【正文】 o col lapse. Rescue wor kers ar e theref or e dri l i ng a hol e on t he nor th si de of t he m i ne. They int end t o bri ng t he m en up i n a spec ial capsul e. If t her e had not been a hard l ayer of r ock beneat h t he soil , they woul d have pl et ed t he j ob i n a f ew hour s. As i t 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. Meanwhil e, a m icr ophone, whi ch was lower 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 the cl osest r el at i ves. Though t hey ar e r unni ng out of f ood and dr ink, t he m en ar e cheerf ul and confi dent t hat t hey wil l get out soon. They have been t ol d t hat rescue operati ons ar e pr ogr essing smoot hl y. I f t hey knew how di f i cult i t was to dr il l thr ough t he har d r ock, t hey woul d l ose hear t. Leson89 A sli p of t he t ongue 口誤 Peopl e wi l do anythi ng t o see a f ree show even i f it i s a bad one. When t he news got r ound t hat a var iet y show woul d be pr esent ed at our l ocal cinem a by t he P. and U. Bi r d Seed Com pany, we al r ushed t o se i t. We had t o queue f or hours t o ge t in and t her e m ust have been several hundr ed peopl e present j ust be f ore t he show began. Unf or tunat ely, t he show was one of t he dul lest we have ever seen. Those who f ai l ed t o get in need not have f el t di sappoi nt ed as m any of t he art istes who shoul d have appeared di d not e. The only f unny thi ngs we hear d that evening cam e f r om t he adver ti ser at t he beginni ng of t he programm e. He was obvi ousl y ver y ner vous and f or som e m i nut es st ood awkwar dl y bef or e t he m icr ophone. As soon as he opened his m out h, ever yone burst out l aughi ng. We al l know what he poor m an shoul d have sai d, but what he act ual l y sai d was: 39。 l esson90 Whats f or supper ？ 晚餐吃什么？ Though Br azi l is one of t he r ichest count ri es in t he worl d, m uch of i t has not yet been devel oped. It was m ai nl y f or t his r eason t hat t he Brazil an gover nm ent decided t o have a new ci t y bui lt 600 mi les nort h west of Ri o de Janei ro. Desi gned by t he gr eat ar chit ect Luci o Costa, t he new ci ty, Br asil ia, r epl aced Ri o de Janeir o as the c api t al of Br azif i n 1960. Br asi li a has been caref ul ly pl anned f or m oder n li ving. It s wi de r oads, whi ch can t ake f our t en l anes of tr af ic, have been kept away f r om li vi ng ar eas. Chi ldr en do not have t o cr oss busy st r et s t o go t o school. Housewi ves can vi sit shoppi ng centr es on f oot, f or i n t hese speci al l y desi gned li vi ng ar eas, car s ar e unnece ssar y. At f ir st , t he gover nment had gr eat dif fi cult y i n per suading peopl e t o leave Ri o and t o set tl e i n Br asil ia. Since 1960, however , the popul ati on has been gr owi ng al l t he t im e. Br asi li a has qui ckl y est abl ished it self as t he capit al of t he count ry. The idea t o have t he capit al m oved so f ar inl and wi l have a gr eat ef f ect on t he fut ur e of Br azil . Lesson91 Three m en in a basket 三人同籃 A pil ot noti ced a bal l oon whi ch semed t o be making f or a Royal Ai r Force St at ion nearby. He i nf orm ed t he st ati on at once, but no one t her e was abl e t o expl ai n t he m yst er y. The of fi cer i n t he contr ol tower was ver y angr y when he hear d the news, bec ause bal oons can be a gr eat danger to ai rcr af t. He sai d t hat someone mi ght by spyi ng on t he st at i on and t he pil ot was or der e d t o kep t rack of the str ange obj ect. The pil ot m anaged t o ci r cl e t he bal oon f or som e t im e. He could m ake out t hr ee m en i n a basket under it and one of them was hol di ng f iel d gl asses. When the bal oon was over t he st at i on, t he pi lot saw one of the m en t aki ng phot ographs. Soon aft er war ds, t he bal oon began t o descend and it l anded near an air fi eld. The poli ce wer e cal ed i n, but t hey coul d not ar rest anyone, f or t he basket cont ai ned t wo Members of Parl i am ent and the Comm andi ng Of i cer of t he st ati on! As t he Comm andi ng Of fi cer explai ned l at er, one hal f of the st ati on di d not know what t he ot her half was doi ng ! Lesson92 Aski ng f or t roubl e 自找麻煩 It m ust have been about t wo i n the m or ning when I r etur ned hom e. I tr i ed t o wake up m y wif e by r i ngi ng the door bel l, but she was f ast asl eep, so I got a l adder fr om t he shed i n t he gar den, put i t agai nst t he wal l, and began cl im bi ng t owar ds t he bedr oom wi ndow. I was al most t here when a sar cast i c voi ce bel ow said,39。t t hi nk the wi ndows need cl eaning at t hi s tim e of t he ni ght .39。I enj oy cl eani ng wi ndows at ni ght.39。So do I, 39。Excuse m y i nt er r upt ing you. I hat e to i nter upt a m an when he39。 39。d pr ef er t o stay her e,39。You see, I 39。 Your what ?39。My key,39。 For t unatel y, t he shouti ng woke up my wi f e who opened t he wi ndow j ust as t he pol icem an had st art ed to cl im b towar ds m e. Lesson93 A nobl e gif t 崇高的禮物 One of t he m ost f am ous m onum ent s in t he worl d, t he St at ue of Li ber t y, was pr esent ed t o the Uni ted St at es of Am eri ca i n t he ni eent h cent ury by t he peopl e of France. The gr eat st atue, which was desi gned by t he scul pt or August e Bart hol di , t ook t en year s to pl et e. The act ual fi gur e was m ade of copper support ed by a m et al f r am ewor k whi ch had been especial y const ructed by Ei f el . Bef or e it could be t r anspor ted t o t he Uni t ed St at es, a sit e had t o be found f or i t and a pedest al had t o be buil t. The sit e chose n was an isl and at t he entr ance of New Yor k Har bour. By 1884, a st atue whi ch was 151 feet al , had been erected i n Pari s. The f ol l owi ng year , it was t aken t o pieces and sent t o Am er ica. By t he end of Oct ober 1886, t he st at ue had been put together