新概念英语第二册课文61-72课

Book II Lesson 61
Trouble with the Hubble 1t
In 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
Firemen 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 ? 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 .In l858, a French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England with a plan for a twenty-one mile tunn

el 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
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.
'
Book II Lesson 66
Sweet as honey!
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 ?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 erupti

ng 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 ?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!
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 ?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.

Book II Lesson 71
A famous clock ?When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is Big Ben, the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C.
If the Houses of Parliament had hot been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never have been erected.
Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built.
It is not only of immense size, but is extremely accurate as well.
Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.
On the B.B.C.
you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower.
Big Ben has rarely gone wrong.
Once, however, it failed to give the correct time.
A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down !

Book II Lesson 72
A car called Bluebird " The great racing driver, Sir Malcolm Campbell, was the first man to drive at over 300 miles per hour.
He set up a new world record in September 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.
Bluebird, the car he was driving, had been specially built for him.
It was over 30 feet in length and had a 2500 horse-power engine.
Although Campbell reached a speed of over 304 miles per hour, he had great difficulty in controlling the car because a tyre burst during the first run.
After his attempt, Campbell was disappointed to learn that his average speed had been 299 miles per hour.
However, a few days later, he was told that a mistake had been made.
His average speed had been 301 miles per hour.
Since that time, racing drivers have reached speeds of over 400 miles an hour.
Following his father's footsteps many years later, Sir Malcolm's son, Donald, also set up a world record.
Like his father, he was driving a car called Bluebird.