【正文】 ear m y hom e. I li ke si t i ng by the Wayl e on fi ne aft er noons. It was warm l ast Sunday, so I went and sat on the r iver bank as usual . Som e chi l dr en were pl ayi ng gam es on t he bank and t her e wer e som e peopl e rowi ng on t he r i ver. Suddenl y, one of t he chil dr en ki cked a bal ver y har d and it went t owar ds a passi ng boat . Som e peopl e on t he bank cal l ed out t o the m an i n t he boat, but he did not hear t hem. The bal str uck him so har d t hat he near l y fel i nt o t he water. I t urned t o look at the chil dr en, but t her e weren39。Pi lat us Port er39。t axi39。 No Par ki ng39。t i t upsi de down ?39。 she sai d, 39。 It 39。s a new one. Do you li ke it ?39。 I answer ed. 39。 I39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。about39。about39。 he sai d. I wonder . I n Engl and, each m an speaks a di f fer ent language. The Engl ish under stand each ot her , but I don39。You39。I am a f orei gner, 39。 l eson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engli sh? 英國(guó)人講的是英語(yǔ)嗎？ I ar i ved i n London at l ast. The r ail way st ati on was bi g, bl ack and dar k. I di d not know t he way t o my hot el , so I asked a por t er . I not onl y spoke Engl i sh ver y car ef ull y, but very cl ear ly as wel . The port er , however, could not under st and m e。 I sai d to t he manager, 39。 she said. 39。I f ound t hi s outsi de t his gent l em an39。 he sai d. He st art ed to pl ai n about t hi s wi cked wor l d but was i nt er upt ed by a knock at t he door . A gir l cam e i n and put an envel ope on hi s desk. It cont ained amp。Ever yone39。s not t her e now. 39。 I sai d, 39。50 and I f el t ver y upset. 39。m not r eal l y i nt er est ed i n f ishing. I am onl y i nter est ed i n sit ti ng in a boat and doi ng nothi ng at al ! Lesson21 Mad or not? 是不是瘋了？ Aer opl anes ar e sl owl y dr i vi ng me m ad. I li ve near an air port and pasing pl anes can be hear d night and day. The ai r por t was bui lt duri ng t he war , but f or som e reason i t coul d not be used t hen. Last year , however, i t cam e i nt o use. Over a hundr ed people m ust have been dri ven away fr om t hei r hom es by t he noise. I am one of the f ew peopl e l ef t. Sometim es I t hi nk thi s house wil l be knocked down by a passi ng pl ane. I have been of fer ed a lar ge sum of m oney t o go away, but I am det er mi ned to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e probabl y r ight. Leson22 A gl ass envel ope 玻璃信封 My daught er , Jane, never dream ed of r ecei vi ng a l et er f r om a gi rl of her own age i n Hol land. Last year, we were t r avel ing across the Channel and Jane put a pi ece of pape r wi th her nam e and addr es on i t int o a bot tl e. She t hrew the bott le i nto t he sea. She never t hought of i t agai n, but t en m ont hs l at er, she recei ved a l et ter fr om a gi rl i n Hol land. Bot h gir ls wri te t o each ot her r egul ar l y now. However, t hey have deci ded t o use t he post off i ce. Let t er s wil l cost a li t 1e mor e, but they wi l cert ai nl y t ravel fast er. Leson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et t er f r om my si st er yest er day. She l i ves i n Ni geri a. In her l et ter, she sai d t hat she woul d e t o Engl and next year . If s he es, she wil l get a sur pr ise. We ar e now li ving i n a beaut if ul new house i n the count r y. Wor k on i t had begun befor e m y sist er l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve m ont hs ago. In m y l et ter, I t ol d her t hat she could st ay wit h us. The house has m any l a rge r oom s and t here i s a l ovel y gar den. It i s a ver y m oder n house, so it l ooks str ange t o som e peopl e. I t m ust be t he onl y m oder n house i n the distr i ct . Lesson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬(wàn)幸 I ent ered t he hot el m anager39。 But t hey don39。 It 39。You must gi ve up fi s hi ng!39。m i ght as wel have t hem ,39。 I sai d sadl y. Lesson20 O ne man i n a boat 獨(dú)坐孤舟 Fi shi ng is m y f avouri te sport . I of t en f i sh f or hour s wit hout cat chi ng anyt hi ng. But t hi s does not worr y m e. Some f isherm en ar e unl ucky. I nst ead of catching f ish, t hey cat ch old boots and r ubbi sh. I am even l ess l ucky. I never cat ch anyt hi ng not even ol d boot s. Af t er havi ng spent whol e m orni ngs on t he ri ver , I al ways go hom e wi th an em pt y bag. 39。 my f ri ends say.39。s a wast e of t im e. 39。t r eal ize one im por t ant t hi ng. I 39。s of fi ce and sat down. I had j ust l ost amp。 I left t he m oney in m y r oom, 39。and i t39。 The manager was sym pat het ic, but he could do not hi ng. 39。s l osi ng m oney t hese days,39。5o. 39。s r oom 39。Wel l, 39。t here i s st il l som e honesty i n t hi s worl d ! 39。 I repeat ed m y quest ion sever al t im es and at last he underst ood. He answer ed me, but he spoke neit her sl owly nor clea rl y. 39。 I sai d. Then he spoke sl owl y, but I coul d not under st and him . My t eacher never spoke Engli sh li ke that! The port er and I l ooked at each ot her and sm il ed. Then he sai d som ethi ng and I underst ood i t. 39。l l soon l ear n Engli sh!39。t under st and t hem ! Do they speak Engli sh ? lesson26 The best art cri t ics 最佳美術(shù)評(píng)論家 I am an art student and I paint a l ot of pict ur es. Many peopl e pr et end t hat hey under st and m oder n art . They al ways t el you what a pict ur e is 39。. Of cour se, many pict ur es ar c not 39。 anyt hi ng. They are j ust pr et ty pat er ns. We l ike t hem i n the sam e way t hat we l i ke pr et t y cur tai n m ateri al. I t hi nk t hat young chil dren oft en appr eci ate m oder n pi ct ur es bet er than anyone else. They noti ce mor e. My si ster is onl y seven, but she al ways tell s me whet her m y pi ctur es ar e good or not. She cam e i nt o m y room yester day. 39。 she asked. 39。m hangi ng t hi s pi ctur e on t he wal l,39。I t39。 She looked at i t cr it ical y f or a m om ent .39。s al l r i ght, 39。but i sn39。 I l ooked at it again. She was ri ght ! It was! Leson27 A wet ni ght 雨夜 Lat e