Lesson 46: 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 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 woolen 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 eighteen hours. The man was ordered to pay $3,500 for the cost of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is $2,000!
当一架来自伦敦的飞机抵达悉尼机场时，工人们开始卸下装有服装的一批木箱。其中有只箱子特别重，可谁也弄不清是怎么回事。突然一个工人想到打开箱子看看。看到的情景使吃惊，箱内有一个人正躺在一堆毛织品之上。他由于被人发现而感到非常吃惊，甚至都没有企图逃跑。此人被逮捕后，承认他是在飞机离开伦敦前躲进箱里的。他经历了一次漫长而又难受的旅程，因为他在那木箱里闷了18个多小时。此人被责令交付旅费3,500英镑，而正常票价是2,000英镑！
Lesson 48:Did you want to tell me something?
你想对我说什么吗？
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 match boxes and asked me whether my collection was growing. 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 dentist at last removed the cotton wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth.
牙科医生们总是在你无法作出回答的时候向你提出问题。我的牙科医生刚刚给我拔掉了一颗牙，叫我休息一会儿。我想说点什么，但我嘴里塞满了药棉。他知道我收集火柴盒，于是问我收藏的米柴盒是否在增加。接着他又问我的兄弟近来如何，问我是否喜欢伦敦的新工作。作为对这些问题的回答，我不是点头，就是发出奇怪的声音。与此同时，我的舌头正在忙着寻找刚拔掉的那颗牙的伤口。我突然非常着急起来，但却什么也说不出来。当那位牙医最后将药棉从我嘴中取出时，我总算有可能告诉他，他拔错了牙。
Lesson 49:The end of a dream
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 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 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 his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again.
德黑兰的一个人年轻人由于对睡地板感到厌倦，于是积蓄多年买了一张真正的床。他平生第一次自豪地拥有了一张既有弹簧又带床垫的床。由于天气很热，他便把床搬到了他的屋顶上。头两天晚上，他睡得非常好。但第三天晚上起了风暴。一阵大风把床从屋顶上刮了下来，把它摔碎在下面的院子里。那年轻人直到床撞到地上才醒了过来。尽管床摔成了碎片，但年轻人却奇迹地没有受伤。他醒来时，仍然躺在床垫上。年轻人看了一眼周围的碎木片和碎金属片，伤心地捡起了床垫，把它拿进了屋。他把床垫往地板上一放，很快又睡着了。
Lesson 52: 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 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 floor. 'This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen,' she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, 'You don't need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!'
我们刚刚搬进一所新房子，我辛辛苦苦地干了整整一个上午。我试图把我的新房间收拾整齐，但这并不容易，因为我有1,000多本书。更糟糕的是房间还非常小，所以我暂时把书放在了地板上。这会儿，书把地板的每一点空隙都占据了，我实际上是踩着这些书进出房间的。几分钟前，我妹妹帮我把一个旧书橱抬上了楼。她走进我的房间，当她看到地板上的那些书时，大吃一惊。“这是我见过的最漂亮的地毯，”她说。她盯着“地毯”看了一会儿，又说：“你根本用不着书橱，空闲时你可以坐在这儿读地毯！”
Lesson 56:Faster than sound! 比声音还快！
Once a year, a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it began. One of the most handsome cars was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The most unusual car was a Benz which had only three wheels. Built in 1885, it was the oldest car taking part. After a great many loud explosions, the race began. Many of the cars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more time under their cars than in them! 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 from modern car races but no less exciting.
旧式汽车的比赛每年举行一次。去年有很多汽车参加了这项比赛。比赛开始之前，人们异常激动。最漂亮的汽车之一是罗尔斯--罗伊斯生产的银鬼汽车，而最不寻常的一辆则要属只有3只轮子的奔驰牌汽车了。该车造于1885年，是参赛车中最老的一辆。在好一阵喧闹的爆炸声之后，比赛开始了。很多汽车在途中就抛了锚，而有些驾驶员花在汽车底下的时间比坐在汽车里面的时间还长。然而还是有几辆汽车跑完了全程。获胜的那辆车达到了时速40英里--远远超过任何对手。它在接近终点时，冲下了山坡，驾驶员费了好大劲才把车停下来。这次比赛使每个人都挺开心。它虽然与现代汽车比赛大不相同，但激动人心的程度并不亚于现代化汽车大赛。
Lesson 63 She was not amused她并不觉得好笑
Jeremy Hampden has a large circle of friends and if very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his great sense of humour -- everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Jeremy's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Jeremy 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. Jeremy was a little disappointed by this but 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 hadn't. Jeremy asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!
杰里米.汉普登交际甚广，是各种聚会上深受大家欢迎的人。人人都钦佩他那绝妙的幽默感 -- 人人，就是说，除他6岁的女儿珍妮之外的每一个人。最近，杰里米的一个最亲密的朋友请他在一个婚礼上祝词。这正是杰里米喜欢做的事情。他认真准备了讲稿，带着珍妮一道去参加了婚礼。他的祝词里面加进了大量逗人的故事，自然大获成功。他刚一讲完，珍妮就对他说她要回家。这不免使杰里米有点扫兴，但他还是按照女儿的要求做了。在回家的路上，他问珍妮是否喜欢他的祝词。使他吃惊的是，她说她不喜欢。杰里米问他为何不喜欢，她说她不愿意看到那么多的人嘲笑他！
Lesson 65
Jumbo versus the police
小象对警察
Last Christmas, the circus owner, Jimmy Gates, decided to take some presents to a children's 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 have 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 the 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 didn't have to carry him. Of course, we should arrest him, but as he has a good record, we shall let him off this time.'
去年圣诞节，马戏团老板吉米.盖茨决定送些礼物给儿童医院。他打扮成圣诞老人，在由6个漂亮姑娘组成的“仪仗队”的陪同下，骑上一头名叫江伯的小象，沿着城里的主要街道出发了。他本该知道警察绝不会允许这类事情发生。一个警察走过来告诉吉米，他应该走一条小路，因为江泊阻碍了交通。虽然吉米同意马上就走，但江伯却拒绝移动。15个警察不得不用很大的力气把它推离主要街道。警察虽然吃了苦头，但他们还是感到很有趣。“江伯一定有好几吨重，”一个警察事后这样说，“值得庆幸的是它没让我们抬它走。当然，我们应该逮捕它，但由于它一贯表现很好，这次我们饶了它。”
Lesson 69
The car race
汽车比赛
Listen to the tape then answer this question. Which car was the winner in 1995?
听录音，然后回答问题。哪辆车在1995年的比赛中获胜？
There is a car race near our town every year. In 1995, there was a very big race.
There were hundreds of people there. My wife and I were at the race. Our friends Julie and Jack were there, too. You can see us in the crowd. We are standing on the left.
There were twenty cars in the race. There were English cars, French cares, German cars. Italian cars. American cars and Japanese cars.
It was an exciting finish. The winner was Billy Stewart. He was in car number fifteen. Five other cars were just behind him.
On the way home, my wife said to me, 'Don't drive so quickly! You're not Billy Stewart!'
参考译文
在我们镇子附近每年都有一场汽车比赛。1995年举行了一次盛大的比赛。
许许多多人都去了赛场。我和我的妻子也去了。我们的朋友朱莉和杰克也去了。你可以在人群中看到我们。我们站在左面。
参加比赛的有20辆汽车。有英国、法国、德国、意大利和日本的汽车。
比赛的结尾是激动人心的。获胜者是比利.斯图尔特。他在第15号车里，其他5辆汽车跟在他后面。
在回家的途中，我妻子对我说：“别开得这样快！你可不是比利.斯图尔特！”
Lesson 71
He's awful!
他讨厌透了！
JANE: What's Ron Marston like,
Pauline?
PAULINE: He's awful!
He telephoned me four times
Yesterday, and three times
the day before yesterday.
PAULINE: He telephoned the office
yesterday morning and
yesterday afternoon.
My boss answered the telephone.
JANE: What did your boss say to him?
PAULINE: He said, "Pauline is typing
typing letters. She can't
speak to you now!"
PAULINE: Then I arrived home
at six o'clock yesterday
evening. He telephoned again.
But I didn't answer the phone!
JANE: Did he telephone again
last night?
PAULINE: Yes, he did.
He telephoned at nine o'clock.
JANE: What did you say to him?
PAULINE: I said, 'This is Pauline's
mother. Please don't telephone
my daughter again!'
JANE: Did he telephone again?
PAULINE: No, he didn't!
参考译文
简：波淋，朗.马顿是怎样一个人？
波淋：他讨厌透了！他昨天给我打了4次电话 前天打了3次。
波淋：他昨天上午和下午把电话打到了我的 办公室，是我的老板接的。
简：你老板是怎么对他说的？波淋：他说：“波淋正在打信，她现在不能 同你讲话！”
波淋：后来，我昨晚6点钟回到家里。 他又打来电话，但我没接。
简：他昨夜里又打电话了吗？波淋：是的，打了。他在9点钟又打电话。
简：你对他怎么说的？波淋：我说：“我是波淋的母亲。 请不要再给我女儿打电话了！”
简：他又打了没有？波淋：没有！
Lesson 73
The way to King Street
到国王街的走法
Listen to the tape then answer this question. Why did the man need a phrasebook?
听录音，然后回答问题。为什么这位男士需要一本常用语手册？
Last week Mrs. Mills went to London. She does not know London very well, and she lost her way.
Suddenly, she saw a man near a bus stop. 'I can ask him the way.' she said to herself.
'Excuse me,' she said. 'Can you tell me the way to King Street, please?'
The man smiled pleasantly. He did not understand English! He spoke German. He was a tourist.
Then he put his hand into pocket, and took out a phrasebook.
He opened the book and found a phrase. He read the phrase slowly. 'I am sorry,' he said. 'I do not speak English.'
参考译文
上星期米尔斯夫人去了伦敦。她对伦敦不很熟悉，因此迷了路。
突然，她在公共汽车站附近看到一个男人。“我可以向他问路，”她想。
“对不起，您能告诉我到国王街怎么走吗？”她说。
这人友好地笑了笑。他不懂英语！他讲德语。他是个旅游者。
然后他把手伸进了衣袋，掏出了一本常用语手册。
他翻开书找到了一条短语。他缓慢地读着短语。
”很抱歉，“他说，”我不会讲英语。”
找了很久呢。。
参考资料：網上