【正文】 I f i t is buil t, i t wil l connect Br it ain t o Eur ope f or the f ir st t im e in hi st ory. Leson65 Jum bo versus t he pol i ce 小象對(duì)警察 Last Chri st mas, t he ci r cus owner, Jimm y Gat es, deci ded t o t ake some pr esents t o a chil dr en39。guar d of honour39。Jum bo m ust wei gh a few tons, 39。so i t was f or tunat e t hat we di dn39。 Leson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat hel d Puff i n i s a m oder n aer o pl ane, but i ts desi gner , Mr John Wi mpenny, i s fi ndi ng it dif fi cult t o get i t of f t he gr ound. The r eason f or t hi s is t hat t his pl ane i s al so a bi cycle. It s pil ot has t o pedal har d t o get i t int o the air . Aft er Mr Wim penny had t he pl ane buil t, i t was test ed t hor oughl y. I n 1961, it was t he fi r st m an power ed ai r cr af t t o fl y hal f a mi l e. Whi le bei ng fl own by a cham pi on amat eur cycl ist in 1963, the pl ane cr ashed on an ai rf i el d. Si nce then, Mr Wi mpenny has had it r ebui lt . He has had t he l engt h of t he wi ngs i ncr eased so t hat they now m easure 93 f eet alm ost as long as t hose of a Dakot a. Many peopl e have shown i nt er est i n t hi s new and unusual sport . But t hough ai r cycli st s may l ear n how t o fl y over short di st ances, and m ay, event ual y, even get acr oss t he Engl ish Channel , it i s doubtf ul whet her t hey wil l ever cycl e acr oss t he Atl anti c. Lesson67 Vol canoes 火山 Har oun Tazief t he Poli sh scienti st , has spent hi s li fet im e st udyi ng act i ve vol canoes and deep caves i n al l par ts of t he worl d. I n 1948, he went t o lake Ki vu in t he Congo to obser ve a new vol cano whi ch he l ater nam ed Kit ur o. Tazi ef was able t o set up hi s cam p ver y cl ose t o t he vol cano whil e it was er upt i ng vi ol ent l y. Though he managed t o t ake a num ber of br il li ant phot ogr aphs, he could not stay near t he vol cano for ver y l ong. He noti ced t hat a ri ver of l iqui d rock was i ng t owards him. I t t hr eat ened t o sur r ound him pl et el y, but Tazief m anaged t o escape j ust i n ti me. He wait ed unt il t he volcano became qui et and he was abl e t o ret ur n t wo days l ater. Thi s tim e, he m anaged t o cl im b i nt o t he m out h of Kit ur o so t hat he coul d t ake phot ogr aphs and m easur e t em per at ures. Tazi ef f has of ten r isked hi s li f e in t his way. He has been abl e to t el l us mor e about a ct ive volcanoes t han any m an al i ve. Lesson68 Persi stent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed t he str eet t o avoi d m eti ng him, but he saw me and cam e r unni ng towar ds m e. I t was no use pr etendi ng t hat I had not seen hi m, so I waved t o hi m. I never enj oy m eti ng Bert Dykes. He never has anyt hi ng to do. No m at t er how busy you are, he al ways i nsists on i ng wit h you. I had t o t hi nk of a way of pr event i ng hi m f r om f ol l owi ng m e ar ound al l m or ni ng. 39。 I sai d. 39。 Hul l o, Eli zabet h,39。 I was j ust wonder i ng how t o spend t he m or ni ng unti l I saw you. You39。 No, not at al ,39。 I39。 39。 he asked, bef or e I had fi nished speaki ng. ‘ Not at al l , 39。but I39。 39。l l e wi th you,39。 There39。wai ti ng r oom ! 39。This i s the pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。You don39。 Leson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g for est f ir e in Cal if ornia. Since t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f ind out how t he fi re began. For est fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch people car el esly throw away. Yester day t he fi remen exami ned t he ground car eful ly, but wer e not able to f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e that a cigaret te end did not star t he fi re. This m orning, however , a fi reman a cci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l ine. In this way, he was able t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanati on was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round the wi r es. When i t di d so, i t se nt spar ks down to t he ground and these immedi at ely star ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St i cky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il l earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldr en wer e at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some t ar ts f or tea. In a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exact ly that moment, the t elephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r ecei ver between t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It t ook me ten m inutes t o per suade her to r ing back l at er . At last I hung up t he receiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on my f inger s, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he want ed me to si gn for a r egistered l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng lost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。 has been i nvented and i t has been used t o det ect gold which has been bur ied in the gr ound. The machi ne was use d i n a cave near the seashore wher e it is saidpi rates used to hi de gol d. The pi rates woul d oft en bur y gold in t he cave and then f ail to col lect i t. Ar med wi th the new m achine, a sear ch par ty went he did not l ike i t. She enj oyed her self m aki ng the assi st ant br ing alm ost ever ythi ng in t he wi ndow bef ore f inal y buying t he dr es she had fi rst asked f or. Leson58 A bl esing i n di sgui se?