1、A few cars, however, completed the race. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour-much faster than any of its rivals. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. It was very different fr
2、om modern car races but no less exciting. Lesson57 Can I help you, madam? 你要买什么，夫人？ A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop. Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant who served her did not like the wa
3、y she was dressed. Glancing at her scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other
4、. After seeking out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, the woman said s many ties. And a woman cant have too many ha
5、ts, she answered. Ten minutes later we walked out of the shop together. My wife was wearing a hat that looked like a lighthouse ! Lesson42 Not very musical 并非很懂音乐 As we had had a long walk through one of the markets of Old Delhi, we stopped at a square to have a rest. After a time, we noticed a snak
6、e-charmer with two large baskets at the other side of the square, so we went to have a look at him. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe which was covered with coins and 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 baske
7、t 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, continued to dance slowly. It obviously could not tell the difference between Indian music and jazz! Lesson43 Over the South
8、 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 first, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountains that lay below, they soon ran into serious
9、 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 two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet. Byrd now knew that he woul
10、d 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 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 for
11、est 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 strap broke and, with the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees. Mrs Sterling got so angry that she
12、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 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, s
13、aid 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, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post-office. Sam was sure that the wallet must have been
14、 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 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
15、 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 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 air
16、port, 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 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
17、 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 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 wa
18、s ordered to pay &345 for the cost of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is &230 ! Lesson47 A thirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night
19、because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whis
20、ky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Did you want to tell me something? 你想对我说什
21、么吗？ Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had just pulled out one of my teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton-wool. He knew I collected birds eggs and asked me whether my collection was growing
22、. He then asked me how my brother was and whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the denti
23、st at last removed the cotton-wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美梦告终 Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real bed. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of
24、a bed which had springs and a mattress. Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his house. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below. The
25、 young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still on the mattress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into
26、 his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again. Lesson50 Taken for a ride 乘车兜风 I love travelling in the country, but I dont like losing my way. I went on an excursion recently, but my trip took me longer than I expected. Im going to Woodford Green, I said to the conduc
27、tor as I got on the bus, but I dont know where it is. Ill tell you where to get off, answered the conductor. I sat in the front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside. After some time, the bus stopped. Looking round, I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on the bus. Yo
28、ull have to get off here, the conductor said. This is as far as we go. Is this Woodford Green ? I asked. Oh dear, said the conductor suddenly. I forgot to put you off. It doesnt matter, I said. Ill get off here. We are going back now, said the conductor. Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the b
29、us, I answered. Lesson51 Reward for virtue 对美德的奖赏 My friend, Herbert, has always been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden. The list included most of the things
30、Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room and hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious that he was very embarra
31、ssed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained that his diet was so strict that he had to reward himself occasionally. Then he showed me the contents of the parcel. It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweets! Les
32、son52 A pretty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been trying to get my new room in order. This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on
33、 the floor. At the moment, they cover every inch of floor space and I actually have to walk on them to get in or out of the room. A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the fl
34、oor. This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen, she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, You dont need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet! Lesson53 Hot snake 触电的蛇 At last firemen have put out a big forest fireA few cars, however, completed the ra
35、ce. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour-much faster than any of its rivals. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of pleasure. It was very different from modern car races but no less excit
36、ing. Lesson57 Can I help you, madam? 你要买什么，夫人？ A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop. Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant who served her did not like the way she was dressed. Glancing at her sc
37、ornfully, he told her that the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other. After seeking out the rude assistan
38、t she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, the woman said s many ties. And a woman cant have too many hats, she answered. Ten minutes later w
39、e walked out of the shop together. My wife was wearing a hat that looked like a lighthouse ! Lesson42 Not very musical 并非很懂音乐 As we had had a long walk through one of the markets of Old Delhi, we stopped at a square to have a rest. After a time, we noticed a snake-charmer with two large baskets at t
40、he other side of the square, so we went to have a look at him. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe which was covered with coins and 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 o
41、f the 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
42、 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
43、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
44、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 up
45、 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 of b
46、reath, 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 did
47、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, but i
48、t 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, some more
49、 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 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 suddenly occurred to one of the
