【正文】 n24 It coul d be worse 不幸中之萬幸 I ent er ed t he hot el manager 39。50 and I fel t ver y upset. 39。 I said, 39。s not there now. 39。Ever yone39。 he sai d. He st art ed to plai n about thi s wicked wor ld but was int er r upt ed by a knock at the door. A gir l came in and put an envelope on his desk. I t cont ai ned amp。I found t hi s outside t hi s gent leman39。 she said. 39。 I said t o t he manager, 39。 l esson25 Do the Engl ish speak Engli sh? 英國人講的是英語嗎？ I ar ived i n London at l ast. The r ailway st at ion was bi g, bl ack and dark. I did not know t he way to my hotel , so I asked a por ter . I not only spoke Engl ish very car ef ull y, but ver y clearl y as wel . The por ter , however, coul d not underst and m e。I am a f or eigner, 39。You39。 he sai d. I wonder . I n England, each man speaks a di f er ent l anguage. The Engli sh under st and each other, but I don39。about 39。about39。 What are you doi ng ?39。 I 39。 I answer ed. 39。s a new one. Do you li ke it ?39。 It 39。 she sai d, 39。t i t upsi de down ?39。 No Par king39。t axi39。Pi l at us Por ter 39。s fi rst pasenger was a doctor who f lew f r om Bi rm ingham to a lonely vi l age i n the Welsh mountai ns. Since t hen, Capt ain Fawcet has fl own pasenger s to m any unusual places. Once he landed on the r oof of a bl ock of f lat s and on another occasion, he landed in a deser ted car par k. Capt ain Fawcet has just r efused a st r ange r equest f rom a busi nessman. The m an wanted to fl y to Rockal , a lonely i sland in the At lanti c Ocean, but Capt ai n Fawcet t did not take him because the t ri p was too danger ous. Leson30 Foot ball or polo? 足球還是水球？ The Wayl e is a smal l r i ver t hat cut s acr oss t he par k near m y hom e. I l ike sit ti ng by the Wayl e on f ine aft ernoons. I t was war m last Sunday, so I went and sat on the r iver bank as usual. Some chil dr en were pl ayi ng games on the bank and there wer e some peopl e rowi ng on t he r i ver . Suddenl y, one of t he chi ldr en ki cked a bal l ver y har d and i t went t owar ds a passing boat. Some peopl e on t he bank cal ed out t o the m an in t he boat , but he did not hear t hem . The bal l st ruck him so har d t hat he nearl y fel l i nto t he wate r . I t urned t o look at the chil dren, but t her e weren39。s bi cycl e! Lesson32 Shopping m ade easy 購物變得很方便 People ar e not so honest as they once were. The tempt at ion t o steal is gr eater t han ever bef ore especial y i n lar ge shops. A det ect ive r ecentl y watched a wel l dr esed woman who al ways went i nto a large stor e on Monday mor ni ngs. One Monday, there wer e f ewer people i n the shop than usual when t he woman cam e in, so it was easi er f or the detecti ve to wat ch her . The woman f ir st bought a f ew smal ar ti cl es. Af ter a l it le tim e, she chose one of the most expensive dresses i n the shop and handed it t o an asi st ant who wr apped it up f or her as qui ckl y as possibl e. Then t he woman si mpl y took t he par cel and walked out of t he shop wit hout payi ng. When she was ar rested, the detect ive f ound out t hat t he shopassi st ant was her daughter . The gi rl 39。 her m ot her a f r e dr es once a week ! l esson33 O ut of t he darknes 沖出黑暗 Nearl y a week pased bef ore t he gir l was abl e t o expl ai n what had happened t o her . One aft ernoon she set out f r om t he coast i n a sm al boat and was caught i n a storm . Towar ds eveni ng, t he boat st r uck a r ock and t he gir l jum ped i nt o t he sea. Then she swam t o t he shor e af ter spendi ng t he whole ni ght i n t he wat er . Duri ng t hat ti me she cover ed a distance of ei ght mi l es. Ear l y next m or ni ng, she saw a l ight ahead. She knew she was ne ar t he shor e because t he li ght was hi gh up on t he cli f fs. On ar i vi ng at t he shor e, t he gi r l st ruggled up t he cl if f t owar ds t he li ght she had sen. That was al she r em em ber ed. When she woke up a day l at er, she found her sel f i n hospit al . Lesson34 Q uick work 破案“神速” Ted Robi nson has been worr ied al t he week. Last Tuesday he r ecei ved a let er f r om t he l ocal poli ce. I n t he l et t er he was asked t o cal l at t he st ati on. Ted wondered why he was want ed by t he poli ce, but he went t o t he st ati on yest erday and now he i s not wor ri ed any m ore. At t he st at ion, he was t ol d by a sm il ing poli cem an that hi s bicycl e had been f ound. Fi ve days ago, the poli cem an told hi m, the bi cycle was pi cked up in a smal l vi l age f our hundred m il es away. It i s now being sent t o his home by tr ai n. Ted was most surpr ised when he hear d the news. He was amused t oo, because he never expected t he bicycl e to be found. I t was stolen t went y years ago when Ted was a boy of fi ft een ! Lesson35 St op thi ef! 捉賊！ Rov Tr ent on used t o dri ve a t axi . A shor t whil e ago, however , he became a bus dr iver and he was not r egr et ted i t. He i s fi nding his new work far mor e excit ing. When he wa s dr iving al ong Cat for d Str eet r ecentl y, he saw two thieves rush out of a shop and run t owards a wai ti ng car . One of them was car ying a bag f ull of money. Roy acted quickly and dr ove the bus str ai ght at the t hieves. The one wit h t he money got such a fr ight that he dropped the bag. As the t hi eves wer e tr ying t o get away i n t hei r car , Roy dr ove his bus int o the back of it . Whil e the bat ered car was moving away, Roy st opped hi s bus and t el ephoned the pol ice. The t hieves39。 car was badl y dam aged and easy t o r ecogni ze. Shor t l y af t er war ds, t he pol i ce st opped t he car a nd bot h m en wer e t er i bl e t o be gr own up!39。t t her e ! As I was l ooki ng f or it , t he i nn keeper came i n. 39。 he asked. 39。 I answer ed, 39。t pay t he bil l. I haven39。 The i n keeper smi led and im mediat el y went out. I n a f ew mi n