【正文】 Too l ate 為時(shí)太晚 The plane was late and detecti ves wer e wai ti ng at t he ai rpor t al l morni ng. They were expect ing a val uabl e par cel of diamond f rom Sout h Af r ica. A few hour s ear li er, som eone had t ol d t he pol ice t hat thi eves woul d tr y to st eal t he di amonds. When t he plane ar ived, some of t he det ect ives were wai ti ng inside t he main buil ding whi le ot her s were wai ti ng on the ai rf ield. Two men took t he par cel of f the plane and car ri ed it i nto t he Cust oms House. Whi le two detecti ves wer e keepi ng guar d at the door, two others opened t he parcel. To t hei r sur pr ise, the pr ecious parcel was ful l of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst 最好的和最差的 Joe Sanders has t he most beaut if ul gar den in our town. Nearl y ever ybody enter s for 39。 each year , but Joe wi ns every tim e. Bi l Fr it h39。s. Bi l works harder t han Joe and grows m or e f lowers and veget abl es, but Joe39。 ti me. Fi ft een minut es passed and t hen, at f ive t o t welve, t he clock st opped. The big m inute hand did not move. We wai ted and wai ted, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted, 39。s t wo m inutes past t welve! The cl ock has stopped! 39。s. Lesson 11 One good turn deserves another 禮尚往來 I was having di nner at a restaurant when Har y Steele came i n. Har y wor ked i n a l awyer 39。2. To m y sur pri se, he gave me the m oney i mmediat el y. 39。 Har ry said, 39。 Lesson 12 Goodbye and good luck 再見，一路順風(fēng) Our nci ghbour , Capt ai n Charl es Ali son, wi l sai l fr om Por tsmouth t omorr ow. We shal meet him at he har bour ear ly i n the m orning. He wi l be i n his smal boat, Topsai l is a f amous li t le boat. It has sai led across the At lanti c many t imes. Capt ain Al ison wi l set out at ei ght o39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l l be st ayi ng for f ive days. Dur ing t hi s ti me, they wi l give f ive perf orm ances. As usual , the poli ce wil l have a di f icult t ime. They wi l be tr ying t o keep or der . It i s al ways t he same on t hese occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engli sh? 你會(huì)講英語嗎？ I had an am usi ng experi ence l ast year . Aft er I had l eft a smal vil lage i n the south of Fr ance, I dr ove on to t he next t own. On the way, a young man waved to m e. I stopped and he asked me f or a li ft . As soon as he had got into the car , I sai d good morni ng to hi m i n Fr ench and he r epl ied i n the same l anguage. Apart f rom a f ew words, I do not know any Fr ench at al . Nei ther of us spoke duri ng the j our ney. I had near ly r eached the t own, when the young man suddenly said, ver y slowl y, 39。 As I soon learnt , he was Engl ish himself ! Leson 15 Good news 佳音 The secr etar y tol d me t hat Mr. Har mswor t h would see me. I felt very ner vous when. I went i nto hi s off ice. He did not look up f r om his desk when I entered. Aft er I had sat down, he said t hat busines was very bad. He t old m e that the f ir m could not af ord to pay such large salari es. Twenty people had alr eady left . I knew that my t ur n had e. 39。 I sai d i n a weak voi ce. 39。t inter rupt, 39。100 a year ! Leson 16 A polit e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car i n the wr ong place, a t raf fi c poli ceman wi l soon fi nd it . You wi l be very l ucky i f he let s you go wit hout a t icket. However , thi s does not al ways happen. Tr af ic poli ce are someti mes ver y poli te. Duri ng a holi day in Sweden, I f ound this not e on my car: 39。 I f you r ecei ve a request l ike thi s, you cannot f ai l to obey it ! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actr es. She must be at least t hir tyf ive years ol d. I n spit e of this, she of ten appear s on the stage as a young gir l. Jennif er wil l have t o take part i n a new play soon. Thi s ti me, she wi l be a gi rl of seventeen. I n t he pl ay, she must appear i n a br ight red dr ess and long bl ack stockings . Last year in anot her play, she had t o wear short socks and a br i ght, or ange col our ed dress. If anyone ever asked her how ol d she i s, she al ways answer s, 39。 l esson18 H e oft en does t hi s! 他經(jīng)常干這種事！ Af ter I had had l unch at a vi l age i nn, I l ooked f or m y bag. I had l ef t it on a chair besi de t he door and now it wasn39。Di d you have a good m eal ?39。Yes, t hank you,39。but I can39。t got m y bag. 39。I 39。 he said 39。 Leson19 Sol d out 票已售完 39。 I sai d. 39。 Susan answer ed. 39。May I have t wo ti cket s pl ease ?39。I 39。ve sol d out ,39。What a pit y!39。Can I r et urn t hese t wo t icket s?39。Cer t ai nly,39。Coul d I have those two ti ckets pl ease ?39。Cer tainl y, 39。but t hey ar e f or next Wednesday39。I m ight as wel l have t hem ,39。You must gi ve up fi shi ng! 39。 It 39。 But they don39。m not real y i nt erested in fi shi ng. I am onl y int er est ed in si t ing i n a boat and doing nothi ng at al l ! Lesson21 Mad or not? 是不是瘋了？ Aer oplanes ar e slowl y dri vi ng me m ad. I l ive near an ai rport and pasing pl anes can be hear d night and day. The air por t was bui lt duri ng the war , but f or some reason i t coul d not be used then. Last year , however, i t came i nto use. Over a hundr ed peopl e must have been dr iven away f rom their homes by t he noi se. I am one of the f ew people l ef t. Someti mes I thi nk thi s house wi l be knocked down by a passi ng plane. I have been of fer ed a large sum of m oney t o go away, but I am det er mi ned t o stay here. Everybody says I must be mad and they are pr obably ri ght . Lesson22 A glass envel ope 玻璃信封 My daughter , Jane, never dr eam ed of r ecei vi ng a l et ter f rom a gir l of her own age in Holl and. Last year , we wer e tr avel li ng acr oss t he Channel and Jane put a pi ece of paper wi th her name and addres on it int o a bott le. She thr ew the bott le into the sea. She never thought of i t again, but ten months l ater, she received a l et ter fr om a gir l i n Hol land. Bot h gir ls wr i t