【正文】 I li t a cigaret e t o calm m y nerves. I smoked wit h concentr ati on and pl easur e as I was sur e t hat t his woul d be my l ast ci gar et te. For a whol e wek I di d not smoke at al l and dur i ng t his t im e, m y wif e suf f er ed t er ri bl y. I had al l t he usual sym pt oms of som eone gi vi ng up smoki ng: a bad tem per and an enorm ous appet it e. My f ri ends kept on of f er i ng m e cigaret es and ci gar s. They m ade no ef fort t o hi de t hei r am usem ent whenever I produced a packet of sweet s f rom m y pocket . Aft er seven days of t hi s I went t o a part y. Ever ybody ar ound m e was sm oki ng and I f elt extr emel y unf or t abl e. When m y ol d fr iend Br ian ur ged m e t o accept a ci gar et t e, it was m or e t han I coul d bear. I t ook one guil ti l y, li t it and sm oked wit h sat isf acti on. My wi f e was del ighted t hat t hi ngs had r et ur ned t o norm al once mor e. Anyway, as Bri an poi nt ed out, it i s t he easi est t hi ng i n the wor l d t o gi ve up sm oki ng. He h。 Leson77 A successful operati on 一例成功的手術 The m umm y of an Egypti an wom an who di ed i n 800 B. C. has j ust had an oper at ion. The m umm y is t hat of Shepenmut who was once a singer i n t he Tem ple of Thebes. As t her e wer e st range m ar ks on t he X ray pl at es t aken of t he mumm y, doctor s have been tr ying t o fi nd out whet her t he wom an died of a r ar e di sease. The onl y way t o do t his was t o oper at e. The oper at i on, which l ast ed for over f our hour s, pr oved t o be ver y di f icult because of the har d r esi n whi ch cover ed t he ski n. The doct or s r em oved a sect i on of t he m umm y and sent it t o a l aborat or y. They al so found som et hing whi ch the X r ay of t he god Duam utef. Thi s god whi ch has the head of a cow was norm al ly pl aced i nsi de a m umm y. The doct or s have not yet deci ded how t he wom an died. They f ear ed t hat t he m um my woul d f al l to pi eces when t hey cut it open, but f or tunat ely t his has not happened. The mumm y succesf ul ly sur vi ved t he oper ati on. Leson78 The l ast one? 最后一枝嗎？ Aft er r eadi ng an ar ti cle enti tl ed 39。 we are t aki ng you t o t he macar oni fi el ds of Cal abr i a. Macar oni has been gr own in t his ar ea f or over si x hundr ed years. Two of t he leadi ng gr ower s, Gi useppe Mol dova and Ricar do Br abante, tel m e that they have been expecti ng a splendi d cr op this year and har vesti ng has begun earli er than usual. Her e you can se t wo wor ker s who, bet ween them , have j ust fi nished cut ti ng t hr ee car t loads of gol den br own m acaroni st alks. The whol e vil lage has been wor ki ng day and night gat her i ng and t hreshi ng t hi s year39。To end our speci al news bull eti n, 39。 SOS39。 t im e. Even so, people are goi ng to fi nd it dif fi cul t to get to work. But so far, t he publ ic has expr esed it s grat itude t o the st udents i n let ters t o t he Press. Onl y one or t wo people have obj ect ed that the student s wi l dri ve too f ast ! Lesson85 Never t oo old to l earn 活到老學到老 I have just recei ved a let ter fr om m y old school i nfor ming m e that my f orm er head m aster , Mr Regmald Page, wil l be reti ri ng next week. Pupi ls of the school , ol d and new, wil l be sending him a pr esent o m ar k t he occasi on. Al l those who have contr ibut ed t owards t he gi ft wi l sign their names in a large al bum which wi l l be sent t o t he headmast er39。f r ee r i des39。 but I l ove to hear you say i t !39。 I know, 39。Mr Lane was def eat ed in t he elect ions. He has reti red f rom poli tical li fe and gone to li ve abr oad !39。 I t ol d you yest er day and the day bef ore yester day,39。s Radi cal Pr ogr esive Par ty. Aft er the electi ons, Crawl ey went to t he for mer Pri me Minister 39。monsters39。s steam hammer . Though i n those days, tr avel ing was not as easy as it i s today, st eam boat s car ri ed thousands of vi sitor s acr oss t he Channel fr om Eur ope. On ar r iving i n England, t hey were t aken t o t he Crystal Pal ace by tr ai n. Ther e were si x mi l ion visit ors i n al , and t he prof it s fr om t he exhi bi ti on were used t o bui ld museums and coll eges . Lat er , the Cr yst al Pal ace was m oved t o Sout h London. I t remained one of the m ost f am ous buil dings in the wor ld unt il it was burnt down i n 1936. Leson81 Escape 脫逃 When he had kil led the guard, t he pr isoner of war quickly dr agged hi m i nto t he bushes. Working r apidly in t he dar kness, he soon changed int o the dead man39。Ci garet te Sm oki ng and Your Heal th39。s crop befor e the September r ai ns. On t he ri ght, you can see Mrs Br abante her sel f. She has been helping her husband f or t hir ty years now. Mrs Br abante is t al king t o the m anager of t he local f act ory wher e the cr op is pr ocessed. Thi s last scene shows you what wi l happen at the end of the harvest : t he fam ous Cal abr ian macaroni eat ing peti ti on ! Signor Fratel i, t he present cham pi on, has won i t every year since 1961. And t hat ends our speci al bull eti n for t oday, Thur sday, Apri l 1st . We ar e now r et urning you t o t he st udi o.39。 sai d the voi ce of t he televisi on announcer ,39。 i n the snow. For tunatel y, a pi lot saw the signal and sent a mesage by radi o to t he near est t own. I t was not l ong bef ore a heli copt er ar ri ved on the scene t o r escue the survivor s of the plane crash. Lesson76 Apri l Fool s Day 愚人節(jié) 39。s hom e. We shal l al l r em em ber Mr Page f or hi s pat i ence and under st andi ng and f or the ki ndl y encouragement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngl y to school. A gr eat m any f orm er pupil s wi l be at ending a farewel l di nner i n his honour next Thur sday. It i s a cur ious 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 f ort y year s. Af t er he ha