【正文】 i ng it at the ti me. If I had been, I would not have been able to get hom e for l unch.39。Someone fi red a shot thr ough m y off ice wi ndow. Accurat e, don39。Oh, t hat,39。And how can you explain t hat ?39。s wi fe went on aski ng quest ions, when she suddenly noti ced a big hole in her husband39。The f ir e br oke out in t he basement. I went down i m m edi ately. of cour se, and that fool , Hor st, aimed a fi reexti ngui sher at me. He thought I was on fi re. I must defi nit el y get that f el ow post ed. 39。I was i n m y of fi ce as usual,39。And where wer e you at the ti me ?39。Good heavens! 39。Uni versit y student s set t he Em basy on f ir e t hi s mor ni ng. 39。A f i re exti ngui sher , m y dear,39。How di d your cl ot hes get i nt o such a m es ?39。What has happened ?39。 I shout ed. 39。 he cal led. 39。ve f or gott en m y key. 39。 I sai d. 39。Wel , I39。s busy worki ng, but woul d you mi nd ing wi t h m e t o t he st ati on ?39。 answered t he pol icem an i n the sam e t one. 39。 39。 I l ooked down and near l y fel of f the l adder when I saw a poli cem an. I imm edi at el y r egret ed answeri ng i n t he way I di d, but I sai d, 39。 I don39。Thi s i s t he Poo and Ee Sed Bi rd Com pany. Good l adi es, eveni ng and gent l em en !39。cl ock tr ai n di d not r un at al l. I t br oke down at Fer ngr een st at i on and was t aken of f t he l ine.39。t hat you ar e not t eli ng t he t r ut h. I suggest t hat you did not cat ch t he 8. 0 o39。I suggest, 39。 Of course not.39。t not ice anyt hi ng unusual ?39。 39。 39。 39。 asked t he inspect or . 39。 39。 I m ust be at wor k at 10. 0 o39。Of cour se I do,39。Do you al ways cat ch such an earl y tr ai n ?39。cl ock t rai n t o London, 39。pati ence and underst anding and f or t he ki ndl y encouragem ent he gave us when we went so unwil li ngl y t o school. A great m any f orm er pupi ls wi l be at endi ng a f ar ewel di nner i n hi s honour next Thur sday. It i s a cur i ous coincidence t hat he day bef or e hi s r et ir em ent , Mr Page wil l have been t eaching f or a t ot al of f or t y year s. Af t er he has r eti r ed, he wi l devot e him self t o gar dening. For him , t hi s wil l be an ent ir ely new hobby. But t his does not m at t er , for, as he has oft en r em ar ked, one is never t oo ol d to l ear n. Lesson86 O ut of cont rol 失控 As t he man t ri ed to swi ng t he speed boat r ound, t he st eri ng wheel cam e away i n hi s hands. He waved desper atel y to hi s pani on, who had been water ski i ng for t he l ast f if teen mi nut es. Bot h men had hardl y had tim e t o r eali ze what was happeni ng when t he y wer e t hr own vi ol ent 1y i nt o t he sea. The speed boat had st r uck a buoy, but i t cont inued t o m ove ver y quickl y acr oss t he water. Bot h men had j ust begun t o swim t owards t he shor e. when t hey noti ced wit h di sm ay t hat t he speed boat was m ovi ng in a ci r cl e. I t now cam e st r ai ght t owards t hem at t r em endous speed. I n l ess t han a m inute, it r oar ed past t hem onl y a f ew f eet away. Aft er i t had passed, t hey swam on as qui ckl y as they coul d because t hey knew t hat t he boat would soon r et urn. They had j ust had enough t im e t o swi m out of danger when t he boat agai n pl eted a ci rcle. On t his occasi on, however, i t had sl owed down consi der abl y. The petr ol had nearl y al been used up. Befor e long, t he noi se dropped pl etel y and t he boat began t o dr if t gentl y across the wat er . Leson87 A perfect al i bi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的證據(jù) 39。At t he ti me t he mur der was mi t ed, I was tr avel li ng on t he 8. 0 o39。 sai d the m an. 39。 asked t he i nspector. 39。 answered t he m an. 39。cl ock. My empl oyer wil l conf ir m t hat I was t her e on t im e.39。 Woul d a l at er tr ai n get you t o wor k on t im e ?39。 I suppose it woul d, but I never catch a l at er tr ai n.39。At what t im e di d you ar ri ve at t he st ati on ?39。At t en t o ei ght . I bought a paper and wait ed f or t he tr ai n.39。And you di dn39。 39。 39。 sai d t he i nspect or, 39。cl ock tr ain, but t hat you caught t he 8. 25 whi ch woul d stil l get you t o wor k on ti me. You see, on t he m or ni ng of t he m ur der , t he 8. 0 o39。 Leson88 Trapped i n a m i ne 困在礦井里 Si x m en have been tr apped i n a mi ne f or s eventeen hours. If t hey ar e not br ought t o t he surf ace soon t hey m ay lose their l ives. However, r escue oper at i ons ar e pr oving di f icult. I f expl osi ves ar e used, vibr at ions wil l cause t he r oof of t he mi ne to coll apse. Rescue wor ker s ar e t her efor e dr il li ng a hole on t he nort h si de of t he m ine. They i ntend t o br i ng t he m en up i n a speci al capsul e. I f ther e had not been a har d l ayer of rock beneat h t he soi l, t hey woul d have pl eted t he j ob i n a f ew hour s. As it i s, t hey have been dri l i ng f or si xteen hour s and t hey sti l have a l ong way t o go. Meanwhi l e, a mi cr ophone, whi ch was l ower ed i nto t he mi ne t wo hour s ago, has enabled t he m en t o keep i n t ouch wi t h t he closest r el at i ves. Though t hey ar e r unni ng out of f ood and dri nk, t he men ar e cheerf ul and confi dent t hat t hey wi l get out soon. They have been t old t hat r escue oper ati ons ar e pr ogr essi ng sm oothl y. I f they knew how di f icult it was t o dri l t hr ough t he har d r ock, they woul d l ose heart . Lesson89 A sli p of t he tongue 口誤 Peopl e wi l do anyt hing t o see a fr ee showeven if i t is a bad one. When t he news got r ound t hat a vari ety show woul d be present ed at our l ocal ci nem a by t he P. and U. Bi r d Sed Com pany, we al l r ushed t o see it . We had t o queue for hour s t o get i n and t her e m ust have been sever al hundr ed people pr esent j ust be f or e t he show began. Unf ort unat el y, t he show was one of t he dull est we have ever seen. Those who fail ed t o get i n need not ha ve felt di sappoi nted as