【正文】 i nteresti ng. He has made neat paths and has bui lt a wooden br idge over a pool. I l ike gardens too, but I do not li ke har d wor k. Every year I ent er for the gar den peti ti on too, and I al ways win a li t le pr ize for t he worst gar den in t he town! Lesson 9 A cold wele 冷遇 On Wednesday eveni ng, we went t o the Town Hal. I t was the l ast day of the year and a l ar ge crowd of people had gathered under t he Town Hal l cl ock. It woul d str ike twel ve in twenty minutes39。s gar den is l arger than Joe39。The Ni cest Gar den Com pet it ion39。been abr oad bef or e, so he i s f inding t his t ri p ver y exci ti 5 No wrong numbers 無錯號之虞 Mr James Scott has a gar age in Si lbury and now he has j ust bought another gar age in Pi nhur st . Pinhurst is only fi ve mil es fr om Si lbury, but Mr Scot t cannot get a t ele phone f or hi s new garage, so he has just bought twel ve pi geons. Yest er day, a pi geon car ied t he fi rst message f rom Pinhurst to Si lbury. The bir d cover ed the di st ance i n thr e minut es. Up t o now, Mr Scott has sent a great many requests for spar e par ts and ot her ur gent messages fr om one garage to the other. I n t hi s way, he has begun hi s own pr ivate t elephone 6 Percy But t ons 珀西巴頓斯 I have just moved to a house in Br i dge St reet. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my door . He asked me for a meal and a glas of beer. In retur n f or t his, the beggar stood on hi s head and sang songs. I gave hi m a meal. He ate 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. Ever ybody knows hi m . Hi s nam e is Per cy Butt ons. He cals at ever y house in t he st reet once a m ont h and always asks f or a meal and a gl ass of beer . Lesson 7 Too l ate 為時太晚 The plane was late and detecti ves wer e wait ing at t he ai rpor t al l morning. They were expect ing a val uable par cel of diamond f rom Sout h Af ri ca. A few hour s ear li er, som eone had t ol d t he pol ice that thi eves would tr y to st eal t he di amonds. When t he pla ne ar r ived, some of the det ecti ves wer e wai ti ng inside the m ai n buil ding whi le ot her s were wai ti ng on the ai rf ield. Two men took t he par cel off t he plane and car ri ed it i nt o t he Cust om s House. Whi le t wo detecti ves wer e keepi ng guar d at the door, two others opened t he par cel . To thei r sur pr ise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sanders has t he most beaut if ul gar den i n our town. Nearl y ever ybody enter s for 39。 each year , but Joe wi ns every time. Bi l Fr it h39。s. Bil l works harder than Joe and gr ows mor e fl owers and veget abl es, but Joe39。 tim e. Fi ft en m inutes pased and then, at f ive t o twel ve, t he cl ock st opped. The bi g mi nute hand did not move. We wai ted and wait ed, but not hing happened. Suddenl y someone shouted, 39。s t wo mi nutes past twel ve! The cl ock has stopped! 39。s. Lesson 11 O ne good turn deserves anot her 禮尚往來 I was having dinner at a restaurant when Har y Steele came i n. Har ry worked i n a lawyer 39。2. To my sur pri se, he gave m e the m oney i mmediatel y. 39。 Har ry said, 39。 Lesson 12 Goodbye and good l uck 再見，一路順風 Our nci ghbour , Capt ai n Charl es Ali son, wil l sai l fr om Por tsm outh t om orr ow. We shal m et hi m at t he har bour earl y i n t he m or ni ng. He wi l be i n his smal boat, Topsail . Tapsai l is a f am ous li tl e boat . It has sai led acr oss t he At l anti c m any t im es. Capt ai n Al ison wi l set out at ei ght o39。 Cl ub. The Greenwood Boys wil be st ayi ng f or fi ve days. Duri ng t hi s ti me, they wi l gi ve f i ve perf orm ances. As usual , t he poli ce wil l have a di f icult t im e. They wil l be t r yi ng t o keep or der. I t i s always the same on t hese occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engli sh? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an am usi ng experi ence l ast year . Aft er I had l eft a smal vil lage i n the south of Fr ance, I dr ove on to t he next t own. On the way, a young man waved to m e. I stopped and he asked me f or a li ft . As soon as he had got into the car, I sai d good morni ng to hi m i n Fr ench and he r epl ied i n the same l anguage. Apart f rom a f ew words, I do not know any Fr ench at al . Nei the r of us spoke duri ng the j our ney. I had near ly r eached the t own, when the young man suddenly said, very slowl y, 39。 As I soon learnt , he was Engl ish him self ! Leson 15 Good news 佳音 The secretar y tol d me t hat Mr. Har mswort h would see me. I fel t ver y ner vous when. I went into hi s off ice. He did not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I entered. Af ter I had sat down, he said t hat busines was ver y bad. He t old me that the f ir m could not afford to pay such large salar ies. Twenty people had al ready left . I knew that my t ur n had e. 39。 I sai d i n a weak voice. 39。t inter rupt, 39。100 a year ! Leson 16 A poli te request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you park your car i n the wr ong place, a tr af fi c poli ceman wi l l soon f ind i t. You wi l be very l ucky if he l et s you go wit hout a t icket. However, thi s does not al ways happen. Tr af ic pol ice are someti mes very poli te. Dur ing a holi day in Sweden, I f ound thi s not e on my car :39。 I f you recei ve a r equest l ike t hi s, you cannot f ai l to obey i t! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actr es. She must be at least hir ty fi ve year s ol d. In spit e of this, she of ten appear s on the st age as a young gir l. Jenni fer wil l have t o t ake part i n a new pl ay soon. Thi s ti me, she wi l l be a gi rl of seventeen. I n t he play, she must appear in a br ight red dr es and l ong bl ack st ockings. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bri ght, orange coloured dr ess. I f anyone ever asked her how ol d she is, she al ways answers, 39。 leson18 He of ten does t his! 他經常干這種事！ Af ter I had