【正文】 ses of Parl iam ent had hot been bur ned down i n 1834, the gr eat clock woul d never have been erect ed. Bi g Ben t akes i ts nam e f r om Sir Benj ami n Hal who was responsi bl e f or t he m aki ng of the cl ock when t he new Houses of Parl iament were bei ng buil t. I t is not onl y of imm ense si ze, but i s ext r em el y accur at e as wel. Of ici al s fr om Greenwich Observator y have t he cl ock checked t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he cl ock when i t is actual y str iki ng because mi crophones ar e connect ed t o t he clock t ower . Big Ben has r ar ely gone wr ong. Once, however, it f ail ed to gi ve the corr ect t im e. A pai nt er who had been wor king on t he t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of the hands and sl owed i t down ! Lesson72 A car cal l ed Bl uebird “藍鳥”汽車 The great r aci ng dri ver , Sir Malcolm Campbel l, was t he fi rst man t o dri ve at over 300 m il es per hour. He set up a new wor l d recor d i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil l e Sal t Flats, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, t he car he was dr i vi ng, had been speci al y bui lt f or hi m. I t was over 30 f eet i n lengt h and had a 2500 horse power engi ne. Alt hough Cam pbel l reached a speed of over 304 m il es per hour, he had gr eat di f fi cul ty i n cont r ol li ng t he car because a t yr e bur st duri ng t he fi rst r un. Aft er hi s at em pt , Cam pbel l was disappoi nt ed to l ear n t hat hi s aver age speed had been 299 m il es per hour. However, a f ew days lat er, he was t ol d t hat a m ist ake had been m ade. Hi s aver age speed had been 301 mi les per hour. Si nce t hat t im e, r aci ng dri ver s have r eached speeds of over 400 mi les an hour. Foll owing his f ather39。s al ways pl ent y t o r ead i n t he 39。 I li ed, 39。 39。Hul l o, Ber t, 39。s hospit al. Dr essed up as Fat her Chr istm as and ac pani ed by a 39。Jum bo must wei gh a f ew t ons,39。 39。 I 39。 39。Just one m ore t hing, Mr Eames. Let us suppose t hat a chi l d suddenl y cr osses t he r oad i n f ront of you. As soon as I t ap on t he wi ndow, I want t he car t o be st opped imm edi atel y.39。s f ishing, 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, whi l e pl ayi ng tr uant , tr avel ed 1600 mil es. He hi t ch hiked t o Dover and, towar ds eveni ng, went i nt o a boat o f i nd somewhere t o sleep. When he woke up next m or ni ng, he di scover ed t hat t he boat had, i n t he m eanti m e, tr avel led t o Calais. No one noti ced t he boy as he cr ept of f. Fr om t her e, he hi tch hi ked t o Pari s i n a l or r y. The dri ver gave him a f ew biscui t s and a cup of coff ee and left him j ust outsi de t he cit y. The next car t he boy st opped di d not t ake him i nto t he cent re of Pari s as he hoped i t woul d, but t o Per pi gnan on t he Fr ench Spani sh bor der . Ther e he was picked up by a poli cem an and sent back t o Engl and by t he l ocal aut hori ti es. He has sur ely set up a r ecor d for t he t housands of boys who dr eam of evadi ng school . Lesson74 O ut of t he li m eli ght 舞臺之外 An anci ent bus st opped by a dr y r i ver bed and a part y of fam ous act ors and actr eses got of f. Dr esed i n dar k glasses and old cl ot hes, t hey had t aken speci al pr ecauti ons so t hat no one shoul d r ecognize t hem. But as t hey soon di scover ed, disgui ses can som etim es be too perf ect . 39。 Meanwhil e, t wo ot her act or s, Rockwal Sli nger and Mer li n Gr eeves, had car ied t wo l ar ge f ood basket s t o a shady spot under some t r es. When t hey had al m ade t hem sel ves f or table, a str anger appear ed. He l ooked very angr y. 39。sai d Rockwal ,39。m Bri nksl ey Meers, and m y ot her name i s Gl or i a Gl eam. Now you get out of her e fast !39。 Lesson77 A sucesf ul operat i on 一例成功的手術(shù) The m umm y of an Egypt i an wom an who di ed i n 800 B. C. has j ust had an oper at i on. The m umm y is t hat of Shepenm ut who was once a si nger in t he Tem ple of Thebes. As t her e wer e st range mar ks on t he X ray pl at es t aken of t he m umm y, doct ors have been tr yi ng t o fi nd out whet her t he wom an died of a r are di sease. The only way t o do t his was t o oper ate. The oper at i on, which l ast ed for over f our hour s, pr oved t o be ver y di f icult because of t he hard r esi n whi ch covered t he ski n. The doct or s rem oved a sect ion of t he m um m y and sent i t t o a laborat or y. They al so f ound som et hi ng whi ch t he X r ay of t he god Duam ut ef. This god whi ch has t he head of a cow was nor mal y pl aced i nsi de a m um my. The doct ors have not yet deci ded how t he wom an died. They f ear ed t hat t he m umm y woul d f al t o pi eces when t hey cut i t open, but f ort unat el y t hi s has not happened. The m um my successf ull y sur vi ved t he oper at ion. Less on78 The l ast one? 最后一枝嗎？ Af ter r eading an art i cl e ent it led 39。 sai d a poli cem an af t er war ds, 39。Hul l o, El izabet h, 39。m goi ng t o. . .39。 Then I 39。 I conti nued dr ivi ng and af ter som e ti me, the exam i ner tapped loudly. Though t he sound could be hear d cl ear l y, it t ook m e a l ong tim e t o r eact. I suddenly pr esed t he br ake pedal har d and we wer e bot h t hrown f or war d. The exami ner l ooked at m e sadl y. 39。Thi s is a wonder ful place f or a pi i c, 39。Now you gut out of her e, al l of you!39。 don39。 lesson75 SOS 呼救信號 When a l i ght pasenger plane f lew of f cour se som e t im e ago, i t cr ashed i n t he m ount ai ns and i ts pi l ot was kil led. The onl y pasenger s, a young woman and her t wo baby daught er s, wer e unhurt. I t was t he m iddle of wi nter. Snow l ay t hi ck on the gr ound. The woman knew t hat t he near est vi l age was m il es away. When i t grew dar k. she t ur ned a sui t case int o a bed and put t he chil dr en i nsi de it , coveri ng t hem wit h al t he cl o