【正文】 as begun earl ier t han usual . Here you can se two wor kers who, between them, ha ve just f i ni shed cutt ing t hree cart l oads of golden brown m acar oni stalks. The whole vi lage has been wor king day and night gat her ing and t hreshi ng thi s year 39。 Lesson77 A sucessf ul operati on 一例成功的手術(shù) The m um my of an Egypti an woman who died i n 800 B. C. has j ust had an oper at ion. The mumm y is t hat of Shepenmut who was once a singer in t he Tem ple of Thebes. As ther e we re str ange marks on t he Xr ay plates t aken of the m ummy, doct ors have been t ryi ng to f ind out whether the wom an di ed of a rar e dis ease. The onl y way t o do thi s was to operat e. The operati on, whi ch lasted f or over four hours, pr oved to be very di f fi cul t be cause of the har d resin whi ch cover ed the skin. The doct or s r em oved a section of t he m um m y and sent it t o a l abor at ory. They al so found something whi ch the X r ay of t he god Duamutef. Thi s god which has the head of a cow was normal ly pl aced i nside a mummy. The doct ors have not yet deci ded how the wom an di ed. They f ear ed that the mumm y would fal t o pieces when the y cut i t open, but f ort unat el y thi s has not happened. The mum m y successf ul l y sur vi ved t he oper at i on. Lesson78 The l ast one? 最后一枝嗎？ Af t er r eadi ng an ar t i cl e ent i t l ed 39。 I l i t a ci gar et t e t o cal m m y ner ves. I sm oked wi t h conc ent r at i on and pl easur e as I was sur e t hat t hi s woul d be m y l ast ci gar et t e. For a whol e week I di d not sm oke at al l and dur i ng t hi s t i m e, m y wi f e suf f er ed t er r i bl y. I had al l t he usual sym pt om s of som eone gi vi ng up sm oki ng: a bad t em per hi de gol d. The pir ates would of ten bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making the asist ant bri ng almost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inaly buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for. Lesson58 A blessi ng i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d to possess a 39。. Because the t ree was m ent ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now increased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone touches t he tr e, he wil l have bad l uck。A relat ion of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l l be ar ri ving t hi s eveni ng and i ntends to st ay for a f ew days. The moment you leave this t ent , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A woman you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l l speak to you and t hen she wi l lead you away f rom this pl ace. That i s al .39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。Your si st er wil l be her e in les than an hour and we must be at the stati on to meet her. We are late al ready. 39。cl ock this evening. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l have cir cled t he ear th a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of the t ri p wi l be announced im medi ately. Leson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fir emen had been f ight ing t he for est fi re f or near ly t hree weeks bef ore t hey coul d get i t under cont rol . A shor t ti me befor e, gr eat tr ees had covered t he countr ysi de for mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm ground over t he desolat e hil s. Wint er was i ng on and the hi l l s t hreatened the surr ounding vi l ages wi th destr uct ion, for heavy rain woul d not onl y wash away the soil but would cause seri ous f loods as wel . When the f ir e had at last been put out , t he for est authori ti es or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr as seed which woul d grow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the gr ound i n huge quant it es by aer opl anes. The planes had been pla nti ng seed f or nearl y a mont h when it began to r ain. By t hen, however , i n many places the gr ass had alr eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he great r es whi ch had been growi ng there for cent uri es, pat ches of green had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a large ci rcle of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him for hi s fi ne sense of humor ever ybody, that is, except hi s si xyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff rey39。t . Geoff rey asked her why t his was so and she told hi m that she did not l ike t o se so m any people l aughing at him ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l858, a French engi neer , Aim e Thom e de Gamond, ar ri ved in England wi th a plan f or a twenty one m il e tunnel across the Engl ish Channel. He sai d that it would be possible t o buil d a plat for m i n t he centr e of the Channel . Thi s plat form would ser ve as a por t and a rail way stati on. The t unnel would be wel vent il ated if t al chimneys were bui lt above sea level. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put f orwar d by an Engli shman, Wi l iam Low. He suggest ed that a doubl e rai lway t unnel should be bui lt . Thi s woul d sol ve the pr obl em of ventil ati on, f or i f a tr ain ent er ed thi s tunnel , it would dr aw i n f resh air behi nd it . For ty two year s later a t unnel was act ual ly begun. I f, at the t im e, t he Bri ti sh had not f ear ed invasi on, it woul d have been pleted. Recentl y, there has agai n been gr eat i nterest in t he idea of a Channel Tunnel . I f it i s built , it wi l connect Bri tain to Eur ope for the f ir st ti me in history. Leson65 Jumbo versus t he poli ce 小象對警察 Last Chri stmas, the cir cus owner , Jim my Gat es, deci ded to t ake some pr esents t o a chil dr en39。guard of honour 39。Jum bo must wei gh a f ew t