Lesson 77 A Successful Operation

The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C., have just had an operation. The mummy is that of Shepenmut 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 wether the woman died of a rare disease.The oonly way to do this is to operation. 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 plates did not show: a small wax figure of god Duamtef. This god which has the head of a cow was normally placed inside a mummy.They have yet not decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces. But fortunately, this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived

the operation.

Lesson78 The Last One?

After reading an article entitled ‘Cigarette Smoking and Your health’, I lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. I smoked with concentration and pleasure as I was sure that this would 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 temper and an enormous appetite. My friends kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars. They made no effort to hide their amusement whenever I produced a package of sweets from my pocket.

After seven days of this, I went to a party. Everybody around me was smoking and I felt extremely uncomfortable. My old friend Brain urged me to accept a cigarette. It was more than I could bear. I took guiltily, lit a cigarette and smoked with satisfaction. My wife was delighted that things had returned to normal once more. Anyway, as Brain pointed out, It is easiest thing in the world to give up smoking, he himself has done it lots of times.

Lesson 79 By Air

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. A flight attendant would take charge of me and I never had an unpleasant experience. I am used to traveling 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, a flight attendant told us to keep calm and to get off the plane quietly as soon as the plane had touched down. Everybody 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.

Lesson 80 The Crystal Palace

Perhaps the most extraordinary building of the nineteenth century was the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was the most wonderful building in the world, for it was made of iron and glass. It was one of the biggest buildings of all time. There were 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 wonderful 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. 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 biggest buildings in the world until it was burnt down in 1936.

Lesson 81 Escape

When he had killed the guard, the prisoner of war quickly dragged him into 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, he marched boldly up and down in front of the camp. He could hear shouting in the camp itself. Lights were blazing and the men were running here and there. They had just discovered the prisoner had escaped. At that moment a large black car with four officers inside it stopped at the camp gate. When they got off, 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, bur it was nothing else he could do. When he came near, he knocked him to the ground with a sharp blow. Then jumping into the car, he drove off as quickly as he could.

Lesson 82 Monster or fish

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 been at times sighted , are simply strange fish. Occasionally, unusual creatures are washed to the shore, but they are rarely caught out at sea. Some time ago, however, a peculiar fish was caught near Madagascar. A small fishing-boat was carried miles out to sea by the powerful fish as it pulled on the line. Realizing that this was no ordinary fish, the fishermen 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 skins 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 as they lived at a depth of six hundred feet.

Lesson 83 After the elections

The former Prime Minister, Mr. Wentworth Lane, was defeated in the recent elections. He is now retiring from political life and has gone abroad. My friend, Grawley, has always been a fanatical opponent of Mr. Lane’s radical Progressive Party. After the elections, Grawley went to Mr. Lane’s house. When he asked if Mr. Lane lived there, the policeman on duty told him that since his defeat. On the following day, he went to ex-Prime Minister’s house again. The same policeman was just walking past the entrance. He asked the same question. Though a little suspicious, the policeman the policeman gave him the same answer. The day after, Grawley went to the house once more and asked exactly the same question. This time the policeman lost his temper and said “I told you yesterday and the day before yesterday. Mr. Lane was defeated in the recent elections and gone to live abroad”. “I know” said Grawley . “I love to hear you say it”.

Lesson 86 Out of control

As the man tried to swing the speed-boat round, the steering-wheel came away in his hands. He desperately waved to his companion, who had been water-skiing for the last fifteen minutes. Both men had hardly had time to realize what was happening when they were thrown violently into the sea. The speed-boat had struck a buoy, and it moved across the water. Both men had begun to swim towards the shore, when they noticed with dismay that the boat moved very in a circle. It came straight towards them at tremendous speed. In less than a minute, the boat 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, the boat began to drift gently across the water.

NEC 2 Lesson 9

On wesnday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was last day of the year and a large crown of people had gethered under the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.

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