【正文】 ave 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 s omeone 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. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vil l age f ai r, I decided t o vi sit a f ort unet el er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her tent and she t ol d m e to sit down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal l and said: 39。A r el at i on of yours i s i ng t o see you. She wil l be ar i vi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m om ent you l eave t his t e nt , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owar ds you. She wil l speak t o you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f r om t hi s place. That is al .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 i entl y. 39。Your si st er wil l be her e i n less than an hour and we m ust be at t he st at i on t o m et her . We ar e l at e al r eady.39。 As she walked away, I f oll owed her out of the f ai r. Lesson61 Troubl e wi t h t he H ubbl e 哈勃望 遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n f ut ur e, ast r onauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceshi p whi l e it i s st il l i n space and t o r et urn t o it . The abil it y t o do t hi s wil l be necessar y i n fut ur e fl i ght s to di st ant pl as. Sci ent i st s ar e now t r yi ng t o di scover if t hi s i s possi ble. The spaceshi p Astr a whi ch l eft t he eart h a short t im e ago, wil l be tr avel li ng thr e hundr ed m il es i nto space. At a cert ai n poi nt , t he Astr a wi l stop f or a shor t im e and an ast r onaut wi l at tempt t o l eave t he stati onar y spaceshi p and then r et urn t o i t. 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 essage. The fi rst message i s exp ect ed t o ar ri ve at 7 o39。cl ock t hi s eveni ng. By t hat t im e, t he Ast r a wil l have been fl ying t hrough space f or sevent een hour s and wi l have cir cl ed t he eart h a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radi o m esages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul ts of t he t ri p wi l be announced imm ediatel y. Lesson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ght i ng t he f or est f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey could get it under contr ol. A short t im e bef ore, great tr ees had cover ed t he count r ysi de f or mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over t he desolate hi l s. Wint er was i ng on and t he hil ls t hreatened the surr oundi ng vi l ages wi t h destr uct i on, f or heavy rai n woul d not onl y wash away t he soil but would cause seri ous fl oods as wel . When t he fi re had at la st been put out , the f orest aut hor it es order ed sever al t ons of a special type of grass sed whi ch woul d gr ow quickl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he ground i n huge quant it i es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl ant ing seed f or near l y a mont h when i t began t o r ai n. 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 t her e for cent uri es, pat ches of gr en had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not am used 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Ham pden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part i es. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum orever ybody, t hat i s, except hi s six year ol d daughter, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geof fr ey39。s cl osest fr iends asked him t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng r ecept i on. Thi s i s the sort of t hi ng that Geoff rey l oves. He prepared t he speech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had incl uded a l arge number of f unny st ori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat succes. As soon as he ha d f ini shed, Jenny tol d him she want ed to go home. Geoff rey was a li tl e disappoi nted by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed the speech. To his surpr ise, she sai d she hadn39。t . Geof fr ey asked her why thi s was so and she t ol d him t hat she did not li ke to see so many peopl e laughing at him! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 In l858, a Fr ench engineer, Ai me Thome de Gam ond, ar ived i n England wit h a pl an for a t went yone mi le t unnel acr oss the Engli sh Channel. He said t hat i t would be possi bl e t o bui ld a platf orm in the cent re of t he Channe l. Thi s pl atf orm would serve as a port and a r ail way st ati on. The tunnel woul d be wel l venti lat ed if tal l chi mneys wer e buil t above sea level . In 1860, a bet ter plan was put for 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 .39。 39。I