【導讀】Wel…Portia,I…Oliver:We’rebothgladtohearit,fornowwecandecidethebetwhichRoderickandImade.Ifyou’vewonforme,youshalhaveanyjobasmygift.Haveyougotthemillionpoundbanknote?Henry:Hereitis,sir.Oliver:I’vewon!Nowwhatdoyousay,Roderick?Roderick:IsaythatI’velosttwentythousandpounds.Ineverwouldhavebelievedit.Why,thatisamazing,man!Henry:Come,let’sbegoingnow,Portia.Oliver:Butwait,wait!Thejob,youknow.Imustgiveyouajob,asIpromised.Henry:Well,thankyouverymuch,butIrealydon’twantonenow.Portia:Henry,I’mdisappointedinyou.Youdidn'tthankthegentlemenproperly.MayIdoitforyou?Henry:Letmeseeyoutry.(PortiawalksovertoRoderickandgiveshimahug.ThenshesitsinOliver’slap,putsherarmsaroundhisnevkandkiseshimonthecheek.Oliverbeginslaughing.)Portia:Papa,hesayshedoesn'twantanythingelsefromyou.Henry:(shocked)Mydear,isthatyourpapa?Portia:He’smystepfather,andthedearestonethateverwas.Henry:Oh,mydearestdearsir,IregretwhatIsaid.YouhavegotajobopenthatIwant.Oliver:Nameit.Henry:Son-in-law.Oliver:Wel,wel,wel!Butyou’veneverhadsuchajobbefore.Howcanitbesureyoucandoitsucesfuly?Henry:Tryme…oh,do,Ibegofyou!Giveme30or40years,and…Oliver:Oh,wel,alright.Narator:ArePortiaandHenryhapy?

　　

【正文】 he devel opment of l ife. What many sci enti sts beli eve is that the continued persence of water al owed the earth to dissol ve harm ful gases and aci ds i nto the oceans and seas. Thi s produced a chain reaction, which made it posi bl e for li fe to devel op. Many mi li ons of years later, the first extremely sm al l pl ants began to appear on the surface of the water. They m ul ti pl ied and fi l ed the oceans and seas wi th oxygen, whi ch encouraged the l ater devel opm ent of earl y shel fi sh and al sorts of fi sh. N ext, green pl ants began to grow on land. They were fol owed i n tim e by l and animals. Som e were insects. Others, cal ed amphi bians, were able 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 tim e. They produced young general y by layi ng egs. After that, some huge anim al s, cal ed dinosaurs, devel oped. They lai d eggs to and exi sted on the earth for m ore than 140 m il ion years. However, 65 mi li on years ago the age of the di nosaurs ended. Why they suddenly disappeared sti l remains a mystery. Thi s disapearance made possi ble thi ef ri se of m ammals on the earth. These anim al s were di ferent from al li fe form s i n the past, because they Gavin birth to young baby anim al s and prodeced mi lk to feed them. Fi nal ly about 2. 6 mi l ion years ago som e smal cel ver animals, now wi th hands and feet, appeared and spread al l over the earth. Thus they have, i n thei r turn, be e the most im portant anim al s on the pla. But they no they l ooki ng after the earth very wel . They are putti ng too m uch carbon dioxide i nto the atm osphere, whi ch prevenrs heat from escapi ng from the earth i nto space. As a resul t of thi s, m any sci entists beli eve the earth m ay b e to hot to l ive on. So whether l i fe wil l conti nue on the earth for m il ions of years to e wi l depend on whether thi s problem can be sol ved. A vi si t to the moon Last month I was l ucky engough to have a chance to m ake a tri p into space wi th m y fri end Li Yanpi ng, an astronom er. We visited the moon in our spaceshi p! Before we l eave, Li Yanpi ng explained to m e that the forece of the gravity woul d change three tim es on our journey and that the fi rst change woul d be the most powerful. Then we were of. As the rocket rose into the air, we were pushed back i nto our seats because we were trying to escape the pul 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 essened and I was abl e to tal k to him. “Why i s the spaceshi p not fal i ng back to the earth? On the earth if I fal l from a tre I wi l fal to ground. ” I asked. “ We are to far from the earth now to fel its pul , “ he expl ained, “so we fel as i f there is no gravi ty at al . When we get cl oser to the m on, we shal l feel i ts gravi ty pul li ng us, but i t wi l not be as strong a pul as the earth’s. “ I cheered up imm edi ately and fl oated wei ghtlessl y around i n our spaceshi p cabin watching the earth be e smal er and the m on larger. When we got there, I wanted to expl ore immediatel y. “ Com e on,” I sai d. “ If you are right, my mass wi l be less than on the earth because the m oon i s sm al er and I wil l be abl e to move m ore freel y. I m i ght even grow tal er i f I stay here l ong enough. I shal certai nl y wei gh less!” I l aughed and clim bed down the steps from the spaceship. 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. “ Oh dear, ” I cried, “ wal ki ng does need a bit of practi ce now that gravity has changed. ” After a whil e I got the hang of it and we began to enjoy oursel ves. Leavi ng the moon’s gravi ty was not as pai nful as l eaving the earth’s. But returni ng to the earth was very fri ghteni ng. We watched, amazed as fire broke out on the outsi de of the spaceship 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 land. “ That was very exhausting but very exciting too, ” I sai d. “N ow I know m uch m ore about gravi ty! Do you think we coul d bi si t som e stars next tim e?” “O f course, ” he smi led, “ whi ch star woul d you l i ke to go to?” Caught by a bl ack hole The spaceshi p warned Li Yanpi ng and me to be ready as we were approachi ng the “bl ack hole”. We could se some fai nt lights around what l oked li ke an empty space. Li Yanping said, “ That empty hol e is l ike a mouth always needing to be fed. Those lights are thi ns that are bei ng pul ed into tim e by the gravity of the hole.” We watched with i nterest and amazement at the li ghts whi ch seemed to be going fai nter and fainter round the edge of the black hol e. Just then the l ights on our spaceshi p went our the and the puter stopped working. What was happening? I tri ed to turn the spaceship away from the hole but it would not move. Woul d it eat us too? Suddenl y the spaceship jumped and began to move round the edge of trhe hole to. The gravi ty of the “blackthe bil , si r, please fet it. H enry: Fet it? Wel … thank you very m uch. That39。s very ni ce of you. O wner: Oh, it’s for US to thank you, sir and I do, sir, from the bottom of my heart. (the owner, hostess and wai ter al l bow as Henry l eaves) Act Ⅱ , Scene 4 N arator: at the end of the m onth, H enry was very ri ch and di dn39。t fear jail. Dresed in the fi nest cl othes, he drove by the brothers’ house i n Portl and Pl ace and, seing they were back, went to get Porti a at her fri end’s hom e. H enry: My dear, the way you l ok today, i t would be a crime not to ask for a good salary for the job they’l l give to m e. Portia: O h, please rem em ber that i f we ask for too m uch we m ay get no salary at al 。 and then what’l l happen to us, wi th no way in the worl d to earn a l iving? ( At the brothers’ hom e, the servant lets them i n. the two brothers are