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spi tal . Dr essed up as Father Chri st mas and acpani ed by a 39。s closest f ri ends asked hi m t o make a speech at a wedding r ecepti on. This is the sor t of t hing t hat Geoff rey l oves. He prepared t he speech car efull y and went to t he weddi ng wi th Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l arge number of funny st ori es in t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat success. As soon as he had f ini shed, Jenny tol d him she want ed to go hom e. Geoff r ey was a li t le di sappoi nted by t his but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed the speech. To his surpr ise, she sai d she hadn39。 As she wal ked away, I fol lowed her out of the f air . Lesson61 Trouble wi t h the Hubble 哈勃望遠鏡的困境 I n f utur e, ast r onauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceship whi le it is st il i n space and to retur n t o it . The abi li ty t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y in f utur e fl ights to di st ant plas. Sci ent ists ar e now t ryi ng to di scover i f thi s is possi bl e. The spaceship Ast ra whi ch lef t he ear th a shor t ti me ago, wi l be t raveli ng t hr ee hundr ed mil es into space. At a cert ain poi nt , the Astr a wi l stop f or a shor t ti me and an ast ronaut wi l at empt to l eave t he st ati onar y spaceship and then ret ur n t o it . We shal not know whet her t he exper iment has been succesf ul unti l we have recei ved a radio mesage. The f ir st m essage i s expected t o ar ive at 7 o39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。 As soon as I went out side, I f ot al about Madam Bel li nsky because my wif e hurr ied t owards me. 39。t our i st shave been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ? 進來還是出去? Our dog, Rex, used to si t out si de our f ront gate and bark. Ever y t ime he want ed to e into the garden he would bar k unti l someone opened the gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of the noise, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng him to pres hi s paw on t he latch t o let him sel f i n. Rex soon becam e an expe rt at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shopping l ast week, I noti ced hi m i n t he gar den near the gate. This t ime he was bar king so that som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce then, he has devel oped another bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f rom the outsi de, he es into the garden and wait s unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l et s him out. Af ter thi s he imm edi ately l ets him sel f in and begins bar king again. Yest erday my husband r emoved the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen hi m si nce. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vi lage f ai r, I decided to vi sit a f or tunet el er cal l ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nto her tent and she t old m e to si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ri ving t hi s evening and i ntends to stay f or a f ew days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se . A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。Your si st er wil l be her e in l es t han an hour and we must be at the stati on to meet her. We are l a te alr eady. 39。clock t his eveni ng. By that im e, t he Astr a wil l have been fl ying t hrough space for sevent en hours and wi l have cir cl ed the eart h a great many ti mes. When the f ir st r adi o messages have been r eceived, t he result s of the tr ip wil l be announced i mmediat el y. Lesson62 Af t er the f ire 大火之后 Fir em en had been fi ghti ng the f or est f ir e f or nearl y thr ee weeks befor e they could get it under contr ol. A short t im e bef ore, great r es had cover ed the count ryside f or mil es ar ound. Now, smoke stil l rose up f rom the war m gr ound over the desol ate hi ls. Winter was ing on and t he hil ls t hr eat ened t he sur rounding vi l ages wi th destr uct ion, for heavy r ain woul d not onl y wa sh away the soil but woul d cause ser ious f loods as wel. When the f ir e had at l ast been put out, t he for est aut hor i ties or der ed several tons of a speci al t ype of gr asssed whi ch would gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the ground i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl a nt ing seed for near ly a month when it began t o r ai n. By then, however, i n many places the gras s had al ready taken r oot . I n pl ace of the gr eat t rees which had been gr owi ng there f or centur ies, pat ches of green had begun t o appear in t he blackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a l arge cir cle of f ri ends and is ver y popul ar at part ies. Everybody admir es hi m for his f ine sense of humor ever ybody, that i s, except his si x year ol d daught er , Jenny. Recently, one of Geoff rey39。t . Geof f rey asked her why t hi s was so and she t old hi m t hat she did not li ke to see so many peopl e laughing at him! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l858, a French engi neer, Ai me Thome de Gam ond, ar ived i n England wi th a pl an for a t went yone mi le tunnel across the Engli sh Channel. He said that i t would be possi ble t o buil d a platf orm i n the centr e of the Channe l . Thi s platf orm would serve as a por t and a r ail way stati on. The t unnel would be wel l vent il at ed if t al l chi mneys wer e buil t above sea level . In 1860, a bet ter plan was put for ward by an Engl ishman, Wi li am Low. He suggest ed that a double rail way tunnel should be bui lt . Thi s would solve t he problem of venti lati on, f or if a t rai n ent ered t hi s tunnel, it woul d draw in f resh air behind i t. Fort yt wo year s lat er a tunnel was actual