【正文】 Som e chi l dr en were pl ayi ng gam es on the bank and there wer e som e peopl e r owi ng on t he ri ver . Suddenl y, one of t he chi l dr en ki cked a bal l ver y hard and i t went t owar ds a pasi ng boat. Some people on t he bank cal ed out t o t he m an in t he boat , but he di d not hear t hem . The bal l st ruck him so har d t hat he nearl y f el i nto t he wa ter. I t ur ned t o l ook at t he chil dren, but t her e wer en39。s a waste of ti me.39。and i t39。s room39。 I sai d. Then he spoke sl owl y, but I could not under st and him. My teacher never spoke Engl ish li ke that! The por ter and I looked at each ot her and smi led. Then he said somethi ng and I underst ood i t. 39。 anyt hing. They ar e just pret y pat er ns. We li ke them in t he same way that we l ike pret ty curt ain m at eri al . I think t hat young childr en oft en appr eci at e modern pi ct ures bet er t han anyone else. They noti ce more. My si st er is only seven, but she always t el ls m e whether my pi ct ures are good or not. She cam e int o my r oom yest erday. 39。 She l ooked at it cr it cal ly for a mom ent .39。 si gns outs i de hi s gat e, but t hese have not had any ef f ect. Now he has put an ugly st one head over t he gat e. I t is one of t he ugli est f a ces I have ever sen. I asked him what i t was and he t ol d m e t hat it was Medusa, t he Gor gon. Jasper hopes that she wi l t urn m ot ori st s t o st one. But none of t hem has been t urned t o st one yet ! Lesson29 Taxi ! 出租汽車！ Capt ai n Ben Fawcet t has bought an unusual t axi and has begun a new ser vi ce. The 39。 gave39。m not r eal ly i nter ested i n fi shi ng. I am only i nter ested i n sit i ng i n a boat and doi ng not hi ng at al ! Leson21 Mad or not ? 是不是瘋了？ Aer opl anes ar e sl owly dr i vi ng m e m ad. I li ve near an air port and passing pl anes can be hear d night and day. The ai r por t was bui lt duri ng t he war , but f or som e reason i t coul d not be used t hen. Last year , however, i t cam e i nt o use. Over a hundr ed people m ust have been dri ven away fr om t hei r hom es by t he noi se. I am one of t he f ew peopl e l ef t. Someti mes I t hi nk t hi s house wi l be knocked down by a passi ng plane. I have been of f er ed a l ar ge sum of m oney to go away, but I am det ermi ned to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e pr obabl y r i ght. Lesson22 A gl ass envel ope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dream ed of recei ving a l et er f r om a gir l of her own age i n Holl and. Last year, we wer e t ravel li ng acr oss t he Channel a nd Jane put a piece of paper wit h her nam e and addr ess on it i nt o a bot l e. She t hr ew t he bot tl e i nt o t he sea. She never t hought of it agai n, but t en m ont hs lat er , she r ecei ved a l et t er f r om a gir l in Hol l and. Both gi rl s wri t e t o each ot her regul arl y now. However , they have deci ded t o use t he post of fi ce. Let er s wi l cost a l it t1e m or e, but t hey wi l cert ai nly t r avel faster. Leson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et t er f r om my si st er yest er day. She l i ves i n Ni geri a. In her l et ter, she sai d t hat she woul d e t o Engl and next ye ar . If she es, she wil l get a sur pr is e. We ar e now li vi ng i n a beauti f ul new house in t he count ry. Wor k on it had begun bef ore m y sister l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve m onths ago. I n m y let er , I t ol d her t hat she coul d stay wi t h us. The house has many l ar ge r ooms and t her e is a l ovel y gar den. I t is a ver y m oder n house, so it l ooks st range to some peopl e. It m ust be the onl y m oder n house i n t he di st ri ct. Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent er ed the hotel manager39。Ever yone39。 I sai d to t he manager , 39。 he sai d. I wonder. I n Engl and, each m an speaks a di f erent language. The Engl ish under st and each ot her , but I don39。 I39。 she sai d, 39。Pi lat us Port er39。 No Par ki ng39。s a new one. Do you l ike it ?39。about 39。I am a f or eigner,39。I f ound t his outsi de t his gentl em an39。 I said, 39。 It39。. Thi s wonder ful plane can car ry seven passenge rs. The most sur pr ising thing about it, however , is t hat i t can l and anywhere: on snow, wat er, or even on a pl oughed f ield. Captain Fawcet 39。but i sn39。m hanging this pi ct ure on the wal ,39。t under stand them ! Do they speak Engl ish ? lesson26 The best art crit ics 最 佳 美術(shù)評(píng)論家 I am an ar t st udent and I pai nt a lot of pi ctur es. Many peopl e pretend t hat t hey understand m odern ar t. They always t el l you what a pi cture is 39。t her e is sti l some honest y in this wor ld !39。s losing m oney t hese days, 39。s off ice and sat down. I had j ust l ost amp。 her m other a fr ee dress once a week ! l esson33 O ut of t he darkness 沖出黑暗 Near ly a week passed bef or e t he gi rl was able t o expl ain what had happened to her. One af t er noon she set out fr om t he coast i n a sm al l boat and was caught in a st or m. Towar ds eveni ng, t he boat str uck a r ock and t he gi rl j um ped int o the sea. The n she swam t o the shor e aft er spendi ng t he whol e ni ght i n t he wat er . Duri ng that im e she covered a di st ance of ei ght m i l es. Ear ly next morni ng, she saw a li ght ahead. She knew she was near t he shore because t he li ght was high up on the cli f s . On ar iving at t he shor e, t he gi rl str uggl ed up the cl if f towards t he li ght she had seen. That was al she remembered. When she woke up a day lat er , she f ound her sel f unl ucky. I nst ead of catching f ish, they cat ch old boots and r ubbi sh. I am even l ess lucky. I never cat ch anythi ng not even old boot s. Af ter havi ng spent whole m or nings on t he ri ver , I al ways go hom e wit h an empty bag. 39。t axi39。 I t39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。You39。 she said. 39。s not t her e now.39。 But t hey don39。 my f ri ends sa y.39。 I l eft t he m oney in m y r oom, 39。 5o. 39。