【正文】 er e have you been hidi ng ?39。guard of honour 39。cl ock this evening. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l have cir cled t he ear th a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of the t ri p wi l be announced im medi ately. Leson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fir emen had been f ight ing t he for est fi re f or near ly t hree weeks bef ore t hey coul d get i t under cont rol . A shor t ti me befor e, gr eat tr ees had covered t he countr ysi de for mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm ground over t he desolat e hil s. Wint er was i ng on and the hi l l s t hreatened the surr ounding vi l ages wi th destr uct ion, for heavy rain woul d not onl y wash away the soil but would cause seri ous f loods as wel . When the f ir e had at last been put out , t he for est authori ti es or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr as seed which woul d grow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the gr ound i n huge quant it es by aer opl anes. The planes had been pla nti ng seed f or nearl y a mont h when it began to r ain. By t hen, however , i n many places the gr ass had alr eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he great r es whi ch had been growi ng there for cent uri es, pat ches of green had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a large ci rcle of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him for hi s fi ne sense of humor ever ybody, that is, except hi s si xyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff rey39。. Because the t ree was m ent ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now increased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone touches t he tr e, he wil l have bad l uck。To end our speci al news bull etin, 39。 39。m sheri f here. Do you see that not ice ? I t says No Campi ng in case you can39。t be bet ter , Gl or ia,39。 you have j ust ki l ed that chil d ! 39。 There39。 he asked, befor e I had fi ni shed speaki ng. ‘ Not at al l, 39。 I was just wonder ing how to spend the mor ning until I saw you. You39。t have t o car r y him. Of course, we shoul d ar est him , but as he has a good r ecor d, we shal l et hi m of f this tim e. 39。s cl osest f ri ends asked hi m to m ake a speech at a wedding r ecepti on. Thi s is t he sor t of t hing t hat Geof fr ey loves. He pr epar ed the speech car ef ul l y and went to the wedding wi th Jenny. He had i ncl uded a large number of funny stor ies in the speech and, of cour se, i t was a great success. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t old hi m she wanted t o go home. Geof fr ey was a li t le di sappointed by this but he did as hi s daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enj oyed t he speech. To hi s sur pr ise, she said she hadn39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil lagers beli eve t hat t he tr e has alr eady cl aimed a number of victi ms. The vi car has been asked to have the t ree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has point ed out t hat t he tr e is a usef ul sour ce of i ne as t ouri st s have been ing f rom al part s of the count ry t o see it . I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he touri sts have been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to si t out si de our f ront gate and bark. Ever y t ime he want ed to e into the garden he would bar k until s omeone opened the gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of the noise, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng him to pres hi s paw on t he latch t o let him sel f i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I noti ced hi m i n t he gar den near the gate. This t ime he was bar king so that som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce then, he has devel oped anothe r bad habit . As soon as he opens t he gate f rom the outside, he es into the garden and wait s unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sits and bar ks unt il someone l et s him out. Af ter thi s he immedi at ely l ets himsel f in and begi ns bar king again. Yest erday my husband r emoved the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen hi m si nce. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vil age fair , I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel ler cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nto her tent and she t old m e to si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。A relat ion of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l l be ar ri ving t hi s eveni ng and i ntends to st ay for a f ew days. The moment you leave this t ent , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A woman you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l l speak to you and t hen she wi l lead you away f rom this pl ace. That i s al .39。t . Geoff rey asked her why t his was so and she told hi m that she did not l ike t o se so m any people l aughing at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l858, a French engi neer , Aim e Thom e de Gamond, ar ri ved in England wi th a plan f or a twenty one m il e tunnel across the Engl ish Channel. He sai d that it would be possible t o buil d a plat for m i n t he centr e of the Channel . Thi s plat form would ser ve as a por t and a rail way stati on. The t unnel would be wel vent il ated if t al chimneys were bui lt above sea level. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put f orwar d by an Engli shman, Wi l iam Low. He suggest ed that a doubl e rai lway t unnel should be bui lt . Thi s woul d sol ve the pr obl em of ventil ati on, f or i f a tr ain ent er ed thi s tunnel , it would dr aw i n f resh air behi nd it .