1、Geoffrey loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. He had included a large number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Geoffrey was a little disappointed by this but
2、he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadnt. Geoffrey asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峡隧道In l858, a French engineer
3、, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England with a plan for a twenty-one mile tunnel across the English Channel. He said that it would be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. This platform would serve as a port and a railway station. The tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall c
4、himneys were built above sea-level. In 1860, a better plan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. He suggested that a double railway tunnel should be built. This would solve the problem of ventilation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. Forty-two years
5、later a tunnel was actually begun. If, at the time, the British had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. Recently, there has again been great interest in the idea of a Channel Tunnel. If it is built, it will connect Britain to Europe for the first time in history.Lesson65 Jumbo versus
6、the police 小象对警察Last Christmas, the circus owner, Jimmy Gates, decided to take some presents to a childrens hospital. Dressed up as Father Christmas and accompanied by a guard of honour of six pretty girls, he set off down the main street of the city riding a baby elephant called Jumbo. He, should h
7、ave known that the police would never allow this sort of thing. A policeman approached Jimmy and told him he ought to have gone along a side-street as Jumbo was holding up the traffic. Though Jimmy agreed to go at once, Jumbo refused to move. Fifteen policemen had to push very hard to get him off th
8、e main street. The police had a difficult time, but they were most amused. Jumbo must weigh a few tons, said a policeman afterwards, so it was fortunate that we didnt have to carry him. Of course, we should arrest him, but as he has a good record, we shall let him off this time.Lesson66 Sweet as hon
9、ey! 像蜜一样甜!The Hatheld Puffin is a modern aero-plane, but its designer, Mr John Wimpenny, is finding it difficult to get it off the ground. The reason for this is that this plane is also a bicycle. Its pilot has to pedal hard to get it into the air. After Mr Wimpenny had the plane built, it was teste
10、d thoroughly. In 1961, it was the first man-powered aircraft to fly half a mile. While being flown by a champion amateur cyclist in 1963, the plane crashed on an airfield. Since then, Mr Wimpenny has had it rebuilt. He has had the length of the wings increased so that they now measure 93 feet-almost
11、 as long as those of a Dakota. Many people have shown interest in this new and unusual sport. But though air cyclists may learn how to fly over short distances, and may, eventually, even get across the English Channel, it is doubtful whether they will ever cycle across the Atlantic.Lesson67 Volcanoe
12、s 火山Haroun Tazieff the Polish scientist, has spent his life-time studying active volcanoes and deep caves in all parts of the world. In 1948, he went to lake Kivu in the Congo to observe a new volcano which he later named Kituro. Tazieff was able to set up his camp very close to the volcano while it
13、 was erupting violently. Though he managed to take a number of brilliant photographs, he could not stay near the volcano for very long. He noticed that a river of liquid rock was coming towards him. It threatened to surround him completely, but Tazieff managed to escape just in time. He waited until
14、 the volcano became quiet and he was able to return two days later. This time, he managed to climb into the mouth of Kituro so that he could take photographs and measure temperatures. Tazieff has often risked his life in this way. He has been able to tell us more about active volcanoes than any man
15、alive. Lesson68 Persistent 纠缠不休I crossed the street to avoid meeting him, but he saw me and came running towards me. It was no use pretending that I had not seen him, so I waved to him. I never enjoy meeting Bert Dykes. He never has anything to do. No matter how busy you are, he always insists on co
16、ming with you. I had to think of a way of preventing him from following me around all morning.Hullo, Bert, I said. Fancy meeting you here !Hullo, Elizabeth, Bert answered. I was just wondering how to spend the morning-until I saw you. Youre not busy doing anything, are you ? No, not at all, I answer
17、ed. Im going to. .Would you mind my coming with you ? he asked, before I had finished speaking. Not at all, I lied, but Im going to the dentist. Then Ill come with you, he answered. Theres always plenty to read in the waiting room !lesson69 But not murder! 并非谋杀!I was being tested for a driving licen
18、ce for the third time. I had been asked to drive in heavy traffic and had done so successfully. After having been instructed to drive out of town, I began to acquire confidence. Sure that I had passed, I was almost beginning to enjoy my test. The examiner must have been pleased with my performance,
19、for he smiled and said, Just one more thing, Mr Eames. Let us suppose that a child suddenly crosses the road in front of you. As soon as I tap on the window, I want the car to be stopped immediately. I continued driving and after some time, the examiner tapped loudly. Though the sound could be heard
20、 clearly, it took me a long time to react. I suddenly pressed the brake pedal hard and we were both thrown forward. The examiner looked at me sadly. Mr Eames, he said, in a mournful voice, you have just killed that child ! lesson70 Red for danger 危险的红色During a bullfight, a drunk suddenly wandered in
21、to the middle of the ring. The crowd began to shout, but the drunk was unaware of the danger. The bull was busy with the matador at the time, but it suddenly caught sight of the drunk who was shouting rude remarks and waving a red cap. Apparently sensitive to criticism, the bull forgot all about the
22、 matador and charged at the drunk. The crowd suddenly grew quiet. The drunk, however, seemed quite sure of himself. When the bull got close to him, he clumsily stepped aside to let it pass. The crowd broke into cheers and the drunk bowed. By this time, however, three men had come into the ring and t
23、hey quickly dragged the drunk to safety. Even the bull seemed to feel sorry for him, for it looked on sympathetically until the drunk was out of the way before once more turning its attention to the matador.Lesson71 A famous clock 一个著名的大钟When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is
24、 Big Ben, the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C. If the Houses of Parliament had hot been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never have been erected. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new House
25、s of Parliament were being built. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely accurate as well. Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day. On the B.B.C. you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower. Big Be
26、n has rarely gone wrong. Once, however, it failed to give the correct time. A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down ! Lesson72 A car called Bluebird “蓝鸟”汽车The great racing driver, Sir Malcolm Campbell, was the first man to drive at over
27、300 miles per hour. He set up a new world record in September 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Bluebird, the car he was driving, had been specially built for him. It was over 30 feet in length and had a 2500 horse-power engine. Although Campbell reached a speed of over 304 miles per hour, he had
28、 great difficulty in controlling the car because a tyre burst during the first run. After his attempt, Campbell was disappointed to learn that his average speed had been 299 miles per hour. However, a few days later, he was told that a mistake had been made. His average speed had been 301 miles per
29、hour. Since that time, racing drivers have reached speeds of over 400 miles an hour. Following his fathers footsteps many years later, Sir Malcolms son, Donald, also set up a world record. Like his father, he was driving a car called Bluebird.Lesson73 The record-holder 纪录保持者Little boys who play trua
30、nt from school are unimaginative. A quiet days fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far as they get. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, travelled 1600 miles. He hitch- hiked to Dover and, towards evening, went in
31、to a boat to find somewhere to sleep. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais. No one noticed the boy as he crept off. From there, he hitch-hiked to Paris in a lorry. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just
32、outside the city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of bo
33、ys who dream of evading school.Lesson74 Out of the limelight 舞台之外An ancient bus stopped by a dry river bed and a party of famous actors and actresses got off. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special precautions so that no one should recognize them. But as they soon discovered
34、, disguises can sometimes be too perfect.This is a wonderful place for a picnic, said Gloria Gleam. It couldnt be better, Gloria, Brinksley Meers agreed. No newspaper men, no film fans! Why dont we come more often ? Meanwhile, two other actors, Rockwall Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried two la
35、rge food baskets to a shady spot under some trees. When they had all made themselves comfortable, a stranger appeared. He looked very angry. Now you gut out of here, all of you! he shouted: Im sheriff here. Do you see that notice ? It says No Camping-in case you cant read ! Look, sheriff, said Rockw
36、all, dont be too hard on us. Im Rockwall Slinger and this is Merlin Greeves. Oh, is it ? said the sheriff with a sneer. Well, Im Brinksley Meers, and my other name is Gloria Gleam. Now you get out of here fast !lesson75 SOS 呼救信号When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed i
37、n the mountains and its pilot was killed. The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground. The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away. When it grew dark. she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the chi
38、ldren inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find. During the night, it got terribly cold. The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small. Early ,next morning she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how sh
39、e could send a signal. Then she had an idea. She stamped out the letters SOS in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.Lesson76 April Fools Day
40、愚人节To end our special news bulletin, said the voice of the television announcer, we are taking you to the macaroni fields of Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years. Two of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and Ricardo Brabante, tell me that they have been expec
41、ting a splendid crop this year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cart-loads of golden brownmacaroni stalks. The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this years crop before the
42、September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now. Mrs Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed. This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest : the famous Calabrian
43、 macaroni-eating competition ! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won it every year since 1961. And that ends our special bulletin for today, Thursday, April 1st. We are now returning you to the studio.Lesson77 A successful operation 一例成功的手术The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C.
44、 has just had an operation. The mummy is that of Shepenmut who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes. As there were strange marks on the X-ray plates taken of the mummy, doctors have been trying to find out whether the woman died of a rare disease. The only way to do this was to operate. The ope
45、ration, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult because of the hard resin which covered the skin. The doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it to a laboratory. They also found something which the X-ray of the god Duamutef. This god which has the head of a cow was norm
46、ally placedinside a mummy. The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation. Lesson78 The last one? 最后一枝吗?After reading an article entitled
47、Cigarette Smoking and Your Health I lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. I smoked with concentration and pleasure as I was sure that this would be my last cigarette. For a whole week I did not smoke at all and during this time, my wife suffered terribly. I had all the usual symptoms of someone giving
48、up smoking: a bad temper and an enormous appetite. My friends kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars. They made no effort to hide their amusement whenever I produced a packet of sweets from my pocket. After seven days of this I went to a party. Everybody around me was smoking and I felt extremely
49、 uncomfortable. When my old friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette, it was more than I could bear. I took one guiltily, lit it and smoked with satisfaction. My wife was delighted that things had returned to normal once more. Anyway, as Brian pointed out, it is the easiest thing in the world to give up smoking. He himself has done it lots of times! Lesson79 By air 乘飞机I used to travel by air a great deal when I was a
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