【導(dǎo)讀】Wel…Portia,I…Oliver:We’rebothgladtohearit,fornowwecandecidethebetwhichRoderickandImade.Ifyou’vewonforme,youshalhaveanyjobasmygift.Haveyougotthemilionpoundbanknote?Henry:Hereitis,sir.Oliver:I’vewon!Nowwhatdoyousay,Roderick?Roderick:IsaythatI’velosttwentythousandpounds.Ineverwouldhavebelievedit.Why,thatisamazing,man!Henry:Come,let’sbegoingnow,Portia.Oliver:Butwait,wait!Butyou’veneverhadsuchajobbefore.Howcanitbesureyoucandoitsuccessfuly?Henry:Tryme…oh,do,Ibegofyou!Giveme30or40years,and…Oliver:Oh,wel,allright.Narrator:ArePortiaandHenryhappy?

　　

【正文】 e for li fe to devel op. Many m il li ons of years later, the fi rst extrem el y sm al l pl ants began to appear on the surface of the water. They m ulti pl i ed and fil ed the oceans and seas wi th oxygen, whi ch encouraged the l ater devel opm ent of earl y shel l fi sh and al sorts of fi sh. N ext, green pl ants began to grow on l and. They were fol owed i n tim e by l and anim al s. Som e were i nsects. O thers, cal led am phi bi ans, were abl e to li ve on l and as wel l as i n the water. Later when the pl ants grew i nto forests, reptil es appeared for the fi rst ti m e. They produced young general ly by l ayi ng eggs. After that, som e huge anim al s, cal l ed di nosaurs, devel oped. They l ai d eggs too and exi sted on the earth for m ore than 140 m il li on years. H owever, 65 m il li on years ago the age of the di nosaurs ended. Why they suddenl y di sapeared sti l rem ai ns a m ystery. Thi s di sappearance made possi bl e thi ef ri se of m amm als on the earth. These anim als were different from al l ife forms i n the past, because they Gavi n bi rth to young baby anim al s and prodeced mi lk to feed them . Finnal y about 2. 6 mil li on years ago som e sm al l cel ver anim al s, now wi th hands and feet, apeared and spread al over the earth. Thus they have, i n thei r turn, be e the m ost i mportant anim als on the pl a. But they no they l ooki ng after the earth very wel l. They are putti ng too much carbon di oxi de i nto the atm osphere, whi ch prevenrs heat from escapi ng from the earth i nto space. As a result of thi s, m any sci enti sts beli eve the earth m ay b e too hot to l i ve on. So whether li fe wil l conti nue on the earth for mi l i ons of years to e wil l depend on whether thi s probl em can be sol ved. A vi si t to the m oon Last m onth I was l ucky engough to have a chance to make a tri p i nto space wi th m y fri end Li Yanpi ng, an astronom er. We vi si ted the m oon i n our spaceshi p! Before we l eave, Li Yanpi ng expl ai ned to m e that the forece of the gravi ty woul d change three ti mes on our journey and that the fi rst change woul d be the m ost powerful . Then we were off. As the rocket rose i nto the ai r, we were pushed back i nto our seats because we were tryi ng to escape the pul l of the earth’s gravi ty. It was so hard that we coul d not say anythi ng to each other. Gradual y the wei ght l esened and I was abl e to tal k to hi m. “ Why i s the spaceshi p not fal i ng back to the earth? O n the earth i f I fal from a tree I wi l fal to ground.” I asked. “ We are to far from the earth now to feel its pul , “ he expl ai ned, “ so we feel as i f there i s no gravi ty at al . When we get cl oser to the m oon, we shal feel its gravity pul i ng us, but i t wi l not be as strong a pul l as the earth’s. “ I cheered up imm edi atel y and floated wei ghtl essl y around in our spaceship cabi n watchi ng the earth bee sm al l er and the m on l arger. When we got there, I wanted to expl ore imm ediately. “ Com e on, ” I sai d. “ If you are right, m y m ass wil l be l es than on the earth because the m oon i s sm al l er and I wi l be abl e to m ove more freely. I mi ght even grow tal er i f I stay here l ong enough. I shal l certai nl y wei gh l ess!” I l aughed and clim bed down the steps from the spaceshi p. But when I tri ed to step forward, I found I was carri ed twi ce as far as on the earth and fel l over. “ O h dear, ” I cri ed, “ wal ki ng does need a bi t of practi ce now that gravity has changed.” After a whil e I got the hang of i t and we began to enjoy ourselves. Leavi ng the moon’s gravity was not as pai nful as l eavi ng the earth’s. But returni ng to the earth was very fri ghteni ng. We watched, am azed as fire broke out on the outsi de of the spaceshi p as the earth’s gravi ty i ncreased. Agai n we were pushed back hard i nto our seats as we cam e back to l and. “ That was very exhausti ng but very exci ting too,” I sai d. “N ow I know m uch m ore about gravi ty! Do you thi nk we coul d bi sit som e stars next tim e?” “O f course, ” he smi l ed, “ whi ch star woul d you li ke to go to?” Caught by a bl ack hol e The spaceshi p warned Li Yanpi ng and m e to be ready as we were aproaching the “bl ack hole”. We coul d see some fai nt l ights around what looked l ike an empty space. Li Yanping sai d, “ That empty hol e i s li ke a m outh always needing to be fed. Those li ghts are thins that are bei ng pul ed into ti me by the gravi ty of the hol e. ” We watched wi th interest and amazement at the lights whi ch seemed to be going fai nter and fainter round the edge of the bl ack hole. Just then the l ights on our spaceship went our the and the puter stoped worki ng. What was hapeni ng? I tried to turn the spaceship away from the hol e but i t would not move. Would it eat us too? Suddenly the spaceship jumped and began to move round the edge of trhe hole too. The gravity of the “bl ack the bil l, si r, pl ease fet i t. H enry: Fet i t? Wel … thank you very m uch. That39。s very ni ce of you. O wner: O h, i t’s for US to thank you, si r and I do, si r, from the botom of my heart. (the owner, hostes and wai ter al bow as H enry l eaves) Act Ⅱ , Scene 4 N arrator: at the end of the m onth, H enry was very ri ch and di dn39。t fear jail . Dressed i n the fi nest cl othes, he drove by the brothers’ house i n Portland Pl ace and, sei ng they were back, went to get Porti a at her fri end’s hom e. H enry: My dear, the way you l ook today, i t woul d be a crim e not to ask for a good sal ary for the job they’l l gi ve to me. Porti a: O h, please remem ber that i f we ask for too m uch we m ay get no sal ary at al l。 and then what’l l happen to us, with no way i n the worl d to earn a li vi ng? ( At the brothers’ hom e, the servant l ets them i n. the two brothers are seated, wai ti ng. ) H enry: Good m orni ng, gentl em en .( Rodri ck seem s very surpri sed to see Porti a)