said. Well, I said to the manager, there is still some honesty in this world !lesson25 Do the English speak English? 英国人讲的是英语吗？I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, 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 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 man speaks a different language. The English understand each other, but I dont understand them ! Do they speak English ?lesson26 The best art critics 最佳美术评论家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, many pictures arc 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 looked at it again. She was right! It was!Lesson27 A wet night 雨夜Late in the afternoon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fire. They were all hungry and the food smelt good. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the camp fire. But some time later it began to rain. The boys felt tired so they pet out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleeping-bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly. In the middle of the night, two boys woke up and began shouting. The tent was full of water! They all leapt out of their sleeping-bags and hurried outside. It was raining heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field. The stream wound its way across the field and then flowed right under their tent!Lesson28 No parking 禁止停车Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths. He has just bought a new house in the city, but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with motorists. when he returns home at night, he always finds that someone has parked a car outside his gate. Because of this, he has not been able to get his own car into his garage even once. Jasper has put up No Parking signs outside his gate, but these have not had any effect. Now he has put an ugly stone head over the gate. It is one of the ugliest faces I have ever seen. I asked him what it was and he told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon. Jasper hopes that she will turn motorists to stone. But none of them has been turned to stone yet!Lesson29 Taxi! 出租汽车！Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an unusual taxi and has begun a new service. The taxi is a small Swiss aeroplane called a Pilatus Porter. This wonderful plane can carry seven passengers. The most surprising thing about it, however, is that it can land anywhere: on snow, water, or even on a ploughed field. Captain Fawcetts first passenger was a doctor who flew from Birmingham to a lonely village in the Welsh mountains. Since then, Captain Fawcett has flown passengers to many unusual places. Once he landed on the roof of a block of flats and on another occasion, he landed in a deserted car park. Captain Fawcett has just refused a strange request from a businessman. The man wanted to fly to Rockall, a lonely island in the Atlantic Ocean, but Captain Fawcett did not take him because the trip was too dangerous.Lesson30 Football or polo? 足球还是水球？The Wayle is a small river that cuts across the park near my home. I like sitting by the Wayle on fine afternoons. It was warm last Sunday, so I went and sat on the river bank as usual. Some children were playing games on the bank and there were some people rowing on the river. Suddenly, one of the children kicked a ball very hard and it went towards a passing boat. Some people on the bank called out to the man in the boat, but he did not hear them. The ball struck him so hard that he nearly fell into the water. I turned to look at the children, but there werent any in sight: they had all run away! The man laughed when he realized what had happened. He called out to the children and threw the ball back to the bank. Lesson31 Success story 成功者的故事Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man. Frank