【正文】 si nce hi s defeat, t he ex Pri me Minister had gone abr oad. On t he fol lowi ng day, Cr awl ey went to t he house again. The same pol iceman was just walking sl owl y past he ent rance, when Cr awley asked the sam e questi on. Though a l it tle suspicious thi s ti me, the poli ceman gave him the same answer . The day af ter , Crawl ey went t o the house once m or e and asked exact ly t he sam e que sti on. This tim e, t he pol iceman l ost his t emper .39。 I t ol d you yest er day and the day bef ore yester day,39。 he shout ed, 39。Mr Lane was def eat ed in t he elect ions. He has reti red f rom poli tical li fe and gone to li ve abr oad !39。 39。 I know, 39。 answer ed Cr awl ey,39。 but I l ove to hear you say i t !39。 Lesson84 O n strike 罷工 Busm en have deci ded to go on st ri ke next week. The st ri ke is due to begin on Tuesday. No one knows how long it wi l l ast . The busmen have st at ed that the str ike wi l l conti nue unt il gener al agreement is r eached about pay and working condit ions. Most peopl e beli eve t hat t he st ri ke wil l last for at l east a week. Many owner s of pri vat e car s are goi ng to of fer 39。f r ee r i des39。 t o peopl e on their way to wor k. Thi s wi l rel ieve pressur e on the t rai ns t o some extent. Meanwhil e , a number of universit y student s have volunt er ed to dr ive buses whi le t he str ike lasts. Al t he young m en ar e exper t dri ver s, but bef ore t hey dr ive any of t he buses, t hey wi l l have to pass a speci al t est. The students are goi ng to take the t est in two days39。 t im e. Even so, people are goi ng to fi nd it dif fi cul t to get to work. But so far, t he publ ic has expr esed it s grat itude t o the st udents i n let ters t o t he Press. Onl y one or t wo people have obj ect ed that the student s wi l dri ve too f ast ! Lesson85 Never t oo old to l earn 活到老學(xué)到老 I have just recei ved a let ter fr om m y old school i nfor ming m e that my f orm er head m aster , Mr Regmald Page, wil l be reti ri ng next week. Pupi ls of the school , ol d and new, wil l be sending him a pr esent t o m ar k t he occasi on. Al l those who have contr ibut ed t owards t he gi ft wi l sign their names in a large al bum which wi l l be sent t o t he headmast er39。s hom e. We shal l al l remember Mr Page for hi s pat i ence and under st andi ng and f or the ki ndl y encouragement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngl y to school. A gr eat m any f orm er pupil s wi l be at ending a farewel l di nner i n his honour next Thur sday. It i s a cur ious coincidence that the day bef ore hi s ret ir em ent , Mr Page wil l have been teachi ng for a t otal of f ort y year s. Af t er he has r et ir ed, he wi l devot e him sel f t o gardening. For hi m, thi s wil l be an ent ir el y new hobby. But t hi s does not mat ter, f or, as he has of ten r em ar ked, one i s never too ol d to lear n. Lesson86 O ut of control 失控 As t he man t ri ed to swi ng the speedboat round, t he steer i ng wheel came away in his hands. He waved desperatel y to hi s pani on, who had been water skii ng for the l ast f if teen mi nut es. Both men had har dly had t im e to r eal ize what was happening when t hey were t hrown vi ol ent1y i nt o t he sea. The speed boat had str uck a buoy, but i t cont inued to move ver y quickly across the wat er . Both men had just begun to swi m towards t he shor e. when t hey not iced wi th di smay t hat t he speedboat was m ovi ng in a ci rcle. It now came st raight towar ds them at tr emendous speed. In less than a mi nut e, i t roared past them only a few feet away. Af ter it had pased, t hey swam on as quickly as t hey could because t hey knew that he boat would soon r eturn. They had just had enough ti me t o swi m out of danger when t he boat agai n pleted a ci rcle. On t his occasion, however , i t had sl owed down consider abl y. The petr ol had nearl y al been used up. Bef ore long, t he noi se dropped pl et ely and t he boat began t o dri ft gentl y acr oss the water . Lesson87 A perf ect al ibi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。At t he ti me t he m urder was mit ted, I was tr avel ing on the o39。cl ock tr ai n t o London,39。 said t he man. 39。Do you always catch such an ear ly t rain ?39。 asked t he inspect or . 39。Of course I do,39。 answer ed t he man.39。 I must be at wor k at 10. 0 o39。clock. My empl oyer wi l conf ir m that I was there on t im e. 39。 39。 Woul d a l ater tr ai n get you to wor k on t ime ?39。 asked t he inspector . 39。 I suppose i t woul d, but I never catch a l at er tr ai n.39。 39。At what ti me did you ar r i ve at the stat ion ?39。 39。At t en to eight . I bought a paper and wai ted f or the t rain. 39。 And you didn39。t noti ce anythi ng unusual ?39。 39。 Of cour se not .39。 39。I suggest,39。 said t he inspector , 39。that you ar e not tel ing t he tr uth. I suggest t hat you did not catch t he 8. 0 o39。clock t rain, but that you caught t he whi ch woul d sti l get you t o wor k on t ime. You see, on t he morni ng of the mur der , the o39。cl ock tr ai n did not r un at al l. I t br oke down at Fer ngr een st at ion and was t aken of f the l ine.39。 Lesson88 Trapped i n a m ine 困在礦井里 Si x men have been t rapped in a mine f or seventeen hour s. I f they are not br ought to t he sur face soon they may l ose t hei r li ves. However , rescue operat ions are pr ovi ng dif fi cul t. I f explosives are us ed, vi br ati ons wi l l cause the r oof of the m ine t o col lapse. Rescue wor kers are theref or e dri l ing a hol e on the nor th side of t he mine. They intend t o bri ng the men up in a special capsul e. I f ther e had not been a har d l ayer of rock beneath the soil , t hey would have pleted t he job i n a f ew hour s. As it i s, t hey have been dr il li ng for si xt een hours and t hey sti l have a long way to go. Meanwhil e, a m icrophone, whi ch was lowered i nto t he mi ne two hour s ago, has enabled t he m en to keep i