【正文】 he Wayle on f i ne af ter noons. I t was warm last Sunday, so I went and sat on t he ri ver bank as usual. Some chil dren wer e playing games on the bank and ther e were some people r owing on t he ri ver . Suddenly, one of the childr en kicked a bal l ver y hard and i t went t owards a pasi ng boa t. Some people on t he bank cal l ed out to t he man i n the boat, but he di d not hear them. The bal str uck hi m so hard that he nearl y f el l int o the wa t er . I tur ned t o l ook at t he chi ldren, but t her e wer en39。t axi 39。t i t upsidedown ?39。 I t39。 I answered. 39。 What ar e you doing ?39。about 39。You39。 lesson25 Do the Engl ish speak Engl ish? 英國(guó)人講的是英語(yǔ)嗎？ I ar ri ved in London at l ast . The r ai lway st at ion was bi g, bl ack and dark. I did not know t he way to my hotel, so I asked a por ter. I not only spoke Engl ish very caref ully, but ver y clearl y as wel . The por ter , however, coul d not understand m e。 she sai d. 39。 he said. He star ted t o plain about this wi cked worl d but was inter rupted by a knock at the door. A gi rl came i n and put an envel ope on his desk. I t contai ned amp。s not t here now. 39。 50 and I f elt very upset.39。 But they don39。You must gi ve up fi shi ng! 39。but t hey ar e f or next Wednesday39。Coul d I have those two ti ckets pl ease ?39。Can I retur n these two ti ckets?39。ve sol d out , 39。May I have t wo t i cket s pl ease ?39。 gave39。. This 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 Fa wcet t39。 si gns out si de his gate, but t hese have not had any ef ect . Now he has put an ugl y st one head over the gate. It i s one of t he ugl iest faces I have ever seen. I asked hi m what it was and he t ol d me that i t was Medusa, the Gor gon. Jasper hopes t hat she wil l tur n motor ists t o stone. But none of them has been tur ned t o stone yet! Leson29 Taxi! 出租汽車！ Captai n Ben Fawcet t has bought an unusual taxi and has begun a new service. The 39。but isn39。 She looked at i t cri tical y f or a moment. 39。m hanging t hi s pictur e on t he wal l, 39。 anyt hing. They ar e just pret y pat er ns. We li ke them in t he same way that we li ke pret y curt ain mat er ial . I t hink t hat young chi ldren of ten appreciate m oder n pictur es bet ter than anyone el se. They not ice mor e. My sister i s onl y seven, but she always tel s me whet her m y pictur es ar e good or not . She came i nto m y room yester day. 39。t understand t hem ! Do t hey speak English ? l eson26 The best art cri ti cs 最佳美術(shù)評(píng)論家 I am an ar t st udent and I pai nt a lot of pi ctures. Many peopl e pretend t hat t hey understand modern ar t. They always t el l you what a pi ct ure i s 39。 I said. Then he spoke sl owly, but I could not understand him . My t eacher never spoke English l ike t hat ! The por ter and I looked at each other and sm iled. Then he sai d som et hing and I under st ood it . 39。t her e is sti l some honest y in this wor ld !39。s room39。s losing m oney t hese days, 39。and it 39。s off ice and sat down. I had just l ost amp。s a waste of t ime.39。 I said sadly. Leson20 One m an in a boat 獨(dú)坐孤舟 Fishing i s my f avour it e spor t. I oft en fi sh for hours wi thout cat chi ng anyt hing. But t his does not wor ry me. Som e fi she rm en ar e unlucky. I nst ead of catching f ish, they catch old boot s and r ubbi sh. I am even l ess l ucky. I never cat ch anyt hi ngnot even old boot s. Af ter having spent whole m ornings on t he ri ver , I al ways go hom e wi th an empt y bag. 39。t he gir l sai d, 39。 the gi rl sai d. 39。excl ai m ed. Just then, a man hur r ied t o the t icket of fi ce. 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 air por t was bui lt duri ng the war , but f or some re ason i t coul d not be used t hen. Last year , however , i t came into use. Over a hundr ed people m ust have been dr iven away fr om t hei r homes by the noise. I am one of the f ew peopl e lef t. Someti mes I think t his house wil l be knocked down by a pasing pl ane. I have been off ered a l arge sum of money to go away, but I am determ ined t o st ay her e. Ever ybody says I must be mad and t hey ar e probably r ight . Lesson22 A glass envelope 玻璃信封 My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of r eceivi ng a let er fr om a gi rl of her own age in 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 into a bot tl e. She t hrew the bott le i nt o t he sea. She never thought of it again, but t en months l at er , she r ecei ved a let er fr om a gi rl i n Holl and. Both gi r ls wr it e to each other regular ly now. However, they have deci ded t o use the post of fi ce. Let ers wi l cost a lit t1e more, but t hey wi l l cer tainl y tr avel f aster . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a let er fr om my si st er yester day. She li ves i n Ni ger ia. In her l et ter , she said t hat she would e t o England next year . I f she es, she wi l get a sur pr ise. We ar e now li ving i n a beaut if ul new house in the count ry. Wor k on i t had begun before my sister l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve months ago. I n my let er, I tol d her that she coul d stay wi th us. The house has many lar ge rooms and t her e is a lovel y garden. It is a ver y modern house, so i t looks st range to some people. It must be the only moder n house i n t he di str ict. Leson24 It could be worse 不幸中之萬(wàn)幸 I enter ed the hotel manager 39。 I sai d, 39。Everyone39。I f ound this out si de thi s gentl eman39。 I sai d t o the m an