【正文】 l owed to t ouch it . I t is being r epai red by a fr iend of my f ather39。I t 39。s gar den is m or e i nt er est ing. He has made neat paths and has bui lt a wooden bri dge over a pool . I li ke gar dens t oo, but I do not l ike hard work. Every year I ent er f or the garden peti ion t oo, and I always wi n a l it tl e pri ze for the wor st gar den i n t he town! Leson 9 A col d wel e 冷遇 On Wednesday evening, we went to t he Town Hal l. It was t he last day of t he year and a lar ge cr owd of peopl e had gat her ed under t he Town Hal clock. It would st ri ke twel ve in t went y mi nutes39。s garden i s larger than Joe39。The Nicest Gar den Competi tion39。Then he lent me a book. I read a f ew li nes, but I di d not understand a wor d. Ever y day I thought about postcards. My holi days passed quickly, but I di d not send any car ds to my f ri ends. On t he last day I made a bi g deci si on. I got up ear ly and bought t hir ty seven car ds. I spent the whol e day in m y r oom , but I did not wr it e a single card !Lesson 4 An excit ing t rip 激動(dòng)人心的旅行 I have j ust r ecei ved a l et er f rom my br other, Ti m. He i s in Aust rali a. He has been there for six mont hs. Ti m i s an engi neer . He is wor king f or a big f ir m and he has alr eady vi si ted a gr eat number of di f erent pl aces i n Austr al ia. He has just bought an Aust ral ian car and has gone to Al ice Spr ings, a smal l t own i n the centr e of Aust ral ia. He wi l soon vi si t Darwi n. From there, he wil l fl y t o Per th. My brother has never been abr oad bef ore, so he is f inding t his t ri p ver y excit 5 No wrong numbers 無錯(cuò)號(hào)之虞 Mr Jam es Scott has a garage in Si lbur y and now he has just bought another gar age in Pi nhur st. Pinhurst is only fi ve mil es fr om Si lbury, but Mr Scott cannot get a t elephone f or his new garage, so he has just bought twel ve pigeons. Yest erday, a pi geon car i ed t he f ir st message f rom Pinhurst to Si lbur y. The bir d cover ed the di st ance i n thr ee mi nut es. Up t o now, Mr Scott has sent a great many request s for spar e part s and ot her ur gent messages fr om one garage to the other . I n t his way, he has begun his own pr ivate t elephone servi 6 Percy But ons 珀西cl ock! 39。Do you always get up so l ate ? I t39。m e, 39。 she sai d. 39。s one o39。Lesson 3 Pl ease send me a card 請(qǐng)給我寄一張明信片 Postcards always spoil my hol idays. Last summer , I went to It al y. I vi sited m useums and sat i n publ ic gar dens. A f ri endl y wait er t aught me a few words of It al ian. 39。巴頓斯 I have just moved to a house in Bri dge St reet. Yester day a beggar knocked at my door . He asked me for a meal and a glas of beer. I n ret ur n f or this, the beggar stood on hi s head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He at e the f ood and dr ank the beer . Then he put a pi ece of cheese in hi s pocket and went away. Lat er a nei ghbour tol d me about hi m. Everybody knows hi m. Hi s name is Per cy But t ons. He cal s at every house in the str et once a month and always asks for a meal and a glas of beer. Leson 7 Too late 為時(shí)太晚 The plane was lat e and det ect ives were wai ti ng at he air por t al l mor ni ng. They wer e expecti ng a val uabl e par cel of diam ond f r om South Af r ica. A f ew hours earl ier, someone had t old t he police t hat t hieves woul d tr y t o steal t he diamonds. When the plane ar ived, some of t he det ect ives were wai ti ng inside t he main bui lding whi le ot her s wer e wait ing on t he ai rf iel d. Two men t ook t he parcel of f the pl ane and car ied i t i nto t he Customs House. Whil e two det ect ives were keeping guar d at the door, t wo other s opened the parcel. To t hei r sur pri se, the pr eci ous par cel was ful l of st ones and sand! Leson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sander s has t he most beauti ful gar den in our t own. Near ly everybody ent er s f or 39。 each year, but Joe wi ns ever y ti me. Bil l Fr it h39。s. Bi l wor ks har der t han Joe and grows more f lower s and vegetables, but Joe39。 t ime. Fif teen mi nutes passed and t hen, at fi ve to twelve, the clock stopped. The bi g mi nut e hand di d not move. We wait ed and waited, but not hi ng happened. Suddenl y som eone shout ed, 39。s two mi nut es past twelve! The clock has st opped!39。s. Leson 11 One good t urn deserves anot her 禮尚往來 I was havi ng dinner at a r est aur ant when Har ry Steel e came in. Har ry wor ked in a lawyer39。2. To my surpr ise, he ga ve me the money im mediately. 39。 Har y said, 39。 Leson 12 G oodbye and good l uck 再見，一路順風(fēng) Our ncighbour , Capt ain Char les Ali son, wi l sai l fr om Por tsmouth tomor row. We shal m et him at the harbour ear ly i n the morning. He wi l l be in his smal boat, Topsail .Tapsai l is a f amous lit tl e boat . It has sai led across the At lanti c many ti mes. Capt ai n Al ison wi l set out at ei ght o39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l be staying for fi ve days. Duri ng thi s ti me, they wil l give f ive perf ormances. As usual , the poli ce wil l have a di f icult t ime. They wil l be tr ying t o keep or der . It i s al ways the same on t hese occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engl ish? 你會(huì)講英語嗎？ I had an amusing experi ence l ast year . Af t er I had l ef t a smal vil lage in t he sout h of Fr ance, I dr ove on to the next t own. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me f or a li ft . As soon as he had got into the car, I sai d good mor ni ng to hi m in Fr ench and he r epl ied i n the same l anguage. Apart f rom a f ew wor ds, I do not know any Fr ench at al . Neit her of us spoke duri ng the j our ney. I had near ly reached t he town, when the young man suddenly said, very sl owl y, 39。 As I soon learnt , he was Engl ish him sel f! Leson 15 G ood news 佳音 The secretar y tol d me t hat Mr. Har mswort h would see me. I f el t ver y nervous when. I went into his off i ce. He did not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I