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ng l eaves and cut ti ng t hei r nam es on t he tr ee tr unk. So f ar, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Leson59 In or out ? 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去? Our dog, Rex, used to sit out si de our f r ont gate and bark. Ever y t im e he want ed t o e int o the gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng him t o pr es hi s paw on t he l atch t o l et him self i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced him i n t he gar den near t he gat e. This t im e he was bar king so t hat som eone woul d l et him out ! Si nce then, he has devel oped anothe r bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f r om t he out si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wait s until t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l ets him out. Af t er t hi s he imm ediatel y lets hi msel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yester day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen him since. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來(lái) At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o visit a fort une t el er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t old m e t o si t down. Af t er I had given her som e m oney, she l ooked i nt o 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 l get a bi g sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush towar ds you. She wil l speak t o you and t hen 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 or got al about Madam Beli nsky because m y wi fe hur ri ed t owar ds m e. 39。Where have you been hi di ng ?39。 she asked i m pati ent l y. 39。Your sis t er wi l be here i n l es t han an hour and we m ust be at he stati on t o m eet her. We ar e l ate al ready.39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol l owed her out of t he f ai r. Leson61 Troubl e wi th t he H ubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n f ut ure, ast ronaut s wil l be r equir ed t o descend fr om a spaceshi p whi le i t is sti l i n space and t o r et ur n t o it . The abi li ty t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y i n f ut ure f li ght s t o di stant pl a s. Scienti st s are now tr ying t o discover i f t his i s possi bl e. The spaceshi p Astr a whi ch left t he ear t h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t r aveli ng t hr ee hundr ed mi les i nt o space. At a cer tai n poi nt, t he Ast r a wil l st op f or a short t im e and an astr onaut wi l at em pt t o l eave t he st at i onar y spaceshi p and t hen ret ur n t o it . We shal not know whet her t he exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have r ecei ved a r adi o m esage. The f ir st m essage i s expected t o ar i ve at 7 o39。cl ock t his eveni ng. By that tim e, t he Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or sevent een hour s and wil l have ci rcled t he ear t h a great m any tim es. When t he fi r st r a di o messages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul t s of t he tr i p wil l be announced im m edi at el y. Lesson62 Af t er the f ire 大火之后 Fi r em en had been fi ghti ng the f orest f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get it under cont rol. A shor t tim e befor e, gr eat tr ees had covered t he countr ysi de f or mi l es ar ound. Now, sm oke st il r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desol at e hil ls. Wi nter was ing on and t he hi l s t hr eat ened t he sur r oundi ng vi l ages wi th dest r uct ion, for heavy r ain woul d not onl y wash away t he soil but woul d cause seri ous fl oods as wel . When t he fi re had at last been put out , the f orest aut hor it es or der ed sever al t ons of a special t ype of grass sed whi ch would gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl a nti ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began to r ain. By t hen, however, i n many places t he gr ass had al r eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he gr eat t r es whi ch had been growi ng ther e f or cent ur i es, pat ches of gr en had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not am used 她并不覺(jué)得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum or ever ybody, t hat is, except hi s si x year old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff r ey39。s cl osest f ri ends asked hi m to m ake a speech at a weddi ng recept ion. Thi s i s t he sor t of thi ng t hat Geof fr ey l oves. He pr epar ed t he speech caref ul l y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had incl uded a l ar ge num ber of f unny st or i es i n t he speech and, of course, i t was a gr eat succes. As soon as he had f ini shed, Jenny tol d hi m she want ed t o go hom e. Geoff r ey was a l it tl e disappoi nt ed by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On t he way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed t he speech. To his sur pr ise, she sai d she hadn39。t . Geof fr ey asked her why t hi s was so and she t old him t hat she did not li ke t o see so m any peopl e l aughi ng at hi m ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l858, a French engi neer , Ai me Thom e de Gamond, ar ri ved i n England wi th a pl an for a t wentyone m il e tunnel across the Engli sh Channel. He said that it would be possi ble t o buil d a plat form i n the centr e of the Channel . Thi s platf orm would ser ve as a por t and a rail way stati on. The t unnel would be wel l vent il at ed if t al l chi mneys were buil t above sea level. In 1860, a bet er pl an was put f or ward by an of f her e, 39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。Thi s i s as f ar as we go.39。 39。 I s thi s Woodfor d Gr een ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear, 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 I f or got to put you off