【正文】 . So I deci ded t o m ake some t ar t s for t ea. I n a short t im e I was busy m ixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wi th sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat m om ent, t he tel ephone rang. Not hing could have been m ore annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky fi nger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o per suade her t o r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he r ecei ver . What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a regist er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dreams of fi nding l ost t reasur e al m ost cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。The Revealer39。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur i ed i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pir ates woul d of t en bur y gol d i n t he cave and t hen f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi t h t he new m achi ne, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike it . She enj oyed her self m aki ng t he assi st ant br i ng alm ost everyt hi ng i n t he wi ndow bef or e f i nal y buyi ng t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blessi ng i n di sgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil l age of Fri nley i s sai d t o possess a 39。cur sed t ree39。. Because t he t ree was m enti oned in a news paper , t he num ber of vi si t or s to Fr i nl ey has now increased. The tr ee was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if t y year s ago, but i t is onl y i n r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at i on. It i s sai d t hat if anyone touches t he tr ee, he wil l have bad l uck。 i f he pi cks a leaf, he wi l die. Many vil l agers beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aim ed a num ber of victi ms. The vi car has been as ked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri st s have been i ng fr om al part s of t he count r y t o see it . I n spi te of al t hat has been said, t he t our ist s have been picking l eaves and cut ti ng their names on t he t r et r unk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t outside our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y tim e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s plai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr aini ng hi m t o pr es hi s pa w on t he l at ch t o let hi mself i n. Rex soon became an expert at openi ng t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I not i ced him i n t he gar den near t he gate. Thi s ti me he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d l et hi m out ! Si nce t hen, he has developed anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om the outsi de, he es i nto t he gar den and wait s unt il t he gat e s hut s. Then he si t s and bar ks unti l som eone l et s him out. Af ter t hi s he imm edi at ely l ets him sel f in and begi ns barki ng again. Yest er day m y husband removed t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Leson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vi l age f air , I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nto her t ent and she t old m e t o si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and said: 39。A rel at ion of yours i s i ng t o se you. She wil l be ar ri vi ng t his eveni ng and int ends t o st ay f or a f ew days. The m om ent you l eave t hi s tent, you wi l get a bi g sur pr ise. A woman you know wel l wil l rush t owar ds you. She wil l speak t o you and then she wil l ead you away fr om t his pl ace. That i s al l.39。 As soon as I went out si de, I f ot al l about Madam Bel li nsky because m y wif e hurr ied t owar ds me. 39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。Your si st er wil l be her e i n l es t han an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 In futur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f rom a spaceship whil e it i s st il l in space and t o r et urn t o i t. The My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my mout h wa s f ull of cot tonwool . He knew I collected bi rds39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he court yard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unti l the bed had st r uck t he ground. Al t hough t he bed was smashed t o pi eces, t he m an was m