【正文】 n his sm al boat , Topsail. Tapsail is a fam ous lit tle boat . It has sailed acr oss the At lantic many tim es. Captain Alison wil set out at eight o39。2. To my sur prise, he gave me the m oney im m ediat ely. 39。s two m inutes past twelve! The clock has st oped!39。s. Bil wor ks har der t han Joe and gr ows m ore f lower s and veget ables, but Joe39。巴頓斯 I have just moved t o a house in Br idge St reet . Yest er day a beggar knocked at m y door . He asked me for a m eal and a glass of beer. I n ret urn f or this, the beggar stood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He ate t he food and drank t he beer . Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour told me about him . Everybody knows him . His nam e is Per cy But ons. He cals at every house in the str eet once a month and always asks f or a meal and a glass of beer . Leson 7 Too late 為時太晚 The plane was lat e and det ect ives wer e wait ing at t he air por t al mor ning. They wer e expecting a valuable parcel of diam ond fr om Sout h Afr ica. A f ew hour s ear lier , someone had told the police that thieves would tr y t o steal the diam onds. When t he plane arrived, some of the det ect ives wer e wait ing inside the m ain building while ot her s wer e wait ing on the air field. Two m en took t he par cel of f the plane and car ied it into the Cust om s House. While t wo detectives were keeping guard at he door , two others opened t he parcel. To t heir surpr ise, the pr ecious par cel was ful of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sanders has the m ost beaut if ul gar den in our town. Near ly everybody enters for 39。The Nicest Garden Com pet it ion39。s garden is mor e int eresting. He has made neat paths and has built a wooden bridge over a pool. I like gar dens too, but I do not like har d wor k. Ever y year I ent er f or the gar den pet iton too, and I always win a lit t le pr ize for the wor st gar den in the town! Lesson 9 A cold wele 冷遇 On Wednesday evening, we went o the Town Hal. It was t he last day of t he year and a lar ge cr owd of people had gat hered under the Town Hal clock. I t would str ike twelve in t wenty m inutes39。 I looked at my wat ch. I t was tr ue. The big clock r efused to wele t he New Year . At that moment ever ybody began t o laugh and sing. Lesson 10 Not f or jazz 不適于演奏爵士樂 We have an old musical inst rument . I t is caled a clavichor d(翼琴 ) . It was m ade in G erm any in 1681. O ur clavichor d is kept in the living r oom . I t has belong to our fam ily for a long tim e. The instr ument was bought by my grandfather many year s ago. Recently it was dam aged by a visit or . She tr ied t o play jazz on it ! She str uck t he keys too har d and two of t he str ings wer e broken. My f ather was shocked. Now we are not alowed to touch it . I t is being repair ed by a f riend of m y fat her 39。I have never bor rowed any m oney fr om you,39。clock so we shal have plent y of tim e. We shal see his boat and then we shal say goodbye t o him . He wil be away f or t wo m ont hs. We ar e very pr oud of him . He wil t ake part in an im por tant race acr oss the At lantic. Lesson 13 The G reenwood Boys 綠林少年 The G reenwood Boys are a group of popular singer s. At pr esent , t hey are visit ing al part s of the count ry. They wil be ar riving here t omor row. They wil be ing by tr ain and m ost of the young people in the t own wil be meeting them at the stat ion. Tom or ow evening t hey wil be singing at the Worker s39。M r . Harm swort h, 39。 he Said. Then he sm iled and t old m e I would r eceive an extr a amp。M y dear , it must be ter rible to be grown up! 39。 he asked. 39。t pay t he bil. I haven39。 he said 39。 I said. 39。M ay I have t wo t ickets please ?39。ve sold out ,39。Can I r etur n these two ticket s?39。Could I have those t wo ticket s please ?39。but they are for next Wednesday39。You must give up fishing! 39。 But they don39。50 and I felt ver y upset .39。s not t her e now. 39。 he said. He start ed to plain about this wicked wor ld but was int er upted by a knock at the door. A gir l came in and put an envelope on his desk. I t contained amp。 she said. 39。 lesson25 Do t he Engl ish speak Engl ish? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar r ived in London at last. The r ailway station was big, black and dar k. I did not know t he way to my hotel, so I asked a por ter. I not only spoke English very car efuly, but very clear ly as wel. The por t er , however , could not underst and m e。You39。about 39。 What are you doing ?39。 I answer ed. 39。 It 39。t it upside down ?39。 each year, but Joe wins ever y tim e. Bil Fr it h39。 tim e. Fif teen minut es passed and t hen, at five to t welve, the clock st opped. The big m inute hand did not m ove. We wait ed and wait ed, but not hing happened. Sudenly som eone shouted, 39。s. Leson 11 One good t urn deserves another 禮尚往來 I was having dinner at a r estaurant when Har ry St eele came in. Har r y wor ked in a lawyer 39。 Har ry said, 39。 Club. The Greenwood Boys wil be staying f or five days. Dur ing this tim e, they wil give f ive per for mances. As usual, the police wil have a dif ficult t im e. They wil be t rying to keep or der . It is always th e same on these occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engli sh? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an amusing experience last year . Aft er I had lef t a smal vilage in t he sout h of France, I dr ove on to t he next t own. On the way, a young man waved t o me. I stopped and he asked me f or a lif t . As soon as he had got into the car, I said good m or ning t o him in French and he r eplied in t he sam e language. Apart f rom a f ew wor ds, I do not know any Fr ench at al. Neit her of us spoke dur ing t he journey. I had near ly r eached t he town, when t he young m an suddenly said, very slowly, 39。 I said in a weak voice. 39。100 a year! Lesson 16 A poli te request 彬彬有禮的要求 If you par k your car in the wr ong place, a tr af ic policem an