【正文】 Lesson88 Trapped i n a mine 困在礦井里 Si x men have been t rapped in a mine f or seventeen hour s. I f they are not brought to t he sur face soon they may l ose t hei r li ves. However , rescue operati ons ar e pr ovi ng dif fi cul t. If explosives are used, vi br at i ons wi l cause t he roof of the mi ne to col lapse. Rescue wor ker s are t her efor e dri l ing a hole on the nort h side of the m ine. They i ntend to br ing the men up i n a speci al capsul e. I f there had not been a har d layer of r ock beneath t he soi l, t hey woul d have pl et ed the j ob in a few hour s. As i t is, they have been dr il ing f or si xteen hour s and they sti l have a long way t o go. Meanwhi le, a mi crophone, which was l owered i nt o t he mine t wo hours ago, has enabl ed the m en to keep in touch wit h t he cl osest r elati ves. Though they are r unni ng out of f ood and dr ink, the m en ar e cheer ful and conf ident t hat hey wil l get out soon. They have been told that rescue operati ons ar e progr essing smoothl y. I f they knew how di f icult i t was t o dr il l t hrough the har d rock, they would l ose heart . Lesson89 A sli p of the t ongue 口誤 Peopl e wil l do anyt hing t o see a f r e showeven if i t i s a bad one. When the news got r ound that a var iet y show would be pr esented at our l ocal cinema by t he P. and U. Bi r d Sed Com pany, we al r ushed t o see i t. We had to queue for hours t o get i n and ther e must have been sever al hundr ed peopl e present j ust be f ore the show began. Unfor tunately, the show was one of the dul lest we have ever seen. Those who f ai led t o get i n need not ha ve fel t di sappointed as many of t he ar ti st es who shoul d have appear ed did not
。clock t rain, but that you caught t he whi ch woul d sti l get you t o wor k on ti me. You se, on t he morni ng of t he mur der , the o39。 sai d t he inspector , 39。 39。 39。 And you didn39。 39。 39。 asked the inspect or. 39。 39。 I m ust be at work at o39。Of cour se I do,39。Do you al ways catch such an ear ly tr ai n ?39。clock tr ain t o London, 39。s home. We shal al r em em ber Mr Page f or his pati ence and under st andi ng and for the ki ndl y encour agement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngl y t o school. A great m any form er pupil s wi l be at endi ng a far ewel l di nner i n his honour next Thur sday. It i s a curi ous coincidence that the day bef ore hi s ret ir em ent , Mr Page wil l have been teachi ng for a t otal of for ty years. Aft er he has r et ir ed, he wi l devote hi msel f to gardening. For hi m, thi s wil l be an ent ir ely new hobby. But t his does not mat ter, f or, as he has of ten r emarked, one i s never too ol d to learn. Lesson86 O ut of cont rol 失控 As t he man t ri ed to swi ng the speed boat r ound, t he steeri ng wheel came away i n his hands. He waved desper at el y t o his panion, who had been wat er skii ng for t he last f if teen mi nutes. Bot h men had hardly had tim e to reali ze what was happening when they were t hrown vi olent1y i nto t he sea. The speedboat had str uck a buoy, but it cont inued to move ver y quickly acr oss t he water. Both men had just begun t o swim towar ds the s hor e. when they not iced wi th di sm ay that the speedboat was moving i n a cir cle. It now came str aight towar ds t hem at tr emendous speed. In l es t han a mi nut e, i t roared past t hem only a few feet away. Af ter it had passed, t hey swam on as qui ckl y as they could because they knew t hat t he boat would soon r et urn. They had just had enough t im e to swi m out of danger when the boat again pl eted a cir cle. On t hi s occasion, however, i t had sl owed down considerably. The petr ol had near ly al l been used up. Bef ore l ong, t he noi se dr opped plet el y and the boat began t o dri ft gent ly acr oss t he water. Lesson87 A perf ect ali bi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。 t o peopl e on their way to wor k. Thi s wi l r el ieve pressur e on the t rai ns to some extent. Meanwhil e, a num ber of universit y student s have vol unt er ed to dr ive buses whi le the str ike l asts. Al l t he young m en ar e exper t dri ver s, but bef ore t hey dri ve any of t he buses, t hey wi l l have t o pas s a speci al t est . The students ar e goi ng to take the t est in two days39。 Lesson84 On stri ke 罷工 Busm en have decided to go on st ri ke next week. The st ri ke is due to begi n on Tuesday. No one knows how long i t wi l l ast . The busmen have st ated t hat the st ri ke wil l conti nue unt il gener al agr ement is r eached about pay and worki ng condit ions. Most people beli eve t hat t he st ri ke wi l last for at least a week. Many owner s of pri vat e car s are goi ng to of fer 39。 answered Cr awley,39。 39。 he shout ed, 39。s house. When he asked if Mr Lane li ved t her e, the poli ceman on dut y tol d him that si nce hi s def eat, the exPr im e Mi nister had gone abroad. On t he foll owing day, Crawl ey went t o t he house agai n. The same poli cem an was just wal king slowl y past t he ent rance, when Cr awle y asked t he sam e questi on. Though a li t le suspi cious this time, t he pol iceman gave him the same answer . The day af ter, Cr awley went to the house once mor e and asked exactl y t he same quest ion. This t ime, t he pol iceman lost his t emper .39。 which have at t im es been si ghted ar e sim pl y st range fi sh. Occasi onal y, unusual cr eat ur es ar e washed t o t he shor e, but t hey are r arel y caught out at sea. Som e tim e ago, however, a pecul iar fi sh was caught near Madagascar . A sm al f i shi ng boat was car ri ed mi les out t o sea by t he powerf ul fi sh as i t pul l ed on t he li ne. Reali zi ng t hat t hi s was no or di nar y fi sh, t he fi sherm an made ever y ef ort not to damage it i n any way. When it was event ual l y br ought t o shor e, i t was f ound t o be over t hi rt een feet l ong. I t had a head l ike a hor se, big