days later, he was told t hat a mi st ake had been made. His average speed had been 301 mil es per hour . Si nce that ti me, r acing dr ivers have reached speeds of over 400 miles an hour . Foll owi ng his f at her 39。s f ootst