【正文】 r got al l about the m at ador and char ged at t he dr unk. The cr owd suddenly gr ew qui et. The dr unk, however , semed quit e sur e of him self . When t he bul l got cl ose t o him, he cl um si ly st epped asi de to l et i t pas. The cr owd br oke i nt o cheers and t he dr unk bowed. By t his t im e, however , thr e m en had e int o the r ing and t hey qui ckl y dragged t he dr unk t o saf ety. Even the bull seem ed to f eel sorr y f or hi m, f or i t looked on sym pat heti cal l y unt il t he dr unk was out of t he way befor e once m or e t ur ni ng i ts at enti on to t he mat ador. Lesson71 A fam ous cl ock 一個著名的大鐘 When you vi si t London, one of t he fi r st t hi ngs you wil l see i s Big Ben, t he f am ous cl ock which can be hear d al over t he worl d on t he B. B. C. If t he Houses of Parli ament had hot been bur ned down in 1834, t he gr eat cl ock would never have been er ect ed. Bi g Ben t akes it s nam e f rom Si r Benjami n Hal who was r esponsi ble f or t he m aki ng of t he clock when t he new Houses of Par li am ent wer e being buil t. I t i s not onl y of imm ense size, but i s ext remel y acur at e as wel l. Of fi cials f r om Gr eenwi ch Obser vat or y have t he cl ock checked t wi ce a day. On t he B. B. C. you can hear the cl ock when i t i s act ual l y st ri king because mi cr ophones are connect ed t o t he cl ock tower. Bi g Ben has r ar el y gone wr ong. Once, however, it f ai l ed t o gi ve t he cor r ect ti me. A pai nt er who had been wor ki ng on t he t ower hung a pot of paint on one of t he hands and slowed i t down ! Lesson72 A car cal led Bl uebi rd “藍鳥”汽車 The great raci ng dri ver, Sir Mal col m Cam pbel l, was t he f i rst m an t o dr i ve at over 300 m il es per hour . He set up a new worl d r ecor d i n Sept em ber 1935 at Bonnevil e Salt Fl at s, Ut ah. Bl uebi r d, t he car he was dri vi ng, had been speci al y buil t f or him. It was over 30 f eet i n 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 icult y i n cont roll i ng t he car be cause a t yr e burst duri ng the f ir st r un. Af t er hi s at tem pt, Cam pbel was di sappoi nted t o l ear n that hi s aver age speed had bee n 299 mi l es per hour . However , a few days l at er, he was t ol d t hat a mi st ake had been made. His aver age speed had been 301 m il es per hour . Since t hat tim e, racing dri vers have r eached speeds of over 400 m il es an hour. Foll owi ng hi s fat her39。 he sai d, i n a mour nf ul voi ce,39。 I cont i nued dri ving and aft er some t im e, t he exami ner t apped l oudl y. Though t he sound coul d be hear d clearl y, i t took me a long ti me t o r eact. I suddenl y pr essed t he brake pedal hard and we were bot h thr own f or war d. The exam iner looked at m e sadl y. 39。 l esson69 But not m urder! 并非謀殺！ I was bei ng test ed 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 ssf ul l y. Af ter havi ng been i nst r uct ed t o dr ive out of t own, I began t o acquir e conf i dence. Sur e that I had passed, I was al most begi nni ng t o enj oy m y t est. The exam iner m ust have been pl eased wit h m y per f or mance, f or he smi l ed and sai d, 39。s al ways pl ent y t o read i n the 39。 he answer ed.39。 Then I 39。m goi ng t o t he denti st .39。 I l ied, 39。Woul d you m i nd m y i ng wit h you ?39。m goi ng t o. .39。 I answered.39。 39。 I was just wonderi ng how t o spend t he m or ni ngunt il I saw you. You39。Hul l o, Eli zabet h, 39。Fancy meeti ng you her e !39。Hul l o, Ber t,39。t have t o car y him. Of cour se, we should ar rest hi m, but as he has a good r ecor d, we shal l let him off t hi s ti m e.39。 sai d a poli ceman af ter war ds, 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 ci ty r i di ng a baby el ephant cal led Jum bo. He, shoul d have known that the poli ce woul d never al ow t his sort of t hi ng. A poli cem an appr oached Jim my and t ol d him he ought t o have gone al ong a si de 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. Fi ft een poli cem en had to push very har d to get him off t he mai n st reet. The poli ce had a di f i cult t im e, but t hey wer e m ost am used. 39。s hospit al. Dr esed up as Fat her Chr istm as and ac pani ed by a 39。Geof fr ey l oves. He prepar ed t he speech car ef ul l y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l arge number of f unny st ori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat success. As soon as he had fi ni shed, Jenny t ol d him she wanted t o go hom e. Geof fr ey was a l it l e di sappoi nt ed by thi s but he di d as hi s daught er asked. On t he way hom e, he asked Jenny if she had enj oyed the speech. To hi s surpri se, she sai d she hadn39。t . Geof fr ey asked her why t hi s was so and she t old him t hat she di d not li ke t o se so m any peopl e l aughi ng at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l 858, a Fr ench engi neer , Aim e Thom e de Gamond, ar ri ved in Engl and wit h a plan f or a t went y one m il e t unnel acr oss t he Engl ish Channel . He sai d t hat it woul d be possi bl e t o bui l d a pl atf orm i n the cent r e of t he Channel. Thi s pl atf orm would ser ve as a por t and a rail way st ati on. The t unnel would be wel l vent il at ed if t al l chi mneys were buil t above sea l evel. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put f or war d by an Engli shm an, Wi l i am Low. He suggested t hat a doubl e r ai l way t unnel shoul d be buil t. This woul d sol ve t he pr obl em of vent il ati on, f or i f a t rai n ent er ed t hi s t unnel , it woul d dr aw i n fr esh ai r behi nd i t. For tyt wo years l ater a t unnel was act ual y begun. I f, at t he t im e, t he Bri ti sh had not f ear ed i nvasi on, it woul d have