NCE2.note

Source: /Volumes/X9 Pro/ObsNotes/YoudaoYunNotes/默认笔记本/NCE2.note.pdf Converted: 2025-12-10 12:19:24

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nce2_01.txt

Last week I went to the theatre. I had a

very good seat. The play was very inter-

esting. I did not enjoy it. A young man

and a young woman were sitting behind

me. They were talking loudly. I got very

angry. I could not hear the actors. I

turned round. I looked at the man and the

woman angrily. They did not pay any

attention. In the end, I could not bear it.

I turned round again. 'I can't hear a

word!' I said angrily.

' It's none of your business,' the young

man said rudely. 'This is a private con-

versation!'.

nce2_02.txt

It was Sunday. I never get up early on

Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until

lunch time. Last Sunday I got up very

late. I looked out of the window. It was

dark outside. 'What a day!' I thought.

'It's raining again.' Just then, the tele-

phone rang. It was my aunt Lucy.' I've

just arrived by train,' she said. 'I'm

coming to see you.'

'But I'm still having breakfast,' I said.

'What are you doing ?' she asked.

' I'm having breakfast,' I repeated.

'Dear me,' she said. 'Do you always

get up so late ? It's one o'clock!''

nce2_03.txt

Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last

summer, I went to Italy. I visited

museums and sat in public gardens. A

friendly waiter taught me a few words of

Italian. 'Then he lent me a book. I read

is few lines, but I did not understand a

word. Every day I thought about post-

cards. My holidays passed quickly, but I

did not send any cards to my friends. On

the last day I made a big decision. I got

up early and bought thirty-seven cards

I spent the whole day in my room, but I

did not write a single card !

nce2_04.txt

I have just received a letter from my

brother, Tim. He is in Australia.He has

been there for six months. Tim is an

engineer. He is working for a big firm

and he has already visited a great number

of different places in Australia. He has

just bought an Australian car and has

gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the

centre of Australia. He will soon visit

Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth.

My brother has never been abroad be-

fore, so he is finding this trip very excit-

ing.

nce2_05.txt

Mr James Scott has a garage in Silbury

and now he has just bought another

garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five

miles from Silbury, but Mr Scott cannot

get a telephone for his new garage, so he

has just bought twelve pigeons. Yester-

day, a pigeon carried the first message

from Pinhurst to Silbury. The bird

covered the distance in three minutes.

Up to now, Mr Scott has sent a great

many requests for spare parts and other

urgent messages from one garage to the

other. In this way, he has begun his own

private telephone service.

nce2_06.txt

I have just moved to a house in Bridge

Street. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my

door. He asked me for a meal and a glass

of beer. In return for this, the beggar

stood on his head and sang songs. I gave

him a meal. He ate the food and drank

the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese

in his pocket and went away. Later a

neighbour told me about him. Everybody

knows him. His name is Percy Buttons.

He calls at every house in the street once

a month and always asks for a meal and a

glass of beer.

nce2_07.txt

The plane was late and detectives were

waiting at the airport all morning. They

were expecting a valuable parcel of dia-

mond from South Africa. A few hours

earlier, someone had told the police that

thieves would try to steal the diamonds.

When the plane arrived,some of the de-

tectives were waiting inside the main

building while others were waiting on the

airfield. Two men took the parcel off

the plane and carried it into the Customs

House. While two detectives were keep-

ing guard at the door, two others opened

the parcel. To their surprise, the precious

parcel was full of stones and sand!

nce2_08.txt

Joe Sanders has the most beautiful garden

in our town. Nearly everybody enters for

'The Nicest Garden Competition' each

year, but Joe wins every time. Bill Frith's

garden is larger than Joe's. Bill works

harder than Joe and grows more flowers

and vegetables, but Joe's garden is more

interesting. He has made neat paths and

has built a wooden bridge over a pool. I

like gardens too, but I do not like hard

work. Every year I enter for the garden

competition too, and I always win a little

prize for the worst garden in the town!

nce2_09.txt

On Wednesday evening, we went to the

Town Hall. It was the last day of the year

and a large crowd of people had gathered

under the Town Hall clock.It would

strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.

Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five

to twelve, the clock stopped. The big

minute hand did not move. We waited

and waited, but nothing happened. Sud-

denly someone shouted, 'It's two minutes

past twelve! The clock has stopped!' I

looked at my watch. It was true. The big

clock refused to welcome the New Year.

At that moment everybody began to

laugh and sing.

nce2_10.txt

We have an old musical instrument. It is

called a clavichord. It was made in Ger-

many in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in

the living-room. It has belong to our

family for a long time. The instrument

was bought by my grandfather many

years ago. Recently it was damaged by a

visitor. She tried to play jazz on it! She

struck the keys too hard and two of the

strings were broken. My father was

shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch

it. It is being repaired by a friend of my

father's.

nce2_11.txt

I was having dinner at a restaurant when

Harry Steele came in. Harry worked in a

lawyer's office years ago, but he is now

working at a bank. He gets a good salary,

but he always borrows money from his

friends and never pays it back. Harry saw

me and came and sat at the same table.

He has never borrowed money from me.

While he was eating, I asked him to lend

me &2. To my surprise, he gave me the

money immediately. 'I have never bor-

towed any money from you,' Harry said,

'so now you can pay for my dinner!'

nce2_12.txt

Our ncighbour, Captain Charles Alison,

will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We

shall meet him at the harbour early in the

morning. He will be in his small boat,

Topsail.Tapsail is a famous little boat. It

has sailed across the Atlantic many times.

Captain Alison will set out at eight o'clock

so we shall have plenty of time. We shall

see his boat and then we shall say good-

bye to him. He will be away for two

months. We are very proud of him. He will

take part in an important race across the

Atlantic.

nce2_13.txt

The Greenwood Boys are a group of

popular singers. At present, they are visit-

ing all parts of the country. They will be

arriving here tomorrow. They will be

coming by train and most of the young

people in the town will be meeting them

at the station. Tomorrow evening they

will be singing at the Workers' Club. The

Greenwood Boys will be staying for five

days. During this time, they will give five

performances. As usual,the police will

have a difficult time.They will be trying

to keep order. It is always the same on

these occasions.

nce2_14.txt

I had an amusing experience last year.

After I had left a small village in the south

of France, I drove on to the next town.

On the way, a young man waved to me. I

stopped and he asked me for a lift. As

soon as he had got into the car, I said

good morning to him in French and he

replied in the same language. Apart from

a few words, I do not know any French

at all. Neither of us spoke during the

journey. I had nearly reached the town,

when the young man suddenly said, very

slowly, 'Do you speak English?' As I

soon learnt, he was English himself!

nce2_15.txt

The secretary told me that Mr Harms-

worth would see me. I felt very nervous

when. I went into his office. He did not

look up from his desk when I entered.

After I had sat down, he said that busi-

ness was very bad. He told me that the

firm could not afford to pay such large

salaries. Twenty people had already left.

I knew that my turn had come.

'Mr Harmsworth,' I said in a weak

voice.

'Don't interrupt,' he Said.

Then he smiled and told me I would

receive an extra &100 a year!

nce2_16.txt

If you park your car in the wrong place, a

traffic policeman will soon find it. You

will be very lucky if he lets you go with-

out a ticket. However, this does not al-

ways happen. Traffic police are sometimes

very polite. During a holiday in Sweden,

I found this note on my car:' Sir, we wel-

come you to our city. This is a "No

Parking" area. You will enjoy your stay

here if you pay attention to our street

signs. This note is only a reminder.' If

you receive a request like this, you can-

not fail to obey it!

nce2_17.txt

My aunt Jennifer is an actress. She must

be at least thirty-five years old. In spite

of this, she often appears on the stage as

a young girl. Jennifer will have to take

part in a new play soon. This time, she

will be a girl of seventeen. In the play, she

must appear in a bright red dress and

long black stockings. Last year in another

play,she had to wear short socks and a

bright,orange-coloured dress. If anyone

ever asked her how old she is, she always

answers,'My dear,it must be terrible to

be grown up!'

nce2_18.txt

After I had had lunch at a village inn, I

looked for my bag. I had left it on a chair

beside the door and now it wasn't there !

As I was looking for it, the inn-keeper

came in.

'Did you have a good meal ?' he asked.

'Yes, thank you,' I answered, 'but I

can't pay the bill. I haven't got my bag.'

The inn-keeper smiled and imme-

diately went out. In a few minutes he

returned with my bag and gave it back to

me.

'I'm very sorry,' he said ' My dog had

taken it into the garden. He often does

this.'

nce2_19.txt

'The play may begin at any moment,'

I said.

'It may have begun already,' Susan

answered.

'I hurried to the ticket-office. 'May I

have two tickets please ?' I asked.

'I'm sorry, we've sold out,' the girl

said.

'What a pity!' Susan exclaimed.

Just then, a man hurried to the ticket-

office.

'Can I return these two tickets?' he

asked.

'Certainly,' the girl said.

'Could I have those two tickets please ?' I asked.

'Certainly,'the girl said, 'but they are for next Wednesday's performance.

'I might as well have them,' I said sadly.

nce2_20.txt

Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish

for hours without catching anything. But

this does not worry me. Some fishermen

are unlucky. Instead of catching fish, they

catch old boots and rubbish. I am even

less lucky. I never catch anything--not

even old boots. After having spent whole

mornings on the river, I always go home

with an empty bag. 'You must give up

fishing!' my friends say.' It's a waste of

time.' But they don't realize one impor-

tant thing. I'm not really interested in

fishing. I am only interested in sitting in

a boat and doing nothing at all !

nce2_21.txt

Aeroplanes are slowly driving me mad. I

live near an airport and passing planes

can be heard night and day. The airport

was built during the war, but for some

reason it could not be used then. Last

year, however, it came into use. Over a

hundred people must have been driven

away from their homes by the noise. I am

one of the few people left. Sometimes I

think this house will be knocked down by

a passing plane. I have been offered a

large sum of money to go away, but I am

determined to stay here. Everybody says

I must be mad and they are probably

right.

nce2_22.txt

My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of

receiving a letter from a girl of her own

age in Holland. Last year, we were travel-

ling across the Channel and Jane put a

piece of paper with her name and address

on it into a bottle. She threw the bottle

into the sea. She never thought of it again,

but ten months later, she received a letter

from a girl in Holland. Both girls write to

each other regularly now. However, they

have decided to use the post-office. Letters

will cost a litt1e more, but they will cer-

tainly travel faster.

nce2_23.txt

I had a letter from my sister yesterday.

She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she

said that she would come to England next

year. If she comes, she will get a surprise.

We are now living in a beautiful new house

in the country. Work on it had begun be-

fore my sister left. The house was com-

pleted five months ago. In my letter, I

told her that she could stay with us. The

house has many large rooms and there is

a lovely garden. It is a very modern house,

so it looks strange to some people. It

must be the only modern house in the

district.

nce2_24.txt

I entered the hotel manager's office and

sat down. I had just lost &50 and I felt

very upset.' I left the money in my room,'

I said, 'and it's not there now.' The

manager was sympathetic, but he could

do nothing. 'Everyone's losing money

these days,' he said. He started to com-

plain about this wicked world but was

interrupted by a knock at the door. A girl

came in and put an envelope on his desk.

It contained &5o. 'I found this outside

this gentleman's room' she said. 'Well,'

I said to the manager, 'there is still some

honesty in this world !'

nce2_25.txt

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 under-

stand him. My teacher never spoke Eng-

lish like that! The porter and I looked at

each other and smiled. Then he said

something and I understood it. 'You'll

soon learn English!' he said. I wonder. In England, each man speaks a different

language. The English understand each other, but I don't understand them ! Do

they speak English ?

nce2_26.txt

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 child-

ren 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.

' I'm hanging this picture on the wall,'

I answered. 'It's a new one. Do you like it ?'

She looked at it critically for a moment.' It's all right,' she said, 'but isn't it

upside-down ?'

I looked at it again. She was right! It was!

nce2_27.txt

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 be-

gan to rain. The boys felt tired so they

pet out the fire and crept into their tent.

Their sleeping-bags were warm and com-

fortable, 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 sleep-

ing-bags and hurried outside. It was rain-

ing 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!

nce2_28.txt

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 some-

one 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 out-

side 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!

nce2_29.txt

Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an un-

usual 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. Cap-

tain Fawcett's first passenger was a doctor

who flew from Birmingham to a lonely

village in the Welsh mountains. Since

then, Captain Fawcett has flown passen-

gers to many unusual places. Once he

landed on the roof of a block of flats and

on another occasion, he landed in a de-

serted 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.

nce2_30.txt

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 child-

ren 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 to-

wards 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 weren't 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.

nce2_31.txt

Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was

telling me about his expcriences as a

young man. Frank is now the head of a

very large business company, but as a

boy he used to work in a small shop. It

was his job to repair bicycles and at that

time he used to work fourteen hours a

day. He saved money for years and in

1938 he bought a small work-shop of his

own. During the war Frank used to make

spare parts for aeroplanes. At that time

he had two helpers. By the end of the

war, the small work-shop had become a

large factory which employed seven hun-

dred and twenty-eight people. Frank

smiled when he remembered his hard

early years and the long road to success. He was still smiling when the door

opened and his wife came in. She wanted him to repair their son's bicycle!

nce2_32.txt

People are not so honest as they once

were. The temptation to steal is greater

than ever before--especially in large

shops. A detective recently watched a

well-dressed woman who always went

into a large store on Monday mornings.

One Monday, there were fewer people in

the shop than usual when the woman

came in, so it was easier for the detective

to watch her. The woman first bought a

few small articles. After a little time, she

chose one of the most expensive dresses

in the shop and handed it to an assistant

who wrapped it up for her as quickly as

possible. Then the woman simply took

the parcel and walked out of the shop

without paying. When she was arrested, the detective found out that the shop-

assistant was her daughter. The girl' gave' her mother a free dress once a week !

nce2_33.txt

Nearly a week passed before the girl was

able to explain what had happened to her.

One afternoon she set out from the coast

in a small boat and was caught in a storm.

Towards evening, the boat struck a rock

and the girl jumped into the sea. Then

she swam to the shore after spending the

whole night in the water.During that

time she covered a distance of eight miles.

Early next morning, she saw a light ahead.

She knew she was near the shore because

the light was high up on the cliffs. On

arriving at the shore, the girl struggled up

the cliff towards the light she had seen.

That was all she remembered. When she

woke up a day later, she found herself in

hospital.

nce2_34.txt

Ted Robinson has been worried all the

week. Last Tuesday he received a letter

from the local police. In the letter he was

asked to call at the station. Ted wondered

why he was wanted by the police, but he

went to the station yesterday and now he

is not worried any more. At the station,

he was told by a smiling policeman that

his bicycle had been found. Five days

ago, the policeman told him, the bicycle

was pinged up in a small village four hun-

dred miles away. It is now being sent to

his home by train. Ted was most sur-

prised when he heard the news. He was

amused too, because he never expected

the bicycle to be found. It was stolen

twenty years ago when Ted was a boy of fifteen !

nce2_35.txt

Rov Trenton used to drive a taxi. A short

while ago, however, he became a bus-

driver and he was not regretted it. He is

finding his new work far more exciting.

When he was driving along Catford Street

recently, he saw two thieves rush out of a

shop and run towards a waiting car. One

of them was carrying a bag full of money.

Roy acted quickly and drove the bus

straight at the thieves. The one with the

money got such a fright that he dropped

the bag. As the thieves were trying to get

away in their car, Roy drove his bus into

the back of it. While the battered car was

moving away, Roy stopped his bus and

telephoned the police. The thieves' car

was badly damaged and easy to recognize. Shortly afterwards, the police stopped

the car and both men were arrested.

nce2_36.txt

Erna Hart is going to swim across the

English Channel tomorrow. She is going

to set out from the French coast at five

o'clock in the morning. Erna is only tour-

teen years old and she hopes lo set up a

new world record. She is a strong swim-

mer and many people feel that she is sure

to succeed. Erna's father will set out with

her in a small boat. Mr Hart has trained

his daughter for years. Tomorrow he will

be watching her anxiously as she swims

the long distance to England. Erna in-

tends to take short rests every two hours.

She will have something to drink but she

will not eat any solid food. Most of Erna's

school friends will be waiting for her on

the English coast. Among them will be Erna't mother, who swam the Channel

herself when she was a girl.

nce2_37.txt

The Olympic Games will be held in our

country in four years' time. As a great

many people will be visiting the country,

the government will be building new

hotels, an immense stadium, and a fine

new swimming pool. 'They will also be

building new roads and a special railway-

line. The Games will be held just outside

the capital and the whole area will be

called 'Olympic City'. Workers will have

completed the new roads by the end of

this year. By the end of next year, they

will have finished work on the new

stadium. The fine modern buildings have

been designed by Kurt Gunter. Every

body will be watching anxiously as the

new buildings go up. We are all very excited and are looking forward to the

Olympic Games because they have never been held before in this country.

nce2_38.txt

My old friend, Harrison, had lived in the

Mediterranean for many years before. he

returned to England. He had often

dreamed of retiring in England and had

planned to settle down in the country. He

had no sooner returned than he bought a

fine house and went to live there. Almost

immediately he began to complain about

the weather, for even though it was still

summer, it rained continually and it was

often bitterly cold. After so many years of

sunshine, Harrison got a shock. He acted

as if he had never lived in England before.

In the end, it was more than he could

bear. He had hardly had time to settle

down when he sold the house and left

the country. The dream he had had for so many years ended there. Harrison had

thought of everything except the weather.

nce2_39.txt

While John Gilbert was in hospital, he

asked his doctor to tell him whether his

operation had been successful, but the

doctor refused to do so. The following

day, the patient asked for a bedside tele-

phone. When he was alone, he telephoned

the hospital exchange and asked for Doc-

tor Millington. When the doctor answered

the phone, Mr Gilbert said he was in-

quiring about a certain patient, a Mr

John Gilbert. He asked if Mr Gilbert's

operation had been successful and the

doctor told him that it had been. He then

asked when Mr Gilbert would be allowed

to go home and the doctor told him that

he would have to stay in hospital for an-

other two weeks. Then Dr Millington asked the caller if he was a relative of the

patient.' No,' the patient answered,' I am Mr John Gilbert.'

nce2_40.txt

Last week at a dinner-party, the hostess

asked me to sit next to Mrs Rumbold.

Mrs Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady

in a tight black dress. She did not even

look up when I took my seat beside her.

Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a

short time, she was busy eating. I tried to

make conversation.

' A new play is coming to" The Globe"

soon,' I said. 'Will you be seeing it ?'

' No,' she answered.

'Will you be spending your holidays

abroad this year ?' I asked.

' No,' she answered.

' Will you be staying in England?' I

asked.

' No,' she answered.

In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner.

' Young man,' she answered,' if you ate more and talked less, we would both

enjoy our dinner !'

nce2_41.txt

'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 !

nce2_42.txt

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 be-

gan to play a tune, we had our first

glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the

basket and began to follow the move-

ments of the pipe.We were very much

surprised when the snake charmer sud-

denly began to play jazz tunes and popu-

lar modern songs. The snake, however,

continued to 'dance' slowly. It obviously could not tell the difference between

Indian music and jazz!

nce2_43.txt

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 moun-

tains 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.

nce2_44.txt

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.'

nce2_45.txt

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, to-

gether 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!'

nce2_46.txt

When a plane from London arrived at

Sydney airport, workers began to unload

a number of wooden boxes which con-

tained clothing. No one could account for

the fact that one of the boxes was ex-

tremely 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 !

nce2_47.txt

A 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 furni-

ture had been moved. Though Mr

Thompson had turned the lights off be-

fore 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.

nce2_48.txt

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.

nce2_49.txt

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. Be-

cause 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 un-

hurt. 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.

nce2_50.txt

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 con-

doctor 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.

nce2_51.txt

My friend, Herbert, has always been fat,

but things got so bad recently that he de-

cided 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 for-

bidden. 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!

nce2_52.txt

We have just moved into a new house and

I have been working hard all morning. I

have ten 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!'

nce2_53.txt

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 fire-

men 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 dis-

covered 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.

nce2_54.txt

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 mo-

ment, 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 !

nce2_55.txt

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 sea-shore

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.

nce2_56.txt

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 every-

one a great deal of pleasure. It was very different from modern car races but no

less exciting.

nce2_57.txt

A woman in blue jeans stood at the win-

dow 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 de-

cided 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.

nce2_58.txt

The tiny village of Frinley is said to

possess a 'cursed tree'. Because the tree

was mentioned in a newspaper, the num-

ber of visitors to Frinley has now in-

creased. 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 num-

ber 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 tour-

ists 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!

nce2_59.txt

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 gar-

den 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.

nce2_60.txt

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 in-

tends 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.

nce2_61.txt

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 experi-

ment 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.

nce2_62.txt

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 deso-

late 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.

nce2_63.txt

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 recep-

tion. 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!

nce2_64.txt

In 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 sta-

lion. 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 sug-

gested 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.

nce2_65.txt

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.'

nce2_66.txt

The Hatheld Puffin is a modern aero-

plane, but its designer, Mr John Wim-

penny, 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.

nce2_67.txt

Haroun Tazieff the Polish scientist, has

spent his life-time studying active vol-

canoes 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 sur-

round him completely, but Tazieff man-

aged 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.

nce2_68.txt

I 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 !'

nce2_69.txt

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 !'

nce2_70.txt

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 sud-

denly 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 sud-

denly 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.

nce2_71.txt

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 Par-

liament 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 re-

sponsible 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 con-

nected 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 !

nce2_72.txt

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 Bonne-

ville 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.

nce2_73.txt

Little boys who play truant from school

are unimaginative. A quiet day's fishing,

or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same

film over and over again, is usually as far

as they get. They have all been put to

shame by a boy who, while playing

truant, travelled 1600 miles. He hitch-

hiked to Dover and, towards evening,

went into a boat to find somewhere to

sleep. When he woke up next morning,

he discovered that the boat had, in the

meantime, travelled to Calais. No one

noticed the boy as he crept off.From

there, he hitch-hiked to Paris in a lorry.

The driver gave him a few biscuits and a

cup of coffee and left him just outside the

city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he

hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was

picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He

has surely set up a record for the thousands of boys who dream of evading school.

nce2_74.txt

An ancient bus stopped by a dry river

bed and a party of famous actors and

actresses got off.Dressed in dark glasses

and old clothes, they had taken special

precautions so that no one should recog-

nize them. But as they soon discovered,

disguises can sometimes be too perfect.

'This is a wonderful place for a picnic,'

said Gloria Gleam.

' It couldn't be better, Gloria,' Brinksley

Meers agreed. 'No newspaper men, no

film fans! Why don't we come more

often ?'

Meanwhile, two other actors, Rockwall

Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried

two large food baskets to a shady spot

under some trees. When they had all made themselves comfortable, a stranger

appeared. He looked very angry. 'Now you gut out of here, all of you!' he

shouted: ' I'm sheriff here. Do you see that notice ? It says" No Camping"-in

case you can't read !'

' Look, sheriffi,'said Rockwall,' don't be too hard on us. I'm Rockwall Slinger

and this is Merlin Greeves.'

' Oh, is it ?' said the sheriff with a sneer. 'Well, I'm Brinksley Meers, and my

other name is Gloria Gleam. Now you get out of here fast !'

nce2_75.txt

When a light passenger plane flew off

course some time ago, it crashed in the

mountains and its pilot was killed. The

only passengers, a young woman and her

two baby daughters, were unhurt. It was

the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on

the ground. The woman knew that the

nearest village was miles away. When it

grew dark. she turned a suil-case into a

bed and put the children inside it, cover-

ing them with all the clothes she could

find. During the night, it got terribly

cold. The woman kept as near as she

could to the children and even tried to get

into the case herself, but it was too small.

Early,next morning she heard planes

passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal. Then she had an

idea. She stamped out the letters' SOS' in the snow. Fortunately, a pilot saw

the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town. It was not long before

a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.

nce2_76.txt

'To end our special new's bulletin,' said

the voice of the television announcer,' we

are taking you to the macaroni fields of

Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in

this area for over six hundred years. Two

of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova

and Riccardo Brabante, tell me that they

have been expecting a splendid crop this

year and harvesting has begun earlier

than usual. Here you can see two workers

who, between them, have just finished

cutting three cart-loads of golden brown

macaroni stalks. The whole village has

been working day and night gathering

and threshing this year's croP before the

September rains. On the right, you can

see Mrs Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now.

Mrs Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is

processed. This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest :

the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating competition ! Signor Fratelli, the present

champion, has won it every year since 1961. And that ends our special bulletin

for today, Thursday, April 1st. We are now returning you to the studio.'

nce2_77.txt

The mummy of an Egyptian woman who

died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation.

The mummy is that of Shepenmut who

was once a singer in the Temple of

Thebes. As there were strange marks on

the X-ray plates taken of the mummy,

doctors have been trying to find out

whether the woman died of a rare disease.

The only way to do this was to operate.

The operation, which lasted for over four

hours,proved to be very difficult because

of the hard resin which covered the skin.

The doctors removed a section of the

mummy and sent it to a laboratory. They

also found something which the X-ray

of the god Duamutef.This god which has the head of a cow was normally placed

inside a mummy. The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They

feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but for-

tunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation.

nce2_78.txt

After reading an article entitled 'Cigarette

Smoking and Your Health' I lit a cigar-

ette to calm my nerves. I smoked with

concentration and pleasure as I was sure

that this would be my last cigarette. For

a whole week I did not smoke at all and

during this time, my wife suffered

terribly. I had all the usual symptoms of

someone giving up smoking: a bad tem-

per and an enormous appetite. My friends

kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars.

They made no effort to hide their amuse-

ment whenever I produced a packet of

sweets from my pocket. After seven days

of this I went to a party. Everybody

around me was smoking and I felt ex-

tremely uncomfortable. When my old friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette,

it was more than I could bear. I took one guiltily, lit it and smoked with satis-

faction. My wife was delighted that things had returned to normal once more.

Anyway, as Brian pointed out, it is the easiest thing in the world to give up

smoking. He himself has done it lots of times!

nce2_79.txt

I used to travel by air a great deal when

I was a boy. My parents,used to live in

South America and I used to fly there

from Europe in the holidays. An air-

hostess would take charge of me and I

never had an unpleasant experience. I

am used to travelling by air and only on

one occasion have I ever felt frightened.

After taking off, we were flying low over

the city and slowly gaining height, when

the plane suddenly turned round and

flew back to the airport. While we were

waiting to land, an air-hostess told us to

keep calm and to get off the plane quietly

as soon as it had touched down. Every-

body on board was worried and we were

curious to find out what had happened. Later we learnt that there was a very

important person on board. The police had been told that a bomb had been

planted on the plane. After we had landed, the plane was searched thoroughly.

Fortunately, nothing was found and five hours later we were able to take off

again.

nce2_80.txt

Perhaps the most extraordinary building

of the nineteenth century was the Crystal

Palace, which was built in Hydd Park

for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The

Crystal Palace was different from all

other buildings in the world, for it was

made of iron and glass. It was one of the

biggest buildings of all time and a lot of

people from many countries came to see

it. A great many goods were sent to the

exhibition from various parts of the

world. There was also a great deal of

machinery on display. The most wonder-

ful piece of machinery on show was

Nasmyth's steam hammer. Though in

those days, travelling was not as easy as

it is today, steam boats carried thousands

of visitors across the Channel from

Europe. On arriving in England, they were taken to the Crystal Palace by train.

There were six million visitors in all, and the profits from the exhibition were

used to build museums and colleges. Later, the Crystal Palace was moved to

South London. It remained one of the most famous buildings in the world until

it was burnt down in 1936.

nce2_81.txt

When he had killed the guard, the prisoner

of war quickly dragged him into the

bushes. Working rapidly in the darkness,

he soon changed into the dead man's

clothes. Now, dressed in a blue uniform

and with a rifle over his shoulder, the

prisoner marched boldly up and down in

front of the camp. He could hear shout-

ing in the camp itself. Lights were blazing

and men were running here and there:

they had just discovered that a prisoner

had escaped. At that moment, a large

black car with four officers inside it,

stopped at the camp gates. The officers

got out and the prisoner stood to attention

and saluted as they passed. When they

had gone, the driver of the car came towards him. The man obviously wanted

to talk. He was rather elderly with grey hair and clear blue eyes. The prisoner

felt sorry for him, but there was nothing else he could do. As the man came near,

the prisoner knocked him to the ground with a sharp blow. Then, jumping into

the car, he drove off as quickly as he could.

nce2_82.txt

Fishermen and sailors sometimes claim

to have seen monsters in the sea. Though

people have often laughed at stories told

by seamen, it is now known that many of

these 'monsters' which have at times

been sighted are simply strange fish.

Occasionally, unusual creatures are

washed to the shore, but they are rarely

caught out at sea. Some time ago, how-

ever, a peculiar fish was caught near

Madagascar. A small fishingboat was

carried miles out to sea by the powerful

fish as it pulled on the line. Realizing that

this was no ordinary fish, the fisherman

made every effort not to damage it in any

way. When it was eventually brought to shore, it was found to be over thirteen

feet long. It had a head like a horse, big blue eyes, shining silver skin, and a

bright red tail, The fish, which has since been sent to a museum where it is being

examined by a scientist, is called an oarfish. Such creatures have rarely been seen

alive by man as they live at a depth of six hundred feet.

nce2_83.txt

The former Prime Minister, Mr Went-

worth Lane, was defeated in the recent

elections. He is now retiring from political

life and has gone abroad. My friend,

Crawley, has always been a fanatical

opponent of Mr Lane's Radical Progres-

sive Party. After the elections, Crawley

went to the former Prime Minister's

house.When he asked if Mr Lane lived

there, the policeman on duty told him

that since his defeat, the ex-Prime Minis-

ter had gone abroad. On the following

day, Crawley went to the house again.

The same policeman was just walking

slowly past the entrance, when Crawley

asked the same question. Though a little

suspicious this time, the policeman gave him the same answer. The day after,

Crawley went to the house once more and asked exactly the same question. This

time, the policeman lost his temper.' I told you yesterday and the day before

yesterday,' he shouted, 'Mr Lane was defeated in the elections. He has retired

from political life and gone to live abroad !'

' I know,' answered Crawley,' but I love to hear you say it !'

nce2_84.txt

Busmen have decided to go on strike next

week. The strike is due to begin on Tues-

day. No one knows how long it will last.

The busmen have stated that the strike

will continue until general agrement is

reached about pay and working condi-

tions. Most people believe that the strike

will last for at least a week. Many owners

of private cars are going to offer 'free

rides' to people on their way to work.

This will relieve pressure on the trains to

some extent. Meanwhile, a number of

university students have volunteered to

drive buses while the strike lasts. AIl the

young men are expert drivers, but before

they drive any of the buses, they will have

to pass a special test. The students are going to take the test in two days' time.

Even so, people are going to find it difficult to get to work. But so far, the public

has expressed its gratitude to the students in letters to the Press. Only one or

two people have objected that the students will drive too fast!

nce2_85.txt

I have just received a letter from my old

school informing me that my former head-

master, Mr Regmald Page, will be retiring

next week. Pupils of the school, old and

new, will be sending him a present to

mark the occasion. All those who have

contributed towards the gift will sign

their names in a large album which will

be sent to the headmaster's home. We

shall all remember Mr Page for his

patience and understanding and for the

kindly encouragement he gave us when

we went so unwillingly to school. A great

many former pupils will be attending a

farewell dinner in his honour next Thurs-

day. It is a curious coincidence that the

day before his retirement, Mr Page will have been teaching for a total of forty

years. After he has retired, he will devote himself to gardening. For him, this

will be an entirely new hobby. But this does not matter, for, as he has often

remarked, one is never too old to learn.

nce2_86.txt

As the man tried to swing the speed-boat

round, the steering-wheel came away in

his hands. He waved desperately to his

companion, who had been water-skiing

for the last fifteen minutes. Both men had

hardly had time to realize what was hap-

pening when they were thrown violent1y

into the sea. The speed-boat had struck

a buoy, but it continued to move very

quickly across the water. Both men had

just begun to swim towards the shore.

when they noticed with dismay that the

speed-boat was moving in a circle. It now

came straight towards them at tremendous

speed. In less than a minute, it roared

past them only a few feet away. After it

had passed, they swam on as quickly as they could because they knew that the

boat would soon return. They had just had enough time to swim out of danger

when the boat again completed a circle. On this occasion,however, it had slowed

down considerably. The petrol had nearly all been used up. Before long, the

noise dropped completely and the boat began to drift gently across the water.

nce2_87.txt

'At the time the murder was committed,

I was travelling on the 8.0 o'clock train

to London,' said the man.

'Do you always catch such an early

train ?' asked the inspector.

'Of course I do,' answered the man.' I

must be at work at 10.0 o'clock. My em-

ployer will confirm that I was there on

time.'

' Would a later train get you to work on

time ?' asked the inspector.

' I suppose it would, but I never catch

a later train.'

'At what time did you arrive at the

station ?'

'At ten to eight. I bought a paper and

waited for the train.'

'And you didn't notice anything unusual ?'

' Of course not.'

'I suggest,' said the inspector, 'that you are not telling the truth. I suggest

that you did not catch the 8.0 o'clock train, but that you caught the 8.25 which

would still get you to work on time. You see, on the morning of the murder, the

8.0 o'clock train did not run at all. It brokedown at Ferngreen station and was

taken off the line.'

nce2_88.txt

Six men have been trapped in a mine for

seventeen hours. If they are not brought

to the surface soon they may lose their

lives. However, rescue operations are

proving difficult. If explosives are used,

vibrations will cause the roof of the mine

to collapse. Rescue workers are therefore

drilling a hole on the north side of the

mine. They intend to bring the men up

in a special capsule. If there had not been

a hard layer of rock beneath the soil, they

would have completed the job in a few

hours. As it is, they have been drilling for

sixteen hours and they still have a long

way to go. Meanwhile, a microphone,

which was lowered into the mine two

hours ago, has enabled the men to keep in touch with the closest relatives.

Though they are running out of food and drink, the men are cheerful and con-

fident that they will get out soon. They have been told that rescue operations are

progressing smoothly. If they knew how difficult it was to drill through the hard

rock, they would lose heart.

nce2_89.txt

People will do anything to see a free

show--even if it is a bad one. When the

news got round that a variety show would

be presented at our local cinema by the

P. and U. Bird Seed Company, we all

rushed to see it. We had to queue for

hours to get in and there must have been

several hundred people present just be-

fore the show began. Unfortunately, the

show was one of the dullest we have ever

seen. Those who failed to get in need not

have felt disappointed as many of the

artistes who should have appeared did not

come. The only funny things we heard

that evening came from the advertiser at

the beginning of the programme. He was

obviously very nervous and for some minutes stood awkwardly before the

microphone. As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone burst out laughing. We

all know what the poor man should have said, but what he actually said was:

'This is the Poo and Ee Seed Bird Company. Good ladies, evening and

gentlemen !'

nce2_90.txt

Though Brazil is one of the richest coun-

tries in the world, much of it has not yet

been developed. It was mainly for this

reason that the Brazilian government

decided to have a new city built 600 miles

north-west of Rio de Janeiro. Designed

by the great architect Lucio Costa, the

new city, Brasilia, replaced Rio de Janeiro

as the capital of Brazif in 1960. Brasilia

has been carefully planned for modern

living. Its wide roads, which can take

fourteen lanes of traffic, have been kept

away from living areas. Children do not

have to cross busy streets to go to school.

Housewives can visit-shopping centres on

foot, for in these specially designed living

areas, cars are unnecessary. At first, the government had great difficulty in per-

suading people to leave Rio and to settle in Brasilia. Since 1960, however, the

population has been growing all the time. Brasilia has quickly established itself

as the capital of the country. The idea to have the capital moved so far inland

will have a great effect on the future of Brazil.

nce2_91.txt

A pilot noticed a balloon which seemed

to be making for a Royal Air Force Sta-

tion nearby. He informed the station at

once, but no one there was able to explain

the mystery. The officer in the control

tower was very angry when he heard the

news, because balloons can be a great

danger to aircraft. He said that someone

might by spying on the station and the

pilot was ordered to keep track of the

strange object. The pilot managed to

circle the balloon for some time. He

could make out three men in a basket

under it and one of them was holding

field-glasses. When the balloon was over

the station, the pilot saw one of the men

taking photographs. Soon afterwards, the balloon began to descend and it

landed near an airfield. The police were called in, but they could not arrest any-

one, for the basket contained two Members of Parliament and the Commanding

Officer of the station! As the Commanding Officer explained later, one half of

the station did not know what the other half was doing !

nce2_92.txt

It must have been about two in the morn-

ing when I returned home. I tried to

wake up my wife by ringing the door-bell,

but she was fast asleep, so I got a ladder

from the shed in the garden, put it against

the wall, and began climbing towards the

bedroom window. I was almost there

when a sarcastic voice below said,' I don't

think the windows need cleaning at this

time of the night.' I looked down and

nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a

policeman. I immediately regretted an-

swering in the way I did, but I said,'I

enjoy cleaning windows at night.'

'So do I,'answered the policeman in

the same tone. 'Excuse my interrupting

you. I hate to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but would you mind

coming with me to the station ?'

'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said. 'You see, I've forgotten my key.'

'Your what ?' he called.

'My key,' I shouted.'

Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who opened the window just as

the policeman had started to climb towards me.

nce2_93.txt

One of the most famous monuments in

the world, the Statue of Liberty, was

presented to the United States of America

in the nineteenth century by the people

of France. The great statue, which was

designed by the sculptor Auguste Barth-

oldi, took ten years to complete. The

actual figure was made of copper sup-

ported by a metal framework which had

been especially constructed by Eiffel. Be-

fore it could be transported to the United

States, a site had to be found for it and a

pedestal had to be built. The site chosen

was an island at the entrance of New York

Harbour. By 1884, a statue which was

151 feet tall, had been erected in Paris.

The following year, it was taken to pieces and sent to America. By the end of

October 1886, the statue had been put together again and it was officially pre-

sented to the American people by Bartholdi. Ever since then, the great monu-

ment has been a symbol of liberty for the millions of people who have passed

through New York Harbour to make their homes in America.

nce2_94.txt

Experiments have proved that children

can be instructed in swimming at a very

early age. At a special swimming pool in

Los Angeles, children become expert at

holding their breath under water even be-

fore they can walk. Babies of two months

old do not appear to be reluctant to

enter the water, It is not long before they

are so accustomed to swimming that they

can pick up weights from the floor of the

pool. A game that is very popular with

these young swimmers is the underwater

tricycle race. Tricycles are lined up on

the floor of the pool seven feet under

water. The children compete against each

other to reach the other end of the pool.

Many pedal their tricycles, but most of them prefer to push or drag them. Some

children can cover the whole length of the pool without coming up for breath

even once. Whether they will ever become future Olympic champions, only

time will tell. Meanwhile, they should encourage those among us who cannot

swim five yards before they are gasping for air.

nce2_95.txt

When the Ambassador of Escalopia re-

turned home for lunch, his wife got a

shock. He looked pale and his clothes

were in a frightful state.

'What has happened ?' she asked.

'How did your clothes get into such a

mess ?'

'A fire-extinguisher, my dear,' answered

the Ambassador drily. 'University stu-

dents set the Embassy on fire this morn-

ing.'

'Good heavens!' exclaimed his wife.

'And where were you at the time ?'

'I was in my office as usual,' answered

the Ambassador. 'The fire broke out in

the basement. I went down immediately.

of course, and that fool, Horst,aimed a fire-extinguisher at me. He thought I was

on fire. I must definitely get that fellow posted.'

The Ambassador's wife went on asking questions, when she suddenly noticed

a big hole in her husband's hat.

'And how can you explain that ?' she asked.

'Oh, that,' said the Ambassador. 'Someone fired a shot through my office

window. Accurate, don't you think ? Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at the time.

If I had been, I would not have been able to get home for lunch.'

nce2_96.txt

A Festival for the Dead is held once a year

in Japan. This festival is a cheerful occa-

sion, for on this day, the dead are said to

return to their homes and they are wel-

comed by the living. As they are expected

to be hungry after their long journey,

food is laid out for them. Specially-made

lanterns are hung outside each house to

help the dead to find their way. All night

long, people dance and sing. In the early

morning, the food that had been laid out

for the dead is thrown into a river or into

the sea as it is considered unlucky for

anyone living to eat it. In towns that are

near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had

been hung in the streets the night before,

are placed into the water when the festival is over. Thousands of lanterns slowly

drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. This

is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the

lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.