【正文】 i s fi ndi ng it dif fi cult t o get it of f t he gr ound. The r eason for t hi s is t hat t hi s pl ane i s al so a bicycl e. I t s pi l ot has to pedal har d t o get it i nto t he ai r. Aft er Mr Wi mpenny had t he plane bui lt , it was t est ed t horoughl y. In 1961, i t was t he f ir st m an powered air craft t o fl y half a m il e. Whil e bei ng fl own by a cham pi on am at eur cycl i st i n 1963, t he pl ane cr ashed on an air fi el d. Si nce then, Mr Wi mpenny has had i t r ebui lt . He has had t he l engt h of t he wi ngs i ncr eased so t hat they now m easure 93 f eet alm ost as long as t hose of a Dakot a. Many peopl e have shown i nt er est i n t hi s new and unusual sport . But t hough ai r cycli st s m ay l ear n how t o f ly over shor t di st ances, and m ay, event ual ly, even get acr oss t he Engl i sh Channel , it i s doubtf ul whet her t hey wil l ever cycl e acr oss t he At lanti c. Lesson67 Vol canoes 火山 Har oun Tazief f t he Poli sh sci enti st , has spent hi s li fet im e studyi ng acti ve vol canoes and deep caves i n al l par t s of t he worl d. In 1948, he went t o l ake Ki vu i n t he Congo t o obser ve a new vol cano whi ch he lat er nam ed Ki tur o. Tazief was abl e to set up hi s cam p ver y cl ose t o t he vol cano whi le i t was er upti ng vi olentl y. Though he managed t o t ake a num ber of bri l iant phot ogr aphs, he coul d not st ay near the volcano f or ver y l ong. He not i ced t hat a r iver of l i qui d r ock was i ng towar ds him . It t hreat ened t o surr ound hi m pl et ely, but Tazi ef f ma naged t o escape j ust i n tim e. He wait ed unt il t he vol cano becam e qui et and he was abl e t o r et ur n t wo days l at er . This t im e, he m anaged t o cli mb i nto t he mout h of Ki t ur o so t hat he coul d t ake photogr aphs and m easur e t em perat ur es. Tazi ef has oft en ri sked hi s l if e i n t hi s way. He has been abl e t o tel us m or e about acti ve vol canoes than any m an ali ve. Leson68 Persist ent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed t he st reet to avoid m eet ing him , but he saw m e and came r unni ng t owar ds m e. It was no use pret ending t hat I had not seen him, so I waved t o hi m. I never enj oy m eet ing Bert Dykes. He never has anyt hi ng t o do. No m at er how busy you are, he al ways i nsis t s on i ng wi th you. I had t o t hi nk of a way of pr event i ng hi m fr om f oll owi ng m e ar ound al l m or ni ng. 39。so it was f or t unate t hat we di dn39。Jum bo must wei gh a f ew t ons,39。guar d of honour 39。t . Geof fr ey asked her why t his was so and she t ol d him t hat she di d not l i ke t o see so m any peopl e l aughi ng at him ! Leson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l 858, a Fr ench engineer , Aim e Thom e de Gam ond, ar ri ved i n Engl and wit h a pl an f or a t went y one mil e t unnel acr oss t he Engl i sh Channel . He sai d t hat it woul d be possi bl e t o bui ld a pl atf orm i n t he cent re of t he Channel. Thi s pl at f or m woul d serve as a port and a r ai l way st at i on. The t unnel woul d be wel venti lat ed i f t al l chim neys wer e built above seal evel . In 1860, a bet ter plan was put f or war d by an Engl ishm an, Wil li am Low. He suggest ed t hat a doubl e rail way t unnel should be buil t. Thi s woul d solve t he pr oblem of venti lati on, f or if a t r ai n ent ered t hi s t unnel, it woul d draw in f r esh air behind i t. Fort yt wo year s l at er a t unnel was actual y begun. If , at t he tim e, the Br it ish had not f ear ed i nvasi on, i t would have been pl et ed. Recent l y, t her e has agai n been gr eat i nt er est i n t he i dea of a Channel Tunnel. I f i t is buil t, i t wil l connect Br it ain t o Eur ope f or the f ir st t im e i n hi st ory. Leson65 Jum bo versus t he pol ice 小象對(duì)警察 Last Chri stm as, t he ci r cus owner, Jimm y Gat es, deci ded t o t ake some pr esents t o a chil dren39。ver t he gr ound in huge quant it ies by aeroplanes. The planes had been pl anti ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when i t began t o rai n. By t hen, however , in m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken root. I n place of the gr eat tr ees whi ch had been gr owing t her e f or centuri es, patches of gr een had begun t o appear i n t he bl ackened soi l. Leson63 She was not am used 她并不覺(jué)得好笑 Geoff r ey Ham pden has a l ar ge ci r cl e of fr iends and i s ver y popular at par ti es. Ever ybody admi r es him f or hi s f ine sense of hum oreverybody, t hat i s, except his si x year ol d daughter, Jenny. Recent ly, one of Geof fr ey39。s cl osest fr i ends asked him t o make a speech at a weddi ng r ecept i on. This i s t he sort of t hi ng t hat Geof f rey l oves. He prepared t he speech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l ar ge num ber of f unny st ori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat succes. As soon as he had f i ni shed, Jenny t ol d him she want ed to go home. Geoff r ey was a lit tl e disappoi nt ed by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On t he way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed t he speech. To his sur pr ise, she sai d she hadn39。s hospi tal. Dr esed up as Fat her Chri stm as and ac pani ed by a 39。 of si x pr et y gi rl s, he set of f down t he m ai n str eet of t he cit y r idi ng a baby el ephant cal ed Jum bo. He, shoul d have known t hat t he pol ice woul d never al l ow t hi s sor t of t hing. A poli cem an appr oached Ji mm y and t ol d hi m he ought t o have gone al ong a side str eet as Jum bo was hol di ng up t he tr af ic. Though Jim my agr ed t o go at once, Jum bo ref used t o m ove. Fif t en poli cem en had t o push ver y hard t o get hi m of f t he m ai n str eet . The pol ice had a dif fi cul t ti me, but t hey wer e m ost am used. 39。 sai d a poli cem an af t er wards, 39。t have t o car y him. Of cour se, we shoul d ar est him , but as he has a good r ecor d, we shal l et hi m of f t hi s tim e. 39。Hul l o, B