Book II Lesson 41
Do you call that a hat?
??°??????D?±×ó?e￡?'Do you call that a hat ?'
I said to my wife.
'You needn't be so rude about it,' my wife answered as she looked at herself in the mirror.
I sat down on one of those modern chairs with holes in it and waited.
We had been in the hat shop for half an hour and my wife was still in front of the mirror.'
We mustn't buy things we don't need,' I remarked suddenly.
I regretted saying it almost at once.
'You needn't have said that,' my wife answered.'
I need not remind you of that terrible tie you bought yesterday.'
' I find it beautiful,' I said.
'A man can never have too many ties.'
'And a woman can't have too many hats,' she answered.
Ten minutes later we walked out of the shop together.
My wife was wearing a hat that looked like a lighthouse !

Book II Lesson 42
Not very musical 2￠·?oü??ò?à?As we had had a long walk through one of the markets of Old Delhi, we stopped at a square to have a rest.
After a time, we noticed a snake-charmer with two large baskets at the other side of the square, so we went to have a look at him.
As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe which was covered with coins and opened one of the baskets.
When he began to play a tune, we had our first glimpse of the snake.
It rose out of the basket and began to follow the movements of the pipe.
We were very much surprised when the snake charmer suddenly began to play jazz tunes and modern pop songs.
The snake, however, continued to 'dance' slowly.
It obviously could not tell the difference between Indian music and jazz!

Book II Lesson 43
Over the South Pole ·é??????In 1929, three years after his flight over the North Pole, the American explorer, R.
E.
Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time.
Though, at first, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the mountains that lay below, they soon ran into serious trouble.
At one point, it seemed certain that their plane would crash.
It could only get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000 feet.
Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out two heavy food sacks.
The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400 feet.
Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole which was 300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight.
The aircraft was able to fly over the endless white plains without difficulty.

Book II Lesson 44
Through the forest ′?1yé-á?Mrs Anne Sterling did not think of the risk she was taking when she ran through a forest after two men.
They had rushed up to her while she was having a picnic at the edge of a forest with her children and tried to steal her handbag.
In the struggle, the strap broke and, with the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees.
Mrs Sterling got so angry that she ran after them.
She was soon out of breath, but she continued to run.
When she caught up with them, she saw that they had sat down and were going through the contents of the bag, so she ran straight at them.
The men got such a fright that they dropped the bag and ran away.
'The strap needs mending,' said Mrs Sterling later, 'but they did not steal anything.
'

Book II Lesson 45
A clear conscience ?êD??Tà￠The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost.
Sam Benton, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post-office.
Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him.
Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door.
It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: 'A thief, yes, 'but only 5o per cent a thief!'
Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note:' Only 25 per cent a thief now!'
In time, all Sam's money was paid back in this way.
The last note said:' I am 100 per cent honest now!
'

Book II Lesson 46
Expensive and uncomfortable ?è°o1óó?êü×?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 woollen 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 ten hours.
The man was ordered to pay &345 for the cost of the trip.
The normal price of a ticket is &230 !

Book II Lesson 47
A thirsty ghost êè??μ?1í?êA public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale.
Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted.
He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar.
The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved.
Though Mr Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning.
He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before.
When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his head.
The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even if he gives it away.

Book II Lesson 48
Did you want to tell me something?
???????ò?μê2?′?e￡?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 birds' eggs 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.

Book II Lesson 49
The end of a dream ?à??????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.

Book II Lesson 50
Taken for a ride 3?3μ?μ·?I love travelling in the country, but I don't like losing my way.
I went on an excursion recently, but my trip took me longer than I expected.'
I'm going to Woodford Green,' I said to the conductor as I got on the bus,' but I don't know where it is.'
' I'll tell you where to get off,' answered the conductor.
I sat in the front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside.
After some time, the bus stopped.
Looking round, I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on the bus.
'
You'll have to get off here,' the conductor said.
'This is as far as we go.'
' Is this Woodford Green ?'
I asked.
'Oh dear,' said the conductor suddenly.'
I forgot to put you off.'
'It doesn't matter,' I said.
'I'll get off here.'
'We are going back now,' said the conductor.
'Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the bus,' I answered.

Book II Lesson 51
Reward for virtue ???àμ?μ??±éíMy friend, Herbert, has always been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on a diet.
He began his diet a week ago.
First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden.
The list included most of the things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets.
Yesterday I paid him a visit.
I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever.
He led me into his room and hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk.
It was obvious that he was very embarrassed.
When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk.
He explained that his diet was so strict that he had to reward himself occasionally.
Then he showed me the contents of the parcel.
It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweets!

Book II Lesson 52
A pretty carpet ?ˉááμ?μ?ìoWe 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!'

Book II Lesson 53
Hot snake ′￥μ?μ?é?At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.
Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.
Forest fire are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.
Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass.
They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.
This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause.
He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.
In this way, he was able to solve the mystery.
The explanation was simple but very unusual.
A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.
The snake then wound itself round the wires.
When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.

Book II Lesson 54
Sticky fingers ?3oyμ?ê???After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market.
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 tarts for tea.
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 Mrs 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 door-knobs.
I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to wake the dead.
This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter !

Book II Lesson 55
Not a gold mine 2￠·??e?óDreams 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.

Book II Lesson 56
Faster than sound!
±èéùò??1?ì￡?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.

Book II Lesson 57
Can I help you, madam?
??òa?òê2?′￡?·òè?￡?A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop.
Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window.
The assistant who served her did not like the way she was dressed.
Glancing at her scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold.
The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant next day.
She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other.
After seeking out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress.
Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress.
As soon as she saw it, the woman said she did not like it.
She enjoyed herself making the assistant bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for.

Book II Lesson 58
A blessing in disguise?
ê?òò??μ??￡?e￡?The tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a 'cursed tree'.
Because the tree was mentioned in a newspaper, the number of visitors to Frinley has now increased.
The tree was planted near a church fifty years ago, but it is only in recent years that it has gained an evil reputation.
It is said that if anyone touches the tree, he will have bad luck; if he picks a leaf, he will die.
Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims.
The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused.
He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists have been coming from all parts of the country to see it.
In spite of all that has been said, the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk.
So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden death!

Book II Lesson 59
In or out ￡? ??à′?1ê?3?è￥￡?Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark.
Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate.
As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in.
Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate.
However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate.
This time he was barking so that someone would let him out !
Since then, he has developed another bad habit.
As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts.
Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out.
After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again.
Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since.

Book II Lesson 60
The future 2·???′à′At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky.
I went into her tent and she told me to sit down.
After I had given her some money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: 'A relation of yours is coming to see you.
She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days.
The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise.
A woman you know well will rush towards you.
She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place.
That is all.'
As soon as I went outside, I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me.
'Where have you been hiding ?'
she asked impatiently.
'Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her.
We are late already.'
As she walked away, I followed her out of the fair.

Book II Lesson 61
Trouble with the Hubble 1t2aí????μμ?à§?3In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it.
The ability to do this will be necessary in future flights to distant planets.
Scientists are now trying to discover if this is possible.
The spaceship Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will be travelling three hundred miles into space.
At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave the stationary spaceship and then return to it.
We shall not know whether the experiment has been successful until we have received a radio message.
The first message is expected to arrive at 7 o'clock this evening.
By that time, the Astra will have been flying through space for seventeen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times.
When the first radio messages have been received, the results of the trip will be announced immediately.

Book II Lesson 62
After the fire ′ó?e??oóFiremen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control.
A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around.
Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills.
Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well.
When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly.
The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes.
The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain.
By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root.
In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

Book II Lesson 63
She was not amused ?y2￠2???μ?o?D|Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties.
Everybody admires him for his fine sense of humor--everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny.
Recently, one of Geoffrey's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception.
This is the sort of thing that 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 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.
Geoffrey asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!

Book II Lesson 64
The Channel Tunnel o￡???íμàIn l858, a French engineer, 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 chimneys 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 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.

Book II Lesson 65
Jumbo versus the police D??ó???ˉ2ìLast 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.
'

Book II Lesson 66
Sweet as honey!
????ò??ùìe￡?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 tested 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 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.

Book II Lesson 67
Volcanoes ?eé?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 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 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 alive.

Book II Lesson 68
Persistent ?à2?2?DYI 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 coming 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.
You're not busy doing anything, are you ?'
' No, not at all,' I answered.'
I'm going to.
.
.'
'Would you mind my coming with you ?'
he asked, before I had finished speaking.'
Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the dentist.'
' Then I'll come with you,' he answered.'
There's always plenty to read in the 'waiting room !
'

Book II Lesson 69
But not murder!
2￠·??±é±￡?I was being tested for a driving licence 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, 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 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 !'

Book II Lesson 70
Red for danger ?￡??μ?oìé?During a bullfight, a drunk suddenly wandered into 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 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 they 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.

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