Lesson 54 Sticky fingers
After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to shops. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some meat pies. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Helen Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter!
Lesson 55 Not a gold mine
Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently. A new machine called 'The Revealer' has been invented and it has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground. The machine was used in a cave near the seashore where--it is said--pirates used to hide gold. The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it. Armed with the new machine, a search party went into the cave hoping to find buried treasure. The leader of the party was examining the soil near the entrance to the cave when the machine showed that there was gold under the ground. Very excited, the party dug a hole two feet deep. They finally found a small gold coin which was almost worthless. The party then searched the whole cave thoroughly but did not find anything except an empty tin trunk. In spite of this, many people are confident that 'The Revealer' may reveal something of value fairly soon.
Lesson 56 Faster than sound!
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.
sticky [ˈstɪki] 粘性的;黏(性)的;
be busy doing
flour [ˈflaʊər] 面粉
pastry [ˈpeɪstri] 油酥面团;
exactly [ɪɡˈzæktli] 确切地;准确地;
annoy [əˈnɔɪ] 惹恼;骚扰;
dismay [dɪsˈmeɪ] 沮丧;惊愕;
persuade [pərˈsweɪd] 劝说;说服;
doorknob [ˈdɔːrnɑːb] 门把手
no sooner...than 一……就
register [ˈredʒɪstər] 登记;注册
mine 矿井;矿;
treasure [ˈtreʒər] 珠宝;财富;
reveal [rɪˈviːl] 揭示;显示
detect [dɪˈtekt] 发现;查明;
bury[ˈberi] 埋葬;安葬;
pirate[ˈpaɪrət] 海盗;盗版者，盗印者;
arm 武装;装备
soil [sɔɪl] 土壤;国土;
thoroughly [ˈθɜːrəli] 非常;极其;
tin trunk [tɪn trʌŋk] 铁皮箱
in spite of 尽管；不管，不顾
fairly [ˈferli] 相当地;一定地;公平合理地;
a great deal of 许多
take part 参与，参加
explosion [ɪkˈsploʊʒn] 爆炸;爆破;爆裂(声);
course [kɔːrs] 比赛场地
rival [ˈraɪvl] 竞争对手
speed down 快速向下冲
这真是一个不平静的周末，身边的好友、邻居们都陆续阳了，还有更不好的一些消息。祈祷平安、祈祷健康度过这个冬天。
网友评论