【正文】 hrough space f or sevent en hours and wi l have cir cl ed the eart h a gr eat many ti mes. When the f ir st r adio m essages have been r eceived, the r esult s of the tr i p wil l be announced i mmediat el y. Lesson62 Af t er the f ire 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ght ing t he for est fi r e for near ly three weeks before they coul d get i t under cont rol . A shor t ti me befor e, gr eat t rees had covered t he count r ysi de f or mil es ar ound. Now, smoke stil l rose up f rom the war m gr ound over the desol ate hi ls. Wi nter was ing on and t he hil ls thr eat ened t he sur rounding vi l ages wi th destr uct ion, for heavy r ain woul d not onl y wash away the soi l but woul d cause ser ious f loods as wel. When the f ir e had at l ast been put out, t he for est aut hor it ies or der ed several tons of a special t ype of gr assseed whi ch would gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the ground i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl ant ing seed for near ly a month when it began t o r ai n. By then, however, i n many places the grass had al ready taken r oot . I n pl ace of the gr eat t rees which had been gr owi ng there f or cent ur ies, pat ches of green had begun t o appea r in the blackened soil . Leson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof f rey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f r iends and i s ver y popular at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum or ever ybody, that is, except hi s sixyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geof f r ey39。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 In l858, a Fr ench engineer, Ai me Thome de Gam ond, ar ived i n Engl and wit h a pl an for a t went yone mi le t unnel acr oss the Engli sh Channel. He said t hat i t woul d be possi bl e t o bui ld a platf orm in the cent re of t he Channe l. Thi s pl atf or m would serve as a port and a r ail way st ation. The tunnel woul d be wel l venti lat ed if tal l chi mneys wer e bui l t above seal evel. I n 1860, a bet er pl an was put f orwar d by an Engli shm an, Wil iam Low. He suggested t hat a double r ai lway tunnel shoul d be buil t. This woul d sol ve the pr obl em of vent il ation, for i f a tr ain enter ed this t unnel , i t would dr aw i n fr esh ai r behi nd it . For ty two years later a t unnel was act ual ly begun. I f, at the t ime, t he Br i ti sh had not feared i nvasion, it woul d have been pleted. Recentl y, t her e has agai n been gr eat i nt erest i n t he idea of a Channel Tunnel. I f it i s bui lt , it wi l connect Bri tain to Eur ope for the f ir st im e in hi st ory. Leson65 Jumbo versus t he pol ice 小象對警察 Last Chr istm as, the ci rcus owner , Ji mm y Gates, decided to take som e present s to a chi ldren39。guar d of honour39。Jum bo must wei gh a f ew tons,39。so i t was for tunate t hat we di dn39。 Lesson66 Sweet as honey! 像蜜一樣甜！ The Hat held Puf fi n is a m oder n aer opl ane, but i ts designer , Mr John Wi mpenny, i s fi ndi ng it di f icult to get i t of f the gr ound. The reason for thi s is t hat t his plane i s al so a bicycle. It s pi lot has to pedal har d to get it i nto t he air . Af t er Mr Wi mpenny had t he plane buil t, it was t ested t horoughl y. In 1961, it was the f ir st m an powered air craft t o f ly half a m il e. Whil e bei ng fl own by a champion amat eur cycl ist in 1963, the pl ane cr ashed on an air fi el d. Si nce then, Mr Wi mpenny has had it r ebui lt . He has had t he length of t he wings i ncr eased so that they now m easur e 93 f eet almost as long as those of a Dakot a. Many people have shown int er est i n thi 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 may, eventual y, even get acr oss t he Engl ish Channel , i t is doubtf ul whet her t hey wi l l ever cycl e acr oss t he Atl ant ic. Leson67 Volcanoes 火山 Har oun Tazi ef f the Poli sh sci ent ist, has spent his l if e ti me studying acti ve vol canoes and deep caves i n al part s of the wor ld. In 1948, he went t o l ake Ki vu in the Congo t o observe a new vol cano whi ch he lat er named Ki tur o. Tazief f was abl e to set up his camp very cl ose t o t he vol cano whi le i t was er upti ng violentl y. Though he managed t o t ake a number of bri l iant photogr aphs, he could not stay near the volcano for very l ong. He not iced that a r iver of l iquid rock was ing towards him . It t hr eat ened t o surr ound hi m pl et ely, but Tazief f m anaged to escape j ust i n ti me. He wai ted unti l t he volcano became quiet and he was abl e to retur n two days l ater. This tim e, he m anaged to cl imb i nt o t he m out h of Ki turo so that he could take phot ogr aphs and measur e temper at ures. Tazief f has of ten r isked hi s li fe in t his way. He has been able t o t el l us more about acti ve volcanoes than any man al ive. Leson68 Persi st ent 糾纏不休 I cr ossed the str eet o avoid m eti ng him , but he saw me and came r unni ng towar ds m e. I t was no use pr etendi ng t hat I had not seen him, so I waved to hi m. I never enjoy meeti ng Bert Dykes. He never has anythi ng to do. No m at ter how busy you ar e, he al ways insists on i ng wit h you. I had t o thi nk of a way of prevent ing hi m f rom fol lowi ng me ar ound al m or ning. 39。 I sai d. 39。 Hul l o, El izabet h,39。 I was just wonder ing how t o spend t he mor ni ng unt il I saw you. You39。 39。 I answered.39。m goi ng to. . 39。 he asked, bef ore I had f ini shed speaking. ‘ Not at al l,39。but I39。 39。l l e wit h you, 39。 There39。wait ing r oom ! 39。Just one more thing, Mr Eames. Let us suppose that a chi ld suddenl y crosses t he road i n fr ont of you. As soon as I t ap on the wi ndow, I want t he car to be st opped i mmediat el y.39。Mr Eames, 39。 you have just ki l ed that chi ld ! 3