【正文】 My denti st had j ust pul l ed out one of m y t eet h and had t ol d m e t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say som et hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot ton wool . He knew I col l ect ed bi r ds39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y col l ecti on was gr owi ng. He then asked m e how m y br other was and whet her I l i ked m y new j ob i n London. I n answer t o t hese questi ons I ei ther nodded or made st r ange noises. Meanwhil e, m y t ongue was busy searchi ng out t he hol e where t he toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y worr i ed, but coul d not say anyt hi ng. When t he denti st at l ast removed t he cott on wool fr om m y m out h, I was able t o t el l hi m that he had pul ed out the wr ong toot h. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti r ed of sl epi ng on t he fl oor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst tim e i n his l if e, he becam e t he 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 car ri ed t he bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He sl ept ver y wel l f or t he fi rst t wo nights, but on t he t hi rd ni ght , a st or m blew up. A gust of wi nd swept the bed off t he r oof and sent it cr ashi ng i nto t he cour tyar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck the gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pi eces, t he man was m ir acul ously unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il l on the m at r ess. Glanci ng at the bit s of wood and m etal t hat lay ar ound him , the m an sadly pi cked up t he m at ress and car ri ed it i nt o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he pr om pt l y went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ri de 乘車(chē)兜風(fēng) I l ove t ravel li ng i n the count r y, but I don39。t l ike l osi ng m y way. I went on an excursi on 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 ord Green, 39。 I sai d to t he conductor as I got on t he bus,39。 but I don39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I 39。l l tel you wher e to get off ,39。 answer ed t he conduct or . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of t he countr ysi de. Af t er som e ti me, t he bus stopped. Looki ng r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l ef t on t he bus. 39。 You39。l l have to get of f here,39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear,39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 39。I t doesn39。t mat er,39。 I said. 39。I 39。l l get off here.39。 39。We ar e goi ng back now,39。 sai d t he conduct or . 39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My fr iend, Her ber t, has al ways been fat, but thi ngs got so bad recent ly t hat he decided t o go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long li st of al t he f oods whi ch were f orbi dden. The l i st i ncl uded m ost of the t hi ngs Herbert l oves: but ter, pot at oes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolat 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 see t hat Her bert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e i nt o his r oom and hurr iedl y hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous t hat he was ver y em bar r assed. When I asked hi m what he was doi ng, he sm il ed gui lt il y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He expl ai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had t o 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 ained fi ve l ar ge bar s of chocolat e and t hre e bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret t 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 har d al m or ning. I have been tr ying t o get m y new r oom i n order. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m a t er s wor se, t he r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put m y books on the f loor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y inch of fl oor space and I act ual y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whil e ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car r y one of m y ol d 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 t hose books on t he f l oor. 39。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for som e ti me t hen added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at a l . You can si t her e i n your spar e ti me and r ead t he car pet !39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi r em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cal if or nia. Si nce t hen, they have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e began. For est fi r e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret e ends which peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t he f ir em en exami ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e al so qui t e sur e t hat a cigaret e end di d not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however , a fi rem an acci dent al y discover ed t he cause. He not i ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanat i on was sim pl e but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mm edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house wa