【正文】 e and I have been working har d al mor ning. I have been tr yi ng to get my new room in or der . This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To m ake m at ter s worse, the r oom is r ather sm al l, so I have temporar il y put m y books on t he fl oor . At the m oment , they cover ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on them t o get i n or out of t he room. A shor t while ago, my si st er helped m e to car y one of my ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went into my r oom and got a big surpr ise when she saw al l those books on t he fl oor . 39。This i s the pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for some t ime t hen added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e t ime and r ead the c arpet! 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng to fi nd out how t he fi re began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car el esly thr ow away. Yester day the f ir emen exami ned t he ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e t o fi nd any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however, a f ir em an acidental ly di scover ed the cause. He noti ced the r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound the electr ic wi r es of a 16,000vol t power l ine. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The explanat ion was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake fr om t he ground and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it did so, it sent sparks down t o the gr ound and t hese i mmediatel y st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter br eakfast, I sent t he chi ldren t o school and then I went to m ar ket. It was sti l earl y when I r et urned home. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at wor k and the house was quiet . So I decided t o make som e tar ts f or tea. I n a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon covered wi t h sticky past ry. At exact ly t hat moment , the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r eceiver between t wo st i cky f ingers and was dismayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mr s Bates. It t ook m e ten m inutes to per suade her to r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he receiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y f inger s, on the tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang loud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi stered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng lost tr easure alm ost came t rue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。The Revealer 39。 has been invent ed and it has been used to 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 wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hide gold. The pir ates would of ten bury gol d i n the cave and then fai l t o coll ect it . Ar med wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making t he asistant bri ng almost ever yt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buyi ng the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fr inl ey is said t o posses a 39。cursed tr e39。. Because t he tr ee was mentioned i n a newspaper, the number of visit or s t o Fri nley has now incr eased. The t ree was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it is onl y in recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l reputati on. I t is said t hat i f anyone touches t he tr ee, he wi l have bad luck。 i f he picks a leaf, he wi l die. Many vi l agers bel ieve that the t ree has al ready claim ed a num ber of vict ims. The vicar has been asked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that the t ree is a useful sour ce of ine as tour ists have been i ng fr om al l par ts of the countr y to see i t. In spi te of al t hat has been said, the t our ists have been picking l eaves and cut ti ng their names on the t reet runk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to si t out si de our fr ont gate and bark. Every t im e he wanted to e int o the garden he woul d bar k unti l someone opened t he gat e. As t he neighbour s pl ained of the noise, my husband spent weeks t r ai ning him t o press hi s paw on t he latch t o l et him sel f in. Rex soon becam e an exper t at openi ng the ga te. However , when I was going out shopping l ast week, I noti ced hi m in t he gar den near the gate. This t im e he was bar king so t hat someone woul d let him out ! Since then, he has devel oped another bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f rom the outsi de, he es into the garden and wait s unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l ets him out. Af ter thi s he im medi ately lets hi msel f in and begins barking again. Yest erday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age f air , I decided to visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel linsky. I went i nt o her tent and she tol d me t o sit down. Aft er I had gi ven her some money, she looked int o a crystal bal and sai d: 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ivi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m oment you l eave t his tent , you wi l get a big surpr ise. A wom an you know wel l wi l l r ush towards you. She wil l speak to you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f rom thi s