【正文】 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 str ike twel ve in twenty minutes39。s garden i s lar ger t han Joe39。The Ni cest Garden Competi ti on39。 No Par ki ng39。t i t upsidedown ?39。 she sai d, 39。 I t39。s a new one. Do you l ike i t ?39。 I answered. 39。 I39。 What are you doing ?39。about39。about 39。 he sai d. I wonder . I n England, each man speaks a di f er ent l anguage. The Engli sh under st and each other, but I don39。You39。I am a f or eigner, 39。 l esson25 Do the Engl ish speak Engli sh? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ived i n London at l ast. The r ailway st at ion was bi g, bl ack and dark. I did not know t he way to my hotel , so I asked a por ter . I not only spoke Engl ish very car ef ull y, but ver y clearl y as wel . The por ter , however, coul d not underst and m e。 I said t o t he manager, 39。 she said. 39。I found t hi s outside t hi s gent leman39。 he said. He st ar ted t o plain about t hi s wi cked wor ld but was int er r upt ed by a knock at the door. A gir l came in and put an envelope on his desk. I t cont ai ned amp。Everyone39。s not there now. 39。 I sai d, 39。 50 and I felt very upset.39。m not r eal ly i nterested i n fi shi ng. I am onl y i nt erested in si t ing i n a boat and doing not hi ng at al l ! Lesson21 Mad or not ? 是不是瘋了？ Aeroplanes ar e slowl y dri ving m e mad. I l ive near an ai rpor t and pasi ng pl anes can be hear d night and day. The air por t was buil t dur ing t he war, but f or som e reason it coul d not be used then. Last year , however, i t came into use. Over a hundred people m ust have been dri ven away fr om t hei r hom es by the noise. I am one of t he few peopl e left . Som etim es I think t his house wi l l be knocked down by a passing pl ane. I have been off ered a l ar ge sum of money to go away, but I am determ ined to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I must be mad and t hey ar e probably r ight. Lesson22 A glass envelope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a let er fr om a gi rl of her own age i n Hol land. Last year , we were t ravel ing a cross the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper wi th her name and addr ess on i t into a bot tl e. She t hrew t he bottl e i nt o t he sea. She never thought of i t agai n, but t en months l at er, she recei ved a let er fr om a gi rl i n Holl and. Both gir ls wr it e to each other regular ly now. However, they have deci ded t o use the post of f ice. Let ters wi l cost a li t1e m ore, but t hey wil l cer tainl y tr avel f aster . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a let er fr om my si ster yester day. She li ves i n Ni ger ia. In her l et ter , she said t hat she would e t o England next ye ar. I f she es, she wi l get a sur pr ise. We ar e now li ving i n a beaut if ul new house in the count ry. Wor k on i t had begun befor e my sister l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve months ago. I n m y let e r, I t ol d her that she could stay wi th us. The house has many l ar ge rooms and t her e is a lovely garden. It i s a ver y modern house, so i t looks st range to some people. It m ust be the only moder n house in t he distr ict. Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I enter ed the hotel manager 39。 But t hey don39。 It 39。You m ust gi ve up fi shi ng! 39。I might as wel have t hem,39。but t hey are f or next Wednesday39。Cer tai nly, 39。Could I have t hose two ti cket s please ?39。Cer t ai nly,39。Can I ret ur n t hese t wo ti cket s?39。What a pit y!39。ve sold out ,39。I 39。May I have two ti ckets pl ease ?39。 Susan answered. 39。 I said. 39。 Lesson19 Sol d out 票已售完 39。 he sai d 39。I 39。t got my bag. 39。but I can39。Yes, t hank you,39。Di d you have a good meal ?39。 leson18 He of ten does t hi s! 他經(jīng)常干這種事！ Aft er I had had l unch at a vil lage i nn, I l ooked f or my bag. I had lef t it on a chai r besi de the door and now it wasn39。 I f you receive a r equest like t his, you cannot f ail t o obey i t! Lesson 17 Always young 青年常駐 My aunt Jennif er i s an act ress. She must be at l east thi rt y f ive year s old. In spi te of t hi s, she oft en appears on t he st age as a young gir l . Jenni fer wi l have to t ake par t in a new pl ay soon. This t im e, she wil l be a gir l of sevent en. In the play, she m ust appear in a bri ght r ed dress and l ong black st ocki ngs. Last year i n another pl ay, she had to wear shor t socks and a bri ght, orange col oured dr ess. I f anyone ever asked her how ol d she is, she always answer s, 39。100 a year ! Leson 16 A poli te request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you park your car i n the wr ong place, a tr af fi c poli ceman wi l l soon f ind i t. You wi l be very lucky if he l et s you go wit hout a t icket. However, thi s does not al ways happen. Tr af ic pol ice are someti mes very poli te. Dur ing a holi day i n Sweden, I found t hi s note on m y car :39。t inter rupt, 39。 I sai d i n a weak voice. 39。 As I soon learnt, he was Engli sh himself ! Lesson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr etary told me t hat Mr . Harm swor th woul d see me. I felt very ner vous when. I went i nto hi s off ice. He did not look up f rom his desk when I e nt ered. Aft er I had sat down, he sai d t hat busi ness was very bad. He t ol d me that the f ir m could not af ord t o pay such l arge salari es. Twenty people had alr eady l eft . I knew that my tur n had e. 39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l be staying f or fi ve days. Duri ng thi s ti me, t hey wil l give f ive perf ormances. 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 ways the sam e on these occasions. Leson 14 Do you speak Engl ish? 你會(huì)講英語嗎？ I had an amusing exper ience 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 h