【正文】 sson44 Through the forest 穿過森林 Mrs Anne Sterling did not think of the risk she was taking when she ran through a forest after two men. They had rushed up to her while she was having a piic at the edge of a forest with her children and tried to steal her handbag. In the struggle, the strap broke and, with the bag in their possession, both men started running through the trees. Mrs Sterling got so angry that she ran after them. She was soon out of breath, but she continued to run. When she caught up with them, she saw that they had sat down and were going through the contents of the bag, so she ran straight at them. The men got such a fright that they dropped the bag and ran away. 39。The strap needs mending,39。 said Mrs Sterling later, 39。but they did not steal anything.39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the postoffice. Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him. Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door. It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: 39。A thief, yes, 39。but only 5o per cent a thief!39。 Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note:39。 Only 25 per cent a thief now!39。 In time, all Sam39。s money was paid back in this way. The last note said:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。 lesson46 Expensive and unfortable 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and unfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered to pay amp。345 for the cost of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is amp。230 ! Lesson47 A thirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise ing from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have e in for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 D i d you want to tell me something? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. operation had been successful, but the doctor refused to do so. The following day, the patient asked for a bedside telephone. When he was alone, he telephoned the hospital exchange and asked for Doctor Millington. When the doctor answered the phone, Mr Gilbert said he was inquiring about a certain patient, a Mr John Gilbert. He asked if Mr Gilbert39。s operation had been successful and the doctor told him that it had been. He then asked when Mr Gilbert would be allowed to go home and the doctor told him that he would have to stay in hospital for another two weeks. Then Dr Millington asked the caller if he was a relative of the patient.39。 No,39。 the patient answered,39。 I am Mr John Gilbert.39。 Lesson40 Food and talk 進餐與交談 Last week at a dinnerparty, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs Rumbold. Mrs Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress. She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I tried to make conversation. 39。 A new play is ing to The Globe soon,39。 I said. 39。Will you be seeing it ?39。 39。 No,39。 she answered. 39。Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year ?39。 I asked. 39。 No,39。 she answered. 39。 Will you be staying in England?39。 I asked. 39。 No,39。 she answered. In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner. 39。 Young man,39。 she answered,39。 if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner !39。 lesson41 Do you call that a hat? 你把那個叫帽子嗎？ 39。Do you call that a hat ?39。 I said to my wife. 39。You needn39。t be so rude about it,39。 my wife answered as she looked at herself in the mirror. I sat down on one of those modern chairs with holes in it and waited. We had been in the hat shop for half an hour and my wife was still in front of the mirror. 39。 We mustn39。t buy things we don39。t need,39。 I remarked suddenly. I regretted saying it almost at once. 39。You needn39。t have said that,39。 my wife answered.39。 I need not remind you of that terrible tie you bought yesterday.39。 39。 I find it beautiful,39。 I said. 39。A man can never have too into the cave hoping to find buried treasure. The leader of the party was examining the soil near the entrance to the cave when the machine showed that there was gold under the ground. Very excited, the party dug a hole two feet deep. They finally found a small gold coin which was almost worthless. The party then searched the whole cave thoroughly but did not find anything except an empty tin trunk. In spite of this, many people are confident that 39。The Revealer39。 may reveal something of value fairly soon. Lesson56 Faster than sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it began. One