【正文】 nd over t he desolat e hil s. Wint er was i ng on and the hi l l s t hreatened the surr ounding vi l ages wi th destr uct ion, for heavy rain woul d not onl y wash away the soil but would cause seri ous f loods as wel . When the f ir e had at last been put out , t he for est authori ti es or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr as seed which woul d grow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the gr ound i n huge quant it es by aer opl anes. The planes had been planti ng seed f or nearl y a mont h when it be gan to r ain. By t hen, however , i n many places the gr ass had alr eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he great r es whi ch had been growi ng there for cent uri es, pat ches of green had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a large ci rcle of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him for hi s fi ne sense of humor ever ybody, that is, except hi s si xyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff rey39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。. Because the t ree was m ent ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now increased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone touches t he tr e, he wil l have bad l uck。cur sed t ree39。 As soon as I went outside, I fot al about Madam Bel insky because m y wif e hurr ied t owards me. 39。 As she wal ked away, I fol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Trouble wi t h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 In f utur e, astr onauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceship while it is st il l i n space and t o ret ur n t o it . The abi li ty t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y in futur e f light s t o di st ant pl a s. Scienti st s are now tr ying t o discover if t his i s poss ible. The spaceshi p Astr a which l eft the eart h a short t ime ago, wil l be tr avel ing t hree hundred mi les i nt o space. At a cer tai n point, t he Ast ra wil l st op for a short t ime and an astr onaut wil l atempt t o leave the stat ionar y spaceshi p and then r eturn to i t. We shal l not know whether the exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have r eceived a r adi o message. The fi rst mesage is expect ed to ar ri ve at 7 o39。s hospi tal. Dr esed up as Fat her Chr istm as and ac pani ed by a 39。 sai d a poli ceman af terwar ds, 39。Hul lo, Bert ,39。Hull o, El izabet h,39。 No, not at al ,39。 39。but I39。l l e wi th you,39。wai ti ng r oom ! 39。Mr Eames, 39。s f oot st eps m any years l ater, Si r Malcolm 39。 sai d Gl ori a Gl eam. 39。No newspaper men, no fi lm fans! Why don39。 he shout ed: 39。 39。t be t oo har d on us. I39。 said the sher if f wi th a sneer . 39。 SOS39。 we ar e t aki ng you to t he macar oni f iel ds of Cal abr ia. Macar oni has been grown i n t hi s area f or over six hundred year s. Two of the l eading gr owers, Giuseppe Moldova and Ricardo Br abant e, t el l me t hat t hey have been expect ing a spl endid cr op thi s year and harvest ing has begun earl ier t han usual . Here you can se two wor kers who, between them, ha ve just f i ni shed cutt ing t hree cart l oads of golden brown m acar oni stalks. The whole vi lage has been wor king day and night gat her ing and t hreshi ng thi s year 39。 I l i t a ci gar et t e t o cal m m y ner ves. I sm oked wi t h conc ent r at i on and pl easur e as I was sur e t hat t hi s woul d be m y l ast ci gar et t e. For a whol e week I di d not sm oke at al l and dur i ng t hi s t i m e, m y wi f e suf f er ed t er r i bl y. I had al l t he usual sym pt om s of som eone gi vi ng up sm oki ng: a bad t em per hi de gol d. The pir ates would of ten bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making the asist ant bri ng almost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inaly buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for. Lesson58 A blessi ng i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d to possess a 39。A relat ion of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l l be ar ri ving t hi s eveni ng and i ntends to st ay for a f ew days. The moment you leave this t ent , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A woman you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l l speak to you and t hen she wi l lead you away f rom this pl ace. That i s al .39。Your si st er wil l be her e in les than an hour and we must be at the stati on to meet her. We are late al ready. 39。t . Geoff rey asked her why t his was so and she told hi m that she did not l ike t o se so m any people l aughing at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l858, a French engi neer , Aim e Thom e de Gamond, ar ri ved in England wi th a plan f or a twenty one m il e tunnel across the Engl ish Channel. He sai d that it would be possible t o buil d a plat for m i n t he centr e of the Channel . Thi s plat form would ser ve as a por t and a rail way stati on. The t unnel would be wel vent il ated if t al chimneys were bui lt above sea level. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put f orwar d by an Engli shman, Wi l iam Low. He suggest ed that a doubl e rai lway t unnel should be bui lt . Thi s woul d sol ve the pr obl em of ventil ati on, f or i f a tr ain ent er ed thi s tunnel , it would dr aw i n f resh air 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, it woul d have been pleted. Recentl y, there has agai n been gr eat i nterest in t he idea of a Channel Tunnel . I f it i s built , it wi l connect Bri tain to Eur ope for the f ir st ti me in history. Leson65 Jumbo versus t he poli ce 小象對(duì)警察 Last Chri stmas, the cir cus owner , Jim my Gat es, deci ded to t ake some pr esents t o a chil dr en39。Jum bo must wei gh a f ew t