【正文】 I an Thompson is up f or sale. M r Thom pson is going t o sell it because it is haunt ed. He t old m e t hat he could not go t o sleep one night because he hear d a st r ange noise ing f r om t he bar. The next m or ni g, he f ound t hat he door s had been blocked by chair s and t he f ur nit ur e had been m oved. Though M r Thom pson had t ur ned t he light s of f bef or e he went t o bed, t hey wer e on in t he m or ni g. He also said t hat he had f ound five em pt y whisky bot tles which t he ghost m ust have dr unk t he night bef or e. When Isuggest ed t hat some vilager s m ust have e in f or a f r ee drink, M r Thom pson shook his head. The vilager s have t old him t hat hey wil not accept he inn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Did you want t o t ell m e som et hing? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ist s always ask quest ions when it is im possible f or you t o answer. M y dent ist had just puled out one of m y t eeth and had t old m e t o r est f or a while. I t r ied t o say som et hing, but m y m out h was f ul of cot t on wool. He knew I colect ed bir ds39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y colect ion was gr owing. He t hen asked m e how m y br other was and whet her I liked m y new job in London. I n answer t o t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade st r ange noises. M eanwhile, m y t ongue was busy sear ching out t he hole wher e t he t oot h had been. I suddenly f elt ver y wor r ied, but could not say anyt hing. When t he dent ist at last r em oved t he cot ton wool f r om m y m out h, I was able t o t ell him t hat he had puled out t he wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dr eam 美夢告終 Tir ed of sleeping on t he f loor , a young m an i Teher an saved up f or year s t o buy a r eal bed. For t he f ir st t im e in his l if e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a m at tr ess. Becaus e t he weat her was ver y hot , he car ried t he bed on t o t he r oof of his house. He slept ver y well f or t he fir st t wo night s, but on t he t hir d night , a st orm blew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent it cr ashing int o t he court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up unt il t he bed had st r uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pieces, t he m an was m ir aculously unhur t . When he woke up, he was st il on t he m at t ress. Glancing at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat lay ar ound him , t he m an sadly picked up t he m at r ess and car ried it int o his house. Af t er he had put it on t he f loor , he pr omptly went t o sleep again. Lesson50 Taken f or a r ide 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t r aveling in t he countr y, but I don39。t like losing m y way. I went on an excur sion r ecently, but m y t rip t ook m e longer t han Iexpect ed. 39。I 39。m going t o Woodf or d Gr een, 39。 I said t o t he conduct or as Igot on t he bus, 39。 but I don39。t know wher e it is. 39。 I 39。l t ell you wher e t o get of f, 39。 answer ed t he conduct or. I sat in t he f r ont of t he bus t o get a good view of t he countr yside. Af t er som e t im e, t he bus st opped. Looking r ound, I r ealized wit h a shock t hat I was t he only passenger lef t on t he bus. 39。You39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 t he conduct or said. 39。This is as f ar as we go. 39。 I s t his Woodf or d Gr een ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear , 39。 said t he conduct or suddenly. 39。 I f or got t o put you of f. 39。 I t doesn39。t m at ter, 39。 I said. 39。I 39。l get of f her e.39。 W e ar e going back now, 39。 said t he conduct or. 39。Well, in t hat case, I pr ef er t o st ay on t he bus, 39。 I answer ed. Lesson51 Rewar d f or vir t ue 對美德的獎賞 M y f riend, Her ber t, has always been f at, but t hings got so bad r ecently t hat he decided t o go on a diet . He began his diet a week ago. Fir st of al, he wr ot e out a long list of al t he f oods which wer e f or bidden. The list included m ost of t he t hings Her ber t loves: but t er, pot at oes, r ice, beer , m ilk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yest er day I paid him a visit . I r ang t he bell and was not sur prised t o see t hat Her ber t was st il as f at as ever. He led m e int o his r oom and hur iedly hid a lar ge par cel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was ver y em bar assed. When Iasked him what he was doing, he sm iled guilt ily and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He explained t hat his diet was so st r ict t hat he had t o r ewar d him self occasionaly. Then he showed m e t he cont ent s of t he par cel. I t cont ained f ive lar ge bar s of chocolat e and t hr ee bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pr et t y car pet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved int o a new house and Ihave been wor king har d al m or ning. I have been t r ying t o get m y new r oom in or der. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at ers wor se, t he r oom is r at her sm al, so Ihave t em por arily put m y books on t he f loor . At t he m om ent , t hey cover every inch of f loor space and Iact ualy have t o walk on t hem t o get in or out of t he r oom. A shor t while ago, m y sist er helped m e t o car r y one of m y old bookcases up t he st air s. She went int o m y r oom and got a big sur prise when she saw al t hose books on t he f loor . 39。This is t he pr et t iest car pet Ihave ever seen,39。 she said. She gazed at it f or some t im e t hen added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al. You can sit her e in your spar e t im e and r ead t he carpet! 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f or est f ir e in Calif or nia. Since t hen, t hey have been t r ying t o f ind out how t he f ir e began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by br oken glass or by cigar et t e ends which people car elessly t hr ow away. Yest er day t he fir em en examined t he gr ound car ef uly, but wer e not able t o f ind any br oken