【正文】 ver, t hey have decided t o use the post of ice. Let ters wil l cost a li t 1e more, but t hey wil l cert ai nl y tr avel f ast er . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et ter f r om m y si ter yest er day. She li ves i n Nigeria. In her l et er , she said t hat she would e t o England next ye ar. I f she es, she wil get a sur pr ise. We are now l iving in a beautif ul new house i n the count ry. Wor k on i t had begun before my sist er l ef t. The house was pleted fi ve m onths ago. I n my leter, I told her t hat she could st ay wi th us. The house has many l ar ge r ooms and t here i s a l ovely gar den. I t is a ver y m oder n house, so it l ooks str ange to some people. I t m ust be t he onl y m odern house in t he distri ct . Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent ered t he hotel m anager39。s off ice and sat down. I had j ust lost amp。50 and I felt ver y upset. 39。 I l eft t he money i n m y room, 39。 I sai d, 39。and i t39。s not t her e now.39。 The manager was ym pathet ic, but he coul d do not hi ng. 39。Ever yone39。s l osing m oney these days, 39。 he sai d. He st art ed t o plain about t hi s wicked worl d but was inter upt ed by a knock at the door. A girl cam e i n and put an envel ope on hi s desk. I t cont ai ned amp。5o. 39。I f ound this out si de t hi s gent lem an39。s r om 39。 she said. 39。Wel l,39。 I sai d t o the m anager, 39。t her e i s sti l some honest y i n t his worl d !39。 l esson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engli sh? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ri ved i n London at l ast. The r ail way st ati on was bi g, black and dar k. I di d not know the way t o m y hot el, so I asked a por ter. I not only spoke Engli sh ver y car ef ul y, but very clearl y as wel . The port er, however, could not understand m e。 I repeat ed my questi on several t imes and at l ast he understood. He answered me, but he spoke neit her slowly nor clearl y. 39。I am a foreigner, 39。 I sai d. Then he spoke slowly, but I coul d not under st and him . My teacher never spoke Engli sh li ke t hat! The port er and I l ooked at each other and smil ed. Then he said something and I underst ood it . 39。You39。l l soon l ear n Engl ish! 39。 he sai d. I wonder . I n England, each m an speaks a dif ferent l anguage. The Engli sh under stand each ot her, but I don39。t under st and them ! Do t hey speak Engli sh ? l eson26 The best art crit ics 最佳美術評論家 I am an art st udent and I pai nt a l ot of pictures. Many peopl e pr et end that t hey under st and moder n art . They al ways tel you what a pi ct ure is 39。about39。. Of course, many pi ct ur es arc not 39。about39。 anything. They are j ust pr et y pat erns. We li ke t hem i n the sam e way t hat we li ke pret y curt ai n m at eri al . I t hi nk t hat young chil dr en oft en appr eciate moder n pi ct ur es bet ter t han anyone else. They not ice m or e. My sister i s onl y seven, but she al ways t el s m e whet her m y pi ct ur es are good or not. She cam e i nt o m y room yesterday. 39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。 she asked. 39。 I39。m hangi ng t hi s pi ct ur e on t he wal l, 39。 I answer ed. 39。It 39。s a new one. Do you l ike it ?39。 She looked at i t cri ti caly f or a moment .39。 It39。s al r ight ,39。 she said, 39。but isn39。t i t upsi dedown ?39。 I looked at it again. She was r ight ! I t was! Leson27 A wet night 雨夜 Lat e in the afternoon, the boys put up t heir tent i n the middle of a f ield. As soon as t hi s was done, t hey cooked a meal over an open f ir e. They wer e al l hungr y and the food smelt good. Af ter a wonderf ul meal , t hey told stori es and sang songs by t he camp f ir e. But some t ime late r it began t o rain. The boys feltt he pol ice wil have a di f icul t ime. They wi l be t rying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions. Leson 14 Do you speak English? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an amusing experience l ast year. Aft er I had l ef t a smal l vi lage i n the south of Fr ance, I dr ove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lif t. As soon as he had got into t he car , I sai d good morning to him i n French and he repl ied in t he same l anguage. Apart fr om a few words, I do not know any French at al . Neit her of us spoke during the journey. I had nea rly r eached the town, when t he young man suddenly said, very slowly, 39。Do you speak English?39。 As I soon l earnt, he was Engli sh himself! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr et ar y told me t hat Mr. Har mswor th woul d see me. I felt ver y nervous when. I went i nt o hi s of fi ce. He did not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I entered. Aft er I had sat down, he sai d that business was ver y bad. He t ol d me that the f irm could not af or d to pay such large sal ar ies. Twenty people had alr eady lef t. I knew that my t ur n had e. 39。Mr . Har m swor th,39。 I sai d in a weak voice. 39。Don39。t i nt er rupt,39。 he Said. Then he smiled and t ol d me I would r ecei ve an extr a amp。100 a year! Lesson 16 A polit e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car i n the wrong place, a tr af fic policeman wi l soon f ind it . You wil l be ver y lucky if he lets you go wit hout a t icket. However , t hi s does not always happen. Traf ic pol ice ar e somet imes very polit e. Duri ng a hol iday i n Sweden, I found this note on my car: 39。 Sir , we wele you to our cit y. Thi s is a No Parking area. You wil l enj oy your stay here i f you pay atention t o our st reet si gns. This not e is onl y a r eminder. 39。 I f you receive a request li ke t hi s, you cannot f ai l t o obey it! Lesson 17 Always young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer i s an act res. She must be at least thirt y fi ve year s old. In spi te of this, she oft en appear s on t he stage as ayoung gir l. Jenni fer wil have to t ake part i n a new play soon. Thi s time, she wil be a gi rl of sevent en. I n the pl ay, she must appear i n a br ight r ed dress and long black st ocki ngs. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a br ight , orangecolour ed dress. If anyone