【正文】 ny of the ar tistes who should have appear ed 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 said, but what he actualy sai d was: 39。clock t rain, but t hat you caught the 8. 25 which woul d st il get you t o wor k on t ime. You se, on t he morning of t he mur der, the o39。 sai d the inspector , 39。 Of course not. 39。t notice anything unusual ?39。 39。 39。 39。 asked t he inspector. 39。 39。 I must be at work at o39。Of course I do,39。Do you al ways catch such an ear ly t rain ?39。clock train t o London,39。 Leson96 The dead return 亡靈返鄉(xiāng) A Festi val for t he Dead is held once a year in Japan. Thi s festi val is a cheer ful occasion, for on this day, t he dead are sai d to retur n to their homes and they are weled by the li vi ng. As t hey are expect ed to be hungry aft er their long j our ney, f ood is l ai d out for t hem. Speci al lymade l anterns are hung out si de each house t o help t he dead t o find their way. Al ni ght long, peopl e dance and sing. I n the earl y mor ning, the food that had been laid out f or t he dead i s t hr own i nto a pat i ence and understanding and f or the kindl y encouragement he gave us when we went so unwil li ngly t o school. A great many f or mer pupi ls wil l be atendi ng a f ar ewel dinner in his honour next Thursday. I t i s a curi ous coi ncidence that the day bef ore his reti rement, Mr Page wil l have been teaching for a total of fort y years. Af ter he has reti red, he wil devote himsel f t o gardeni ng. For him, this wil l be an enti rely new hobby. But this does not mat ter, for, as he has oft en r emarked, one i s never too old to l earn. Lesson86 Out of control 失控 As the man tr ied t o swi ng t he speed boat r ound, t he steer ing wheel came away in his hands. He waved desper at el y to his pani on, who had been water skii ng f or t he l ast f if teen mi nutes. Both men had har dl y had ti me to r ealize what was happeni ng when t hey were thrown violent 1y i nt o the sea. The speedboat had st ruck a buoy, but it conti nued to move ver y qui ckly acr oss the wat er . Both men had j ust begun t o swim towar ds t he s hor e. when they noti ced wit h di smay that t he speed boat was moving in a cir cl e. It now came st raight towards them at tr emendous speed. I n les than a minut e, it roared past he m only a few f et away. Aft er i t had pased, they swam on as qui ckly as they coul d because t hey knew that he boat woul d soon r eturn. They had just had enough t ime t o swim out of danger when t he boat again pl et ed a circle . On this occasion, however , i t had sl owed down consider ably. The pet rol had nearly al been used up. Bef or e long, the noise dropped pletel y and the boat began t o dr if t gent ly acr oss the water . Lesson87 A perfect alibi 極好的不在犯罪現(xiàn)場的證據(jù) 39。t you t hi nk ? Fortunat el y, I wasn39。 said t he Ambasador. 39。 she asked. 39。s hat. 39。 The Ambasador39。 answer ed t he Ambassador . 39。 39。 excl aim ed his wif e. 39。 39。 answer ed t he Am basador dr il y. 39。 39。 she asked. 39。 Fort unately, t he shouti ng woke up my wif e who opened the window j ust as t he pol iceman had start ed t o clim b towar ds me. Leson93 A nobl e gi ft 崇高的禮物 One of t he most f amous m onum ents i n t he worl d, t he Statue of Li bert y, was presented to t he Unit ed States of Am erica in t he ni eenth cent ur y by t he people of Fr ance. The great statue, whi ch was designed by the scul pt or Auguste Bart holdi, took t en year s to plete. The act ual f i gure was m ade of copper suppor ted by a metal fr amewor k whi ch had been especi al ly constr ucted by Eif f el. Bef ore it coul d be tr ansport ed t o the Uni ted St at es, a sit e had to be found f or it and a pedest al had t o be built . The si te chosen was an i sl and at t he ent rance of New Yor k Har bour. By 1884, a statue whi ch was 151 feet t al , had been er ected i n Pari s. The f ol owi ng year , i t was t aken t o pi eces and sent t o Am eri ca. By t he end of October 1886, t he statue had been put toget her agai n and it wa s of fi ci al y pr esent ed t o t he Am eri can people by Bar thol di . Ever since t hen, t he great m onument has been a sym bol of li bert y for the m il ions of peopl e who have passed t hr ough New Yor k Har bour t o m ake thei r homes i n Am er ica. Lesson94 Fut ure cham pi ons 未來的冠軍 Exper iment s have pr oved t hat chil dr en can be i nstr ucted in swimmi ng at a very ear ly age. At a special swimmi ng pool i n Los Angel es, chil dr en bee exper t at hol di ng t heir breat h under water even before t hey can wal k. Babi es of t wo m ont hs old do not appear to be reluct ant to ent er t he water, It is not l ong bef or e they are so accustom ed t o swimm ing that t hey can pi ck up weight s fr om the fl oor of t he pool. A gam e t hat is ver y popul ar wit h these young swimm er s i s the under wat er tr icycl e r ace. Tri cycles ar e l ined up on the f loor of the pool seven f et under wat er . The chil dr en pet e agai nst each ot her t o reach t he other end of the pool. Many pe dal thei r t ri cycl es, but m ost of t hem prefer to push or dr ag t hem . Som e chil dren can cover t he whol e lengt h of the pool wi thout i ng up f or breat h even once. Whet her they wi l ever be e f ut ur e Ol ym pi c cham pi ons, onl y tim e wi l tel. Meanwhil e, they shoul d encourage t hose among us who cannot swim fi ve yar ds before t hey ar e gaspi ng f or air . Lesson95 A fant asy 純屬虛構(gòu) When the Am basador of Escalopi a returned hom e for lunch, his wi fe got a shock. He looked pale and hi s cl ot hes wer e i n a fr ight ful st at e. 39。My key,39。Your what ?39。ve fotten my key.39。 I sai d. 39。Wel , I 39。s busy wor ki ng,