【正文】 n hear t he clock when it i s act ual l y st ri king because mi cr ophones are connect ed t o t he cl ock t ower. Bi g Ben has r ar ely gone wr ong. Once, however, i t fail ed to gi ve t he corr ect t im e. A pai nter who had been worki ng on the t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of t he hands and sl owed it down ! Lesson72 A car cal ed Bl uebi rd “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The great raci ng dri ver, Sir Mal col m Cam pbel l, was t he fi rst m an t o dri ve at over 300 m il es per hour. He set up a new wor l d recor d i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonne vi l e Sal t Flats, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, the car he was dr i vi ng, had been special y buil t for him. I t was over 30 f eet i n l engt h and had a 2500 hor se power engi ne. Al t hough Campbel l r eached a speed of over 304 m il es per hour, he had gr eat di f fi cul ty i n cont r ol li ng t he car because a t yr e bur st duri ng t he fi rst run. Aft er hi s at em pt , Cam pbel l was disappoi nt ed to l ear n t hat his aver age speed had been 299 m il es per hour. However, a f ew days l ater, he was t old t hat a m ist ake had been m ade. Hi s aver age speed had been 301 mil es per hour. Si nce t hat t im e, r aci ng dri ver s have r eached speeds of over 400 mi les an hour . Foll owi ng his f ather39。A rel at ion of yours i s ing t o see you. She wil l be ar ri ving t his eveni ng and intends to st ay for a f ew days. The moment you leave this tent, you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A woman you know wel wi l r ush towards you. She wil l speak to you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f rom thi s place. That i s al .39。Your si ster wil l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready. 39。t . Geof f rey asked her why t hi s was so and she t old hi m t hat she did not li ke to see so many peopl e laughing at him! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l858, a French engi neer, Ai me Thome de Gamond, ar ived i n England wi th a pl an for a t went yone mi le tunnel across the Engli sh Channel. He said t hat i t would be possi ble t o build a platf orm i n the centr e of the Channe l . Thi s platf orm would serve as a por t and a r ail way st ati on. The t unnel would be wel l vent ilat ed if t al l chi mneys wer e buil t above sea level . In 1860, a bet ter pl an was put for ward by an Engl ishman, Wil li am Low. He suggest ed t hat a double rail way tunnel should be buil t. Thi s woul d solve t he pr oblem of venti lati on, f or if a t rain ent ered t hi s tunnel, it woul d draw in f resh air behind i t. Fort yt wo year s lat er a t unnel was actualy begun. If , at t he ti me, t he Br it sh had not f ear ed invasi on, i t woul d have been plet ed. Recent ly, there has again been great inter est in the idea of a Channel Tunnel . If i t is buil t, it wi l connect Br it ai n to Europe for t he fi rst ti me i n histor y. Lesson65 Jumbo versus t he poli ce 小象對(duì)警察 Last Chr istm as, the cir cus owner , Ji mmy Gates, decided to take some pr esents to a chil dren39。Jumbo must weigh a f ew t ons,39。 Leson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat hel d Puff in is a m oder n aer oplane, but i ts desi gner , Mr John Wi mpenny, is f indi ng it dif fi cul t to get it of f the ground. The reason f or thi s is t hat t hi s plane is al so a bicycl e. I ts pi lot has to pedal hard to get it i nt o t he ai r. Af ter Mr Wi mpenny had t he plane bui lt , it was tested t hor oughl y. I n 1961, i t was the f ir st m an power ed air cr aft t o fl y half a mi le. Whi le bei ng fl own by a cham pion amateur cycl ist in 1963, the plane crashed on an ai rf iel d. Si nce t hen, Mr Wi mpenny has had it r ebui lt. He has had t he lengt h of the wi ngs increased so t hat t hey now measur e 93 f etal most as l ong as t hose of a Dakota. Many peopl e have shown int erest i n t hi s new and unusual sport . But t hough ai r cycli sts may l ear n how t o f ly over shor t di st ances, and m ay, event ual ly, even get acr oss t he English Channel , it i s doubtf ul whet her t hey wil l ever cycl e acr oss the At lanti c. Leson67 Volcanoes 火山 Haroun Tazief t he Poli sh scienti st , has spent hi s li fet im e studyi ng act ive vol canoes and deep caves in al l par ts of t he worl d. I n 1948, he went to lake 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 l iquid r ock was ing t owar ds him. I t thr eatened t o sur round him pletel y, but Tazi ef managed to escape j ust in ti me. He wait ed unt il t he vol cano became 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 t ake phot ographs and m easure t emperatur es. Tazi ef has oft en ri sked his l if e i n thi s way. He has been abl e to tel us mor e about acti ve vol canoes than any man ali ve. Leson68 Persistent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed t he st reet to 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 m at ter how busy you are, he al ways insists on i ng wit h you. I had t o thi nk of a way of prevent ing hi m f rom f ol lowi ng me ar ound al l m orning. 39。 Hul l o, El izabet h,39。 No, not at al ,39。 39。but I39。l l e wit h you,39。wai ti ng r oom ! 39。Mr Eames, 39。s f ootsteps many year s lat er , Sir Mal col m39。 As soon as I went out side, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because m y wi fe hur ri ed t owar ds m e. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n fut ur e, astr onaut s wil