【正文】 ct ed t o t he clock t ower . Bi g Ben has r arel y gone wr ong. Once, however, i t fail ed to gi ve the corr ect t im e. A pai nt er who had been wor ki ng on t he t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of t he hands and sl owed i t down ! Leson72 A car cal l ed Bluebird “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dri ver , Si r Mal colm Campbel l, was t he fi rst man to dr i ve at over 300 m il es per hour . He set up a new wor ld r ecor d in Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil le Salt Fl at s, Ut ah. Bl uebi rd, t he car he was dri ving, had been special ly buil t for him . It was over 30 f eet i n l ength and had a 2500 horse power engi ne. Al though Campbel reached a speed of over 304 mi les per hour , he had gr eat dif fi cul ty in contr olli ng the car because a tyr e bur st dur ing t he fi rst run. Af ter his at empt, Campbel was disappoi nt ed to lear n t hat his average speed had been 299 mil es per hour. However, a f ew days later , he was t old t hat a m istake had been m ade. Hi s average speed had been 301 mil es per hour. Si nce t hat t ime, r acing dr iver s have r eached speeds of over 400 mil es an hour . Fol lowi ng his f at her 39。 I cont i nued dri ving and aft er some t im e, t he exami ner t apped l oudl y. Though the sound coul d be hear d clearl y, i t took me a long ti me t o r eact. I suddenly pr esed the br ake pedal har d and we wer e bot h t hr own f orwar d. The examiner looked at me sadl y. 39。s al ways pl ent y t o read i n the 39。 Then I39。 I l ied, 39。m going t o. . .39。re not busy doi ng anyt hing, ar e you ?39。 39。 Lesson66 Swet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat hel d Puf fi n is a m oder n aero pl ane, but i ts designer, Mr John Wi m penny, i s fi ndi ng it di f icult t o get i t of f t he gr ound. The r eason f or t hi s is t hat t his pl ane i s al so a bicycl e. It s pi l ot has t o pedal har d t o get it i nto t he air. Aft er Mr Wi mpenny had t he plane built , it was t est ed t horoughl y. In 1961, it was t he f ir st m an powered air craft t o fl y half a m il e. Whil e bei ng fl own by a cham pi on am at eur cycl ist i n 1963, t he pl ane cr ashed on an air fi el d. Si nce then, Mr Wi mpenny has had it r ebui lt . He has had t he length of t he wi ngs i ncr eased so that they now m easur e 93 f eet al m ost as l ong as those of a Dakot a. Many people have shown int er est i n thi s new and unusual spor t. But t hough air cycli st s may l ear n how t o fl y over short di st ances, and may, event ual y, even get acr oss t he Engl ish Channel, i t is doubt f ul whet her t hey wi l ever cycl e acr oss t he Atl ant ic. Leson67 Volcanoes 火山 Har oun Tazi ef t he Pol ish sci ent i st, has spent his l if et im e st udyi ng act ive volcanoes and deep caves in al part s of t he wor l d. I n 1948, he went t o l ake Ki vu in t he Congo to obser ve a new volcano whi ch he later nam ed Kit uro. Tazi ef was able t o set up hi s cam p ver y close to the volcano whil e it was er upt ing vi ol ent ly. Though he managed t o take a number of br il li ant photographs, he could not stay near t he vol cano f or ver y l ong. He noti ced that a ri ver of li quid r ock was ing t owar ds him. I t thr eatened to sur round him pletel y, but Tazi ef managed to esca pe j ust in ti me. He wait ed unt il t he vol cano becam e qui et and he was able to r eturn two days lat er . This t ime, he managed t o cli mb i nto t he mouth of Ki tur o so that he coul d take photographs and m easure t emper atur es. Tazi ef has oft en ri sked his l if e in this way. He has been abl e to tel us mor e about active vol canoes than any man ali ve. Lesson68 Persistent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed the st reet o avoid m et ing him , but he saw me and came r unni ng towar ds me. I t was no use pr etending t hat I had not seen him, so I waved to hi m. I never enjoy meeti ng Bert Dykes. He never has anythi ng to do. No mat ter how busy you ar e, he al ways insists on i ng wit h you. I had t o thi nk of a way of pr eventing hi m fr om f oll owi ng me ar ound al l morni ng. 39。Jumbo must weigh a f ew t ons, 39。t. Geof fr ey asked her why this was so and she tol d him that she di d not like t o see so many people laughi ng at hi m! Leson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l 858, a Fr ench engineer , Ai me Thome de Gamond, ar r ived in Engl and wit h a plan f or a twent y one mi le t unnel acr oss t he Engl ish Channel . He sai d t hat it woul d be possibl e to bui ld a pl atf or m in t he cent re of t he Channel. This pl at for m woul d s er ve as a port and a r ai lway st at ion. The tunnel woul d be wel venti lated i f tal chim neys wer e bui lt above seal evel . I n 1860, a bet er plan was put forwar d by an Engli shm an, Wil liam Low. He suggested t hat a double r ai lway tunnel shoul d be buil t. This woul d sol ve the pr obl em of vent il ation, f or i f a tr ain enter ed this tunnel , it would dr aw i n fr esh ai r behi nd it . For ty two year s later a t unnel was act ual ly begun. I f, at the t im e, t he Bri ti sh had not f ear ed invasi on, i t would have been pl et ed. Recent ly, ther e has again been great inter est in the i dea of a Channel Tunnel. If i t is buil t, i t wi l l connect Br it ai n t o Europe f or t he fi rs t ti me i n histor y. Lesson65 Jum bo versus the pol ice 小象對(duì)警察 Last Chr istm as, the ci rcus owner , Ji mmy Gates, decided to take som e present s to a chi ldren39。Your si st er wi l l be her e in l es t han an hour a nd we m ust be at the stati on to meet her. We are l ate alr eady. 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ri vi ng thi s evening and i ntends to stay f or a few days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al l. 39。 sai d t he sheri f wi th a sneer. 39。t be too hard on us. I 3