【正文】 of a bl ock of f lat s and on anot her occasion, he l anded i n a deser ted car par k. Capt ai n Fawcet t has j ust r efused a st r ange r equest f r om a busi nessm an. The m an want ed t o fl y t o Rockal , a l onely i sl and in t he Atl anti c Ocean, but Capt ai n Fawcet t di d not take him because the t ri p was t oo danger ous. Leson30 Foot ball or pol o? 足球還是水球？ The Wayl e is a sm al l ri ver t hat cuts across t he par k near my hom e. I li ke si t i ng by the Wayl e on fi ne aft er noons. It was war m l ast Sunday, so I went and sat on t he r i ver bank as usual . Som e chil dr en wer e pl ayi ng gam es on t he bank and t her e wer e som e peopl e r owing on t he ri ver . Suddenly, one of t he chi l dr en kicked a bal l ver y har d and i t went t owar ds a passi ng boat . Som e peopl e on the bank cal led out t o t he man i n t he boat, but he di d 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 dren, but t her e wer en39。Pi lat us Por ter39。t axi 39。 No Par ki ng39。t i t upsi de down ?39。 s he sai d, 39。 I t39。s a new one. Do you l ike i t ?39。 I answered. 39。 I39。 What ar e you doi ng ?39。about 39。about39。 he sai d. I wonder . I n Engl and, each m an speaks a dif fer ent l anguage. The Engl i sh understand each ot her , but I don39。You39。I am a f or ei gner,39。 lesson25 Do t he Engli sh speak Engl ish? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ri ved in London at last . The r ail way st ati on was bi g, bl ack and dark. I di d not know t he way to m y hot el, so I asked a port er. I not onl y spoke Engli sh ver y caref ul l y, but ver y clearl y as wel. The por ter, however , coul d not underst and m e。 I sai d t o t he m anager , 39。 she sai d. 39。I found t hi s out si de t hi s gentl eman39。 he sai d. He st ar ted t o plai n about thi s wicked worl d but was i nt er rupt ed by a knock at the door. A gi rl came i n and put an envel ope on his desk. I t cont ai ned amp。Ever yone39。s not t here now.39。 I sai d, 39。 50 and I f elt ver y upset .39。ai r port was buil t duri ng the war, but f or some r eason it coul d not be used t hen. Last year, however , it cam e i nt o use. Over a hundr ed peopl e must have been dr i ven away f r om t heir hom es by t he noi se. I am one of t he few people l eft. Som et im es I t hi nk t hi s house wi l be knoc ked down by a passi ng pl ane. I have been of f er ed a l ar ge sum of m oney to go away, but I am det ermi ned to st ay her e. Ever ybody says I m ust be mad and t hey ar e probabl y r ight. Lesson22 A gl ass envelope 玻璃信封 My daught er, Jane, never dream ed of r eceivi ng a let er f r om a gi rl of her own age i n Hol land. Last year, we were t r aveli ng a cross the Channel and Jane put a pi ece of paper wit h her nam e and addr ess on i t i nt o a bot tl e. She t hrew t he bottl e i nt o t he sea. She never thought of it again, but t en m onths l at er , she recei ved a let er fr om a gi rl i n Holl and. Bot h gi rl s wr it e t o each ot her r egul ar ly now. However, t hey have deci ded t o use t he post of fi ce. Let ers wil cost a li t 1e m ore, but t hey wil l cer tai nl y tr avel f ast er . Lesson23 A new house 新居 I had a l et er f r om m y si st er yester day. She li ves i n Ni ger ia. I n her l et ter, she sai d t hat she woul d e t o England next year. If she 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 t he count r y. Wor k on i t had begun bef or e m y sist er l ef t. The house was pl et ed fi ve months ago. I n m y let er, I t ol d her t hat she coul d stay wi t h us. The house has many l ar ge r ooms and t her e is a l ovel y gar den. It i s a ver y m oder n house, so i t l ooks st range t o some people. It m ust be t he onl y m oder n house i n t he di st ri ct. Leson24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent er ed the hotel manager39。s off i ce and sat down. I had just l ost amp。 I l ef t the m oney i n my r oom ,39。and it39。 The m anager was sympat heti c, but he coul d do nothi ng. 39。s l osi ng m oney t hese days, 39。 5o. 39。s r oom39。Wel, 39。t her e is sti l som e honest y in t his wor l d !39。 I r epeated m y questi on sever al ti mes and at l ast he under stood. He answer ed m e, but he spoke neit her sl owl y nor cl earl y. 39。 I said. Then he spoke slowl y, but I coul d not underst and him . My t eacher never spoke Engli sh l i ke t hat ! 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 them ! Do t hey speak Engl ish ? l esson26 The best art crit i cs 最佳美術(shù)評論家 I am an art st udent and I pai nt a l ot of pi ct ures. Many peopl e pr etend t hat t hey under st and m oder n art . They al ways tel you what a pict ur e i s 39。. Of cour se, m any pi ct ures arc not 39。 anyt hi ng. They ar e just pr et t y pat ter ns. We li ke t hem i n t he same way t hat we li ke pret y curt ai n m at er i al. I t hink t hat young chi l dr en oft en appr eci at e modern pi ct ures bet er t han anyone el se. They noti ce m ore. My si st er i s only seven, but she al ways t el l s m e whet her my pi ct ures 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 pict ur e on t he wal l,39。I t 39。 She l ooked at i t cri ti cal y f or a m oment.39。s al l ri ght ,39。but i sn39。 I l ooked at it agai n. She was r i ght ! It was! Lesson27 A wet ni ght 雨夜 Lat e in t he aft er noon, t he boys put up t heir t ent i n t he m iddle of a f i el d. As soon as t hi s was done, t hey cooked a m eal over an open f ir e. They wer e al hungr y and t he food sm elt good. Aft er a wonderf ul m eal , t hey t ol d stori es and sang songs by t he cam p fi r e. But som e ti me l at e r it began t o r ai n. The boys f el t t ir ed so t hey pet out t he fi re and cr ept i nt o t heir t ent . Thei r sl eepi ng bags wer e warm