【正文】 detecti ves wer e wait ing at t he ai rpor t al l m orning. They were expect ing a val uable par cel of diamond f rom Sout h Af ri ca. A few hour s ear li er, som eone had t ol d t he pol ice that thi eves would tr y to st eal t he di amonds. When t he plane ar r ived, some of the dete cti ves wer e wai ti ng inside the m ai n buil ding whi le ot her s were wai ti ng on the ai rf ield. Two m en took t he par cel off t he plane and car ri ed it i nt o t he Cust om s House. Whi le t wo detecti ves wer e keepi ng guar d at the door, two others opened t he par cel . To thei r sur pr ise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sanders has t he most beaut if ul gar den i n our town. Nearl y ever ybody enter s for 39。s. Bi l wor ks har der t han Joe and grows m ore f lower s and vegetables, but Joe39。s two minutes past t welve! The cl ock has st opped!39。2. To my sur pri se, he gave me the money i mmediat el y. 39。 Lesson 12 G oodbye and good l uck 再見，一路順風(fēng) Our nci ghbour, Captai n Char les Al ison, wil sail f r om Port sm out h t om or r ow. We shal l m eet him at t he har bour ear l y in t he mor ni ng. He wil l be in hi s sm al l boat, Topsai l. Tapsail i s a f am ous l it l e boat. I t has sail ed acr oss t he Atl ant i c m any tim es. Captai n Ali son wil l set out at eight o39。 As I soon learnt , he was Engl ish him self ! Leson 15 G ood news 佳音 The secretar y tol d me t hat Mr. Har mswort h would see me. I fel t ver y ner vous when. I went into hi s off ice. He did not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I e ntered. Af ter I had sat down, he said t hat busines was ver y bad. He t old me that the f ir m could not af ford to pay such large salar ies. Twent y peopl e had alr eady left . I knew that m y tur n had e. 39。t inter rupt, 39。 I f you recei ve a r equest l ike t hi s, you cannot f ai l to obey i t! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actr es. She must be at least hir ty fi ve year s ol d. In spit e of this, she of ten appear s on the st age as a young gir l. Jenni fer wil l have t o t ake part i n a new pl ay soon. Thi s ti me, she wi l l be a gi rl of seventeen. I n t he play, she must appear i n a br i ght r ed dress and l ong black stocki ngs. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bri ght, orange coloured dr ess. I f anyone ever asked her how ol d she is, she al ways answers, 39。Di d you have a good meal ?39。but I can39。I 39。 Lesson19 Sol d out 票已售完 39。 Susan answered. 39。I 39。What a pit y!39。Cer tai nl y,39。Cer tainl y, 39。I m ight as wel l have t hem ,39。 It 39。m not real y i nt erested i n fi shi ng. I am onl y int erest ed in si t ing i n a boat and doing not hi ng at al l ! Lesson21 Mad or not? 是不是瘋了？ Aeroplanes ar e slowl y dri ving me mad. I l ive near an ai rport and pasing pl anes can be hear d night and day. The ai r por t was built dur ing t he war , but f or som e reason i t coul d not be used then. Last year , however, i t came i nto use. Over a hundred people must have been dri ven away fr om t hei r hom es by the noise. I am one of t he few people left . Som et im es I t hink t his house wi l l be knocked down by a passing pl ane. I have been off er ed a l ar ge sum of money to go away, but I am determ ined to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e probabl y r ight. Lesson22 A gl ass envelope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a let er f r om a gi rl of her own age i n Hol land. Last year, we were t ravel ing a cross the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper wi th her name and addr ess on i t i nto a bot tl e. She t hr ew t he bot tl e int o t he sea. She never t hought of it agai n, but t en months lat er , she r ecei ved a let er f rom a gir l in Holl and. Both gi rl s wr it e to each other regularl y now. However , they have decided t o use the post of fi ce. Let ers wi l cost a l it t1e mor e, but t hey wi l cert ainly tr avel faster. Leson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et ter fr om m y sister yest er day. She l ives in Ni geri a. I n her let er , she said that she would e to Engl and next year . I f she es, she wi l get a sur pri se. We ar e now l iving in a beauti ful new house i n the countr y. Work on it had begun befor e my si st er l eft . The house was pleted f ive mont hs ago. In my l et te r , I t old her that she could st ay wit h us. The house has m any l arge r oom s and there i s a lovely gar den. It i s a very m oder n house, so it looks str ange t o som e people. I t must be t he onl y modern house in t he distr ict . Lesson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent er ed the hot el manager 39。 I said, 39。Ever yone39。I found t hi s outside t hi s gent leman39。 I said t o the m anager, 39。I am a for eigner ,39。 he sai d. I wonder. I n England, each man speaks a dif f er ent l anguage. The Engli sh underst and each other, but I don39。s gar den i s l arger than Joe39。I t39。s of fi ce years ago, but he i s now wor ki ng at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he al ways bor rows m oney f rom his f ri ends and never pays it back. Har ry saw m e and came and sat at t he same table. He has never bor r owed money fr om m e. Whi le he was eat ing, I asked hi m to l end me amp。so now you can pay f or my di nner !39。Do you speak Engl ish?39。Don39。 Sir , we wele you t o our ci ty. This i s a No Parki ng ar ea. You wi l enjoy your st ay here i f you pay at tenti on to our str et signs. Thi s not e is onl y a r em inder .39。t there ! As I was looking f or i t, t he innkeeper came i n. 39。 I answer ed, 39。 The innkeeper smi led and im medi ately went out. I n a f ew mi nut es he retur ned wit h my bag and gave it back to m e. 39。 My dog had t aken i t into the garden. He oft en does t his.39。I t may have begun alr eady, 39。 I asked. 39。 the gi rl sai d. 39。 he asked. 39。 I asked. 39。s per for mance. 39。 my f ri ends s ay. 39