【正文】 tr ied to steal her handbag. In t he str uggle, t he s tr ap broke and, wi th the bag i n thei r possessi on, both men started runni ng t hr ough the tr es. Mr s St er ling got so angry that she r an af ter t hem. She was soon out of br eath, but she continued t o run. When she caught up wi th them, she saw that hey had sat down and wer e going through t he cont ents of the bag, so she ran st raight at hem. The men got such a fri ght that t hey dr opped t he bag and ran away. 39。 she answer ed. Ten mi nutes later we walked out of the shop toget her. My wif e was wear ing a hat that looked li ke a l ight house ! Lesson42 Not very m usical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long wal k through one of the mar ket s of Old Delhi, we st opped at a square t o have a r est. Aft er a ti me, we not iced a snake char mer wi th two l ar ge basket s at the other si de of the squar e, so we went t o have a l ook at hi m. As soon as he saw us, he pi cked up a l ong pipe whi ch was cover ed wit h coins and opened one of t he basket s. When he began t o pl ay a t une, we had our f ir st glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the basket and began t o foll ow the m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e very much surpri sed when the snake char mer suddenly began to play jaz tunes and moder n pop songs. The snake, however , cont inued to 39。And a woman can39。 m ay reveal somet hi ng of value fairl y soon. Lesson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a r ace is hel d for ol d cars. A lot of cars ent er ed for t hi s race l ast year and t her e was a gr eat deal of exci tem e nt just bef or e it began. One of the m ost handsom e cars was a Roll s Royce Sil ver Ghost . The most unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y t hr ee wheel s. Bui lt in 1885, i t was the ol dest car t aki ng par t. Aft er a gr eat m any l oud explosi ons, t he r ace began. Many of t he cars broke down on t he cour se and som e dri ver s spent m or e tim e under thei r cars t han in t hem !A f ew cars, however, pleted the race. The winning car reached a speed of fort y miles an hour much f aster t han any of its r ival s. It sped downhil at he end of the race and its dri ver had a lot of t rouble t rying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. I t was very di ferent f rom moder n car races but no l ess excit ng. Leson57 Can I help you, madam? 你要買什么，夫人？ A woman i n bl ue j eans stood at the window of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesit at ed f or a moment, she f inal ly went in and asked to se a dres t hat was in t he wi ndow. The assi st ant who ser ved her did not li ke t he way she was dr essed. Glanci ng at her scor nfully, he t ol d her that t he dres was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angril y and decided to punish the assi st ant next day. She r et ur ned to t he shop the f ol lowing mor ni ng dr essed in a f ur coat, wit h a handbag i n one hand and a long umbr el la in t he other . After seeking out t he r ude assi st ant she asked f or the same dres. Not realizing who she was, t he asista nt was eager to ser ve her t hi s t ime wit h great dif icul ty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dres. As soon as he saw it , t he woman said s many t ies.39。A man can never have too i nt o the cave hoping to fi nd buri ed t reasur e. The l eader of t he part y was exam ini ng t he soil near the entr ance to t he cave when t he machine showed t hat her e was gol d under t he ground. Ver y exci ted, t he par ty dug a hol e t wo f et deep. They fi nal y found a sm al gol d coi n whi ch was alm ost wort hl es. The part y then sear ched t he whole cave thor oughl y but di d not fi nd anyt hi ng except an em pt y t in t runk. In spi te of t hi s, many people are conf ident that 39。 I find it beautif ul ,39。 I need not remind you of that er ribl e t ie you bought yest er day.39。t have sai d that ,39。 I r emar ked suddenly. I r egret ed saying it almost at once. 39。t buy things we don39。 my wi fe answered as she l ooked at hersel f i n the mir ror. I sat down on one of those moder n chai rs wit h hol es in i t and wai ted. We had been i n the hat shop f or half an hour and my wi fe was ti l in f ront of the mir or . 39。You needn39。Do you cal that a hat ?39。 if you at e mor e and talked l ess, we woul d both enjoy our di nner ! 39。 Young man,39。 No,39。 Wi l you be st aying in Engl and?39。 No,39。Wil l you be spendi ng your hol idays abr oad this year ?39。 No,39。 I said. 39。 Lesson40 Food and talk 進(jìn)餐與交談 Last week at a dinner part y, the hostes asked me to si t next t o Mrs Rumbold. Mrs Rumbold was alarge, unsmil ing lady i n a tight bl ack dr ess. She did not even l ook up when I took m y seat beside her. Her eyes were fi xed on her pl at e and in a shor t ime, she was busy eati ng. I t ri ed t o make conver sation. 39。 t he patient answered, 39。s oper at ion had been succesful and the doctor told him t hat it had been. He then asked when Mr Gi lber t would be al lowed t o go home and the doctor told him t hat he would have to stay in hospital for anot her two weeks. Then Dr Mil li ngton asked t he cal ler if he was a relative of t he patient.39。Ol ympi c Ci ty39。 time. As a gr eat many peopl e wil be vi si ting the country, the gover nment wi l be building new hotels, an immense stadi um, and a f ine new swimmi ng pool . 39。s school fr iends wil l be wai ti ng f or her on the Engli sh coast. Among them wil l be Erna39。clock in the morning. Erna is only fourt en years old and she hopes lo set up a new world r ecord. She is a strong swi mmer and many peopl e f el that she i s ure to succed. Er na39。 her mother a f ree dr ess once a week ! lesson33 Out of t he darkness 沖出黑暗 Nearl y a wek passed before t he gir l was abl e t o explain what had happened to her . One afternoon she set out f rom t he coast i n a smal boat and was caught in a storm. Towar ds evening, the boat st ruck a r ock and the gir l j umped into the sea. Then she swam to t