【導讀】It'soneo'clock!

　　

【正文】 , but Joe wins ever y ti me. Bi l l Fr i th39。s gar den i s lar ger t han Joe39。s. Bil l works harder than Joe and gr ows mor e fl owers and veget abl es, but Joe39。s garden is m ore i nteresti ng. He has made neat paths and has bui lt a wooden bri dge over a pool. I l ike gardens too, but I do not li ke har d wor k. Every year I ent er for the gar den peti ti on too, and I al ways win a li tl e pri ze for t he worst gar den in t he town! Lesson 9 A cold wele 冷遇 On Wednesday eveni ng, we went t o the Town Hal l. I t was the l ast day of t he year and a l ar ge crowd of people had gathered under t he Town Hal l cl ock. It woul d st r ike twel ve in twenty m inutes39。 t im e. Fi ft en m inutes pased and then, at f ive t o twel ve, t he cl ock st opped. The bi g mi nute hand did not move. We wai ted and wait ed, but not hing happened. Suddenl y someone shouted, 39。I t 39。s t wo mi nut es past twel ve! The clock has stopped! 39。 I l ooked at my wat ch. I t was tr ue. The big cl ock ref used t o wele t he New Year. At t hat moment ever ybody began to laugh and si ng. Lesson 10 Not for j azz 不適于演奏爵士樂 We have an ol d m usi cal i nst rument. I t is caled a cl avi chor d(翼琴 ). It was m ade i n Ger many in 1681. Our cl avi chor d i s kept in the li vingr oom. It has bel ong to our f am il y f or a l ong ti me. The instr um ent was bought by m y grandfather many year s ago. Recent ly it was damaged by a vi sitor . She tr ied t o play j azz on i t! She str uck the keys t oo hard and t wo of the st ri ngs wer e broken. My f at her was shocked. Now we ar e not al lowed t o t ouch i t. I t i s being r epair ed by a f ri end of m y fat her 39。s. Lesson 11 One good t urn deserves another 禮尚往來 I was having di nner at a restaurant when Har y St el e came in. Har y wor ked i n a l awyer 39。s of fi ce years ago, but he i s now wor king at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he al ways bor rows money f r om his f r iends and never pays it back. Har ry saw me and cam e and sat at he sam e table. He has never borr owed money fr om m e. Whil e he was eat ing, I asked him to lend me amp。 2. To m y surpri se, he gave me t he money immedi at ely. 39。I have never bor rowed any money f rom you, 39。 Har r y sai d, 39。so now you can pay f or my di nner !39。 Leson 12 G oodbye and good luck 再見，一路順風 Our ncighbour , Capt ai n Charl es Ali son, wi l sai l fr om Por tsmouth t omorr ow. We shal meet him at he har bour ear ly i n the m orning. He wi l be i n his smal boat, Topsai l is a f amous li t le boat. It has sai led across the At lant ic many t imes. Capt ain Al ison wi l set out at ei ght o39。cl ock so we shal have plenty of t ime. We shal see his boat and t hen we shal l say goodbye to hi m. He wi l l be away f or two months. We are ver y proud of him . He wil l take part in an impor tant race acr oss t he Atl antic. Leson 13 The G reenwood Boys 綠林少年 The Gr eenwood Boys ar e a group of popular si nger s. At pr esent, they ar e visit ing al part s of the count ry. They wi l be ar ivi ng her e tomor row. They wi l be ing by tr ai n and most of t he young people i n the t own wi l be meeti ng them at t he st ati on. Tomor row evening t hey wil l be si ngi ng at the Wor ker s39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wil l be st ayi ng for f ive days. Dur ing t hi s ti me, they wi l give f ive per f or m ances. As usual , the poli ce wi l l have a dif f icult ti me. They wil l be tr yi ng to keep or der . It i s al wa ys the sam e on these occasions. Leson 14 Do you speak Engl ish? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an amusing exper i ence last year . Af ter I had lef t a sm al l vil lage in t he sout h of France, I drove on t o t he next town. On t he way, a young m an waved t o me. I st opped and he asked m e for a l if t. As soon as he had got i nt o t he car , I said good m or ning t o him i n French and he repli ed in t he sam e language. Apar t fr om a few wor ds, I do not know any French at al l. Nei the r of us spoke dur ing t he journey. I had nearl y r eached the t own, when t he young man suddenl y sai d, ver y slowl y, 39。Do you speak Engli sh?39。 As I soon l ear nt, he was Engli sh hi mself ! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr et ary t old me that Mr . Harmswor th woul d se me. I f elt very ner vous when. I went i nt o his of fi ce. He di d not look up f rom his desk when I ent er ed. Af t er I had sat down, he sai d that busi ness was very bad. He tol d me t hat t he fi rm coul d not af for d t o pay such lar ge sal ar ies. Twent y peopl e had alr eady l ef t. I knew t hat my turn had e. 39。Mr. Har mswort h, 39。 I said in a weak voi ce. 39。Don39。t i nter upt,39。 he Said. Then he sm il ed and t old m e I would r ecei ve an ext ra amp。 100 a year ! Lesson 16 A pol it e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car in the wr ong pl ace, a t raf ic pol iceman wi l soon fi nd it . You wil l be ver y l ucky i f he lets you go wi thout a ti cket . However , t his does not al ways happen. Tr af fi c poli ce ar e som etim es ver y poli te. Duri ng a holiday i n Sweden, I f ound t his note on my car: 39。 Si r, we wel e you to our cit y. Thi s is a No Par king area. You wil l enj oy your st ay her e if you pay at ent ion t o our st reet si gns. This note is only a remi nder .39。 If you r eceive a request li ke this, you cannot fail t o obey it ! Lesson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jennif er is an actr ess. She must be at least t hi rt yf ive years old. I n spi te of t his, she of ten appears on the stage as a young gi rl . Jennif er wi l have to take par t in a new play soon. This time, she wi l be a gir l of sevent een. I n t he pl ay, she must appear i n a bri ght r ed dress and long black stocki ngs. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a br ight, orangecoloured dr ess. If anyone ever asked her how ol d she is, she al ways answers, 39。My dear , i t must be t er ible to be gr own up!39。 lesson18