【正文】 t im e. Fi ft een m i nut es passed and t hen, at f i ve t o t wel ve, t he cl ock st opped. The big m inute hand di d not m ove. We wai t ed and wait ed, but nothi ng happened. Suddenly someone shout ed, 39。 she said, 39。 I39。 he said. I wonder . In Engl and, each m an speaks a di f erent l anguage. The English understand each ot her , but I don39。 I said to t he manager , 39。Ever yone39。m not r eal ly i nterested i n f ishi ng. I am only i nterested i n sit ing i n a boat and doi ng not hing at al l ! Leson21 Mad or not ? 是不是瘋了？ Aer opl anes are sl owl y dr ivi ng me mad. I li ve near an air por t and passi ng planes can be heard ni ght and day. The ai rport was buil t dur ing the war, but for some r eason it could not be used t hen. Last year, however , it cam e int o use. Over a hundr ed people must have been dr iven away f rom their homes by the noi se. I am one of the f ew peopl e lef t. Someti mes I thi nk this house wil l be knocked down by a pasi ng pl ane. I have been of fered a large sum of m oney t o go away, but I am deter mined t o stay here. Ever ybody says I must be m ad and they are pr obably ri ght . Lesson22 A glass envel ope 玻璃信封 My daughter , Jane, never dr eamed of r ecei vi ng a l et ter fr om a gir l of her own age in Holland. Last year , we wer e tr ave l ing acr oss t he Channel and Jane put a pi ece of paper wi th her name and addr es on it int o a bott le. She threw the bott le i nto t he sea. She never thought of i t again, but ten months l ater, she received a let ter fr om a gi rl i n Hol land. Bot h gir ls wr i te t o each other r egular ly now. However, t hey have deci ded to use the post off ice. Let ters wi l l cost a li t 1e more, but t hey wil l cer tainl y tr avel f aster . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a let er fr om m y si ster yester day. She li ves i n Ni ger ia. I n her l eter , she said t hat she would e to England next year. I f she es, she wi l get a sur pri se. We ar e now l iving i n a beaut if ul new house i n the count r y. Work on i t had begun befor e my sist er l ef t. The house was pl eted f ive months ago. In m y let ter, I t ol d her that she could stay wi t h us. The house has many l ar ge r ooms and t her e i s a lovely gar den. It i s a ver y m odern house, so i t looks st range to some people. It m ust be the onl y moder n house in t he distr ict. Lesson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬(wàn)幸 I ent er ed the hotel manager 39。I m ight as wel have t hem ,39。Cer t ai nly,39。I 39。 Leson19 Sol d out 票已售完 39。but I can39。 I f you r ecei ve a request l ike thi s, you cannot f ai l to obey it ! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actr es. She must be at least t hir ty fi ve years ol d. I n spit e of this, she of ten appear s on the stage as a young gir l. Jennif er wi l l have t o take part i n a new pl ay soon. Thi s tim e, she wi l be a gi rl of seventeen. I n t he pl ay, she must appear i n a br ight red dr ess and l ong bl ack st ockings. Last year i n anot her pl ay, she had t o wear short socks and a br i ght, or ange col our ed dr es. If anyone ever asked her how old she i s, she al ways answer s, 39。 As I soon learnt, he was Engli sh himself ! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr etary told me t hat Mr. Harm swor th would see me. I felt very ner vous when. I went i nto hi s off ice. He did not look up f r om his desk when I ent ered. Aft er I had sat down, he said t hat busi ness was very bad. He t ol d me that he fi rm could not af ord t o pay such l arge sal ari es. Twenty people had alr eady l eft . I knew t hat m y tur n had e. 39。2. To my sur pr ise, he gave m e the money i mmediatel y. 39。s. Bi l wor ks har der t han Joe and grows m ore f lower s and vegetables, but Joe39。 It 39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。You39。 she sai d. 39。s not t her e now.39。 But t hey don39。but t hey ar e f or next Wednesday39。Can I r et ur n t hese t wo t icket s?39。May I have t wo ti cket s pl ease ?39。 he said 39。Yes, t hank you,39。100 a year ! Leson 16 A poli te request 彬彬有禮的要 求 If you park your car i n t he wr ong pl ace, a tr af ic poli cem an wil l soon f i nd i t. You wil l be ver y l ucky i f he lets you go wit hout a ti cket . However , this does not al ways happen. Tr af ic poli ce are sometim es ver y poli t e. Duri ng a holi day in Sweden, I found t hi s not e on m y car :39。 Cl ub. The Gr enwood Boys wil l be st ayi ng f or f i ve days. Dur i ng t his t im e, t hey wi l gi ve fi ve per f orm ances. As usual, t he pol ice wi l have a dif fi cul t tim e. They wi l be t r yi ng to keep or der. I t i s al ways the sam e on t hese occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engl ish? 你會(huì)講英語(yǔ)嗎？ I had an am usi ng experi ence l ast year . Aft er I had l ef t a smal vil l age i n t he south of Fr ance, I dr ove on t o the next t own. On t he way, a young man waved t o m e. I st opped and he asked m e f or a l if t. As soon as he had got i nt o t he car , I sai d good m orni ng t o him i n Fr ench and he r epli ed i n the sam e l anguage. Apart f r om a f ew wor ds, I do not know any Fr ench at al . Neit her of us spoke duri ng t he j ourney. I had near l y r eached t he t own, when t he young m an suddenl y sai d, ver y sl owl y, 39。s. Lesson 11 O ne good t urn deserves another 禮尚往來(lái) I was havi ng di nner at a r estaur ant when Har y St eel e cam e in. Har y wor ked i n a l awyer 39。gar den i s l ar ger t han Joe39。s of fi ce year s ago, but he i s now wor king at a bank. He get s a good sal ar y, but he al ways borr ows money fr om hi s fr i ends and never pays i t back. Har y saw me and came and sat at t he same t abl e. He has never bor r owed m oney f r om me. Whi le he was eati ng, I asked hi m t o l end m e amp。Do you speak Engli sh?39。 Sir , we wel e you t o our cit y. Thi s is a No Par ki ng area. You wil l enj oy your st ay her e if you pay at ent ion t o our st r et si gns. This not e is onl y a r emi nder .39。 I answer ed, 39。 My dog had t