【正文】 t ooth had been. I suddenl y felt ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When the dentist at last r emoved t he cot ton wool fr om m y m out h, I was abl e to t el him t hat he had pul ed out t he wr ong t ooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl epi ng on t he fl oor , a young man in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he fir st tim e in his li fe, he becam e t he pr oud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a m at res. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed t he bed on t o t he r oof of his house. He sl ept ver y wel f or t he fi rst wo ni ght s, but on t he t hir d night , a storm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent it cr ashing into t he court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up unt il the bed had str uck t he ground. Al though the bed was mashed t o pi eces, the m an was m ir acul ously unhurt. When he woke up, he was sti l on the m at r ess. Glancing at t he bit s of wood and m et al that l ay around him, the m an sadl y pi cked up t he matr es and car ri ed i t i nt o hi s house. Af ter he had put it on the fl oor, he pr om ptl y went to sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t ravel ing in t he countr y, but I don39。t l i ke losi ng m y way. I went on an excursion r ecentl y, but my tr ip t ook m e longer than I expect ed. 39。 I39。m goi ng t o Woodfor d Gr en, 39。 I sai d to t he conduct or as I got on the bus, 39。 but I don39。t know where it i s.39。 39。 I39。l l t el l you wher e t o get of f,39。 answer ed t he conduct or . I sat in t he f ront of t he bus to get agood view of t he countr yside. Aft er som e t ime, t he bus st opped. Looki ng r ound, I r eal ized wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l eft on the bus. 39。 You39。l l have to get off her e,39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 39。 I s this Woodf or d Green ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear ,39。 said t he conduct or suddenly.39。 I f or got t o put you of f.39。 39。I t doesn39。t m at ter,39。 I sai d. 39。I 39。l l get of f here.39。 39。We are goi ng back now,39。 said t he conduct or. 39。Wel l, in t hat case, I prefer to stay on t he bus,39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Herbert, has al ways been f at, but t hi ngs got so bad recent l y t hat he deci ded to go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al the foods which wer e forbidden. The li st incl uded m ost of t he t hi ngs Her bert l oves: but er , potatoes, ri ce, beer, mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yesterday I pai d him a visit. I r ang the bel and was not sur pr ised t o see t hat Her ber t was st il as fat as ever. He led m e into his r om and hurr iedl y hi d a large pa rcel under hi s desk. It was obvi ous that he was ver y em bar assed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smi led guil til y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He explained t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct that he had t o r ewar d him self occasional y. Then he showed me t he cont ents of t he parcel . I t cont ai ned fi ve l ar ge bars of chocolate and t hr e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng hard al m orning. I have been t r yi ng t o get m y new r om i n or der. Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To make mat er s wor se, t he r oom i s rather sm al l, so I have tempor ar il y put m y books on the fl oor. At the m om ent, they cover every i nch of fl oor space and I actual ly have to walk on them to get i n or out of t he room. A shor t whil e ago, my sister helped m e t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he stai rs. She went into m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al those books on t he f loor . 39。Thi s i s the pr et ti est car pet I have ever sen, 39。 she sa id. She gazed at i t for som e tim e t hen added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit her e in your spare tim e and read t he car pet !39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cal if or ni a. Since t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng t o f ind out how t he fir e began. For est f ir e ar e oft en caused by broken glas or by cigar et te ends which peopl e carelesly t hr ow away. Yest er day the fi rem en exami ned the gr ound car ef ul y, but were not abl e to fi nd any broken glas. They were also quit e sur e t hat a ci garet e end di d not st ar t he f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however, a fi rem an acci dental l y discover ed t he cause. He not iced t he r emains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound the el ectr ic wir es of a 16, 000 volt power li ne. In t his way, he was abl e to sol ve t he myst er y. The expl anati on was sim pl e but very unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake f rom t he ground and t hen dropped it on t o the wir es. The snake t hen wound it self round t he wir es. When i t di d so, i t sent sparks down to t he ground and t hese immedi at el y st art ed a f ir e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er breakfast , I sent the chil dr en t o school and t hen I went to mar ket . It was stil l earl y when I ret urned hom e. The chil dr en were at school , m y husband was at work and t he house was qui et . So I decided t o m ake some t ar ts f or tea. I n a shor t ime I was busy mi xi ng but ter and fl our and my hands wer e soon covered wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat m oment , t he t el ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I picked up the receiver bet ween t wo sti cky fi ngers and was di smayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. It t ook m e ten m inut es t o persuade her to r ing back l at er . At l ast I hung up the recei ver. What ames! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen t han the door bel r ang loud enough to wake t