【正文】 soon ret ur n. They had j ust had enough t ime t o swi m out of danger when t he boat agai n pleted a ci rcle. On t his occasion, however , i t had sl owed down considerably. The petr ol had nearl y al been used up. Bef ore l ong, t he noi se dr opped pl et ely and t he boat began t o dri ft gentl y acr oss t he water . Lesson87 A perf ect al ibi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。Mr Lane was defeated i n the e l ect ions. He has r et ir ed fr om pol it ical if e and gone to l ive abroad ! 39。s steam hamm er . Though i n t hose days, tr avel li ng was not as easy as i t is t oday, st eam boat s car ri ed thousands of visit ors across the Channel f rom Europe. On ar iving in England, they were taken to t he Crystal Palace by tr ain. Ther e wer e si x mi l ion vi si tor s in al l, and the prof it s fr om the exhi bit ion wer e used t o buil d museums and coll eges. Lat er, the Cr ystal Pal ace was m oved t o South London. I t remai ned one of t he most f amous bui ldings i n the wor ld unt il i t was bur nt down in 1936. Lesson81 Escape 脫逃 When he had kil led t he guar d, t he pri soner of war quickl y dragged hi m into the bushes. Worki ng rapidl y in the darknes, he soon changed i nt o t he dead man39。 in the snow. For tunately, a pil ot saw the signal and sent a mesage by radio to t he near est town. I t was not long befor e a heli copt er ar ri ved on t he scene to rescue t he sur vi vor s of t he plane crash. Lesson76 April Fools Day 愚人節(jié) 39。m Rockwal Sli nger and t hi s i s Merl in Gr eeves.39。 I 39。 I t coul dn39。s foot st eps m any years l ater, Si r Malcolm 39。No newspaper men, no f il m fans! Why don39。 39。 said the sher if f wi th a sneer . 39。 we are t aki ng you to the macaroni fi el ds of Cal abr ia. Macaroni has been grown in t his ar ea f or over six hundred years. Two of the l eadi ng grower s, Gi useppe Moldova and Ri car do Brabant e, tel me that hey have been expecti ng a spl endi d crop t his year and harvesti ng has begun ear li er t han usual. Her e you can see two worker s who, between t hem , have just fi nished cut ti ng three cart l oads of golden brown macar oni st al ks. The whole vi l age has been worki ng day and ni ght gatheri ng and threshing t his year 39。 which have at t im es been sighted are si mply st range fi sh. Occasi onal ly, unusual cr eatur es ar e washed t o t he shore, but they are r arely caught out at sea. Some ti me ago, however , a peculi ar fi sh was caught near Madagascar . A smal f ishingboat was car ri ed mil es out t o sea by the powerf ul f ish as i t pul led on t he li ne. Realizi ng that this was no or dinary fi sh, the f isherman m ade every ef for t not t o damage it in any way. When i t was eventual y br ought to shore, it was f ound to be over thir teen f et l ong. It had a head li ke a horse, bi g blue eyes, shi ning sil ver skin, and a bri ght r ed tai l, The fi sh, whi ch has since been sent to a museum where i t is being examined by a scienti st , is cal ed an oar fi sh. Such crea tures have rar el y been seen ali ve by man as they l ive at a dept h of si x hundr ed f et. Lesson83 Af ter t he electi ons 大選之后 The f or mer Pri me Mini st er , Mr Went wor th Lane, was def eated i n t he recent electi ons. He i s now r et ir ing f rom poli ti cal li fe and has gone abr oad. My fr iend, Crawl ey, has al ways been a f anat ical opponent of Mr Lane39。 but I love t o hear you say it ! 39。 sai d t he man. 39。 asked t he inspector . 39。t not ice anyt hing unusual ?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. Mea nwhil e, a microphone, 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 ive s. 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 ions are pr ogr esing smoot hl y. If t hey knew how dif fi cul t it was to dr il l thr ough t he har d r ock, t hey woul d lose hear t. Leson89 A sl ip of t he tongue 口誤 People wi l do anything t o see a fr ee showeven i f it is a bad one. When the news got round t hat a vari ety show woul d be present ed at our local ci nem a by the P. and U. Bir d Seed Company, we al l rushed t o see it . We had t o queue f or hour s to get in and t her e must have been several hundr ed peopl e present just be f ore t he show began. Unfor tunat ely, the show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who fai led t o get i n need not have felt di sappoi nted as many of the ar ti st es who should have appear ed di d not e. The only funny thi ngs we hear d that evening came f rom the adve rt iser at t he beginni ng of t he program me. He was obvi ously ver y nervous and for som e mi nut es st ood awkwar dly bef or e t he micr ophone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, ever yone burst out l aughi ng. We al know what the poor man shoul d have said, but what he actual y sai d was: 39。 I t coul dn39。 I 39。m Rockwal Sli nger and t hi s i s Merl in Gr eeves.39。 in the snow. For tunately, a pil ot saw the signal and sent a mesage by radio to t he near est town. I t was not long befor e a heli copt er ar ri ved on t he scene to rescue t he sur vi vor s of t he plane crash. Lesson76 April Fools Day 愚人節(jié) 3