【正文】 Lesson96 The dead return 亡靈返鄉(xiāng) A Festi val f or t he Dead is held once a year in Japan. This f est ival is a cheer ful occasion, for on t his day, t he dead ar e sai d to retur n to their homes and they are。t you t hi nk ? Fort unat ely, I wasn39。 said the Am bassador. 39。 she asked. 39。s hat. 39。 The Ambassador39。 answer ed t he Am basador . 39。 39。 excl ai med hi s wif e. 39。 39。 answer ed t he Am bassador dr il y. 39。 39。 she asked. 39。 For tunat ely, t he shout i ng woke up m y wi f e who opened t he window j ust as t he poli cem an had st ar t ed t o cli mb t owards m e. Leson93 A nobl e gi f t 崇高的禮物 One of the m ost f am ous m onuments i n t he worl d, t he Stat ue of Li ber ty, was present ed to t he Unit ed Stat es of Am er ica i n t he ni eent h cent ur y by t he people of Fr ance. The gr eat st at ue, whi ch was desi gned by t he sculpt or Auguste Bar thol di, t ook ten years t o pl ete. The act ual f i gur e was m ade of copper suppor t ed by a m etal fr amewor k whi ch had been especi al ly const r uct ed by Eif fel. Bef ore i t coul d be tr ansport ed to t he Unit ed Stat es, a si te had t o be f ound f or it and a pedestal ha d to be buil t. The sit e chosen was an i sl and at t he ent rance of New Yor k Har bour. By 1884, a st atue whi ch was 151 f et t al , had been er ect ed i n Pari s. The f oll owing year, it was t aken t o pi eces and sent t o Am eri ca. By t he end of Oct ober 1886, t he st at ue had been put t oget her agai n and it was off i ci al l y pr esent ed t o t he Am eri can people by Bar t hol di . Ever si nce t hen, the gr eat m onum ent has been a sym bol of li ber t y f or t he m il li ons of peopl e who have pased t hr ough New Yor k Har bour t o m ake t hei r hom es i n Am eri ca. Lesson94 Fut ure champi ons 未來的冠軍 Experi ments have pr oved t hat chi l dr en can be i nst r uct ed i n swim mi ng at a ver y ear l y age. At a speci al swimm i ng pool i n Los Angel es, chi l dr en bee exper t at hol di ng t heir br eat h under wat er even befor e they can wal k. Babi e s of t wo m ont hs ol d do not appear to be r eluctant to ent er t he wat er, I t is not long befor e they are so accust om ed to swim mi ng t hat they can pick up wei ght s fr om t he fl oor of t he pool . A game t hat i s ver y popul ar wit h t hese young swimmer s is t he unde r wat er t ri cycl e r ace. Tri cycl es ar e li ned up on t he fl oor of t he pool seven feet under water. The chil dr en pet e agai nst each ot her t o reach the ot her end of the pool. Many pedal t hei r tr icycl es, but most of t hem pr ef er t o push or dr ag t hem. Some chil dren can cover t he whol e l engt h of t he pool wi t hout ing up f or br eat h even once. Whet her t hey wi l ever be e f ut ur e Olym pi c cham pi ons, onl y t im e wil l tel . Meanwhi l e, t hey shoul d encour age t hose am ong us who cannot swim f i ve yar ds bef or e t hey ar e gaspi ng f or ai r. Lesson95 A f ant asy 純屬虛構(gòu) When t he Ambasador of Escal opi a r et ur ned home f or lunch, hi s wif e got a shock. He looked pal e and hi s cl ot hes wer e i n a fr i ghtf ul st at e. 39。My key,39。 Your what ?39。You see, I39。d pref er t o stay here,39。 39。Excuse m y i nt er r upt ing you. I hat e to i nter upt a m an when he39。So do I,39。I enjoy cl eani ng wi ndows at ni ght .39。t t hi nk the wi ndows nee d cl eaning at t hi s tim e of t he ni ght .39。 l eson90 What s f or supper ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Br azil i s one of t he ri chest countr i es i n t he wor l d, m uch of it has not yet been devel oped. I t was mai nl y f or t hi s r eason t hat t he Br azi li an gover nm ent deci ded to have a new ci ty buil t 600 m il es nor t h west of Ri o de Janeir o. Desi gned by t he great ar chi t ect Luci o Costa, the new ci ty, Br asil ia, r epl aced Ri o de Janeir o as the capi t al of Br azif i n 1960. Br asi li a has been caref ul l y pl anned f or moder n li vi ng. It s wi de roads, whi ch can t ake f ourt een l anes of t raf i c, have been kept away f r om li vi ng ar eas. Chi l dr en do not have t o cross busy str eet s t o go to school . Housewi ves can vi si t shopping cent r es on f oot, f or i n t hese speci al y desi gned l i vi ng areas, cars ar e unnecesar y. At fi rst, t he gover nm ent had great di f fi cult y i n persuadi ng peopl e to l eave Ri o and t o set l e i n Br asi li a. Si nce 1960, however, t he popul ati on has been gr owing al t he ti me. Brasil ia has qui ckl y establi shed it sel f as the capi t al of t he count r y. The i dea t o have the capi t al m oved so f ar i nl and wil l have a gr eat ef ect on t he f ut ure of Br azi l. Leson91 Three m en i n a basket 三人同籃 A pil ot not iced a bal oon which seem ed t o be m aki ng for a Royal Air For ce St at i on near by. He i nform ed t he st ati on at once, but no one t her e was abl e t o expl ai n t he m yst ery. The off icer in t he cont r ol t ower was ver y angr y when he hear d t he news, because bal oons can be a gr eat danger t o ai r cr af t. He sai d t hat som eone mi ght by spyi ng on t he st ati on and t he pil ot was or der ed t o keep t rack of t he str ange obj ect. The pi lot managed t o cir cl e t he bal loon f or some t im e. He coul d make out t hr ee men i n a basket under it and one of t hem was hol di ng f iel d gl ases. When t he bal oon was over t he st at i on, t he pi lot saw one of t he men t aki ng phot ogr aphs. Soon af t er war ds, t he bal oon began t o descend and i t l anded near an ai rf i el d. The poli ce were cal ed i n, but t hey coul d not ar rest anyone, f or t he basket cont ai ned t wo Mem bers of Parl iament and t he Comm andi ng Of ice r of t he st ati on! As t he Comm andi ng Of icer expl ai ned later, one half of t he st at i on di d not know what t he ot her hal f was doi ng ! Lesson92 Aski ng f or t roubl e 自找麻煩 I t must have been about t wo in t he mor ni ng when I r et urned hom e. I t ri ed t o wake up m y wi f e by ri ngi ng t he door