【正文】 t he cl ock tower. Bi g Ben has r ar el y gone wr ong. Once, however, it f ai l ed t o gi ve t he cor r ect ti me. A pai nt er who had been wor ki ng on t he t ower hung a pot of paint on one of t he hands and slowed i t down ! Lesson72 A car cal led Bl uebi rd “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dr i ver, Si r Mal colm Cam pbel , was t he fi r st m an t o dri ve at over 300 mil es per hour. He set up a new wor l d record i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil l e Sal t Fl ats, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, t he car he was dr ivi ng, had been speci al l y bui lt f or hi m. It was over 30 f et i n l engt h and had a 2500 hor se power engi ne. Alt hough Cam pbel r eached a speed of over 304 m il es per hour , he had gr eat di f icult y i n cont rol li ng the car because a t yre bur st duri ng the f ir st r un. Af t er hi s atempt , Cam pbel l was di sappointed t o l ear n that his aver age speed had been 299 m il es per hour . However , a few days l at er, he was tol d that a mi st ake had been made. His average speed had been 301 m il es per hour . Since that ti me, racing dr ivers ha ve reached speeds of over 400 m il es an hour. Foll owing hi s father 39。 he asked, bef or e I had f inished speaking. ‘ Not at al ,39。 Lesson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat hel d Puf fi n is a m oder n aero pl ane, but i ts designer, Mr John Wi m penny, i s fi ndi ng it di f icult t o get i t of f t he gr ound. The r eason f or t hi s is t hat t his pl ane i s al so a bicycl e. It s pi l ot has t o pedal har d t o get it i nto t he air. Aft er Mr Wi mpenny had t he plane built , it was t est ed t horoughl y. In 1961, it was t he f ir st m an powered air craft t o fl y half a m il e. Whil e bei ng fl own by a cham pi on am at eur cycl ist i n 1963, t he pl ane cr ashed on an air fi el d. Si nce then, Mr Wi mpenny has had it r ebui lt . He has had t he length of t he wi ngs i ncr eased so that they now m easur e 93 f eet al m ost as l ong as those of a Dakot a. Many people have shown i nterest in t his new and unusual spor t. But though air cycl ists m ay learn how to f ly over shor t distances, and may, event ual ly, even get across the Engli sh Channel, it i s doubt ful whether they wi l ever cycle a cross the At lanti c. Lesson67 Vol canoes 火山 Har oun Tazief f the Poli sh sci ent ist, has spent hi s li fe ti me studying acti ve vol canoes and deep caves i n al part s of the wor ld. In 1948, he went t o lake Ki vu in the Congo to observe a new vol cano whi ch he later named Ki tur o. Tazief was abl e to set up his camp very cl ose t o the vol cano whi le i t was er upti ng vi olentl y. Though he manage d t o t ake a number of bri l iant photogr aphs, he could not stay near the volcano for very l ong. He not iced that a r iver of l iquid rock was ing t owards him . It thr eat ened t o surr ound hi m pl et ely, but Tazief m anaged to escape j ust i n ti me. He wai ted unti l t he volcano became quiet and he was abl e to retur n two days l ater. This t im e, he m anaged to cl imb into the mout h of Kit uro so t hat he could t ake photogr aphs and measur e t em per at ures. Tazief f has of ten r isked hi s li fe in t his way. He has been able to t el l us more about act ive volcanoes t han any m an al ive. Lesson68 Persi st ent 糾纏不休 I crossed the str et t o avoi d meeti ng him, but he saw me and cam e running t owards me. I t was no use pr et endi ng that I had not sen hi m, so I waved t o him . I never enj oy meeting Ber t Dykes. He never has anyt hing t o do. No mat er how busy you ar e, he always i nsi st s on ing wi th you. I had to think of a way of pr eventi ng him fr om foll owing m e around al mor ning. 39。 said the sher if f wi th a sneer . 39。No newspaper men, no fi lm fans! Why don39。wait ing r oom ! 39。 39。s hospit al . Dressed up as Fat her Chr istmas and acpanied by a 39。 Ber t answered. 39。 he answer ed.39。 It couldn39。m Rockwal Sli nger and thi s is Mer li n Gr eeves.39。 sai d a pol i ceman aft er war ds, 39。m going t o.. .39。Mr Eames, 39。 he shout ed: 39。 SOS39。so i t was fort unat e t hat we di dn39。 39。t be bet ter , Gl or ia,39。 Ther e39。 I was j ust wonderi ng how t o spend t he morni ngunti l I saw you. You39。 said the voice of the t elevision announcer, 39。t read ! 39。 l esson70 Red for danger 危險的紅色 Duri ng a bull fi ght , a drunk suddenly wander ed into the mi ddl e of the r ing. The crowd began to shout, but t he drunk was unawar e of the danger . The bul l was busy wi th the mat ador at the t ime, but i t suddenl y caught sight of t he drunk who was shouti ng rude r em ar ks and wavi ng a r ed cap. Appar ently sensit ive to cr it ici sm , t he bul l for got al l about the matador and char ged at the dr unk. The crowd suddenl y gr ew quiet. The drunk, however , seem ed qui te sur e of hi msel f . When the bull got cl ose to hi m, he cl umsil y stepped aside t o let it pass. The crowd br oke int o cheers and t he drunk bowed. By this tim e, however, thr ee men had e int o the r ing and t hey qui ckl y dragged the dr unk t o safety. Even the bull seem ed to f eel sorr y f or hi m, for i t looked on sympatheti cal ly unt il t he dr unk was out of t he way bef ore once mor e tur ning i ts at ent ion t o t he matador . Leson71 A f amous clock 一個著名的大鐘 When you visit London, one of the f ir st t hings you wil l see i s Big Ben, t he famous clock which can be hear d al over the wor ld on the B. . I f the Houses of Parl iament had hot been bur ned down in 1834, the gr eat clock would never ha ve been er ect ed. Bi g Ben t akes it s nam e f rom Si r Benjami n Hal who was r esponsi ble f or t he m aki ng of t he clock when t he new Houses of Par li am ent wer e being buil t. I t i s not onl y of imm ense size, but i s ext remel y acur at e as wel l. Of fi cials f r om Gr eenwi ch Obser vat or y have t he cl ock checked t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear the cl ock when i t i s act ual l y st ri ki