【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 on96 The dead return 亡靈返鄉(xiāng) A Festi val for t he Dead is held once a year in Japan. Thi s festi val is a cheer ful occasion, for on this day, t he dead are sai d to retur n to their homes and they are weled by the li vi ng. As t hey are expect ed to be hungry aft er their long j our ney, f ood is l ai d out for t hem. Speci al lymade l anterns are hung out si de each house t o help t he dead t o find their way. Al ni ght long, peopl e dance and sing. I n the earl y mor ning, the food that had been laid out f or t he dead i s t hr own i nto a pat i ence and understanding and f or the kindl y encouragement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngly t o school. A great many f or mer pupi ls wil l be atendi ng a f ar ewel dinner in his honour next Thursday. I t i s a curi ous coi ncidence that the day bef ore his reti rement, Mr Page wil l have been teaching for a total of fort y years. Af ter he has reti red, he wil devote himsel f t o gardeni ng. For him, this wil l be an enti rely new hobby. But this does not mat ter, for, as he has oft en r emarked, one i s never too old to l earn. Lesson86 Out of control 失控 As the man tr ied t o swi ng t he speed boat r ound, t he steer ing wheel came away in his hands. He waved desper at el y to his pani on, who had been water skii ng f or t he l ast f if teen mi nutes. Both men had har dl y had ti me to r ealize what was happeni ng when t hey were thrown violent 1y i nt o the sea. The speedboat had st ruck a buoy, but it conti nued to move ver y qui ckly acr oss the wat er . Both men had j ust begun t o swim towar ds t he s hor e. when they noti ced wit h di smay that t he speed boat was moving in a cir cl e. It now came st raight towards them at tr emendous speed. I n les than a minut e, it roared past he m only a few f et away. Aft er i t had pased, they swam on as qui ckly as they coul d because t hey knew that he boat woul d soon r eturn. They had just had enough t ime t o swim out of danger when t he boat again pl et ed a circle . On this occasion, however , i t had sl owed down consider ably. The pet rol had nearly al been used up. Bef or e long, the noise dropped pletel y and the boat began t o dr if t gent ly acr oss the water . Lesson87 A perfect alibi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。At the time t he murder was mit ted, I was t ravel ing on t he o39。clock train t o London,39。 said t he man. 39。Do you al ways catch such an ear ly t rain ?39。 asked the inspector. 39。Of course I do,39。 answer ed t he man.39。 I must be at work at o39。clock. My employer wil l conf ir m that I was ther e on t ime.39。 39。 Would a later tr ain get you to work on ti me ?39。 asked t he inspector. 39。 I suppose it would, but I never catch a later train.39。 39。At what t i me di d you ar ive at the st at ion ?39。 39。At ten to eight . I bought a paper and wai ted for t he t rain.39。 39。And you didn39。t notice anything unusual ?39。 39。 Of course not. 39。 I suggest, 39。 sai d the inspector , 39。t hat you are not t el ing the tr ut h. I suggest t hat you di d not catch the o39。clock t rain, but t hat you caught the 8. 25 which woul d st il get you t o wor k on t ime. You se, on t he morning of t he mur der, the o39。cl ock tr ai n di d not run at al . I t br oke down at Ferngreen station and wa s taken off the li ne.39。 Leson88 Trapped i n a mine 困在礦井里 Six men have been trapped in a mi ne f or sevent en hours. I f they are not brought to the sur face soon they may l ose thei r live s. However , r escue operati ons are provi ng dif fi cult . I f explosives ar e used, vi br at ions wi l cause the roof of the mine to collapse. Rescue wor kers are t herefore dri l ing a hole on the nor th si de of the mine. They i nt end to bri ng t he men up in a speci al capsule. If there had not been a har d layer of r ock beneath t he soi l, they would have pleted the job in a f ew hours. As it is, they have been dr il ling f or sixteen hour s and they sti l have a l ong way to go. Meanwhile, a microphone, whi ch was lower ed i nt o the mine two hours ago, has enabled the m en to keep i n touch wit h the cl osest relatives. Though t hey are runni ng out of food and drink, t he men are cheer ful and confi dent t hat they wi l get out soon. They have been told that r escue operati ons are progr essi ng smoot hl y. I f t hey knew how di f icul t i t was to dri l through t he hard rock, they would l ose heart . Lesson89 A sli p of t he t ongue 口誤 Peopl e wil do anything to se a f ree showeven i f i t i s a bad one. When the news got round t hat a vari et y show woul d be presented at our local cinema by the P. and U. Bir d Seed Company, we al r ushed to se i t. We had t o queue f or hours t o get in and t here must have been sever al hundred peopl e pr esent just be f or e the show began. Unf or tunately, the show was one of the dul lest we have ever sen. Those who f ai led to get in need not ha ve f el t disappoi nted as many of the ar tistes who should have appear ed did not e. The onl y funny thi ngs we hear d that evening came fr om the adver ti ser at the beginni ng of the pr ogr amme. He was obviously very ner vous and for some minutes stood awkwardly bef or e the microphone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, everyone bur st out laughing. We al know what he poor man shoul d have said, but what he actualy sai d was: 39。Thi s is the Poo and Ee Seed Bir d Company. Good ladies, eveni ng and gent lemen ! 39。 l esson90 Whats f or super ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Brazi l i s one of t he r ichest countr ies i n the wor ld, much of i t has not yet been developed. I t was mainly for this r ea son that he Br azil ian gover nment decided to have anew cit y buil t 600 mil es nor thwest of Ri o de Janeir o. Designed by the great ar chi tect Lucio Cost a, the new cit y, Brasil a, replaced Rio de Janeir o as t he capit al of Br azif i n 1960. Brasi li a has been carefully pl anned for modern l iving. I ts wide roads, which can take four teen l ane