【正文】 that a var iet y show would be pr esented at our l ocal cinema by t he P. and U. Bi r d Sed Com pany, we al r ushed t o see i t. We had to queue for hours t o get i n and ther e must have been sever al hundred people pr esent just be for e the show began. Unf ort unat el y, t he show was one of t he dullest we have ever sen. Those who f ail ed to get in need not ha ve f elt disappoi nt ed as many of the art istes who should have appeared di d not e. The onl y f unny t hings we heard t hat eveni ng came f rom the adver ti ser at the beginning of the pr ogramme. He was obviously very ner vous and f or some minutes stood awkwar dl y befor e the mi crophone. As soon as he opened his mout h, everyone bur st out l aughing. We al l know what t he poor m an should have sai d, but what he act ual ly said was: 39。Thi s is t he Poo and Ee Sed Bi rd Company. Good l adi es, evening and gentl emen !39。 lesson90 Whats f or supper ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Br azi l i s one of t he r i chest countr ies in the wor ld, much of it has not yet been devel oped. It was m ai nly f or this reason t hat t he Brazil ian gover nment decided t o have a new city bui lt 600 mi les nort hwest of Ri o de Janei ro. Desi gned by the gr eat archit ect Lucio Costa, the new ci ty, Br asil ia, r epl aced Ri o de Janeir o as the c apit al of Br azi f in 1960. Br asi li a has been caref ul ly pl anned f or moder n l iving. It s wi de roads, whi ch can t ake f ourt en l anes of t raf ic, have been kept away f rom li ving ar eas. Chi ldr en do not have to cr oss busy str et s to go to school . Housewives can visit shoppi ng centr es on foot , f or in t hese speci al ly designed li ving ar eas, car s ar e unnecesary. At f ir st , the gover nment had gr eat dif fi cul ty in per suading peopl e to leave Rio and t o set tl e in Brasil ia. Since 1960, however , t he popul at ion has been gr owi ng al l the t ime. Br asil ia has quickly establi shed i tself as the capit al of t he countr y. The i dea to have the capit al m oved so f ar i nland wi l ha ve a great ef fect on the f uture of Br azi l. Lesson91 Three men i n a basket 三人同籃 A pi l ot not iced a baloon whi ch seemed t o be making f or a Royal Ai r Force St at ion nearby. He inf orm ed the stati on at once, but no one there was abl e to explai n the m yst er y. The of fi cer i n t he contr ol tower was ver y angry when he heard the news, because baloons can be a great danger to ai rcraf t. He said t hat someone might by spyi ng on the st at ion and t he pi lot was order ed to keep tr ack of t he str ange object. The pil ot m anaged to ci rcl e the bal oon for som e ti me. He coul d make out thr e m en in a basket under it and one of t hem was holding fi el dglasses. When t he bal loon was over t he st ati on, t he pi lot saw one of the men t aki ng phot ographs. Soon aft er wards, the bal oon began to descend and i t landed near an air fi el d. The pol ice were cal led in, but they coul d not ar rest anyone, f or the basket cont ai ned two Members of Parl iament and the Commanding Of icer of the stati on! As the Commandi ng Of icer expl ained later , one half of t he st ation di d not know what he other hal f was doi ng ! Lesson92 Aski ng f or t roubl e 自找麻煩 I t must have been about t wo i n t he morning when I retur ned home. I tr i ed to wake up m y wif e by r inging t he door bel l, but she was f ast asl ep, so I got a l adder f rom the shed in t he gar den, put it agai nst t he wal, and began cl imbi ng towar ds the bedr oom wi ndow. I was al most t her e when a sarcast ic voi ce bel ow sai d,39。 I don39。t t hink t he windows need cl eani ng at his t ime of t he night. 39。 I l ooked down and nearl y fel l of f the l adder when I saw a poli ceman. I im medi ately regret ed answer ing i n the way I di d, but I sai d, 39。I enj oy cleani ng wi ndows at night. 39。 39。So do I ,39。 answered t he poli ceman i n the same t one. 39。Excuse my i nt er upt ing you. I hat e to inter rupt a man when he39。s busy worki ng, but woul d you mi nd ing wi th me t o the stat ion ?39。 39。Wel l, I39。d pref er t o stay here,39。 I said. 39。You see, I 39。ve f or gott en my key.39。 39。Your what ?39。 he cal led. 39。My key, 39。 I shout ed. 39。 For tunately, the shouting woke up my wi fe who opened t he window j ust as the poli cem an had st ar ted t o cli mb t owards me. Leson93 A noble gi ft 崇高的禮物 One of the most f am ous m onuments in t he worl d, t he Statue of Li ber ty, was present ed to t he Unit ed States of Am er ica i n the ni ent h cent ur y by t he people of Fr ance. The great st at ue, whi ch was designed by t he sculpt or Auguste Bar tholdi , t ook ten years t o plete. The act ual f igur e was made of copper suppor ted by a metal fr amework which had been especi al ly constr uct ed by Eif fel. Bef ore i t could be tr ansport ed to t he Unit ed States, a si te had t o be found f or it and a pedestal had to be buil t. The sit e chosen was an isl and at the entr ance of New York Harbour. By 1884, a st atue whi ch was 151 f eet al , had been er ected in Par is. The fol lowi ng year , i t was taken to pi eces and sent to Amer ica. By the end of October 1886, the statue had been put t oget her again and i t was of fi cial y present ed to t he Amer ican peopl e by Bart hol di. Ever si nce t hen, t he gr eat monument has been a symbol of l ibert y f or t he mi l ions of people who have pased t hr ough New Yor k Har bour t o make their homes i n Amer ica. Lesson94 Fut ure champi ons 未來的冠軍 Exper i ment s have pr oved that chil dren can be i ns tr ucted in swi mm ing at a very earl y age. At a speci al swi mmi ng pool i n Los Angeles, chil dren be e expert at holding t hei r breath under water even bef or e t hey can walk. Babies of two months old do not appear t o be rel uct ant t o ent er the water , It is not l ong bef or e t hey ar e so accust omed to swi mm ing t hat t hey can pick up