【正文】 t rees which had been gr owi ng there f or centur ies, pat ches of green had begun t o appear in t he blackened soil. Leson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a l arge cir cle of f ri ends and is ver y popul ar at par t ies. Everybody admir es hi m for his f ine sense of humor everybody, t hat i s, except his si x year ol d daughter , Jenny. Recent ly, one of Geof f rey39。Your sist er wi l be here in l ess t han an hour and we must be at t he st ati on to m et her. We ar e l at e alr eady.39。Wher e have you been hiding ?39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ivi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m oment you l eave t hi s tent , you wi l get a big surpr ise. A woman you know wel l wil l rush t owar ds you. She wi l speak t o you and then she wil l lea d you away fr om t his place. That is al l. 39。. Because the t ree was menti oned in a newspaper , t he num ber of visi tors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t i s only i n r ecent years t hat i t has gained an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad luck。 has been invent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hide gold. The pir ates would of ten bury gol d i n t he cave and t hen fail t o coll ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant bri ng al most everyt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buying the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s sai d to possess a 39。 l esson70 Red f or danger 危險的紅色 Dur i ng a bul lf ight, a dr unk suddenl y wander ed i nt o t he m iddle of t he ri ng. The cr owd began t o shout, but t he dr unk was unawar e of t he danger. The bul was busy wi th t he mat ador at t he ti me, but i t suddenl y caught si ght of t he drunk who was shout i ng rude r em ar ks and wavi ng a r ed cap. Appar ent l y sensi ti ve t o cr it i ci sm, t he bul l f or got al about t he mat ador and char ged at t he dr unk. The cr owd suddenl y gr ew quiet. The dr unk, however, seem ed qui t e sur e of hi mself. When t he bull got close to him , he clumsil y stepped asi de t o l et i t pass. The cr owd br oke i nt o cheer s and t he dr unk bowed. By t hi s ti me, however, t hree men had e i nt o t he ri ng and t hey qui ckl y dr agged t he dr unk to safet y. Even t he bul seem ed t o feel sor ry f or hi m, f or i t l ooked on sym pat het ical y unt il t he drunk was out of t he way bef or e once m or e t ur ni ng i ts at tenti on to t he mat ador. Lesson71 A fam ous cl ock 一個著名的大鐘 When you vi sit London, one of t he fi rst thi ngs you wi l see is Bi g Ben, t he f am ous cl ock whi ch can be hear d al l over t he worl d on t he B. B. C. I f t he Houses of Par li am ent had hot been bur ned down i n 1834, t he gr eat cl ock woul d never have been er ect ed. Bi g Ben takes it s nam e fr om Si r Benj am i n Hal l who was r esponsi bl e f or t he maki ng of t he cl ock when the new Houses of Par li am ent wer e bei ng built . It i s not onl y of i mm ense size, but is ext remel y accurat e as wel l. Of fi ci als f r om Gr eenwi ch Obser vat ory have t he cl ock checked t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he clock when it i s act ual l y st ri ki ng because mi cr ophones are connect ed t o t he cl ock tower. Bi g Ben has r ar el y gone wr ong. Once, however , it f ai l ed t o gi ve t he cor r ect ti me. A pai nt er who had been wor ki ng on t he t ower hung a pot of paint on one of t he hands and slowed it down ! Lesson72 A car called Bluebird “藍鳥”汽車 The gr eat racing dr iver, Si r Malcolm Campbel , was t he fi rst man t o dri ve at over 300 mil es per hour. He set up a new wor ld r ecor d i n Sept ember 1935 at Bonnevil le Sal t Fl ats, Utah. Bluebir d, t he car he was dr iving, had been speci al ly bui lt f or hi m. It was over 30 feet in l engt h and had a 2500 hor se power engine. Alt hough Campbel r eached a speed of over 304 mi les per wor k and t he house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some tar ts f or tea. I n a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sticky pastr y. At exact ly that m oment , the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r eceiver between two sticky f ingers and was dismayed when I r ecogni zed the voice of Mr s Bates. It took m e ten m inutes to per suade her to r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he receiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang loud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he wanted me to si gn for a r egi stered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold mine 并非金礦 Dr eams of f i ndi ng lost tr easure almost came tr ue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。 he sai d, i n a m our nf ul voi ce,39。 I conti nued dr i vi ng and af t er som e ti m e, t he exam i ner t apped l oudl y. Though t he sound coul d be hear d cl ear l y, it t ook m e a l ong tim e t o r eact. I suddenly pr esed t he br ake pedal har d and we wer e bot h t hr own f or war d. The exam i ner l ooked at m e sadl y. 39。 l esson69 But not m urder! 并非謀殺！ I was bei ng t ested f or a dri vi ng li cence f or t he t hi rd t im e. I had been asked t o dr i ve i n hea vy t r af fi c and had done so successf ul l y. Af ter havi ng been i nst r uct ed t o dr ive out of t own, I began t o acquir e conf i dence. Sur e t hat I had passed, I was alm ost begi nni ng t o enj oy m y t est. The exam iner m ust have been pl eased wit h