【導讀】Goanseehimatone.Owner:I’msorry,sir,sosorry,butIcannotchangethisbanknote.Henry:Butit’salIhaveonme.Owner:Oh,please,don’tworry,sir.Doesn'tmateratal.We’resoverygladthatyouevenenteredourlittleeatingplace.Indeed,sir,Ihopeyou’lleherewheneveryoulike.Henry:Well,that'sverykndofyou.Owner:Kind,sir?

　　

【正文】 t. H ave you got the mi li on pound bank note? H enry: H ere i t i s, si r. Ol i ver: I’ve won! N ow what do you say, Roderi ck? Roderi ck: I say that I’ve l ost twenty thousand pounds. I never woul d have beli eved it. Why, that i s am azi ng, m an! H enry: Com e, l et’s be goi ng now, Portia. Ol iver: But wait, wai t! The job, you know. I m ust gi ve you a job, as I promi sed. H enry: Wel , thank you very m uch, but I real l y don’t want one now. Porti a: Henry, I’m di sappoi nted i n you. You di dn39。t thank the gentl em en properl y. May I do i t for you? H enry: Let m e see you try. (Portia wal ks over to Roderick and gi ves him a hug. Then she si ts i n Ol iver’s l ap, puts her arm s around hi s nevk and ki sses hi m on the cheek. O li ver begi ns l aughi ng. ) Porti a: Papa, he says he doesn39。t want anythi ng el se from you. H enry: (shocked) My dear, i s that your papa? Porti a: H e’s m y step father, and the dearest one that ever was. H enry: O h, m y dearest dear si r, I regret what I sai d. You have got a job open that I want. O li ver: N am e i t. H enry: Sonin law. Ol i ver: Wel l, wel l, wel ! But you’ve never had such a job before. H ow can i t be sure you can do i t successful l y? H enry: Try m e… oh, do, I beg of you! Gi ve m e 30 or 40 years , and … Ol i ver: Oh, wel , al ri ght. N arrator: Are Porti a and Henry happy? There are not enough word i n the bi ggest di cti onary to descri be i t. Di d the peopl e of London have a good ti m e with thi s bi t of news? Yes. Porti a’s stepfather took that bank note back to the Bank of Engl and and cashed i t. The bank note was then useless for m oney but was hi s wedding gi ft to the young coupl e. Yes, the bank note was worth mi l ions of dol lars, but not worth on tenthe as much as how H enry fel t about Porti a . Unit 4 H ow l ife began on the earth N o one knows exactl y how the earth began, as i t happened so l ong ago. H owever, accordi ng to a wi dely acepted theory, the uni verse began wi th a “ Bi g Bang “ that threw m atter i n al l directi ons. After that, atom s began to form and bi ng to create stars and other bodi es. For several bil li on years after the “ Bi g Bang “, the earth was stil l just a cloud of dust. What it was to be e was uncertai n until between 4. 5 and 3. 8 bi l ion years ago when the dust setl ed i nto a sol i d gl obe. The earthenware becam e so vi ol ent that i t was not cl ear whether the shape woul d l ast or not. It expl oded l oudly wi th fi re and rock. They were i n ti m e to produce carbon, nitrogen , water vapour and other gases , whi ch were to m ake the earth’s atm osphere. What i s even m ore im prtant i s that as the earth cool ed down, water began to appear on i ts surface. Water had al so appeared on other pl as l i ke Mars but, unl i ke the earth, i t had di sapeared l ater. It was not im m edi atel y obvi ous that water was to be fundam ental to the devel opm ent of l i fe. What m any sci enti sts bel i eve i s that the conti nued persence of water al l owed the earth to di ssol ve harm ful gases and aci ds i nto the oceans and seas. Thi s produced a chai n reacti on, whi ch m ade i t possi bl 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 developm 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 lowed i n tim e by land anim als. Some were i nsects. O thers, cal l ed am phi bi ans, were abl e to l ive on land as wel l as i n the water. Later when the pl ants grew i nto forests, reptil es appeared for the fi rst tim e. They produced young general l y by l ayi ng eggs. After that, som e huge anim al s, cal l ed dinosaurs, 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 sappeared sti l rem ai ns a m ystery. Thi s di sappearance m ade possi bl e thief ri se of m amm als on the earth. These anim al s were di fferent from al l ife forms in the past, because they Gavin bi rth to young baby anim als and prodeced mi lk to feed them. Finnal ly about 2. 6 mi l ion years ago some smal celver ani mals, now wi th hands and feet, appeared and spread al l over the earth. Thus they have, in thei r turn, bee the most i mportant anim als on the pla. But they no they looki ng after the earth very wel l. They are putting too much carbon dioxi de i nto the atm osphere, which prevenrs heat from escaping from the earth into space. As a result of thi s, many scientists beli eve the earth may b e too hot to l ive on. So whether life wil l conti nue on the earth for mi l ions of years to e wil l depend on whether this probl em can be sol ved. A vi sit to the m on Last month I was lucky engough to have ( after si tti ng down and putti ng the letter on the tabl e) I’d li ke some ham and egs and a nice bi g steak. Make i t extra thi ck. Wai ter: Ri ght, si r. I’m afrai d i t’l l cost a l arge am ount of m oney. H enry: I understand. And I’l l have a l arge gl ass of beer. Wai ter: O K. ( The wai ter l eaves and soon returns wi th al the food.) H ostess: My godness! Why, l ok at hi m. H e eats li ke a wol f. O wner: We’l l see i f he’s cel ver as a wol f, eh? H enry: ( havi ng just fi ni shed every bit of food ) Ah, wai ter.( wai ter returns) Sam e thi ng again, pl ease. O h, and another beer. Waiter: Again? Everythi ng ? H enry: Yes, that39。s ri ght. (sees the l ok on the wai ter’s face) Anything wrong? Wai ter: No, not at al . (to the owner) H e’s asked for m ore of the sam e. O wner: It’s wel known that am eri cans li ke to eat a l ot. Wel l, we’l l have to take a chance. Go ahead and l et him have i t. Wai ter: (readi ng th