【正文】 el oped. It was m ai nly f or this reason t hat t he Brazil ian gover nment decided t o have a new city bui lt 600 mi les nort hwest of Ri o de Janei ro. Designed by the gr eat archit ect Lucio Costa, the new ci ty, Br asil ia, r epl aced Ri o de Janeir o as the capit al of Br azi f in 1960. Br asil a has been caref ul ly pl anned f or moder n l iving. It s wi de roads, whi ch can t ake f ourt en l anes of t raf ic, have been kept away f rom li ving ar eas. Chi ldr en do not have to cr oss busy str et s to go to school . Housewives can visit shoppi ng centr es on foot , f or in t hese speci al ly designed li ving ar eas, car s ar e unnecesary. At f ir st , the gover nment had gr eat dif fi culty in per suading peopl e to leave Rio and t o set tl e in Brasil ia. Since 1960, however , t he popul at ion has been growi ng al l the t ime. Br asi lia has quickly establ ished i tself as the capit al of t he countr y. The i dea t o have t he capi tal moved so far inl and wi l l have a gr eat ef ect on t he fut ur e of Br azil . Lesson91 Three m en in a basket 三人同籃 A pil ot not iced a baloon whi ch seemed t o be making f or a Royal Ai r Force St at ion nearby. He inf orm ed the stati on at once, but no one there was abl e to explai n the m yst er y. The of fi cer i n t he contr ol tower was ver y angry when he heard the news, because baloons can be a great danger to ai rcraf t. He said t hat someone might by spyi ng on the st at ion and t he pi lot was order ed to keep tr ack of t he str ange object. The pil ot m anaged to ci rcl e the bal oon for som e ti me. He coul d make out thr e m en in a basket under it and one of t hem was holding fi el dglasses. When t he bal loon was over t he st ati on, t he pi lot saw one of the men t aki ng phot ographs. Soon aft er wards, the bal oon began to descend and i t landed near an air fi el d. The pol ice were cal led in, but they coul d not ar rest anyone, f or the basket cont ai ned two Members of Parl iament and the Comm anding Of icer of the stati on! As the Com m andi ng Of f icer expl ai ned later , one half of the st at ion di d not know what t he ot her hal f was doi ng ! Lesson92 Aski ng for t roubl e 自找麻煩 I t must have been about two in t he mor ni ng when I ret ur ned home. I t ri ed to wake up my wi fe by ri ngi ng the door bel l, but she was f ast asleep, so I got a ladder f rom the shed in the garden, put it against he wal , and began cli mbing t owar ds the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sar casti c voi ce bel ow said,39。 I don39。t thi nk the wi ndows need cleaning at this tim e of the night .39。 I looked down and nearl y f el l off t he ladder when I saw a pol icem an. I i mmediatel y regr et ted answer ing i n t he way I did, but I said, 39。I enjoy cleaning wi ndows at ni ght .39。 39。So do I ,39。 answer ed the poli cem an in t he same tone. 39。Excuse my i nter upti ng you. I hate t o int er rupt a man when he39。s busy wor ki ng, but would you m ind i ng wit h me to t he st ation ?39。 39。Wel l, I 39。d pr ef er to st ay her e, 39。 I said. 39。You see, I39。ve f ott en my key.39。 39。Your what ?39。 he cal ed. 39。My key, 39。 I shouted.39。 For t unatel y, t he shouti ng woke up m y wi f e who opened t he wi ndow just as t he pol iceman had start ed to cl imb towar ds m e. Lesson93 A nobl e gif t 崇高的禮物 One of the m ost f am ous m onum ent s in t he worl d, the Stat ue of Li ber ty, was pr esent ed to the Uni ted Stat es of Am er ica i n t he ni eent h cent ury by t he peopl e of Fr ance. The great st at ue, whi ch was desi gned by t he sculpt or Auguste Bar tholdi , took ten years t o plete. The act ual f igur e was made of copper support ed by a metal fr amework which had been especi al ly constr uct ed by Eif fel . Bef ore i t coul d be tr ansport ed to t he Unit ed States, a si te had t o be f ound f or it and a pedestal had to be bui lt. The sit e chosen was an i sl and at t he ent rance of New Yor k Harbour. By 1884, a statue whi ch was 151 feet tal , had been erected i n Par is. The f ol lowi ng year , it was taken to pi eces and sent t o Amer ica. By the end of October 1886, the stat ue had been put toget her again and i t was of f icial y present ed to the Am er ican peopl e by Bart holdi. Ever si nce then, t he great monument has been a symbol of l ibert y f or the m i l l i ons of people who have passed t hrough New Yor k Har bour t o make their homes i n Amer ica. Lesson94 Fut ure champi ons 未來的冠軍 Exper im ent s have pr oved t hat chil dren can be instr uct ed in swi mmi ng at a ver y earl y age. At a speci al swi mmi ng pool i n Los Angel es, chil dr en bee expert at hol ding t hei r breath under wat er even befor e they can walk. Babies of two months old do not appear to be reluctant to ent er t he water , I t is not long befor e they are so accust omed to swi mmi ng that they can pick up wei ght s fr om the f loor of t he pool . A game t hat i s ver y popul ar wit h t hese young swi mmer s is t he under wat er tr icycl e r ace. Tri cycles ar e li ned up on the f loor of the pool seven feet under water. The chil dren pete agai nst each other to r each t he other end of t he pool . Many pedal their t ri cycl es, but m ost of them pr efer to push or drag t hem . Som e chi ldr en can cover t he whole l engt h of the pool wit hout ing up for breath even once. Whet her t hey wil l ever bee f utur e Ol ym pi c cham pions, only tim e wi l tel l. Meanwhi l e, t hey should encour age those am ong us who cannot swi m fi ve yar ds bef ore t hey ar e gaspi ng for air . Lesson95 A f ant asy 純屬虛構(gòu) When t he Ambassador of Escalopia r etur ned home f or lunch, hi s wif e got a shock. He looked pal e and his clot hes wer e in a fr ight ful st ate. 39。What has happened ?39。 she asked. 39。How did your clothes get into such a mess ?39。 39。A f ir e exti nguisher, my dear ,39。 answered t he Ambassador dr il y. 39。Universi ty students set he Embasy on f