【正文】 , f or i t l ooked on sym pat heti cal y unt il the dr unk was out of t he way befor e once more t ur ni ng i ts at enti on t o t he m at ador . Leson71 A f amous cl ock 一個(gè)著名的大鐘 When you vi si t London, one of t he fi rst hi ngs you wi l see is Bi g Ben, t he f amous cl ock whi ch can be hear d al over the wor ld on the . C. If t he Houses of Parl iam ent had hot been bur ned down i n 1834, t he great clock would never have been e rect ed. Bi g Ben t akes i ts nam e f rom Sir Benj ami n Hal l who was r esponsi bl e for the m aki ng of t he cl ock when the new Houses of Parli ament were bei ng buil t. It is not onl y of immense size, but i s extr emely acurate as wel . Of fi ci al s f rom Gr enwi ch Obser vat or y have t he clock checked t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he clock when it is act ual y str iking because mi cr ophones ar e connect ed t o the cl ock t ower. Big Ben has rarely gone wr ong. Once, however, it f ail ed t o gi ve t he corr ect ime. 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 sl owed it down ! Lesson72 A car cal ed Bl uebird “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The great raci ng dr iver , Si r Mal colm Campbel , was the fir st man to dri ve at over 300 m il es per hour. He set up a new wor l d r ecord i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil le Sal t Fl at s, Utah. Bluebir d, t he car he was dri vi ng, had been speci al y bui lt for him . I t was over 30 f et in l engt h and had a 2500 hor se power engi ne. Al though Campbel r eached a speed of over 304 mi les per hour, he had gr eat di f icul ty i n cont roll ing the car because a t yr e burst duri ng t he f ir st run. Af ter his at empt, Cam pbel l was di sappoi nt ed t o l ear n t hat hi s aver age speed had been 299 mil es per hour . However, a few days later, he was t ol d t hat a m istake had been made. His average speed had been 301 mi les per hour. Si nce t hat ime, r aci ng dri vers have r eached speeds of over 400 m il es an hour. Fol owi ng his f at her39。s f oot st eps m any years later, Sir Malcolm39。s son, Donal d, al so set up a wor l d r ecord. Li ke his f at her, he was dri vi ng a car cal led Bluebir d. Lesson73 The record holder 紀(jì)錄保持者 Li t le boys who pl ay t ruant fr om school ar e unimagi nati ve. A qui et day39。s f ishi ng, or eight hour s i n a ci nema seing the same fi lm over and over agai n, is usual l y as far as t hey get. They have al been put to shame by a boy who, while playing tr uant , t ravel ed 1600 m iles. He hit ch hi ked to Dover and, towar ds evening, went i nt o a boat t o fi nd somewher e t o sl eep. When he woke up next morni ng, he discover ed t hat he boat had, in t he meantim e, tr avel ed t o Cal ais. No one noti ced t he boy as he cr ept of f. From t here, he hit chhi ked to Par is i n a l or r y. The dri ver gave him a f ew biscuit s and a cup of cof ee and left him j ust outside the ci ty. The next car the boy st opped di d not take him into t he centr e of Paris as he hoped it woul d, but t o Per pi gnan on t he French Spanish bor der. Ther e he was pi cked up by a poli ceman and sent back t o Engl and by t he l ocal author it ies. He has sur el y set up a recor d for t he t housands of boys who dream of evading school. Lesson74 O ut of t he l imeli ght 舞臺(tái)之外 An ancient bus stopped by a dr y r i ver bed and a part y of f am ous actors and actr esses got of f. Dresed i n dar k gl asses and old clothes, t hey had t aken speci al pr ecaut ions so that no one should r ecognize t hem. But as they soon discover ed, di sgui ses can sometim es be too perf ect. 39。Thi s i s a wonder ful pl ace for a pi ic,39。 said Gl ori a Gleam. 39。 I t coul dn39。t be bet er , Gl or ia,39。 Bri nksl ey Mers agr ed. 39。No newspaper m en, no fi lm fans! Why don39。t we e m or e often ?39。 Meanwhi le, t wo ot her act or s, Rockwal Sli nger and Mer li n Greeves, had car ri ed t wo l ar ge f ood basket s t o a shady spot under som e t rees. When t hey had al m ade t hem selves fort able, a str anger appear ed. He l ooked very angr y. 39。Now you gut out of here, al of you!39。 he shouted: 39。 I39。m sherif f her e. Do you se t hat noti ce ?It says No Campi ng i n case you can39。t r ead !39。 39。 Look, sherif f, 39。sai d Rockwal ,39。 don39。t be t oo hard on us. I39。m Rockwal Sli nger and this is Merl in Gr eves. 39。 39。 Oh, is it ?39。 sai d t he sheri f wit h a sneer. 39。Wel , I 39。m Br inksl ey Meer s, and m y ot her nam e is Glori a Gleam. Now you get out of here f ast !39。 l esson75 SO S 呼救信號(hào) When a l ight passenger pl ane fl ew of f course som e t ime ago, it crashed i n the m ountains and it s pil ot was ki l ed. The onl y pa senger s, a young woman and her t wo baby daughters, wer e unhurt . It was t he mi ddle of wi nt er. Snow lay thick on t he gr ound. The wom an knew that t he nearest vil age was m iles away. When it grew dar k. she t ur ned a suit case i nt o a bed and put t he chi ldr en i nsi de i t, cover ing t hem wit h al l t he cl ot hes she coul d fi nd. Dur ing the ni ght, i t got t er ri bl y cold. The wom an kept as near as she coul d t o t he chi ldr en and even tr ied t o get i nt o the case herself , but it was t oo smal l. Ear ly , next morning she hear d planes pas si ng over head and wonder ed how she coul d send a si gnal . Then she had an i dea. She st amped out t he l et ters39。 SOS39。 i n the snow. For tunat el y, a pi lot saw t he si gnal and sent a mesage by radi o to t he nearest t own. I t was not l ong bef or e a heli copt er ar ived on t he scene t o rescue t he sur vi vor s of t he plane crash. Leson76 Apri l Fool s Day 愚人節(jié) 39。To end our special news bull et in,39。 said t he voi ce of the televi si on announcer ,39。 we ar e t aki ng you t o the m acaroni fi el ds of Cal abri a. Macar oni has been gr own i n t his ar ea f or over si x hundred year s. Two of t he l eadi ng gr owers, Gi useppe Moldova and Ri cardo Brabante, t el l m e t hat they have been e