新概念第三册 lession26-30

Lesson 26 Wanted: a large biscuit tin
Listen who the prize for biggest biscuit?

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us.
In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.
An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong.
These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well.
They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money.
Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.
They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was tremendous.
Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow.
It weighed nearly 500 pounds. A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car.
All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds.
It seemed certain that this would win the prize.
But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds.
It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients.
It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry.
The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, or they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

 

 

Lesson 27 Nothing to sell and nothing to buy
What is the most important thing for a tramp?

It has been said that everyone lives by selling something.
In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort.
Though it may be possible to measure the value of material good in terms of money,
it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us.
There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives,
yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service.
The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop.
Everyone has something to sell.
Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule.
Beggars almost sell themselves as human being to arouse the pity of passers-by.
But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others.
In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity.
A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him.
He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences.
He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but his is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people.
His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease.
By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do.
He may hunt, beg, or stead occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom
. We often speak of my even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom.
We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars,
but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?

Lesson 28 Five pound too dear
Why was even five pounds 'too dear'?

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.
Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were son covered with colourful rugs from Persia,
silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.
It was difficult not to be tempted.
Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decide not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.
I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.
Some of them were as big as marbles.
The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.
As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass.
It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.
I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine.
At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed.
The man said that the pen was worth $50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for $30.
I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay $5. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous,
but he eventually reduced the price to $10.
Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.
Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the $5 I have him.
I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain -- until I got back to the ship.
No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single world!

 

 

Lesson 29 Funny or not?
What is the basis of 'sick' humour?

Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on were we have been brought up.
The sense of humour is mysteriously bound up with national characteristics.
A Frenchman, for instance, might find it hard to laugh at a Russian joke.
In the same way, a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke witch would make an Englishman laugh to tears.
Most funny stories are based on comic situations. In spite of national differences, certain funny situations have a universal appeal.
No matter where you live, you would find it difficult not to laugh at, say, Charlie Chaplin's early films.
However, a new type of humour, which stems largely from the U.S., has recently come into fashion. It is called 'sick humour'.
Comedians base their jokes on tragic situation like violent death or serious accidents.
Many people find this sort of joke distasteful The following example of 'sick humour' will enable you to judge for yourself.
A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas.
From the moment he arrived there, he kept on pestering his doctor to tell him when he would be able to go home.
He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. Though the doctors did his best, the patient's recovery was slow.
On Christmas Day, the man still had his right leg in plaster. He spent a miserable day in bed thinking of all the fun he was missing.
The following day, however, the doctor consoled him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good.
The good. T
he man took heart and, sure enough, on New Years' Eve he was able to hobble along to a party.
To compensate for his unpleasant experiences in hospital, the man drank a little more than was good for him.
In the process, he enjoyed himself thoroughly and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals.
He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg.

Lesson 30 The death of a ghost
Why did the two brothers keep the secret?

For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted.
The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox.
They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long.
Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight.
Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.
In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen.
This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died.
Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man.
After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers.
He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War.
As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment.
When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war.
Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well.
His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob.
They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding.
All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.
He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.