1、Lesson 1 A Puma at largePumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged t
2、o investigate, for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw a large cat only five yards away from her. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts con
3、firmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabb
4、its. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people complained of “cat-like noises at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? A
5、s no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country, this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large
6、in the quiet countryside.Lesson 2 Thirteen equals oneOur vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent e
7、ver since.One night, however, our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one oclock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torch
8、light, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.Whatever are you doing up here Bill? asked the vicar in surprise.Im trying to repair the bell, answered Bill. Ive been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you
9、 a surprise.You certainly did give me a surprise! said the vicar. Youve probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, Im glad the bell is working again.Thats the trouble, vicar, answered Bill. Its working all right, but Im afraid that at one oclock it will strike thirteen times and there
10、s nothing I can do about it.“Well get used to that, Bill, said the vicar. “Thirteen is not as good as one, but its better than nothing. Now lets go downstairs and have a cup of tea.Lesson 3 An unknown goddessSome time ago, and interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of
11、Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enjoyed a high level of civilization. Houses - often three storeys high - were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorat
12、ed walls. The city was equipped with a drainage system, for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments o
13、f fifteen statues were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C. Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C. This head must have been found in Classi
14、cal times and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips. She was wearing a full-l
15、ength skirt which swept the ground. Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.Lesson 4 The double life of Alfred Bloggs These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offi
16、ces. People who work in offices are frequently referred to as “white-collar workers for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work. Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers
17、. This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he le
18、ft home dressed in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning home at night. He took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret Alfs wife has never discovered tha
19、t she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office. He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will cal
20、l him Mr. Bloggs, not Alf.Lesson 5 The factsEditors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their reader with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the presidents palace in a new African republ
21、ic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refuse to publish it. The article began: Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the presidents palace. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out the exact number of steps and the he
22、ight of the wall.The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but the took a long time to send them Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply. He sent yet another fax infor
23、ming the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested
24、, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that the he had been arrested while ounting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the presidents palace.Lesson 6 Smash-and-grab The expensive shops
25、 in a famous near Piccadilly were just “opening. At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty. Mr. Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new display. Two of his assistants had been working busily since eight oclock and had only just finished. Diamond necklaces and rings ha
26、d been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet. After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop.The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its home blaring, roared down the arcade. It came to a stop outside the jewell
27、ers. One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stocking over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr. Taylor was upstairs. He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the a
28、rcade. One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain. The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed. Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran aft
29、er it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds.Lesson 7 Mutilated ladiesHas it ever happened to you? Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there was a large bank note in y
30、our back pocket? When you rescued your trousers, did note in your back pocket? When you rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white? People who live in Britain neednt despair when they made mistakes like this (and a lot of people do)! Fortunately for them, the Bank of England
31、has a team called Mutilated Ladies which deals with claims from people who fed their money to a machine or to their dog. Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money!A recent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fianc, John, runs a successful furniture business. John had very good day and put his wallet contain
32、ing $3,000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping. Then he and Jane went horse-riding. When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without realizing it, cooked her fiancs wallet as well. Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to
33、ash! John went to see his bank manager who sent the remains of wallet and the money to the special department of the Bank of England in Newcastle: the Mutilate Ladies! They examined the remain and John got all his money back. So long as theres something to identify, we will give people their money b
34、ack, said a spokeswoman for the Bank. Last year, we paid $1.5m on 21,000 claims. Damaged bank notes. The Queens head appears on English bank notes, and lady refers to this. Lesson 8 A famous monasteryThe Great St. Bernard Pass connects Switzerland to Italy. At 2,473 metres, it is the highest mountai
35、n pass in Europe. The famous monastery of St. Bernard, witch was founded in eleventh century, lies about a mile away. For hundreds of years, St. Bernard dogs have saved the lives of travellers crossing the dangerous Pass. These friendly dogs, which were first brought from Asia, were used as watchdog
36、s even in Roman times. Now that a tunnel ahs been built through the mountains, the Pass is less dangerous, but each year, the dogs are still sent out into the snow whenever a traveller is in difficulty. Despite the new tunnel, there are still a few people who rashly attempt to cross the Pass on foot
37、.During the summer months, the monastery is very busy, for it is visited by thousands of people who cross the Pass in cars. As there are so many people about, the dogs have to be kept in a special enclosure. In winter, however, life at the monastery is quite different. The temperature drops to - 30
38、o and very few people attempt to cross the Pass. The monks prefer winter to summer of they have more privacy. The dogs have greater freedom, too, for they are allowed to wander outside their enclosure. The only regular visitors to the monastery in winter are parties of skiers who go there at Christm
39、as and Easter. These young people, who love the peace of mountains, always receive a warm welcome at St. Bernards monastery.Lesson 9 Flying cats Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well. They
40、never become submissive like dogs and horses. As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence. Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives. One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives. Apparently, there is a good deal
41、 of truth in this idea. A cats ability to survive falls is based on fact.Recently the New York Animal Medical Center made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months. All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injur
42、ies. Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings. There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth. Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers. a d
43、octor said. It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels. This increases their air-resistance and
44、reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.Lesson 10 The loss of the Titanic The great ship, Titanic, sailed for New York from Southampton on April 10th, 1912. She was carrying 1,316 passengers and crew of 891. Even by modern standards, the 46,000 ton Titanic was a colossal ship. At the ti
45、me, however, she was not only the largest ship that had ever been built, but was regarded as unsinkable, for she had sixteen watertight compartments. Even if two of these were flooded, she would still be able to float. The tragic sinking of this great liner will always be remembered, for she went do
46、wn on her first voyage with heavy loss of life.Four days after setting out, while the Titanic was sailing across the icy water of the North Atlantic, huge iceberg was suddenly spotted by a lookout. After the alarm had been given, the great ship turned sharply to avoid a direct collision. The Titanic
47、 turned just in time, narrowly missing the immense walk of ice which rose over 100 feet out of the water beside her. Suddenly, there was a slight trembling sound from below, and the captain went down to see what had happened. The noise had been so faint that no one though that the ship had been dama
48、ged. Below, the captain realized to his horror that the Titanic was sinking rapidly, for five of her sixteen watertight compartments had already been flooded! The order to abandon ship was given and hundreds of people plunged into the icy water. As there were not enough lifeboats for everybody, 1,50
49、0 live were lost.Lesson 11 Not guilty Customs Officers are quite tolerant these days, but they can still stop you when you are going through the Green Channel and have nothing to declare. Even really honest people are often made to feel guilty. The hardened professional smuggler, on the other hand, is never troubled by such feelings, even if he has five hundred gold watches hidden in his suitcase. When I returned form abroad recently, a particularly officious young Customs Officer clearly regarded me as a
