【正文】 9。Your sist er wi l be here i n l ess t han an hour and we m ust be at t he st ati on t o m eet her. We are l ate alr eady.39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he H ubl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n f ut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f r om a spaceshi p whil e i t i s sti l i n space and t o ret ur n t o it. The abil it y t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y i n fut ur e f li ght s to di st ant pl a s. Scienti st s ar e now t r yi ng t o di scover if t hi s i s possi bl e. The spaceshi p Astr a whi ch l eft t he ear th a short t im e ago, wi l be tr avel li ng t hr ee hundr ed m il es i nt o space. At a cert ain poi nt , the Astr a wi l st op f or a shor t tim e and an ast r onaut wil l at tem pt t o leave the stati onar y spaceshi p and t hen r et ur n to i t. We shal l not know whet her t he experim e nt has been successf ul until we have r ecei ved a radi o m esage. The f ir st m essage i s expected t o ar i ve at 7 o39。cl ock t his eveni ng. By that tim e, t he Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or sevent een hour s and wil l have ci rcl ed t he ear t h a great m any tim es. When t he fi r st r adi o messages have been r eceived, t he r esult s of t he tr i p wil l be announced i mm edi at el y. Lesson62 Aft er t he f i re 大火之后 Fir em en had been f ighti ng t he f or est fi re f or near ly t hree weks bef ore t hey coul d get i t under cont r ol . A shor t ti me bef or e, gr eat t rees had cover ed t he count rysi de f or m il es ar ound. Now, sm oke st il l r ose up f rom t he warm gr ound over t he desolate hi l s. Wint er was i ng on and t he hil ls t hreatened the surr oundi ng vi l ages wi t h destr uct i on, f or heavy rai n woul d not onl y wash away t he soil but woul d cause seri ous fl oods as wel . When t he fi r e had at l ast been put out , t he f orest aut hor it ies or der ed sever al tons of a special t ype of gr ass seed whi ch would gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl ant i ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began t o r ai n. By t hen, however, i n m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken r oot . I n pl ace of t he great tr ees whi ch had been gr owi ng t her e f or cent uri es, patches of gr een had begun t o appear i n t he bl ackened soi l. Leson63 She was not am used 她并不覺得好笑 Geoff r ey Ham pden has a l ar ge cir cl e of fr i ends and is ver y popul ar at par ti es. Ever ybody adm ir es hi m for his f i ne sense of humor ever ybody, t hat i s, except hi s si xyear ol d daught er , Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff r ey39。s cl osest f ri ends asked hi m t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng r ecepti on. Thi s i s t he sort of t hi ng that Geof f rey l oves. He pr epared t he speech car efull y and went to t he weddi ng wi t h Jenny. He had included a l ar ge num ber of f unny st or i es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat success. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t ol d hi m she want ed t o go hom e. Geoff r ey was a li tl e di sappoi nted by t his but he did as hi s daughter asked. On t he way hom e, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed t he speech. To his sur pr ise, she said she hadn39。t . Geoff r ey asked her why thi s was so and she t ol d him t hat she did not li ke t o se so m any people l aughi ng at him ! Leson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l 858, a Fr ench engi neer, Aim e Thome de Gam ond, ar i ved i n England wi th a pl an f or a t went y one m il e t unnel acr oss t he Engl ish Channel . He sai d t hat i t woul d be possi bl e t o bui l d a platf orm i n t he centr e of t he Channel . Thi s pl at form woul d ser ve as a port and a r ai l way st at i on. The t unnel woul d be wel l vent il at ed if t al l chi mneys were buil t above sea l evel. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put for war d by an Engl ishm an, Wil li am Low. He suggest ed t hat a doubl e rail way t unnel should be buil t. Thi s woul d solve t he problem of venti lati on, f or if a t r ai n ent ered t hi s t unnel, it woul d dr aw in f r esh air behi nd i t. Fort yt wo years l at er a tunnel was act ual y begun. If , at t he ti me, the Br it ish had not feared i nvasion, it woul d have been pl et ed. Recentl y, t her e has agai n been gr eat i nt er est i n t he i dea of a Channel Tunnel. I f it i s bui lt , i t wil l connect Bri tai n t o Eur ope f or t he f ir st t im e i n hi st or y. Leson65 Jum bo versus t he pol i ce 小象對警察 Last Chri st mas, t he cir cus owner, Jimm y Gat es, deci ded t o t ake some pr esents t o a chil dr en39。s hospit al. Dr esed up as Fat her Chr i stm as and ac pani ed by a 39。guard of honour 39。 of si x pret y gir l s, he set of f down the m ai n str eet of t he cit y r idi ng a baby el ephant cal ed Jum bo. He, shoul d have known t hat t he pol i ce woul d never al ow t hi s sor t of thi ng. A pol icem an appr oached Jimm y and t ol d him he ought t o have gone along a si de st reet as Jumbo was hol di ng up t he t r af fi c. Though Ji mm y agr eed to go at once, Jum bo r ef used t o m ove. Fi ft een pol icemen had t o push ver y har d t o get him off t he mai n st r et. The poli ce had a di f i cult t im e, but they wer e m ost am used. 39。Jum bo m ust wei gh a few t ons, 39。 sai d a pol i ceman aft er war ds, 39。so i t was fort unat e t hat we di dn39。t have t o car ry hi m. Of cour se, we should ar r est hi m, but as he has a good r ecor d, we shal l l et him off t his t im e.39。 Lesson66 Sweet as honey! 像 蜜一樣甜！ The Hatheld Puf fi n is a m oder n aero pl ane, but i t s designer, Mr John Wi m penny, i s fi ndi ng it di f icult t o get i t of f t he gr ound. The r eason f or t hi s i s t hat t his pl ane i s al so a bi cycle. It s pi l ot has t o pedal har d t o get i t i nt o t he air . Aft er Mr Wi m penny had t he plane buil t, it was t est ed t hor oughly. I n 1961, it wa