【正文】 s quiet. So I decided t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h st i cky past r y. At exact l y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e a nnoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up t he recei 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 t he 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 register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi nding l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。The Reveal er39。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pi r at es woul d of ten bur y gol d i n the cave and t hen f ai l t o coll ect i t. Arm ed wi th t he new m achine, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike i t. She enj oyed her sel f m aki ng t he assi stant br i ng al most ever yt hi ng i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal l y buyi ng the dr ess she had f ir st asked f or . Lesson58 A bl essi ng i n di sguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t i ny vi l age of Fr i nl ey is sai d t o possess a 39。cur sed tr ee39。. Because t he tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of vi sit ors t o Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. 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 recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l r eput ati on. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches t he t r e, he wil l have bad l uck。 if he pi cks a leaf, he wi l die. Many vil l agers beli eve that the t ree has al r eady claim ed a num ber of vi ct im s. The vi car has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so far he has ref used. He has poi nt ed out t hat t he tr ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t our ists have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o see i t. I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he t ouri st s have been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. 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 out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y tim e he want ed t o e i nt o t he gar den he would bar k unt il someone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s pl ained of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr ai ni ng hi m to pr es hi s paw on t he lat ch t o l et him sel f in. Rex soon becam e an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced hi m in t he gar den near t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e f rom the outsi de, he es int o the gar den and wait s unti l t he gate shuts. Then he si ts and barks unti l som eone l et s him out . Af ter t hi s he imm edi atel y l ets him sel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Leson60 The fut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vi l age fair , I decided t o visit a f ort une tel er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nto her tent and she t old m e to si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ri vi ng thi s evening and i ntends to stay f or a few days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al l. 39。 As soon as I went out side, I f ot al about Madam Bel li nsky because my wif e hurr ied t owar ds me. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。Your si st er wi l l be her e in l es t han an hour and we m ust be at the stati on to meet her. We are l ate alr eady. 39。 As she wal ked away, I fol lowed her out of the f air . Lesson61 Trouble wi t h the Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n f utur e, ast ronauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceship whi le it is st il i n space and to retur n t o it . The My dent ist had just pul led out one of m y teeth and had t old m e to r est f or a whil e. I t ri ed to say something, but m y mouth wa s full of cott on wool. He knew I coll ect ed bir ds39。 eggs and asked m e whether my coll ect ion was gr owi ng. He then asked m e how my brother was and whether I l iked m y new job in London. I n answer t o these questi ons I ei ther nodded or made st range nois es. Meanwhil e, m y tongue was busy searching out the hole wher e the t ooth had been. I suddenly f elt very wor r ied, but coul d not say anything. When t he dent ist at l ast r em oved t he cot tonwool f rom my m out h, I was abl e to t el him that he had pul led out the wr ong toot h. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl eping on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For the f ir st im e in hi s li fe, he became t he proud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a mat tr ess. Because t he we ather was ver y hot, he car r ied the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo nights, but on the thi rd ni ght , a st or m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he court yard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, t he man was mi racul ous