【正文】 cl ock t rai n to London,39。 t o peopl e on their way to wor k. Thi s wi l rel ieve pressur e on the t rai ns t o some extent. Meanwhil e, a number of universit y student s have volunt er ed to dr ive buses whi le t he str ike lasts. Al t he young m en ar e exper t dri ver s, but bef ore t hey dr ive any of t he buses, t hey wi l l have to pass a speci al t est. The students are goi ng to take the t est in two days39。I was in my off ice as usual ,39。Good heavens! 39。A f ir e ext inguisher , my dear, 39。What has happened ?39。 he caled. 39。You see, I 39。 39。So do I ,39。t think t he wi ndows need cleani ng at this t im e of the night. 39。 Lesson88 Trapped in a mi ne 困在礦井里 Si x men have been t rapped in a mine f or sevent een hour s. I f they are not brought to t he sur face soon they may l ose t hei r li ve s. However , rescue operati ons ar e provi ng di f fi cul t. If explosives are used, vibr ati ons wi l cause t he roof of the m ine to col lapse. Rescue wor ker s are t herefor e dri l ing a hol e on the nort h side of t he mine. They intend t o bri ng the men up in a speci al capsul e. I f there had not been a har d layer of rock beneath the soi l, t hey woul d have pl eted the j ob in a few hour s. As it is, they have been dr i l li ng for sixt en hours and t hey st il l have a l ong way to go. Meanwhil e, a micr ophone, whi ch was lower ed into the mi ne two hour s ago, has enabled t he men to keep i n touch wi th the closest rel at ives. Though they ar e running out of food and dri nk, t he men are cheerf ul and confi dent that they wi l get out soon. They have been t ol d t hat r escue oper at ions are pr ogresi ng sm oot hly. If t hey knew how dif fi cul t it was to dr il l thr ough t he har d r ock, t hey woul d lose hear t. Leson89 A sl ip of t he tongue 口誤 People wi l do anything to see a fr ee showeven i f it is a bad one. When the news got round t hat a vari ety show woul d be present ed at our local ci nem a by the P. and U. Bir d Seed Company, we al l rushed to see it . We had t o queue f or hour s to get in and t her e must have been several hundr ed peopl e present just be f ore t he show began. Unfor tunately, the show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who fai led t o get i n need not ha ve felt di sappointed as many of the ar ti st es who should have appear ed did not e. The onl y funny t hi ngs we hear d t hat eveni ng came fr om t he advert iser at t he begi nni ng of the pr ogr am me. He was obviousl y very nervous and for some mi nutes stood awkwardly bef ore t he mi cr ophone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, ever yone bur st out laughi ng. We al know what the poor man shoul d have said, but what he actual y sai d was: 39。 sai d t he inspector , 39。 39。At ten t o eight. I bought a paper and wai ted f or the tr ain.39。 asked the i nspector. 39。 I must be at work at o39。Do you al ways cat ch such an earl y tr ain ?39。s hom e. We shal l al l remember Mr Page for his pat i ence and under st andi ng and f or the ki ndl y encouragement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngl y to school. A gr eat m any f orm er pupil s wi l be at ending a farewel l di nner i n his honour next Thur sday. It i s a cur ious coincidence that the day bef ore hi s ret ir em ent , Mr Page wil l have been teachi ng for a t otal of f ort y year s. Af t er he has r et ir ed, he wi l devot e him sel f t o gardening. For hi m, thi s wil l be an ent ir el y new hobby. But t hi s does not mat ter, f or, as he has of ten r em ar ked, one i s never too ol d to lear n. Lesson86 O ut of control 失控 As t he man t ri ed to swi ng the speedboat round, t he steer i ng wheel came away in his hands. He waved desperatel y to hi s pani on, who had been water skii ng for the l ast f if teen mi nut es. Both men had har dly had t im e to r eal ize what was happening when t hey were t hrown vi ol ent1y i nt o t he sea. The speed boat had str uck a buoy, but i t cont inued to m ove ver y quickly across the wat er . Both m en had just begun to swi m towards t he shor e. when t hey not iced wi th di smay t hat t he speed boat was moving i n a cir cle. It now came str aight towards t hem at tr em endous speed. I n l ess t han a minut e, i t r oared past t hem only a few f eet away. Aft er it had passed, t hey swam on as qui ckl y as they coul d because they knew t hat t he boat would soon ret urn. They had j ust had enough t im e to swi m out of danger when the boat again pl et ed a cir cle. On t hi s ocasion, however, i t had slowed down considerably. The pet rol had near ly al l been used up. Bef or e l ong, the noi se dr opped plet el y and the boat began to dri ft gent ly acr oss t he water. Leson87 A perf ect ali bi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。39。 t im e. Even so, people are goi ng to fi nd it dif fi cul t to get to work. But so far, t he publ ic has expr esed it s grat itude t o the st ude nts i n let ters t o t he Press. Onl y one or t wo people have obj ect ed that the student s wi l dri ve too f ast ! Lesson85 Never t oo old to l earn 活到老學(xué)到老 I have just recei ved a let ter fr om m y old school i nfor ming m e that my f orm er head m aster , Mr Regmald Page, wil l be reti ri ng next week. Pupi ls of the school , ol d and new, wil l be sending him a pr esent t o m ar k t he occasi on. Al l those who have contr ibut ed t owards t he gi ft wi l sign their names in a large al bum which wi l l be sent t o t he headmast er39。 sai d the m an. 39。 answered t he man. 39。 Woul d a lat er t rai n get you t o work on ti me ?39。 39。t notice anything unusual ?39。I suggest ,39。cl ock tr ai n did not r un at al l. It br oke down at Ferngr en st at ion and was t aken of f t he li ne. 39。 I don39。 39。s busy worki ng, but would you m ind ing wit h me t o t he st at ion ?39。 I said. 39。Your what ?39。 For tunately, t he shouti ng woke up my wi f e who opened t he window j ust as t he pol iceman had st art ed to cli