【正文】 l who was r esponsi bl e f or t he making of t he cl ock when t he new Houses of Parl i am ent wer e bei ng bui lt . It i s not only of im mense si ze, but is extr em el y accur ate as wel . Of i ci al s f rom Gr enwi ch Obser vat or y have t he clock checke d t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he cl ock when it i s act ual y str i ki ng because m icr ophones ar e connected t o t he cl ock t ower . Bi g Ben has r arel y gone wrong. Once, however, i t fail ed t o gi ve t he cor rect 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 ! Leson72 A car call ed Bl uebi rd “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dri ver , Sir Mal col m Cam pbel , was t he f i r st man to dr ive at over 300 m il es per hour . He set up a new worl d r ecor d in September 1935 at Bonnevil le Salt Fl at s, Ut ah. Bl uebi rd, the car he was dri ving, had been special ly buil t for him . I t was over 30 f eet i n length and had a 2500 horsepower engi ne. Al though Campbel l reached a speed of over 304 mi les per hour, he had great dif fi cul ty i n contr ol li ng the car because a tyre bur st dur ing t he fi rst run. Af ter his at empt, Campbel l was disappoint ed to l ear n t hat his average speed had been 299 mil es per hour. However, a f ew days l ater, he was t old t hat a mistake had been made. His average speed had been 301 mil es per hour. Since t hat t ime, racing dr ivers have r eached speeds of over 400 mil es an hour . Fol lowi ng hi s f at her 39。s always plenty to r ead in t he 39。 I li ed, 39。 39。Hul l o, Ber t, 39。s hospit al . Dressed up as Fat her Chr istmas and acpanied by a 39。 l esson75 SO S 呼救信號(hào) When a li ght passenger pl ane f l ew off course som e ti me ago, it cr ashed i n t he mountai ns and it s pil ot was ki l ed. The onl y passengers, a young wom an and her t wo baby daught er s, wer e unhur t. I t was the mi ddle of wi nter. Snow l ay t hi ck on the gr ound. The woman knew t hat t he near est vil age was mil es away. When it gr ew dar k. she t urned a suit case i nt o a bed and put t he chil dr en i nsi de it , coveri ng t hem wit h al t he cl othes she coul d f i nd. Dur ing t he ni ght , it got ter ri bl y cold. The woman kept as near as she coul d t o t he chil dren and even tr ied t o get i nto t he case herself, but it was t oo sm al. Ear ly , next m or ning she hear d planes passi ng over head and wonder ed how she coul d send a si gnal. Then she had an i dea. She st am ped out t he let ers39。 don39。Now you gut out of her e, al l of you!39。Thi s i s a wonder f ul pl ace f or a piic,39。 I cont i nued dri ving and aft er som e t im e, t he exami ner t apped l oudl y. Though t he sound coul d be hear d cl earl y, i t t ook m e a l ong t im e to r eact . I suddenl y pr essed t he brake pedal hard and we were bot h thr own f or war d. The exam iner looked at m e sadl y. 39。 Then I39。m goi ng t o.. .39。 39。Jum bo m ust wei gh a few t ons, 39。 of si x pr et y gir ls, he set off down t he mai n st reet of t he ci t y ri ding a baby elephant cal l ed Jum bo. He, should have known t hat t he poli ce would never al low t his sort of t hi ng. A poli cem an appr oached Jim my and t ol d him he ought t o have gone al ong a si de str eet as Jum bo was hol ding up t he tr af f ic. Though Jimm y agr ed t o go at once, Jum bo r ef used t o m ove. Fi ft een pol icemen had t o push ver y har d t o get him off t he mai n st r et. The poli ce had a di f i cult t im e, but they wer e m ost am used. 39。Fancy m eet ing you her e !39。 I39。 39。Just one m ore t hi ng, Mr Eam es. Let us suppose that a chi l d suddenl y cr osses t he r oad i n fr ont of you. As soon as I t ap on t he wi ndow, I want t he car t o be st opped i mm edi at el y.39。s fi shi ng, or ei ght hours i n a ci nema seei ng t he same f il m over and over agai n, is usual ly as f ar as t hey get . They have al been put t o sham e by a boy who, whil e playing t rua nt, tr avel led 1600 mi les. He hit ch hi ked t o Dover and, t owar ds evening, went i nto a boat t o fi nd som ewher e to sl ep. When he woke up next m or ni ng, he discover ed that the boat had, in t he m eant im e, tr avel led t o Cal ai s. No one not iced t he boy as he cr ept of f. Fr om t her e, he hi t ch hi ked to Par is i n a l orr y. The dr i ver gave hi m a f ew biscui ts and a cup of cof fee and l ef t hi m just out si de t he ci ty. The next car t he boy st opped di d not t ake hi m int o the cent r e of Par is as he hoped it woul d, but t o Perpi gnan on t he Fr ench Spani sh bor der. There he was pi cked up by a poli cem an and sent back t o England by t he local aut hor it ies. He has sur el y set up a r ecor d for t he t housands of boys who dr eam of evadi ng school. Leson74 O ut of t he li meli ght 舞臺(tái)之外 An anci ent bus st opped by a dry r i ver bed and a part y of f am ous act or s and act resses got off . Dr essed i n dar k gl ases and old cl ot hes, t hey had t aken speci al pr ecauti ons so that no one shoul d recogni ze them . But as they soon di scovered, di sgui ses can som etim es be t oo per fect. 39。 Meanwhi l e, t wo ot her act ors, Rockwal l Sl i nger and Merl i n Gr eves, had car ri ed t wo lar ge food baskets t o a shady spot under som e t rees. When t hey had al l made t hemselves fort able, a st r anger appeared. He l ooked ver y angr y. 39。sai d Rockwal l,39。m Br i nksley Meer s, and m y ot her nam e is Gl ori a Gl eam. Now you get out of her e f ast !39。 Leson77 A succes sf ul operati on 一例成功的手術(shù) The mummy of an Egypti an woman who di ed in 800 B. C. has j ust had an oper ati on. The mum my i s that of Shepenm ut who was once a singer in t he Temple of Thebes. As t her e were st range marks on t he X ray plat es t aken of t he mummy, doct ors have been tr yi ng to fi nd out whether t he Engl i shm an, Wi l iam Low. He suggest ed that a doubl e rai lway t unnel shoul