【正文】 ad an am usi ng experi ence l ast year. Aft er I had l eft a smal vi l age i n t he sout h of Fr ance, I drove on t o t he next t own. On t he way, a young m an waved t o me. I st opped and he asked m e f or a l if t. As soon as he had got i nto t he car , I sai d good m or ni ng to him i n Fr ench and he r epl ied i n t he same l anguage. Apart f r om a f ew wor ds, I do not know any French at al l. Neit her of us spoke duri ng t he j our ney. I had nearl y r eached t he t own, whe n t he young m an suddenl y sai d, ver y sl owl y, 39。 As I soon l ear nt, he was Engli sh him sel f! Lesson 15 G ood news 佳音 The secr et ary t old m e t hat Mr . Harmswor th woul d see m e. I f elt very ner vous when. I went i nt o hi s of fi ce. He di d not look up f r om his desk when I ent er ed. Aft er I had sat down, he sai d t hat busi ness was very bad. He t ol d me t hat t he fi rm coul d not af f or d t o pay such l ar ge sal ari es. Twenty peopl e had alr eady l eft. I knew t hat m y t ur n had e. 39。 I sai d i n a weak voi ce. 39。t i nt er rupt,39。 100 a year ! Leson 16 A pol it e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car i n t he wrong pl ace, a t r af fi c poli cem an wil soon fi nd it . You wi l be ver y l ucky if he l et s you go wit hout a t i cket. However, t hi s does not al ways happen. Tr af i c pol ice are someti mes very poli t e. Dur ing a holi day in Sweden, I found t hi s not e on my car :39。 If you r ecei ve a r equest li ke this, you cannot fail t o obey it ! Lesson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jennif er i s an act r ess. She m ust be at l east t hi rt yf ive year s ol d. I n spi te of t hi s, she oft en appears on t he stage as a young gi rl . Jenni f er wi l have t o t ake par t in a new play soon. This t im e, she wil l be a gir l of sevent een. I n t he pl ay, she m ust appear i n a bri ght r ed dress and l ong black stocki ngs. Last year in anot her play, she had t o wear short socks and a bri ght, or ange coloured dr es. If anyone ever asked her how ol d she is, she al ways answers, 39。 lesson18 H e of t en does t hi s! 他經(jīng)常干這種事！ Af t er I had had l unch at a vi l age inn, I looked for my bag. I had l eft i t on a chair beside t he door and now i t wasn39。Di d you have a good m eal ?39。Yes, t hank you, 39。but I can39。t got m y bag.39。Im ver y sor ry, 39。 My dog had taken it int o the gar den. He of ten does this.39。The play m ay begin at any mom ent ,39。I t may have begun al ready, 39。I hur ri ed to t he ti cket off ice. 39。 I asked. 39。m sorr y, we39。 t he gi rl said. 39。 Susan m e, 39。Do you always get up so l ate ? I t39。cl ock! 39。Then he lent me a book. I read a f ew li nes, but I di d not understand a wor d. Ever y day I thought about postcards. My holi days passed quickly, but I di d not send any car ds to my f ri ends. On t he last day I made a bi g deci si on. I got up ear ly and bought t hir ty seven car ds. I spent the whol e day in m y r oom , but I did not wr it e a single card !Lesson 4 An excit ing t rip 激動(dòng)人心的旅行 I have j ust r ecei ved a l et er f rom my br other, Ti m. He i s in Aust rali a. He has been there for six m ont hs. Ti m i s an engi neer . He is wor king f or a big f ir m and he has alr eady vi si ted a gr eat number of di f erent pl aces i n Austr al ia. He has just bought an Aust ral ian car and has gone to Al ice Spr ings, a smal l t own i n the centr e of Aust ral ia. He wi l soon vi si t Darwi n. From there, he wil l fl y t o Per th. My brother has never been abroad befor e, so he i s f i ndi ng t hi s tr ip ver y excit i ng. Lesson 5 No wrong num bers 無(wú)錯(cuò)號(hào)之 虞 Mr Jam es Scot t has a gar age i n Sil bur y and now he has j ust bought anot her gar age i n Pi nhurst. Pi nhur st i s onl y f ive mi l es f r om Sil bur y, but Mr Scott cannot get a tel ephone f or his new gar age, so he has j ust bought t welve pi geons. Yester day, a pi geon car ri ed t he f ir st m esage fr om Pi nhur st t o Sil bur y. The bi r d cover ed t he distance in t hree mi nutes. Up to now, Mr Scot has sent a gr eat m any r equest s f or spare part s and other urgent m esages f rom one gar age t o t he ot her . I n this way, he has begun hi s own pri vat e t el ephone ser vi ce. Leson 6 Percy But tons 珀西The Nicest Gar den Compet it ion39。s garden is larger than Joe39。s gar den i s mor e int er est ing. He has made neat pat hs and has buil t a wooden br idge over a pool . I like gar dens t oo, but I do not l ike hard wor k. Ever y year I ent er f or the garden peti tion too, and I always wi n a l it tl e pri ze for the wor st gar den i n t he town! Leson 9 A cold wel e 冷遇 On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hal l. I t was t he last day of t he year and a lar ge cr owd of peopl e had gat her ed under t he Town Hal clock. It would st ri ke twel ve in t wenty m inutes39。I t 39。 I l ooked at my wat ch. I t was tr ue. The big cl ock refused to wel e the New Year. At t hat moment ever ybody began to l augh and si ng. Leson 10 Not f or jazz 不適于演奏爵士樂(lè) We have an ol d musical instr ument . It i s cal led a clavichord( 翼琴 ) . It was made in Germ any i n 1681. Our clavichord is kept i n t he li vi ngr oom . I t has bel ong t o our fami ly for a l ong t im e. The i nst rument was bought by my gr andf ather many year s ago. Recentl y i t was damaged by a vi si tor. She t ri ed to pl ay jazz on it ! She st ruck t he keys t oo har d and t wo of t he st ri ngs were br oken. My f ather was shocked. Now we ar e not al owed to t ouch i t. I t is bei ng r epai red by a fr iend of m y f at her39。s of fi ce year s ago, but he is now wor ki ng at a bank. He get s a good sal ar y, but he al ways borr ows money fr om hi s fr i ends and never pays i t back. Har y saw me and cam e and sat at t he sam e t abl e. He has never bor rowed m oney f rom m e. Whil e he was eat i ng, I asked him t o lend m e amp。I have neve r borr owed any m oney fr om you,39。so now you can pay