【正文】 r yest er day. She li ves i n Ni ger i a. I n her l et t er , she sai d t hat she would e t o England next ye ar. I f she es, she wi l get a sur pri se. We ar e now li vi ng i n a beaut if ul new house i n t he count r y. Work on i t had begun bef or e my si st er l eft. The house was pl eted f ive m ont hs ago. In m y l et ter, I t ol d her t hat she coul d st ay wit h us. The house has m any l ar ge r oom s and there i s a l ovel y gar den. I t i s a ver y m oder n house, so it l ooks str ange t o som e peopl e. I t m ust be t he onl y m oder n house i n the di st ri ct . Lesson24 It could be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent ered t he hot el m anager39。 It 39。I m i ght as wel have t hem,39。Cer tai nl y, 39。Cer tai nl y, 39。What a pit y!39。 I asked. 39。I t m ay have begun al ready, 39。 My dog had t aken it i nto t he gar den. He oft en does t hi s. 39。 The i nn keeper sm il ed and i mm edi at ely went out. I n a f ew mi nut es he ret ur ned wit h m y bag and gave it back t o m e. 39。 I answered, 39。t t her e ! As I was l ooki ng f or i t, t he i nnkeeper cam e i n. 39。 Si r, we wel e you t o our cit y. Thi s i s a No Par ki ng ar ea. You wi l enj oy your st ay her e if you pay at ent i on t o our st r et si gns. This not e is onl y a remi nder .39。 If you r ecei ve a request li ke t hi s, you cannot f ai l t o obey it ! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jennif er is an actr es. She m ust be at least t hi rt yf i ve years ol d. I n spi t e of t his, she of ten appear s on t he st age as a young gi rl . Jennif er wil l have t o take part i n a new pl ay soon. Thi s tim e, she wi l be a gi rl of seventeen. I n t he pl ay, she must appear i n a br ight red dr ess and l ong bl ack st ockings. Last year i n anot her pl ay, she had t o wear short socks and a br i ght, or angecol our ed dr es. If anyone ever asked her how old she i s, she al ways answer s, 39。Di d you have a good meal ?39。but I can39。I 39。 Lesson19 Sol d out 票已售完 39。 Susan answer ed. 39。Im sor r y, we39。 Susan exclaim ed. Just t hen, a man hur ri ed t o t he ti cket off i ce. 39。 t he gir l sai d. 39。t he gi rl sai d, 39。 I said sadly. Leson20 O ne m an in a boat 獨坐孤舟 Fishing i s my f avour it e spor t. I oft en fi sh f or hours wit hout cat chi ng anyt hi ng. But this does not worr y me. Som e fi sher men ar e unl ucky. I nst ead of cat chi ng fi sh, t hey cat ch ol d boots and r ubbi sh. I am even l ess l ucky. I never cat ch anyt hi ng not even ol d boot s. Af ter havi ng spent whole m orni ngs on t he ri ver , I al ways go hom e wi th an em pt y bag. 39。s a wast e of t im e. 39。s of fi ce and sat down. I had j ust l ost amp。and i t39。s l osing m oney t hese days,39。s r oom39。t her e is sti l som e honest y i n t his wor l d !39。 I sai d. Then he spoke sl owl y, but I coul d not understand him. My t eacher never spoke Engl i sh l i ke t hat ! The por t er and I l ooked at each ot her and smi l ed. Then he sai d som et hing and I under st ood it . 39。t underst and t hem ! Do t hey speak Engl i sh ? l eson26 The best art cri ti cs 最佳美術評論家 I am an ar t st udent and I pai nt a l ot of pi ct ur es. Many peopl e pret end t hat t hey underst and m oder n ar t. They al ways t el l you what a pi ct ure i s 39。 anyt hing. They ar e j ust pret y pat er ns. We li ke t hem i n t he sam e way that we li ke pr et y curt ai n m at eri al . I t hi nk t hat young chi l dr en oft en appr eci at e modern pi ct ures bet er t han anyone el se. They noti ce m ore. My si st er i s only seven, but she al ways t el s m e whet her my pi ct ures ar e good or not. She cam e i nt o my r oom yester day. 39。m hangi ng thi s pi ctur e on the wal ,39。 She l ooked at it cr it ical y f or a m om ent .39。but isn39。 si gns out si de hi s gat e, but t hese have not had any ef f ect. Now he has put an ugl y st one head over t he gat e. I t is one of t he ugl iest f aces I have ever seen. I asked him what it was and he t ol d me t hat i t was Medusa, the Gor gon. Jasper hopes t hat she wil t ur n m otori sts t o st one. But none of t hem has been t ur ned t o st one yet ! Leson29 Taxi ! 出租汽車！ Capt ai n Ben Fawcet t has bought an unusual t axi and has begun a new servi ce. The 39。. Thi s wonder ful plane can car ry seven passenger s. The m ost sur pri si ng thi ng about it , however, i s that it can land anywher e: on snow, water , or even on a ploughed fi el d. Capt ai n Fawcet t39。My dear , it m ust be ter i bl e t o be gr own up!39。 he asked. 39。t pay the bi l . I haven39。m ver y sorr y,39。The pl ay may begi n at any m oment ,39。I hur ri ed to the ti cket of fi ce. 39。ve sol d out, 39。Can I r etur n these two tickets?39。Coul d I have those two t ickets pl ease ?39。but t hey ar e for next Wednesday39。You m ust give up f ishing!39。 But they don39。 50 and I f elt very upset .39。s not t her e now.39。 he said. He star ted t o plain about this wi cked worl d but was i nter rupted by a knock at the door . A gi rl came i n and put an envel ope on his desk. I t contained amp。 she sai d. 39。 lesson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engl ish? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ri ved in London at last . The rai lway stati on was big, black and dar k. I di d not know the way t o my hot el, so I asked a port er. I not onl y spoke Engli sh ver y careful ly, but very cl ear ly as wel l. The por t er , however , could not under st and me。You39。about39。 What are you doing ?39。 I answered. 39。 I t39。t i t upsidedown ?39。t axi39。s fi rst passenger was a doct or who f lew f rom Bi rmi ngham to a lonely vi l age i n the Welsh mountai ns. Since then, Capt ain Fawcet has fl own passengers to m any unusual places. Once he landed on the r oof of a bl ock of f lat s and on another occasion, he landed i n a deser ted car par k. Capt ai n Fawcet t has j ust r efused a st range r equest f rom a busi nessman. The m an want ed to fl y to Rockal , a lonely i sl and in t he At lanti c Ocean, but Captai n Fawcet t di d not take him because the tr i p was too danger ous.