【正文】 t he fi r st t hi ngs you wil see i s Big Ben, t he f am ous cl ock which can be hear d al over t he worl d on t he B. B. C. If t he Houses of Par li am ent had hot been bur ned down i n 1834, t he great cl ock woul d never have been er ect ed. Bi g Ben t akes it s nam e fr om Si r Benjami n Hal who was r esponsi ble f or the m aki ng of t he clock when t he new Houses of Par li am ent wer e bei ng buil t. It i s not onl y of imm ense size, but i s ext remel y acurat e as wel l. Of fi cials f r om Gr eenwi ch Obser vat ory 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 it i s act ual l y st ri king because mi cr ophones are connect ed t o 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 pai nt on one of t he hands and slowed it 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 mi les per hour. He set up a new wor l d record i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil l e Sal t Flats, Ut ah. Bl uebi r d, the car he was dr ivi ng, had been special y buil t f or him. I t was over 30 f et in length and had a 2500 horse power engine. Al though Cam pbel l r eached a speed of over 304 mil es per hour, he had great di f icult y i n cont rol li ng the car bec ause a t yre bur st duri ng the f ir st r un. Af t er hi s at tempt , Cam pbel l was di sappointed t o l ear n that his aver age speed had been 299 m iles per hour . However , a few days l at er, he was tol d that a mi st ake had been made. Hi s average speed had been 301 m il es per hour . Since that ti me, racing dr ivers have reached speeds of over 400 m il es an hour. Foll owing hi s father 39。s foot st eps m any years l ater, Si r Malcolm 39。s son, Donald, also set up a wor l d record. Like hi s father , he was dr ivi ng a car cal ed Bluebir d. Lesson73 The record hol der 紀(jì)錄保持者 Lit tl e boys who play tr uant f rom school ar e unim agi nat ive. A quiet day39。s fi shi ng, or eight hour s in a ci nem a seing the same fi lm over and over again, i s usual y as far as they get. They have al been put t o shame by a boy who, whil e playing t ruant, tr avel led 1600 mi les. He hitch hiked t o Dover and, towards eveni ng, went i nt o a boat to f ind somewhere t o sleep. When he woke up next mor ning, he di scovered t hat t he boat had, in the meanti me, tr avel ed to Cal ais. No one not iced t he boy as he cr ept off . From there, he hit ch hiked to Par is i n a l orr y. The dr iver gave hi m a f ew bi scuit s and a cup of cof fee and lef t hi m just out si de the cit y. The next car t he boy st opped did not t ake hi m i nto t he cent re of Pari s as he hoped i t woul d, but t o Per pignan on the Fr ench Spanish bor der . Ther e he was picked up by a poli ceman and sent back to Engl and by the l ocal aut hor it ies. He has sur el y set up a recor d f or the t housands of boys who dream of evadi ng school. Leson74 Out of the l im elight 舞臺(tái)之外 An anci ent bus stopped by a dry ri ver bed and a part y of famous act ors and actr esses got off . Dr essed in dark glases and ol d clot hes, they had taken special precaut ions so that no one should recogni ze t hem. But as t hey soon discover ed, disguises can someti mes be too per fect. 39。Thi s i s a wonder ful place for a pi i c,39。 sai d Glor ia Gl eam. 39。 I t coul dn39。t be bet er, Gl ori a, 39。 Br i nksley Meer s agr eed. 39。No newspaper m en, no f il m f ans! Why don39。t we e mor e oft en ?39。 Meanwhil e, t wo other act ors, Rockwal l Sl inger and Merl in Greeves, had car ri ed two large f ood baskets t o a shady spot under some tr es. When they had al m ade t hemselves for table, a str anger appeared. He looked ver y angry. 39。Now you gut out of her e, al of you!39。 he shouted: 39。 I39。m sher if f her e. Do you se t hat not ice ? I t says No Camping i n case you can39。t read !39。 39。 Look, sher if f, 39。said Rockwal l,39。 don39。t be too har d on us. I 39。m Rockwal l Sl inger and this i s Mer li n Gr eves. 39。 39。 Oh, is i t ?39。 said t he sher if f wit h a sneer . 39。Wel l, I39。m Br i nksley Mer s, and my ot her name is Gl ori a Gleam. Now you get out of here fast ! 39。 leson75 SOS 呼救信號(hào) When a l ight passenger plane fl ew of f cour se some t im e ago, it cr ashed in t he mountains and i ts pil ot was ki l ed. The only passengers, a young wom an and her t wo baby daughters, were unhurt . It was t he middl e of winter . Snow lay t hi ck on the gr ound. The woman knew t hat t he near est vil lage was mi les away. When it grew dar k. she tur ned a sui tcase into a bed and put the chil dren i nsi de it , coveri ng them wi t h al l the clot hes she coul d f ind. Duri ng the ni ght , it got t er ibl y col d. The wom an kept as near as she could to t he chi ldr en and even t ri ed to get int o the case her self , but i t was too smal . Earl y ,next morning she heard pl anes pasing overhead and wonder ed how she coul d send a s ignal. Then she had an i dea. She st am ped out t he l et er s39。 SOS39。 i n the snow. For tunately, a pi lot saw the signal and sent a mesage by radio to t he near est town. I t was not l ong bef or e a heli copt er ar ri ved on the scene t o rescue the sur vivor s of t he plane c rash. Lesson76 April Fools Day 愚人節(jié) 39。To end our special news bul leti n,39。 sai d the voice of t he television announcer, 39。 we are t aki ng you to the macaroni fi el ds of Cal abr ia. Macaroni has been grown in t his ar ea f or over six hundred years. Two of the l eadi ng grower s, Gi useppe Moldova and Ri car do Brabant e, t el me t hat hey have been expecti ng a spl endi d crop t his year and harvesting has begun ear li er t han usual. Her e you can see two workers who, between t hem , have just fi nished cut ti ng three cart l oads of