1、opened one of the baskets. When he began to play a tune, we had our first glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the basket and began to follow the movements of the pipe. We were very much surprised when the snake charmer suddenly began to play jazz tunes and modern pop songs. The snake, however, cont
2、inued to dance slowly. It obviously could not tell the difference between Indian music and jazz! Lesson43 Over the South Pole 飞 越 南 极 In 1929, three years after his flight over the North Pole, the American explorer, R. E. Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time. Though, at fir
3、st, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountains that lay below, they soon ran into serious trouble. At one point, it seemed certain that their plane would crash. It could only get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000 feet. Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out
4、 two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet. Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole which was 300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able to fly over the endless white plains without difficu
5、lty. Lesson44 Through the forest 穿 过 森 林 Mrs Anne Sterling did not think of the risk she was taking when she ran through a forest after two men. They had rushed up to her while she was having a picnic at the edge of a forest with her children and tried to steal her handbag. In the struggle, the stra
6、p broke and, with the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees. Mrs Sterling got so angry that she ran after them. She was soon out of breath, but she continued to run. When she caught up with them, she saw that they had sat down and were going through the contents of the
7、bag, so she ran straight at them. The men got such a fright that they dropped the bag and ran away. The strap needs mending, said Mrs Sterling later, but they did not steal anything. Lesson45 A clear conscience 问 心 无 愧 The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton
8、, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post-office. Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him. Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door. It had been wrapped
9、 up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: A thief, yes, but only 5o per cent a thief! Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note: Only 25 per cent a thief now! In time, all Sams money was paid back in this way. The last no
10、te said: I am 100 per cent honest now! lesson46 Expensive and uncomfortable 既 昂 贵 又 受 罪 When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It sudde
11、nly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the
12、plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered to pay if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the t
13、ree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists have been coming from all parts of the country to see it. In spite of all that has been said, the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk. So far, no
14、t one of them has been struck down by sudden death! Lesson59 In or out ？ 进 来 还 是 出 去 ？ Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent week
15、s training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed anothe
16、r bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we
17、have not seen him since. Lesson60 The future 卜 算 未 来 At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she told me to sit down. After I had given her some money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: A relation of yours is coming to see you. S
18、he will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A woman you know well will rush towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place. That is all. As soon as I went outside, I forgot all a
19、bout Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me. Where have you been hiding ? she asked impatiently. Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her. We are late already. As she walked away, I followed her out of the fair. Lesson61 Trouble with the Hub
20、ble 哈 勃 望 远 镜 的 困 境 In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it. The ability to do this will be necessary in future flights to distant planets. Scientists are now trying to discover if this is possible. The spaceship Astra which l
21、eft the earth a short time ago, will be travelling three hundred miles into space. At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave the stationary spaceship and then return to it. We shall not know whether the experiment has been successful until we hav
22、e received a radio message. The first message is expected to arrive at 7 oclock this evening. By that time, the Astra will have been flying through space for seventeen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times. When the first radio messages have been received, the results of the trip
23、will be announced immediately. Lesson62 After the fire 大 火 之 后 Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over th
24、e desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of
25、 grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growi
26、ng there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil. Lesson63 She was not amused 她 并 不 觉 得 好 笑 Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his fine sense of humor-everybody, that is, except his six-year-old d
27、aughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Geoffreys closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing thatopened one of the baskets. When he began to play a tune, we had our first glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the basket and began to follow the movements of t
28、he pipe. We were very much surprised when the snake charmer suddenly began to play jazz tunes and modern pop songs. The snake, however, continued to dance slowly. It obviously could not tell the difference between Indian music and jazz! Lesson43 Over the South Pole 飞 越 南 极 In 1929, three years after
29、 his flight over the North Pole, the American explorer, R. E. Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time. Though, at first, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountains that lay below, they soon ran into serious trouble. At one point, it seemed cer
30、tain that their plane would crash. It could only get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000 feet. Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet. Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole whi
31、ch was 300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able to fly over the endless white plains without difficulty. Lesson44 Through the forest 穿 过 森 林 Mrs Anne Sterling did not think of the risk she was taking when she ran through a forest after two men. They had rushed
32、 up to her while she was having a picnic at the edge of a forest with her children and tried to steal her handbag. In the struggle, the strap broke and, with the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees. Mrs Sterling got so angry that she ran after them. She was soon out o
33、f breath, but she continued to run. When she caught up with them, she saw that they had sat down and were going through the contents of the bag, so she ran straight at them. The men got such a fright that they dropped the bag and ran away. The strap needs mending, said Mrs Sterling later, but they d
34、id not steal anything. Lesson45 A clear conscience 问 心 无 愧 The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post-office. Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers,
35、 but it was not returned to him. Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door. It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: A thief, yes, but only 5o per cent a thief! Two months later, som
36、e more money was sent to Sam with another note: Only 25 per cent a thief now! In time, all Sams money was paid back in this way. The last note said: I am 100 per cent honest now! lesson46 Expensive and uncomfortable 既 昂 贵 又 受 罪 When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unl
37、oad a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was
38、so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered to pay if he pic
39、ks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists have been coming from all parts of the countr
40、y to see it. In spite of all that has been said, the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk. So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden death! Lesson59 In or out ？ 进 来 还 是 出 去 ？ Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he
41、wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week,
42、 I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets h
43、im out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Lesson60 The future 卜 算 未 来 At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she
44、 told me to sit down. After I had given her some money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: A relation of yours is coming to see you. She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A woman you know well will rus
45、h towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place. That is all. As soon as I went outside, I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me. Where have you been hiding ? she asked impatiently. Your sister will be here in less than an hour and w
46、e must be at the station to meet her. We are late already. As she walked away, I followed her out of the fair. Lesson61 Trouble with the Hubble 哈 勃 望 远 镜 的 困 境 In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it. The ability to do this wi
47、ll be necessary in future flights to distant planets. Scientists are now trying to discover if this is possible. The spaceship Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will be travelling three hundred miles into space. At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut wil
48、l attempt to leave the stationary spaceship and then return to it. We shall not know whether the experiment has been successful until we have received a radio message. The first message is expected to arrive at 7 oclock this evening. By that time, the Astra will have been flying through space for se
49、venteen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times. When the first radio messages have been received, the results of the trip will be announced immediately. Lesson62 After the fire 大 火 之 后 Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the
