【正文】 t raordi nar y buil di ng of the ni enth centur y was the Cr ystal Pal ace, which was buil t in Hyde Par k f or t he Gr eat Exhibit ion of 1851. The Cr ystal Pal ace was di f erent fr om al ot her buil dings in t he wor ld, for it was m ade of ir on and glas. It was one of the bi ggest bui ldi ngs of al t ime and a lot of people f rom many count ri es came to see it . A gr eat many goods wer e sent t o the exhibi tion fr om vari ous par ts of the wor l d. There was al so a great deal of m achi ner y on display. The most wonderf ul pi ece of m achiner y on show was Nasm yth39。 which have at t im es been sighted are si mply st range fi sh. Occasi onal ly, unusual cr eatur es ar e washed t o t he shore, but they are r arely caught out at sea. Some ti me ago, however , a peculi ar fi sh was caught near Madagascar . A smal f ishingboat was car ri ed mil es out t o sea by the powerf ul f ish as i t pul led on t he li ne. Realizi ng that this was no or dinary fi sh, the f isherman m ade every ef for t not t o damage it in any way. When i t was eventual y br ought to shore, it was f ound to be over thir teen f et l ong. It had a head li ke a horse, bi g blue eyes, shi ning sil ver skin, and a bri ght r ed tai l, The fi sh, whi ch has since been sent to a museum where i t is being examined by a scienti st , is cal ed an oar fi sh. Such crea tures have rar el y been seen ali ve by man as they l ive at a dept h of si x hundr ed f et. Lesson83 Af ter t he electi ons 大選之后 The f or mer Pri me Mini st er , Mr Went wor th Lane, was def eated i n t he recent electi ons. He i s now r et ir ing f rom poli ti cal li fe and has gone abr oad. My fr iend, Crawl ey, has al ways been a f anat ical opponent of Mr Lane39。 he shouted, 39。 but I love t o hear you say it ! 39。 t im e. Even so, people ar e 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 it ude t o t he st udents i n l et ter s to t he Press. Onl y one or t wo people have obj ect ed that the students wi l dri ve too f ast ! Leson85 Never t oo old to l earn 活到老學(xué)到老 I have just received a let ter fr om m y old school i nfor ming m e that my f orm er head m ast er , 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 to m ar k t he occasi on. Al l those who have contr ibut ed towards t he gif t wi l l si gn their names in a large al bum which wi l l be sent to t he headmaster39。 sai d t he man. 39。 answered t he man.39。 asked t he inspector . 39。 39。t not ice anyt hing unusual ?39。 said the i nspect or, 39。 Lesson88 Trapped i n a m ine 困在礦井里 Si x men have been t rapped in a mine f or seventeen hour s. I f they are not br ought to t he sur f ace soon they may l ose t hei r li ves. However , rescue operat ions are pr ovi ng dif fi cul t. I f explosives are used, vi br ati ons wi l l cause the r oof of the m ine t o collapse. Rescue wor kers ar e theref or e dri l ing a hol e on the nor th side of t he mine. They intend t o bri ng the m en up in a special capsul e. I f ther e had not been a har d l ayer of rock beneath the soil , t hey would have pleted t he job i n a f ew hour s. As it i s, t hey have been dr il li ng for sixt en hours and t hey st il l have a l ong way to go. Mea nwhil e, a microphone, 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 t he closest rel at ive s. Though they are running out of food and dri nk, t he men are cheer f ul and confi dent that they wi l get out soon. They have been tol d that rescue oper at ions are pr ogr esing smoot hl y. 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 t o 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 t o 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 tunat ely, the show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who fai led t o get i n need not have felt di sappoi nted as many of the ar ti st es who should have appear ed di d not e. The only funny thi ngs we hear d that evening came f rom the adve rt iser at t he beginni ng of t he program me. He was obvi ously ver y nervous and for som e mi nut es st ood awkwar dly bef or e t he micr ophone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, ever yone burst out l aughi ng. We al know what the poor man shoul d have said, but what he actual y sai d was: 39。s son, Donald, also set up a wor ld record. Like hi s father , he was dr ivi ng a car cal ed Bluebir d. Lesson73 The record hol der 紀(jì)錄保持者 Lit tl e boys who pl ay tr uant f rom school ar e unim agi nat ive. A quiet day39。 I t coul dn39。t we e mor e oft en ?39。 I 39。 Look, sheri f , 39。m Rockwal Sli nger and t hi s i s Merl in Gr eeves.39。Wel l, I 39。 in the snow. For tunately, a pil ot saw the signal and sent a mesage by radio to t he near est town. I t was not long befor e a heli copt er ar ri ved on t he scene to rescue t he sur vi vor s of t he plane crash. Lesson76 April Fools Day 愚人節(jié) 39。s cr op bef ore t he Sept ember r ains. On the r ight, you can se Mr s Brabant e herself . She has been hel pi ng her husband f or thi rt y year s now. Mrs Brabant e is talking to t he manager of the l ocal factor y where t he cr op i s pr ocessed. This l ast scene shows you what wi l l happen at t he end of t he har vest : the f amous Cal abri an macar oni eati ng pet it ion ! Si gnor Frat el li , the present champion, has won it ever y year since 1961. And that ends our special bul le t in f or t oday, Thur sday, Apri l 1st . We are now ret ur ning you t o the st udi o.3