【正文】 whi l e she was havi ng a piic at the edge of a f or est wi th her chil dr en and tr ied t o steal her handbag. I n t he st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi t h the bag i n their possessi on, both men start ed running t hrough the t rees. Mrs St erl ing got so angr y that she r an aft er t hem . She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued to r un. When she caught up wi th them, she saw that hey had sat down and were goi ng through t he cont ent s of t he bag, so she ran str aight at t hem . The m en got such a fr ight that they dr opped t he bag and r an away. 39。The str ap needs mending,39。 sai d Mrs St er li ng lat er , 39。but they did not steal anythi ng. 39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whole vi l age soon l ear nt t hat a l arge sum of money had been lost . Sam Benton, the l ocal butcher , had lost hi s wal et whi le t aki ng his savi ngs to t he post of fi ce. Sam was sure t hat he wal et must have been f ound by one of t he vi l ager s, but it was not retur ned to hi m. Three months passed, and t hen one morning, Sam f ound his wal et out si de his f ront door . It had been wr apped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had l ost , t oget her wi th a note whi ch sai d: 39。A t hi ef, yes, 39。but only 5o per cent a t hief! 39。 Two m ont hs l ater, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。 Only 25 per cent a thief now!39。 I n ti me, al Sam39。s m oney was paid back in this way. The l ast note said:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。 lesson46 Expensi ve and un fortabl e 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane f rom London ar ri ved at Sydney ai rpor t, wor ker s began t o unload a number of wooden boxes whi ch cont ai ned cl othing. No one could account for t he fact that one of t he boxes was extr em el y heavy. It suddenly occurr ed to one of t he workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was l ying i n the box on t op of a pil e of woollen goods. He wa s so sur pr ised at bei ng discovered t hat he di d not even tr y t o r un away. Af ter he was ar est ed, the m an adm it ted hidi ng in t he box bef ore t he plane lef t London. He had had a long and unf ort abl e tr i p, f or he had been conf ined t o the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered t o pay amp。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr i ce of a t icket i s amp。230 ! Lesson47 A thi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He t old m e that he coul d not go to sleep one night because he heard a st range noise ing f rom the bar . The next morni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he fur nitur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, they wer e on i n the m or ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les which t he ghost must have dr unk t he night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers must have e i n f or a fr ee dr i nk, Mr Thompson shook hi s head. The vil lager s have t old hi m t hat hey wil l not accept the i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o tel l me somethi ng? 你想對(duì)我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossi ble f or you to answer. My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h and had told me t o rest for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot tonwool . He knew I col lected bi rds39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear ching out the hole wher e t he tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worr ied, but could not say anythi ng. When the dent ist at l ast r emoved t he cot ton wool f rom my mouth, I was abl e to tel him t hat he had pulled out the wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me in his l if e, he became the proud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m at tr es. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo night s, but on the t hi rd night, a stor m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent i t cr ashi ng int o the court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up until t he bed had st ruck the gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glancing at the bit s of wood and metal that lay ar ound hi m, the man sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it int o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he prompt ly went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count r y, but I don39。t like l osi ng my way. I went on an excur si on recent ly, but m y tr ip took me longer t han I expect ed. 39。 I39。m going to Woodf ord Green,39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on t he bus, 39。 but I don39。t know wher e i t is.39。 39。 I 39。l l tel you where to get off ,39。 answer ed the conductor . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus st opped. Looki ng round, I reali zed wi th a shock t hat I was the onl y passenger lef t on the bus. 39。 You39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 the conduct or said. 39。Thi s is as far as we go.39。 39。 Is t his Woodf ord Green ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear ,39。 sai d the conduct or suddenl y.39。 I for got t o put you of f. 39。 I t doesn39。t mat ter, 39。 I said. 39。I 39。l l get off here. 39。 We ar e goi ng back now, 39。 said the conduct