【正文】 ke up my wi fe by ri nging the door bel , but she was f ast asl ep, so I got a ladder f rom t he shed in t he garden, put it against the wal l, and began cli mbing towar ds the bedroom window. I was almost t here when a sar castic voice below sai d, 39。 Lesson88 Trapped i n a mine 困在礦井里 Si x men have been tr apped i n a mine f or sevent en hours. If they are not br ought to t he sur face soon t hey may lose their li ves. However , rescue oper at ions are proving di f icul t. If explosi ves ar e used, vibrations wi l cause t he r oof of t he mi ne t o coll apse. Rescue wor ker s are t herefor e dr il ing a hole on the nor th side of the mine. They i nt end to br ing the men up in a special capsul e. If there had not been a har d layer of r ock beneath t he soil, they would have pl et d the job in a f ew hours. As i t i s, they have been dri li ng f or sixteen hour s and they sti l have a long way to go. Meanwhil e, a microphone, which was lowered into the mine two hour s ago, has enabled the men t o keep in touch wi th the closest relati ves. Though they are r unning out of f ood and dri nk, the m en ar e cheerf ul and conf ident that hey wil l get out soon. They have been t ol d that rescue operations ar e pr ogressing smoothly. If they knew how di fi cult it was to dril l through the har d rock, they would lose hear t. Leson89 A slip of the tongue 口誤 Peopl e wi l do anyt hi ng to see a fr e showeven if it is a bad one. When the news got round that a variety show would be pr esent ed at our local ci nema by t he P. and U. Bird Seed Company, we al rushed to se it . We had to queue for hours to get i n and there must have been several hundr ed people present j ust be fore t he show began. Unfort unately, t he show was one of the dull est we have ever seen. Those who f ail ed t o get in need not have felt disappoi nt ed as many of t he art istes who should have appeared did not e. The onl y funny thi ngs we hear d that evening came fr om the adver ti ser at the beginni ng of the pr ogr amme. He was obviously very ner vous and for some minutes stood awkwardly bef or e the microphone. As soon as he opened hi s mouth, everyone bur st out laughing. We al know what he poor man shoul d have sai d, but what he actualy sai d was: 39。clock t rain, but t hat you caught the whi ch would st il l get you to work on time. You se, on t he morni ng of the mur der, the o39。 sai d the inspect or , 39。 Of course not. 39。t notice anything unusual ?39。 39。 39。 I suppose it woul d, but I never cat ch a l at er tr ai n. 39。 Would a l at er tr ai n get you to wor k on t ime ?39。clock. My empl oyer wi l confi rm t hat I was there on time.39。 answered the man.39。 asked the inspect or . 39。 sai d the man. 39。At the ti me the m ur der was mi t ed, I was travel ling on the 8. 0 o39。 t ime. Even so, people are going to fi nd i t di fi cult t o get to work. But so f ar , t he publ ic has expresed its grati tude t o the students i n leters t o the Pr ess. Only one or two people have obj ected that the st udent s wil dri ve t oo f ast! Lesson85 Never too old t o learn 活到老學(xué)到老 I have j ust r eceived a l et ter f rom my old school i nf or ming me that my f or mer head master, Mr Regmal d Page, wil l be reti ri ng next wek. Pupi ls of t he school, ol d and new, wil be sendi ng him a pr esent to mark t he occasi on. Al l those who have contr ibuted towar ds t he gif t wi l si gn t heir names in a lar ge album whi ch wi l be sent to t he headmaster39。f ree rides39。 but I love to hear you say it ! 39。 I know, 39。 he shout ed, 39。s house. When he asked if Mr Lane li ved ther e, t he pol iceman on duty t ol d him t hat since hi s defeat , t he exPri me Minister had gone abr oad. On t he f ol lowing day, Cr awl ey went to t he house again. The same pol iceman was j ust walking slowly past he entrance, when Crawley asked the same question. Though a lit tl e suspicious t hi s time, the poli ceman gave him the same answer . The day af ter, Crawley went to t he house once mor e and asked exactly t he same questi on. This t ime, t he policeman lost his t emper.39。f i sh was caught near Madagascar . A smal fi shingboat was car ri ed mi les out t o sea by t he power ful fish as i t pulled on the line. Real izing that t hi s was no or di nary f ish, the fi sherman made every ef or t not to damage i t i n any way. When i t was event ual y brought t o shore, i t was found t o be over thir teen f et long. It had a head li ke a hor se, bi g bl ue eyes, shining sil ver skin, and a bright r ed tai l, The f ish, which has si nce been sent to a museum wher e it is bei ng exami ned by a scient ist, is cal ed an oar fish. Such creatures have r ar el y been seen ali ve by man as they live at a depth of si x hundr ed f eet. Lesson83 Af ter the el ecti ons 大選之后 The former Pr ime Mi ni st er , Mr Wentwort h Lane, was defeat ed in t he r ecent elect ions. He i s now r et ir ng f rom polit ical li fe and has gone abroad. My fr iend, Crawley, has always been a fanat ical opponent of Mr Lane39。s Radi cal Pr ogr essi ve Party. Aft er the el ecti ons, Cr awl ey went to t he f ormer Pr ime Minister39。 I told you yest er day and the day before yesterday, 39。Mr Lane was def eated in t he elect ions. He has retir ed from poli tical l ife and gone t o li ve abr oad ! 39。 answered Crawley, 39。 Leson84 On strike 罷工 Busmen have decided t o go on st ri ke next wek. The st rike is due t o begin on Tuesday. No one knows how long i t wi l last . The busmen have stated that the st ri ke wil l cont inue unti l general agreement i s reached about pay and working condi tions. Most people bel ieve that he str ike wil last f or at l east a week. Many owners of pr ivat e cars are going to offer 39。 to people on thei r way to work. Thi s wi l reli eve pr essur e on t he t rains to some ext ent. Meanwhile, a number of univer si ty students have volunteer ed t o dr ive buses while t he str ike last s. Al the youn