【正文】 hor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h st i cky past r y. At exact l y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up t he recei ver . What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi nding l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。You don39。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。We ar e goi ng back now,39。l l get off here.39。 I said. 39。I t doesn39。 I f ot to put you off .39。Oh dear,39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 l eson69 But not murder! 并非謀of f here,39。s always plenty to r ead in t he 39。 he answer ed.39。 Then I 39。but I39。 he asked, bef or e I had f inished speaking. ‘ Not at al ,39。 39。 I39。 No, not at al l, 39。r e not busy doing anything, are you ?39。 Ber t answered. 39。 39。 I said. 39。 Lesson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat hel d Puff in i s a m oder n aer o plane, but it s desi gner, Mr John Wim penny, is f indi ng i t dif fi cul t o get it off t he gr ound. The r eason f or t his i s t hat t hi s pl ane is also a bi cycl e. I ts pil ot has t o pedal hard t o get i t i nt o t he ai r. Af ter Mr Wim penny had t he pl ane buil t, i t was test ed t hor oughl y. I n 1961, it was t he fi r st man power ed ai r cr af t t o fl y hal f a mi le. Whi le bei ng f l own by a cham pi on am ateur cycli st i n 1963, t he pl ane crashed on an ai rf iel d. Si nce t hen, Mr Wim penny has had i t r ebuil t. He has had t he l engt h of the wi ngs i ncreased so t hat t hey now m ea sur e 93 feetalm ost as l ong as t hose of a Dakota. Many peopl e have shown i nt er est i n t hi s new and unusual sport . But t hough ai r cycli st s m ay l ear n how t o f ly over shor t di st ances, and m ay, event ual ly, even get acr oss t he Engli sh Channel , it i s doubt ful whet her t hey wil l ever cycl e across the At lanti c. Lesson67 Vol canoes 火山 Har oun Tazi ef f the Poli sh sci ent ist, has spent hi s li f e tim e st udying acti ve vol canoes and deep caves i n al part s of the wor ld. I n 1948, he went t o l ake Ki vu i n t he Congo t o obser ve a new vol cano which he l at er nam ed Ki t ur o. Tazi ef f was abl e t o set up his camp ver y cl ose to t he vol cano whil e it was er upti ng vi ol ent ly. Though he m anaged t o t ake a num ber of br il i ant phot ographs, he coul d not st ay near t he vol cano f or ver y l ong. He noti ced t hat a ri ver of li quid r ock was ing t owar ds him. I t thr eat ened t o sur r ound him pl et el y, but Tazi ef m anaged to esca pe j ust i n tim e. He wait ed unt il t he vol cano becam e quiet and he was abl e t o ret ur n t wo days l at er. Thi s t im e, he m anaged to cl im b int o the m out h of Kit uro so t hat he could t ake phot ogr aphs and measur e t em per at ures. Tazief f has of ten r isked hi s li fe in t his way. He has been able to t el l us more about act ive volcanoes t han any m an al ive. Lesson68 Persi st ent 糾纏不休 I crossed the str et t o avoi d meeti ng him, but he saw me and cam e running t owards me. I t was no use pr et endi ng that I had not sen hi m, so I waved t o him . I never enj oy meeting Ber t Dykes. He never has anyt hing t o do. No mat er how busy you ar e, he always i nsi st s on ing wi th you. I had to think of a way of pr eventi ng him fr om foll owing m e around al mor ning. 39。so i t was fort unat e t hat we di dn39。Jum bo m ust wei gh a few t ons, 39。guar d of honour39。t . Geoff rey a sked her why t his was so and she t ol d him t hat she di d not li ke to see so many peopl e l aughing at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l 858, a Fr ench engi neer , Aim e Thom e de Gam ond, ar ri ved i n Engl and wit h a pl an for a t went yone mi le t unnel across the Engli sh Channel. He sai d that it woul d be possibl e to buil d a pl at f or m in t he cent re of t he Channe l. Thi s pl atf orm would ser ve as a por t and a rail way stati on. The t unnel woul d be wel ventil ated i f tal chim neys wer e bui lt above seal evel . In 1860, a bet ter pl an was put f or war d by an Engl ishm an, Wil li am Low. He suggest ed t hat a doubl e rail way t unnel should be buil t. Thi s woul d solve t he pr oblem of venti lati on, f or if a t r ai n ent ered t hi s t unnel, it woul d draw in f r esh air behind i t. Fort yt wo year s l at er a t unnel was actual y begun. If , at t he tim e, t he Br it ish had not f ear ed i nvasi on, i t would have been pl et ed. Recent l y, t her e has again been gr eat i nt er est i n t he i dea of a Channel Tunnel. I f i t is buil t, i t wil l connect Br it ai n t o Eur ope f or t he fi r st t im e i n hi st or y. Lesson65 Jum bo versus t he pol ice 小象對警察 Last Chr i stm as, t he ci r cus owner, Jimm y Gat es, deci ded t o t ake som e pr esent s t o a chi l dr en39。cl ock t hi s eveni ng. By t hat t im e, t he Ast r a wil l have been fl ying t hrough space f or sevent een hour s and wi l have cir cl ed t he eart h a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radi o m esages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul ts of t he t ri p wi l be announced imm ediatel y. Lesson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ght i ng t he f or est f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey could get it under contr ol. A short t im e bef ore, great tr ees had cover ed t he count r y