【正文】 e bal l oon was over the st ati on, t he pil ot saw one of t he m en t aki ng phot ogr aphs. Soon af t er war ds, t he bal oon began t o descend and i t landed near an air fi el d. The pol ice wer e cal l ed i n, but t hey coul d not ar est anyone, f or t he basket cont ai ned t wo Mem bers of Parl iament and t he Comm andi ng Of i cer of the stati on! As t he Com mandi ng Of fi cer explai ned l at er, one hal f of the stati on di d not know what t he ot her half was doi ng ! Lesson92 Aski ng f or t roubl e 自找麻煩 I t m ust have been about t wo i n t he m or ni ng when I ret ur ned hom e. I t ri ed t o wake up m y wi fe by r i ngi ng t he door bel l, but she was f ast asl eep, so I got a l adder f r om t he shed in t he garden, put it agai nst t he wal , and began cl im bi ng t owar ds t he bedroom wi ndow. I was al m ost there when a sar casti c voi ce bel ow said,39。Excuse m y i nt er rupti ng you. I hate t o i nt er upt a m an when he39。 39。How di d your cl ot hes get i nt o such a m es ?39。And wher e wer e you at t he ti me ?39。 she asked. 39。cl ock t rai n to London,39。 Woul d a l at er t rai n get you t o wor k on ti me ?39。t noti ce anyt hing unusual ?39。cl ock tr ain di d not r un at al l. I t br oke down at Fer ngr een st at ion and was t aken of f the l ine.39。 39。 I said. 39。 For t unatel y, t he shouti ng woke up m y wi f e who opened t he wi ndow just as t he pol iceman had start ed to cl imb towar ds m e. Lesson93 A nobl e gif t 崇高的禮物 One of the m ost f am ous m onum ent s in t he worl d, the Stat ue of Li ber ty, was pr esent ed to the Uni ted Stat es of Am er ica i n t he ni eent h cent ury by t he peopl e of Fr ance. The great st at ue, whi ch was desi gned by t he sculpt or Auguste Bar tholdi , took ten years t o plete. The act ual f igur e was made of copper support ed by a metal fr amework which had been especi al ly constr uct ed by Eif fel . Bef ore i t coul d be tr ansport ed to t he Unit ed States, a si te had t o be f ound f or it and a pedestal had to be bui lt. The sit e chosen was an i sl and at t he ent rance of New Yor k Harbour. By 1884, a statue whi ch was 151 feet tal , had been erected i n Par is. The f ol lowi ng year , it was taken to pi eces and sent t o Amer ica. By the end of October 1886, the stat ue had been put toget her again and i t was of f icial y present ed to the Am er ican peopl e by Bart holdi. Ever si nce then, t he great monument has been a symbol of l ibert y f or the m i l l i ons of people who have passed t hrough New Yor k Har bour t o make their homes i n Amer ica. Lesson94 Fut ure champi ons 未來的冠軍 Exper im ent s have pr oved t hat chil dren can be instr uct ed in swi mmi ng at a ver y earl y age. At a speci al swi mmi ng pool i n Los Angel es, chil dr en bee expert at hol ding t hei r breath under wat er even befor e they can walk. Babies of two months old do not appear to be reluctant to ent er t he water , I t is not long befor e they are so accust omed to swi mmi ng that they can pick up wei ght s fr om the f loor of t he pool . A game t hat i s ver y popul ar wit h t hese young swi mmer s is t he under wat er tr icycl e r ace. Tri cycles ar e li ned up on the f loor of the pool seven feet under water. The chil dren pete agai nst each other to r each t he other end of t he pool . Many pedal their t ri cycl es, but m ost of them pr efer to push or drag t hem . Som e chi ldr en can cover t he whole l engt h of the pool wit hout ing up for breath even once. Whet her t hey wil l ever bee f utur e Ol ym pi c cham pions, only tim e wi l tel l. Meanwhi l e, t hey should encour age those am ong us who cannot swi m fi ve yar ds bef ore t hey ar e gaspi ng for air . Lesson95 A f ant asy 純屬虛構(gòu) When t he Ambassador of Escalopia r etur ned home f or lunch, hi s wif e got a shock. He looked pal e and his clot hes wer e in a fr ight ful st ate. 39。 39。 The Ambasador 39。t you thi nk ? Fort unat el y, I wasn39。Of cour se I do, 39。 At what ime did you ar ri ve at t he st ation ?39。 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. Meanwhil e, a m icrophone, 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 ives. 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 i ons ar e pr ogr essi ng smoothl y. I f they knew how di f icult i t was t o dr il l t hrough the har d rock, they would l ose heart . Lesson89 A sli p of the t ongue 口誤 Peopl e wil l do anyt hing t o see a f r e showeven if i t i s a bad one. When the news got r ound that a var iet y show would be pr esented at our l ocal cinema by t he P. and U. Bi r d Sed Com pany, we al r ushed t o see i t. We had to queue for hours t o get i n and ther e must have been sever al hundred people pr esent just be for e the sh。 39。 asked the i nspector . 39。Do you always cat ch such an earl y tr ain ?39。 said t he Ambassador. 39。 answer ed the Am bassador . 39。 answered t he Ambassador dr il y. 39。My key, 39。Wel l, I 39。 I looked down and nearl y f el l off t he ladder when I saw a pol icem an. I i mmediatel y regr et ted answer ing i n t he way I did, but I said, 39。t hat you are not t el li ng the t ruth. I suggest