【正文】 ons, 39。guard of honour 39。t . Geofr ey asked her why t his was so and she t old him t hat she did not like t o see so many people laughing at him! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l858, a French engineer, Aim e Thome de Gamond, ar rived in England wit h a plan f or a twentyone m ile t unnel acr oss the English Channel. He said t hat it would be posible to build a plat form in t he centr e of t he Channel. This plat form would serve as a por t and a railway station. The tunnel would be well ventilat ed if t al chimneys were built above sea level. I n 1860, a bet t er plan was put forwar d by an Englishman, Wilam Low. He suggest ed t hat a double r ailway t unnel should be built . This would solve the problem of vent ilat ion, for if a t r ain enter ed t his t unel, it would dr aw in f r esh air behind it . For tyt wo years later a t unel was actualy begun. I f, at t he t ime, t he Br itsh had not f ear ed invasion, it would have been plet ed. Recent ly, t here has again been gr eat interest in t he idea of aChannel Tunnel. If it is built , it wil connect Brit ain to Europe f or t he f ir st time in history. Lesson65 J umbo versus t he police 小象對警察 Last Chr istmas, the circus owner, J immy Gates, decided t o t ake some presents t o a childr en39。clock t his evening. By that ime, t he Astr a wil have been flying t hr ough space f or sevent een hour s and wil have cir cled t he ear th a great many t imes. When t he f ir st r adio messages have been r eceived, the r esult s of t he t r ip wil be announced immediately. Lesson62 Af ter t he f ir e 大火之后 Firemen had been f ight ing t he f orest f ire f or near ly three weeks bef or e t hey could get it under cont rol. A short t ime bef or e, great t rees had cover ed t he count ryside f or miles around. Now, smoke st il r ose up f r om t he war m ground over t he desolate hils. Wint er was ing on and t he hils t hr eat ened t he sur rounding vilages wit h destr uction, f or heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious f loods as wel. When t he f ir e had at last been put out, t he f or est aut horit ies order ed several t ons of aspecial t ype of gras seed which would grow quickly. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound in huge quanti ies by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed f or near ly a mont h when it began t o r ain. By t hen, however, in many places t he gr ass had already t aken r oot . I n place of t he gr eat r ees which had been gr owing t her e f or cent uries, pat ches of green had begun t o apear in t he blackened soil. Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a large circle of riends and is ver y popular at part ies. Everybody admir es him for his f ine sense of humor ever ybody, t hat is, except his sixyear old daught er, J enny. Recently, one of Geof rey39。Your si t er wil be her e in less t han an hour and we must be at the station t o meet her . We are lat e alr eady.39。Where have you been hiding ?39。A r elation of yours is ing t o see you. She wil be ar r iving this evening and int ends t o stay f or a f ew days. The moment you leave t his t ent, you wil get a big sur pr ise. A woman you know well wil r ush t owar ds you. She wil speak t o you and then she wil ead you away fr om this place. That is al. 39。. Because t he tr ee was m ent ioned in a newspaper, t he num ber of vist or s t o Fr inley has now incr eased. The t r ee was plant ed near achurch f if t y ear s ago, but i is only in r ecent year s t hat it has gained an evil r eputation. I t is said t hat if anyone t ouches t he t r ee, he wil have bad luck。hide gold. The pir ates would oft en bury gold in t he cave and t hen f ail t o colect i . Ar med wit h t he new machine, a sear ch part y went he did not like it . She enjoyed her self m aking t he asistant bring alm ost ever yt hing in t he window bef or e f inaly buying t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blessing in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vilage of Frinley is said t o posess a 39。cur sed t r ee39。 if he picks a leaf, he wil die. M any vilagers believe t hat he t r ee has alr eady claim ed a num ber of victim s. The vicar has been asked t o have t he t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has point ed out t hat he t r ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ourist s have been ing f r om al par t s of t he count r y t o see it . I n spit e of alt hat has been said, t he t our ist s have been picking leaves and cut ing their names on t he t reet runk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been st ruck down by sudden death! Lesson59 I n or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit out side our f ront gate and bark. Every tim e he wanted to e int o the gar den he would bark until s omeone opened the gat e. As t he neighbours plained of t he noise, m y husband spent weeks t r aining him t o press his paw on t he lat ch t o let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gat e. However , when Iwas going out shopping last week, I not iced him in t he gar den near the gat e. This t ime he was barking so t hat someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed anot her bad habit . As son as he opens t he gate f rom t he outside, he es int o t he garden and wait s unt il t he gate shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone let s him out . Af ter t his he immediat ely let s himself in and begins barking again. Yest er day my husband removed t he gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vilage f air , I decided to visit a fort unet eler caled Madam Bellinsky. I went int o her t ent and she t old m e t o sit down. Af ter I had given her some money, she looked int o a cryst al bal and said: 39。 As soon as Iwent outside, I fot al about Madam Belinsky because my wif e hur ied t owards me. 39。 she asked impatiently. 39。 As she walked away, If olowed her out of t he f air.