【正文】 t im e i n hi s li f e, he becam e the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spri ngs and a m at ress. Because t he weat her was ver y hot , he c ar ri ed t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or t he f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on t he t hir d ni ght, a st orm blew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent i t cr ashi ng i nt o t he court yar d below. The young m an di d not wake up unti l the bed had str uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pi eces, the m an was m ir acul ousl y unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il l on t he m at tr es. Gl anci ng at t he bi ts of wood and m et al t hat l ay around him, t he man sadl y pi cked up t he m at ress and car i ed i t i nt o his house. Af t er he had put i t on t he f l oor, he pr om ptl y went to sl ep agai n. Lesson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r avel i ng i n t he countr y, but I don39。t li ke l osing m y way. I went on an excursion r ecentl y, but m y tr ip t ook me l onger t han I expect ed. 39。 I39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Gr en, 39。 I sai d t o the conduct or as I got on t he bus, 39。 but I don39。t know wher e it i s.39。 39。 I39。l l t el l you where t o get of f, 39。 answered t he conduct or. I sat i n t he f r ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the count r ysi de. Aft er som e tim e, t he bus st opped. Looki ng r ound, I r eal i zed wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger left on t he bus. 39。 You39。l l have t o get of f her e, 39。 the conduct or said. 39。Thi s i s as f ar as we go.39。 39。 Is t his Woodf or d Green ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear ,39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y. 39。 I for 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 off her e.39。 39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。Wel l, i n t hat case, I pr efer t o st ay on the bus, 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My f ri end, Her ber t, has al ways been f at, but t hi ngs got so bad r ecentl y t hat he deci ded to go on a di et. He began his di et a wek ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ote out a l ong l i st of al l t he f oods whi ch wer e for bi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of t he t hings Her bert l oves: but t er , pot at oes, ri ce, beer, mi lk, chocol at e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d hi m a visit . I rang t he bel and was not sur pri sed t o se t hat Her ber t was st il l as fat as ever. He led m e i nt o hi s r oom and hur ri edl y hi d a l ar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvi ous t hat he was ver y embar ased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti l y and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ained t hat his di et was so str ict t hat he had to r ewar d hi msel f occasional l y. Then he showed m e t he cont ents of t he par cel . It cont ai ned f ive l ar ge bar s of chocol at e and t hr e bags of swet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor king har d al l m or ni ng. I have been t r yi ng t o get m y new r oom in or der . This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at er s wor se, t he r oom i s r at her smal , so I have t em por aril y put my books on t he f l oor . At the m om ent, t hey c over ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom. A shor t whil e ago, m y si st er hel ped m e t o car r y one of m y old bookcases up t he st ai rs. She went i nt o m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al l t hose books on t he f l oor . 39。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。 she said. She gazed at i t f or some t im e t hen added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e i n your spare t im e and read t he car pet !39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been tr ying t o f ind out how t he fi re bega n. For est fi r e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people car el essly t hr ow away. Yester day t he fi r em en exami ned t he gr ound care f ul l y, but were not abl e t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et t e end di d not st ar t t he f ir e. Thi s m or ning, however, a f ir eman acci dent al l y di scovered t he cause. He not i ced t he rem ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ectr i c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve t he m yster y. The explanat i on was si mpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snatched up t he snake fr om t he ground and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, i t sent spar ks down t o t he gr ound and t hese imm edi atel y st ar t ed a f i re. Lesson54 St i cky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast , I sent t he chil dr en t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I r et ur ned home. The chi ldr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded 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 sti cky pastr y. At exact l y that m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he recei ver bet ween t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nutes t o per suade her t o r i ng back l at er . At l ast I hung up t he r ecei ver. What a m es! Ther e was past r y on m y f i ngers, on t he t el ephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki t chen t han t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi n