【正文】 n t o r ai n. By then, however, i n many plac es the grass had al ready taken r oot . I n pl ace of the gr eat 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 . Lesson63 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 part ies. Everybody admir es hi m for his f ine sense of humor ever ybody, that i s, except his si x year ol d daught er , Jenny. Recently, one of Geoff rey39。Your si st er wil l be her e in l es t han an hour and we must be at the stati on to meet her. We are l ate alr eady. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be a r ri ving t hi s evening and i ntends to stay f or a f ew days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al. 39。s son, Donald, also set up a worl d r ecord. Li ke hi s fat her , he was dr ivi ng a car cal ed Bluebir d. Lesson73 The record holder 紀(jì)錄保持者 Li tl e boys who play t ruant f r om school are unim agi nat ive. A quiet day39。 leson70 Red f or danger 危險(xiǎn)的紅色 Dur ing a bul lf ight, a dr unk suddenl y wander ed int o the m iddle of t he ri ng. The crowd began t o shout, but the dr unk was unawar e of t he danger. The bull was busy wi th t he matador at t he ti me, but it suddenl y caught si ght of t he dr unk who was shout ing r ude remar ks and wavi ng a red cap. Appar ent ly sensi ti ve to cr it icism, the bul l f ot al about t he matador and charged at the drunk. The crowd suddenl y grew qui et . The drunk, however, semed qui te sure of him sel f. When t he bul l got cl ose t o him , he cl um si ly st epped asi de to let it pas. The cr owd br oke i nto cheers and the dr unk bowed. By t his t ime, however , three m en had e i nto t he ri ng and they quickly dr agged t he drunk t o saf et y. Even t he bull semed t o f el sor ry for him , for it l ooked on sympatheti cal ly unti l the dr unk was out of the way bef or e once more turni ng it s at tenti on to the mat ador . Lesson71 A fam ous cl ock 一個(gè)著名的大鐘 When you vi si t London, one of t he fi rst thi ngs you wi l see is Bi g Ben, the f amous cl ock which can be hear d al over t he worl d on t he . C. If 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 bui lt . It i s not onl y of i mm ense si ze, but is extr em ely accur ate as wel . Of fi ci al s f r om Gr enwi ch Obser vat or y have the cl ock checked t wice a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear t he cl ock when it i s act ual ly str i ki ng because m i cr ophones ar e connecte d t o t he cl ock t ower. Bi g Ben has rar el y gone wr ong. Once, however , i t f ai led t o give t he cor rect im e. A pai nt er who had been wor ki ng on t he t ower hung a pot of pai nt on one of t he hands and sl owed it down ! Lesson72 A car call ed Bl uebi rd “藍(lán)鳥”汽車 The gr eat r aci ng dr i ver, Si r Mal colm Cam pbel, was t he fi r st man t o dri ve at over 300 m il es per hour. He set up a new wor l d recor d i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil l e Sal t Fl ats, Ut ah. Bl uebir d, t he car he was dr ivi ng, had been speci al l y bui lt f or hi m. It was over 30 f et in l engt h and had a 2500 hor se power engine. Alt hough Cam pbel r eached a speed of over 304 mi l es per hour , he had gr eat di f fi cul ty i n cont rol li ng the car because a tyre bur st dur ing t he fi rst run. Aft er hi s at em pt, Campbel l was disappoint ed to l ear n t hat his average speed had been 299 m il es per hour. However , a f ew days l ater, he was t ol d t hat a m istake had been m ade. His avera ge speed had been 301 mil es per hour. Since t hat ti me, racing dr ivers have r eached speeds of over 400 mil es an hour . Fol lowi ng hi s fat her 39。 he said, i n a m ournf ul voi ce,39。 I conti nued dr i vi ng and af t er som e ti me, t he exam i ner t apped loudly. Though t he sound could be hear d cl ear ly, it t ook m e a l ong t im e t o react . I suddenl y pr essed t he br ake pedal har d and we were bot h thr own f or war d. The exam iner looked at m e sadl y. 39。 lesson69 But not m urder! 并非謀殺！ I was bei ng tested f or a dr i vi ng li cence f or t he thi rd t im e. I had been asked to dr i ve i n heavy t r af fi c and had done so succe ss f ul l y. Af ter havi ng been i nst r uct ed t o dri ve out of t own, I began t o acquir e conf i dence. Sur e t hat I had passed, I was alm ost beginni ng t o enjoy m y test. The exami ner m ust have been pl eased wit h m y per f orm ance, f or he smi led and sai d, 39。s al ways pl ent y t o read i n t he 39。 he answered.39。 Then I 39。but I39。 he asked, bef ore I had f i ni shed speaki ng. ‘ Not at al ,39。 39。 I39。 No, not at al l , 39。 I was just wonder ing how to spend the mor ning until I saw you. You39。Hull o, El izabet h,39。Fancy m eti ng you here ! 39。Hul lo, Bert ,39。t have to car y him . Of cour se, we shoul d ar est hi m, but as he has a good recor d, we shal l let hi m of f thi s ti me.39。 said a pol icem an af t er wards, 39。 of si x pret ty gi rl s, he s et of f down the m ai n str eet of the ci ty r idi ng a baby el ephant cal led Jum bo. He, shoul d have known t hat t he pol ice woul d neve r al ow t hi s sor t of thing. A pol iceman appr oached Jimm y and told him he ought to have gone along a side str eet as Jumbo was holding up the t raf ic. Though Ji mmy agr ed t o go at once, Jum bo ref used to move. Fi ft en poli cem en had to push ver y hard to get him off t he main str eet . The pol ice had a di f icult ti me, but t hey were m ost amused. 39。s ho