【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 just received a let ter fr om m y brot her , Tim. He is i n Austr al ia. He has been t her e f or si x months. Tim is an engineer . He i s worki ng for a bi g fi rm and he has al ready visit ed a great num ber of dif fer ent places in Aust rali a. He has j ust bought an Austr ali an car and has gone t o Ali c e Spri ngs, a smal town in t he cent re of Austr alia. He wi l l soon visit Dar win. Fr om t her e, he wi l f ly to Pert h. My br ot her has never been abr oad bef ore, so he is f inding t his t ri p very excit 5 No wrong numbers 無錯(cuò)號之虞 Mr James Scott has a garage in Si lbur y and now he has j ust bought anot her garage i n Pinhurst. Pi nhur st i s onl y f ive mi les f rom Sil bur y, but Mr Scott cannot get a tel ephone for his new gar age, so he has j ust bought t welve pigeons. Yester day, a pigeon car ri ed the f ir st m esage fr om Pi nhur st t o Sil bur y. The bi rd covered t he distance in t hree mi nutes. Up to now, Mr Scot t has sent a gr eat many r equests f or spare par ts and other urgent m essages f rom one gar age t o t he ot her . In this way, he has begun his own pri vat e tel ephone ser vice. Leson 6 Percy But tons 珀西巴頓斯 I have j ust moved t o a house i n Br idge Str eet . Yest er day a beggar knocked at my door. He asked me f or a meal and a gl ass of ber . I n r eturn for thi s, t he beggar st ood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a m eal . He at e t he food and drank t he beer. Then he put a piece of cheese i n his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour t old m e about him. Everybody knows him. Hi s name is Per cy Butt ons. He cal s at every house in t he st reet once a month and always asks f or a m eal and a gl as of beer . Leson 7 Too l ate 為時(shí)太晚 The plane was lat e and det ect ives were wai ti ng at t he ai r por t al l morni ng. They wer e expecting a val uabl e par cel of diamond f rom South Af r ica. A f ew hour s ear l ier, someone had t old t he pol ice t hat t hi eves woul d tr y t o st eal t he diamonds. When t he plane ar ived, some of t he det ect ives were wai ti ng inside t he main bui lding whi le ot her s were wait ng on t he ai rf iel d. Two men took t he par cel of f the plane and car r ied it i nto t he Cust oms House. While two det ect ives were keepi ng guar d at the door, t wo others opened the parcel. To t hei r sur pri se, the pr eci ous parcel was ful l of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sander s has t he most beautif ul gar den in our town. Nearl y ever ybody ent er s f or 39。The Nicest Gar den Compet it ion39。 each year , but Joe wi ns every ti me. Bil l Fr it h39。s garden is larger than Joe39。s. Bi l wor ks har der t han Joe and grows m ore f lower s and vegetables, but Joe39。s gar den i s m or e i nt er est ing. He has made neat pat hs and has buil t a wooden br idge over a pool . I li ke gar dens t oo, but I do not l ike hard work. Ever y year I enter f or the garden pet it ion t oo, and I always wi n a l it tle pr ize f or the wor st garden i n the t own! Lesson 9 A col d wel e 冷遇 On Wednesday evening, we went to t he Town Hal . It was t he las t day of the year and a large cr owd of peopl e had gat her ed under the Town Hal clock. I t would st ri ke twelve i n t went y mi nut e s39。 ti me. Fif teen mi nut es passed and t hen, at fi ve to t welve, the clock stopped. The big minut e hand di d not m ove. We wait ed and wai ted, but nothi ng happened. Suddenly someone shout ed, 39。I t39。s two minut es past welve! The clock has st opped!39。 I looked at m y wa tch. It was t rue. The big clock r efused to wel e the New Year . At that moment ever ybody began to l augh and sing. Lesson 10 Not f or jazz 不適于演奏爵士樂 We have an ol d musical inst rument . I t is cal ed a clavichord(翼琴 ). I t was made in Ger many i n 1681. Our clavichord i s kept i n the l ivi ng room. I t has belong t o our f ami ly f or a long t ime. The instr ument was bought by my gr andf at her m any years ago. Recentl y it was damaged by a visit or. She tr ied t o play j az on it! She str uck the keys too hard and two of t he st ri ngs wer e br oken. My f ather was shocked. Now we are not al owed to t ouch it. I t is being r epai red by a f r iend of my f ather39。s. Leson 11 One good t urn deserves another 禮尚往來 I was havi ng dinner at a r est aur ant when Har ry St eel e came in. Har ry wor ked in a lawyer39。s of fi ce year s ago, but he is now wor king at a bank. He get s a good salar y, but he always borr ows money fr om hi s fr iends and ne ver pays i t back. Har r y saw me and came and sat at the same t abl e. He has never borr owed money f rom me. Whil e he was eat ing, I asked him t o lend me amp。2. To my surpr ise, he gave me t he money immedi ately. 39。I have never borr owed any money fr om you,39。 Har y sai d, 39。so now you can pay for my di nner !39。 Leson 12 G oodbye and good luck 再見，一路順風(fēng) Our nci ghbour , Capt ai n Charl es Al i son, wil l sai l f r om Port smouth t omorr ow. We shal meet hi m at t he har bour earl y in the mor ning. He wi l be in his smal boat, Topsail .Tapsai l is a f amous lit tl e boat . It has sai led across the At lanti c many ti mes. Capt ai n Al ison wi l set out at ei ght o39。clock so we sha l have pl enty of ti me. We shal see hi s boat and t hen we shal say good bye to hi m. He wi l be away f or t wo m ont hs. We are very proud of him. He wil l take par t in an i mport ant r ace acr oss t he Atl ant ic. Lesson 13 The Greenwood Boys 綠林少年 The Gr eenwood Boys ar e a group of popul ar si nger s. At pr esent , they are vi si ti ng al part s of t he count ry. They wil l be ar r iving her e tomor row. They wi l be ing by t rai n and most of t he young peopl e i n the t own wi l be meeti ng them at t he st at ion. Tomorr ow evening t hey wi l be singi ng at t he Wor ker s39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l be staying for fi ve days. Duri ng thi s ti me, they wil l give f i ve per