21. Strange Patent Applications
奇怪的专利申请
I set about working in the current Patent Office after resigning from the court personnel. Competent and dynamic, I never feel passive while diving into the identifications of whether applications are valid and practical according to the new version of the criteria.。有一次，有个人用不锈钢丝和绳子制作了一架三角形的直升飞机。他致电给我们，高兴地声称其确实牢固，而且方便使用，从不发生故障。我请他稍等，但这个天真的人挂了电话就开始从院子里起飞。我拨打他在电话簿上的号码试图回电给他，却无法接通。
With the expectation of distinguishing their own importance, some people leave the beaten track and file strange products with us now and then, for example, lantern that can be attached on your forehead, cubic walnuts, refrigerator made of straw and glue, perfume that nobody can bear to smell, and so on. 为了显示与众不同，时不时就有人违反常规，向我们提交一些奇怪的产品申请，例如固定在前额的信号灯、立方体的胡桃、用稻草和胶水制作的冰箱、没人能受得了的香水等
Once, a man made a triangle helicopter out of stainless wires and string. He called us up and merrily claimed it was stable and convenient to use, and never out of order. I asked him to hang on, but this innocent man just rang off and set out to fly from his courtyard. I dialed his number in the directory trying to ring him back, but never got through. 从法院人事部辞职后，我开始在现在的专利局工作。我工作起来既称职又有活力，在投身于根据新版的申请标准鉴定专利申请，以防他们无效或不实用时，我从未感觉到消极没劲
Merciful God blessing, an abrupt freezing rainfall made his powder wet. Luckily, the trouble was without any extension except that he crashed into a greengrocer’s making all the ripe fruits become messy jam. When people seized this crazy man with caution and sobered him by tapping his face, he complained about the bad weather instead of associating his failure with his unscientific design.
仁慈的上帝保佑，一场突然降临的冻雨打湿了他的火药，使他造成的麻烦没有扩大，只是撞入一间水果店，把所有成熟的水果都压成一塌糊涂的果酱。当人们小心地抓住这个失去理智的人，轻轻拍打他的脸使他清醒过来时，他还在抱怨糟糕的坏天气，却没有将他的失败与他不科学的设计联系起来。
22. Helping the Remote Village援助山村
A year ago, the famous astronaut received an invitation by airmail from a remote village. Intending to sniff some fresh air, he and his interpreter paid a fortnight visit there. It was a privilege for them to be there, but they were shocked by what they saw. The tracks were muddy. The river was drying up. Most villagers only possessed one broom, a few tins and several jars and their rectangular grass huts with round angles were surrounded by weeds. Besides, their school had no roof and platform, and the students had no concept of clicking a computer at all. They were badly in need.
Soon, the astronaut made a generous voluntary donation to the village. There were textbooks for students, sewing machines for tailors and tractors for farmers. His distribution catalogue also included operating a clinic and a trunk library, as well as giving weekly lessons to teach relevant farming knowledge like how to dry out seeds or raise oxen. He himself not only helped do some paperwork but also purchased grills for boys to toast potatoes and combs for girls who were dying to get one. The other day, he heard from the villagers again inviting him to participate in the donation anniversary. For political and security reasons, he couldn’t adjust his outgoing arrangement-otherwise he would go. But his deeds were remembered forever.
一年前，那位著名的宇航员收到一份由一个偏远村庄通过航空邮件寄来的邀请。因为想要呼吸一下新鲜空气，他和翻译到那儿做了一次两周的访问。当地之行使他们倍感荣幸，但却震惊于所见所闻。泥泞的道路、河流干枯，大部分的村民拥有的财产只不过是一只扫帚、几个瓶瓶罐罐而已，圆角的矩形草屋四周长满了杂草，学校也没有屋顶和讲台，学生们更对点击操作电脑毫无概念。他们生活确实相当困难。
很快，宇航员就向村庄做了慷慨的自愿捐赠。捐赠品中有给学生的课本，给裁缝的缝纫机，还有给农民的拖拉机。捐赠金的分配目录中还包括一间诊所和一间书箱图书馆的运作，并有传授像怎么使种子干透，或者怎么养牛这种相关农业知识的每周课程。他自己不仅亲自帮助做一些文书工作，还给男孩子们购买了烤马铃薯的烤架、给渴望得到梳子的女孩子们买了梳子。前几天，他又收到了村民们邀请他参加捐赠周年会的来信。出于政治和安全原因，他无法调整外出时间安排，否则他就会去了。不过他所做的一切村民们都永远记得。
23. A Volcano Eruption火山爆发
As the best candidate, I was appointed to collect and evaluate information for a database about diverse natural disasters, such as hurricanes, typhoons or thunderstorms. Sometimes I did this by giving out questionnaires to those who went through them. But sometimes I had to go through actual disasters myself. The Musaki Volcano was one of them.
At that time, I lived in a bungalow alongside the volcano with a novelist, who came for the appreciation of its eruption. One day, when I was drawing diagrams on the balcony and he was bathing inside, the volcano erupted unexpectedly. The ash and lava fountains shooting highly in the sky varied from 50 to 100 meters in height. It was absolutely fantastic! I even noticed a rainbow appear in the fog caused by a heat wave.
But, glancing through our surroundings, I foresaw the potential danger and found no guarantee of our safety. The uncomfortable gas almost made us unconscious. Sweats of anxiety began to drop. Managing to stop panicking and trembling, we quickly put on our protective suits, helmets and boots and eventually made our way to a safe place. How lucky we were even though my precious equipment and documents were all burnt to the ground!
作为最好的候选人，我被委派为一个数据库收集和评估各种自然灾害的信息，例如飓风、台风或雷暴等。有时我通过向经历过这些灾害的人分发调查问卷来收集信息，有时却得亲自经历实际的灾害。Musaki火山就是其中之一。
那时，我和一名来欣赏火山爆发的小说家同住在火山边上的一座平房里。有一天，当我正在阳台上画图表而他在屋里洗澡时，火山突然爆发了，喷射到天空中的火山灰和岩浆喷泉从50米到100米不等，这一情景绝对地奇异，我甚至还注意到一条彩虹出现在热浪造成的雾里。
然而，我向四周看了一下，马上预见到了潜在的危险，也发现了我们的安全毫无保障。令人不舒服的气体几乎使我们失去知觉，忧虑的汗水开始流淌下来。我们努力使自己不要惊慌和颤抖，迅速穿上保护套装、头盔和靴子，最后成功前往安全的地方。尽管我珍贵的设备和文件都烧得精光，但是我们真的非常幸运。
24. Abstract Art
抽象艺术
Abstract art used to be controversial. On one hand, the artists stopped painting delicate figures but attempted to adopt special techniques to give people different visual impacts. On the other hand, their works, including sculptures carved out of marble or fragile clay, were all with a specific aim of showing feelings. Some conventional scholars who were allergic to abstract art said it was evidently ridiculous and neither art nor geometry. Their Traditional Art Committee predicted its soon disappearing.
But nowadays, abstract art has become part of the permanent possessions of contemporary civilization. Galleries along the Madison Avenue give scores of superb exhibitions on typical abstract works, appealing to many who have a preference for abstract art. The Shadow of Egypt, a café in this district, has become the home to those aggressive abstract artists. Consequently, it is not a coincidence for you to meet one of these artists of great reputation in the flesh. They are asked for signatures and given bunches of fragrant flowers plus they are given a great deal of praise by their faithful fans.
抽象艺术曾经颇受争议，一方面，抽象艺术家们不再画精致的画像，而是试图采用特别的技巧给人们以不同的视觉冲击;另一方面，他们的作品，包括用大理石和易碎的粘土雕刻出来的雕像，都以表达感情为其明确的目的。有些对抽象艺术反感的传统学者说抽象艺术是极其明显地荒谬可笑，说它既不是艺术，又不是几何学，他们的传统艺术委员会还预言了它的迅速消失。
但是到了今天，抽象艺术已经成为当代文明永久财产的一部分，麦蒂逊大道的画廊为典型的抽象艺术作品举办了许多出色的展览，吸引了许多对抽象艺术有偏爱的人。这区有家叫埃及之影的咖啡馆已经成为那些有进取精神的抽象艺术家们活动的根据地，所以，亲眼见到一位名声极大的艺术家本人并不是什么巧合的事，他们被忠实的崇拜者索取签名，并被给予成束的芬芳花朵和大量的赞扬。
25. Sightseeing in the United Kingdom
观光联合王国
After the wedding, my cousin and his wife went to the United Kingdom for nationwide sightseeing. He faxed a letter to me in English yesterday. To my delight, he no longer made any tense error. And his description roughly clarified my questions about the UK--its currency, its administration, the institution which divides it into four provinces, and the historical conflicts and quarrels when Southern Ireland broke away from the UK.
Unwilling to leave out any attraction, my cousin arranged his enjoyable journey carefully. One attractive place he visited was a castle in the countryside of Scotland, which lies near a port. It used to be the headquarters(请注意：音频里面是headquarter，没有加s，是不对的。)of the Communism Union but broke down during the war. Finding nothing could take the place of this splendid architecture, people accomplished rebuilding it in 1952. It was to their credit that all furnished rooms are consistent with what they used to be. My cousin was thrilled by its collections consisting of statues plus royal uniforms folded in glass tanks. Though there was no possibility to buy some of these exhibits, it was convenient to take photos, which he sent me along with his fax.
我的表弟和他妻子在举办了婚礼后到联合王国做全国旅游观光去了。他昨天传真了一封英文信给我，让我高兴的是，他再也不犯时态错误了，而且他的描述也粗略地向我阐明了关于英国的一些问题——它的货币啦，行政管理啦，把它分成四个行政区的制度啦，还有在南爱尔兰脱离联合王国时发生的一些历史上的冲突和争拗。
因为不愿意漏掉任何一个景点，我表弟仔细地安排了他愉快的旅程。他参观的其中一个吸引人的地方是苏格兰乡村的一个城堡。城堡靠近一座港口，曾经是共产主义联盟会的总部，但是在战争中倒塌了。人们发现没有任何东西可以取代这座辉煌的建筑，于是在1952年完成了重建。值得赞扬的是，所有配备家具的房间都和它们过去一致的。由雕像加折叠在玻璃柜里的皇家制服组成的收藏品使我表弟震撼不已。尽管没有可能购买这些展览品，拍照却很方便，他在传真中一起发给了我。
26. Chaplin-A Great Master of Humour
幽默大师卓别林
Chaplin was an extraordinary performer who starred in and directed many outstanding comedies. Few were bored watching his moustache, his gestures or his entertaining reactions when chased by detectives. Being drunk, sliding on a banana skin or whispering his own failures to nobody, he made us feel more content with our life without any verbal explanation. His particular sense of humor has astonished everybody throughout the world up to now.
In a small budget film, he played a badly-off and homeless person wearing worn-out shoes and messy clothes. On one occasion, he was trapped by a snowstorm in a vast mountainous area. Though he overcame many difficulties, he wasn’t fortunate enough. With all the porridge eaten up, he picked out a shoe and boiled it to eat. He cut off the leather bottom and chewed it like a pancake. According to an actress, his acting was so convincing and amusing that everybody couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
卓别林是一名非凡的演员，他主演并导演了多部杰出的喜剧。看见他可笑的小胡子、滑稽的手势动作，还有面对警探的追捕时有趣的反应，很少有人会觉得厌烦。喝醉酒啦，踩到香蕉皮滑倒啦，或者自言自语(低语)自己的糗事啦，他无需任何语言解释的表演总是使我们对自己的生活感到更加满意。他独特的幽默感直到现在依然使世界各地的人们都感到惊讶。
在一部小预算的电影里，他穿着磨破的鞋子和脏兮兮的衣服，扮演了一名贫穷又无家可归的人。在一幕场景中，他被一场暴风雪困在一片多山的区里。尽管他克服了许多困难，但是他还是运气不好的。粥都吃完了，他只好挑出一只鞋子煮来吃。他切下皮革的鞋底，像烙饼一样地咀嚼起来。据一名女演员所说，他的表演是如此地令人信服而又逗人发笑的，以致在场的所有人都忍不住大笑起来。
27. Explore MKII
探测MKII行星
MKII, a planet billions of kilometers away, is the origin of life in many religions. Physicists have proved the theory that its gentle climate and the pull of its gravity are similar to the earth’s. And astronomers have found that oxygen atoms and carbon dioxide, which are fundamental to life, exist in its atmosphere through satellites. Cheered up by this news, biologists, in their turn, began to do some research to remove people’s puzzles—Now that there are some suitable conditions, does life really exist on this globe? Do they multiply by laying eggs or giving birth to babies?
Last month, a spaceship was sent there. It’s a pity that this mission failed. Unlike the earth, MKII is a much younger planet. Thus, masses of harmful acid clouds float everywhere causing violent chain reactions to break out. These clouds not only blocked outthe pilots’ sight but also damaged the engine system. Luckily, the pilots watched out carefully and prevented the spaceship from crashing in time.
MK二号是一颗几十亿公里外的行星，它在许多宗教里都是生命起源的地方。物理学家已经证明了它温和的气候和重力的牵引都和地球相似的理论;天文学家也通过卫星，在它的大气层里发现了氧原子和二氧化碳的存在，这些都是对生命来说，都是基本的。受到这一消息的鼓舞，生物学家们接着开始了研究以解开人们的迷惑——既然有了适合的条件，生命真的存在于这个星球吗?他们是通过下蛋，还是产仔来繁殖后代的呢?
上个月，一艘太空飞船被派到了那儿。可惜的是，这次任务失败了。不像地球，MK二号是一颗年轻得多的行星。因此，大团大团的有害酸云到处漂浮，引起猛烈的连锁反应的爆发。这些云团不仅阻挡了飞行员的视线，而且还损坏了发动机系统。幸运的是，飞行员小心注意，才及时阻止了飞船的坠毁。
28. 我的第一支乐队
I was very sensitive to music. Just dipping into the music books briefly, I could sing or play well. To be honest, I always dreamt of becoming a famous folk actor. I was so confident that I never decreased my devotion.
I formed my first band called “Rolling Frog”. At the beginning, we relied on performing on instruments in pubs or to passers –by to earn extra money in cash. Then we wore false beards to pretend to be the musicians whom people were familiar with. In addition, we attached humorous acts to our performances and played jokes on each other. Soon, our “funny jazz” became famous and invitations to perform for broadcast stations began to come. Afterwards, we sorted out attractive music and made a record in a studio. A million or so copies were sold and we became millionaires.
It was painful that the band broke up finally. But above all, I realized my dream to be a musician.
我对音乐很敏感，只要简要地浏览一下乐谱，我就能演唱或演奏得很好。说实话，我一直都梦想着能成为出名的民间演员，自信的我从未减少过热爱。
我组成的第一支乐队叫做“摇滚蛙”。开始，我们依靠在酒吧里或向路人表演乐器来挣些零花的现金。然后我们带上假胡子假扮人们熟悉的音乐家，除此之外，我们在表演中加上幽默的动作，互相开着玩笑。很快，我们的“滑稽爵士乐”出了名，到广播电台表演的邀请开始多起来。随后，我们把我们吸引人的音乐做了分类，在一间音乐工作室录制了1张唱片，大约卖出了100万张，这使我们都成了百万富翁。
乐队最终的解散让我很心痛，但最重要的是，我实现了自己当音乐家的梦想。
29. A Brave Maid
勇敢的女仆
A wooden vase from the Ming Dynasty at the entrance of the reception hall amazed everyone. The artists designed it in a rare style and selected valuable jewels to decorate it. People thought highly of its fancy colour of honey and the beautiful paintings on it.
The vase used to belong to a former castle. But when the country was at war, the enemy troops exploded the castle. Debates on how the vase survived went on and on. In order to remove people’s doubt, a team of no less than 20 people carried out an informal investigation. The evidences they found showed that a maid took the vase apart and asked a sailor to sink it in a local well. She never gave away the secret even under the cruel trial of the enemies who were in search of treasures.
It is worth giving this brave maid a fortune in return.
接待大厅入口处的明朝木制花瓶 使每个人都惊奇不已。艺术家以一种罕有的风格设计它，并挑选了贵重的珠宝装饰它。人们高度赞赏它那蜂蜜般的奇特颜色，还有上面绘制的绘画。
这个花瓶曾经属于一座从前的城堡，但在战争期间，敌人的军队炸毁了城堡，于是关于这个花瓶是如何幸存下来的争论就一直在持续着。为了解开人们的疑问，一个由不少于20人的调查队开展了一次非正式的调查。他们找到的证据表明，有个女仆 把花瓶拆开，然后让一名水手把它沉到当地的一个水井里。她从来没有泄露这个秘密，即使是在搜寻财宝的敌人残酷的审讯下。
这位女仆真是值得给予一大笔钱作为对她的回报。
30. Different Countries Have Different Kinds of Englishes
不同的国家有不同的英语
Voyages of people from England play an important part in spreading the English language. At present, English is frequently spoken as an official or common language in many countries, such as America, Singapore, Malaysia and some African countries. All based on British English, the English spoken in these countries can be well understood by native English speakers. But actually, these Englishes have been gradually changing in accents, spellings, expressions and the usage of vocabulary.
Because of this fact, you can make use of the differences to tell which country the foreigners of your block are from. For example, if a boss fluently commands his driver, “Come up straight to my apartment by elevator and take some gas for my trucks and cabs”, instead of requesting, “Please come to my flat by lift and take some petrol for my lorries and taxis”, you can recognize his American identity, while the latter suggests that he is British.
英国人的航海在英语的传播中扮演了重要的角色。目前，英语在许多国家被作为官方语言或通用语言频繁地使用，例如美国、新加波、马来西亚和一些非洲的国家。这些国家的英语都以英式英语为基础，能很好地为以英语为本族语的人所理解。但是实际上，这些英语在口音、拼写、表达和词汇的使用方面都在逐渐变化。
因为这一情况的存在，你就可以利用这些英语之间的区别说出你们街区的外国人是哪个国家来的了。例如，如果有个老板流利地命令他的司机：“Come up straight to my apartment by elevator and take some gas for my trucks and cabs(直接搭电梯到我公寓上来拿卡车和出租车的汽油)”，而不是要求说，“Please come to my flat by lift and take some petrol for my lorries and taxis(请直接搭电梯到我公寓上来拿卡车和出租车的汽油)”，你就可以轻易地辨认出他的美国人身份，而后者却暗示着那是一位英国人。(请注意：听力录音里第二段两个“电梯”的单词跟原文不一致，原文是对的，录音弄错了，elevator才是美式说法而lift是英式说法。)
