【正文】 d not onl y wash away the soil but would cause seri ous fl oods as wel . When the f ir e had at last been put out , t he for est authori ti es or der ed sever al 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 in huge quant it es by aer oplanes. The planes had been pla nti ng seed f or nearl y a mont h when it began t o r ai n. By then, however, i n many places the grass had al ready taken r oot . In pl ace of t he gr eat t rees which had been growi ng there f or cent ur ies, pat ches of green had begun t o appear in the blackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a l arge cir cle of f ri ends and is ver y popul ar at part ies. Everybody admir es him for his f ine sense of humor ever ybody, that is, except hi s si xyear ol d daught er , Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff rey39。Your sister wi l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the st at ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready.39。Wel l, in that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 As she wal ked a way, I f ol lowed her out of t he fai r. Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠鏡的困境 In futur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f rom a spaceshi p whil e it i s st il l in space and t o r et urn t o i t. The abili ty to do t his wi l be necessar y i n fut ure f li ght s to di s tant pl a s. Scienti st s are now tr yi ng to di scover if t hi s is possi ble. The spaceship Astr a which l ef t the eart h a short ti me ago, wil l be tr avel ing t hree hundr ed mi les int o space. At a cer tain poi nt, the Ast ra wi l l st op for a short ti me and an astr onaut wil l at tempt t o l eave the stati onar y spaceshi p and then r et urn t o i t. We shal not know whether the exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have received a r adi o message. The f ir st mesage is expected t o ar ive at 7 o39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward f or virt ue 對美德 的獎賞 My f ri end, Herber t, has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that he deci ded t o go on a di et . He began hi s diet a week ago. Fir st of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l t he foods whi ch wer e f orbidden. The l ist included most of the thi ngs He r bert loves: but ter, potatoes, r ice, beer , mil k, chocol ate, and sweets. Yest erday I pai d him a vi si t. I r ang t he bel l and was not surpr ised to see that Herbert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed me int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was very embar rassed. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put t he par ce l on t he desk. He expl ai ned that his diet was so str ict that he had t o r ewar d him sel f occasi onal ly. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. I t contai ned f ive l arge bars of chocol at e and thr e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved i nto a new house and I have been wor ki ng hard al l m orning. I have been tr ying t o get my new r oom i n order. Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To make mat ers wor se, the r oom i s rat her smal , so I have tem por ar i ly put my books on the f loor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on them t o get i n or out of t he room. A shor t while ago, my si st er helped m e to car y one of my ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went into my r oom and got a big surpr ise when she saw al l those books on t he fl oor . 39。 the conduct or said. 39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had str uck t he gr ound. Al t hough t he bed was smashed to pi eces, t he man was mi raculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat res s. Gl anci ng at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat l ay around him, t he man sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ied i t into hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he promptl y went to sl ep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風 I l ove t r avel ing i n the countr y, but I don39。 Is t his Woodf ord Green ?39。You don39。t . Geoff rey asked her why t hi s was so and she t old hi m t hat she did not l ike to see so many peopl e l aughing at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l858, a French engi neer , Ai m e Thom e de Gam ond, ar r i ved i n Engl and wi t h a pl an f or a t went y one m i l e t unnel acr oss t he Engl i sh Channel . He sai d t hat i t woul d be possi bl e t o bui l d a pl at f or m i n t h e cent r e of t he Channel . Thi s pl at f or m woul d ser ve as a por t and a r ai l way st at i on. The t unnel woul d be wel l vent i l at ed i f t al l chi m neys wer e bui l t above sea l evel . I n 1860, a bet t er pl an was put f or war d by an My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my tee