1、Lesson 1 A private conversationLast week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned round. I looked at the ma
2、n and the woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned round again. I cant hear a word! I said angrily.Its none of your business, the young man said rudely. This is a private conversation!Lesson 2 Breakfast or lunch?It was Sunday. I never get up early on S
3、undays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunchtime. Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked out of the window. It was dark outside. What a day! I thought. Its raining again. Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy. Ive just arrived by train, she said. Im coming to see you.But Im still havin
4、g breakfast, I said.What are you doing? she asked.Im having breakfast, I repeated.Dear me, she said. Do you always get up so late? Its one oclock!Lesson 3 Please send me a card Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited museums and sat in public gardens. A friendly w
5、aiter taught me a few words of Italian. Then he lent me a book. I read a few lines, but I did not understand a word. Everyday I thought about postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send cards to my friends. On the last day I made a big decision. I got up early and bought thirty-seven c
6、ards. I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single card!Lesson 4 An exciting tripI have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australia. He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has already visited a great number of d
7、ifferent places in Australia. He has just bought an Australian car and has gone to Alice springs, a small town in the centre of Australia. He will soon visit Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before, so he is fending this trip very exciting. Lesson 5 No wrong
8、 numbers Mr.James Scott has a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought another garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr. Scott cannot get a telephone for his new garage, so he has just bought twelve pigeons. Yesterday, a pigeon carried the first message from Pinhurst
9、to Silbury. The bird covered the distance in three minutes. Up to now, Mr.Scott has sent a great many requests for spare parts and other urgent messages from one garage to the other. In this way, he has begun his own private telephone service. Lesson 6 Percy Buttons I have just moved to a house in B
10、ridge Street. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my door. He asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In return for this, the beggar stood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour told m
11、e about him. Everybody knows him. His name is Percy Buttons. He calls at every house in the street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer. Lesson 7 Too late The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning. They were expecting a valuable parcel of diamon
12、ds from South Africa. A few hours earlier, someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were waiting on the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the plane and carried it in
13、to the Customs House. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand! Lesson 8 The best and the worst Joe Sanders has the most beautiful garden in our town. Nearly everybody enters for The Nicest G
14、arden Competition each year, but Joe wins every time. Bill Friths garden is larger than Joes. Bill works harder than Joe and grows more flowers and vegetables, but Joes garden is more interesting. He has made neat paths and has built a wooden bridge over a pool. I like gardens too, but I do not like
15、 hard work. Every year I enter for the garden competition too, and I always win a little prize for the worst garden in the town!Lesson 9 A cold welcome On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock.
16、It would strike twelve in twenty minutes time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big minute hand did not move. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted. Its two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped! I looked at my watch. It w
17、as true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Year. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing. Lesson 10 Not for jazz We have an old musical instrument. It is called a clavichord. It was made in Germany in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in the living room. It has belonged to our family for
18、 a long time. The instrument was bought by my grandfather many years ago. Recently it was damaged by a visitor. She tried to play jazz on it! She struck the keys too hard and two of the strings were broken. My father was shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch it. It is being repaired by a friend o
19、f my fathers. Lesson 11 One good turn deserves another I was having dinner at a restaurant when Tony Steele came in. Tony worked in a lawyers office years ago, but he is now working at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he always borrows money from his friends and never pays it back. Tony saw me and
20、 came and sat at the same table. He has never borrowed money from me. While he was eating, I asked him to lend me twenty pounds. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately. I have never borrowed any money from you, Tony said, so now you can pay for my dinner!Lesson 12 Goodbye and good luck Our
21、 neighbour, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. Well meet him at the harbour early in the morning. He will be in his small boat, Topsail. Topsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atlantic many times. Captain Alison will set out at eight oclock, so well have p
22、lenty of time. Well see his boat and then well say goodbye to him. He will be away for two months. We are very proud of him. He will take part in an important race across the Atlantic. Lesson 13 The Greenwood Boys The Greenwood Boys are a group of pop singers. At present, they are visiting all parts
23、 of the country. They will be arriving here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the young people in the town will be meeting them at the station. Tomorrow evening they will be singing at the Workers Club. The Greenwood Boys will be staying for five days. During this time, they will gi
24、ve five performances. As usual, the police will have a difficult time. They will be trying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions. Lesson 14 Do you speak English? I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next t
25、own. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly
26、reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, “Do you speak English? As I soon learnt, he was English himself!Lesson 15 Good news The secretary told me that Mr. Harmsworth would see me. I felt very nervous when I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk when I entere
27、d. After I had sat down, he said that business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come.Mr.Harmsworth, I said in a weak voice.Dont interrupt, he said.Then he smiled and told me I would receive an
28、extra thousand pounds a year! Lesson 16 A polite request If you park your car in the wrong place, a traffic policeman will soon find it. You will be very lucky if he lets you go without a ticket. However, this does not always happen. Traffic police are sometimes very polite. During a holiday in Swed
29、en, I found this note on my car: sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a “No Parking“ area. You will enjoy your stay here if you pay attention to our street signs. This note is only a reminder. If you receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it!Lesson 17 Always young My aunt Jennifer
30、is an actress. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this, she often appears on the stage as a young girl. Jennifer will have to take part in a new play soon. This time, she will be a girl of seventeen. In the play, she must appear in a bright red dress and long black stockings. La
31、st year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bright, orange-coloured dress. If anyone ever asks her how old she is, she always answers, Darling, it must be terrible to be grown up!Lesson 18 He often does this! After I had had lunch at a village pub, I looked for my bag. I had left it o
32、n a chair beside the door and now it wasnt there! As I was looking for it, the landlord came in.Did you have a good meal?“ he asked.Yes, thank you, I answered, but I cant pay the bill. I havent got my bag.The landlord smiled and immediately went out. In a few minutes he returned with my bag and gave
33、 it back to me.Im very sorry, he said. My dog had taken in into the garden. He often does this!Lesson 19 Sold out The play may begin at any moment, I said.It may have begun already, Susan answered.I hurried to the ticket office. May I have two tickets please? I asked.Im sorry, weve sold out, the gir
34、l said.What a pity! Susan exclaimed.Just then, a man hurried to the ticket office.Can I return these two tickets? he asked.Certainly, the girl said.I went back to the ticket office at once.Could I have those two tickets please? I asked.Certainly, the girl said, but theyre for next Wednesdays perform
35、ance. Do you still want them?I might as well have them, I said sadly.Lesson 20 One man in a boat Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anything. But this does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. Instead of catching fish, they catch old boots and rubbish. I am e
36、ven less lucky. I never catch anything - not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the river, I always go home with an empty bag. You must give up fishing! my friends say. Its a waste of time. But they dont realize one important thing. Im not really interested in fishing. I am only in
37、terested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all! Lesson 21 Mad or not? Aeroplanes are slowly driving me mad. I live near an airport and passing planes can be heard night and day. The airport was built years ago, but for some reason it could not be used then. Last year, however, it came into u
38、se. Over a hundred people must have been driven away from their homes by the noise. I am one of the few people left. Sometimes I think this house will be knocked down by a passing plane. I have been offered a large sum of money to go away, but I am determined to stay here. Everybody says I must be m
39、ad and they are probably right. Lesson 22 A glass envelope My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland. Last year, we were travelling across the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her name and address on it into a bottle. She threw the bottle
40、into the sea. She never thought of it again, but ten months later, she received a letter from a girl in Holland. Both girls write to each other regularly now. However, they have decided to use the post office. Letters will cost a little more, but they will certainly travel faster. Lesson 23 A new ho
41、use I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. Work on it had begun before my sister left. The house was completed f
42、ive months ago. In my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. It is a very modern house, so it looks strange to some people. It must be the only modern house in the district. Lesson 24 If could be worse I entered the hotel managers
43、 office and sat down. I had just lost $50 and I felt very upset. I left the money in my room, I said, and its not there now. The manager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing. Everyones losing money these days, he said. He started to complain about this wicked world but was interrupted by a knock
44、 at the door. A girl came in and put an envelope on his desk. It contained $50. I found this outside this gentlemans room, she said. Well, I said to the manager, there is still some honesty in this world! Lesson 25 Do the English speak English? I arrived in London at last. The railway station was bi
45、g, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not understand me. I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. he answered me, but he spoke neither slowly nor
46、 clearly. I am a foreigner, I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smiled. Then he said something and I understood it. Youll soon learn English! he said. I wonder. In England, each person speak
47、s a different language. The English understand each other, but I dont understand them! Do they speak English? Lesson 26 The best art critics I am an art student and I paint a lot of pictures. Many people pretend that they understand modern art. They always tell you what a picture is about. Of course
48、, many pictures are not about anything. They are just pretty patterns. We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material. I think that young children often appreciate modern pictures better than anyone else. They notice more. My sister is only seven, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not. She came into my room yesterday.What are you doing? she asked. Im hanging this picture on the wall, I answered. Its a new one. Do you like it?She looked at it critically for a moment. Its all right, she said, but isnt it upside down?I l
