【正文】 i n newspaper and i t contained half t he money he had lost , together wit h a note whi ch sai d: 39。A t hief, yes, 39。but only 5o per ce nt a thief !39。 Two m ont hs later , some m ore m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her note: 39。 Onl y 25 per cent a thi ef now! 39。 In t im e, al Sam39。s money was pai d back i n t hi s way. The last note said: 39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 l esson46 Expensive and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane fr om London ar ived at Sydney air por t, wor ker s began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clot hi ng. No one could account f or the f act that one of the boxes was extr emely heavy. I t suddenl y occur red t o one of the wor ker s to open up t he box. He was astonished at what he f ound. A man was lyi ng in t he box on top of a pi le of wooll en goods. He was so sur pri sed at being discover ed that he did not even t ry to r un away. Af t er he was ar rested, t he man admit ted hi di ng in the box befor e the pl ane l ef t London. He had had a l ong and unfor table t ri p, for he had been confi ned to t he wooden box f or over ten hour s. The man was or der ed to pay amp。 345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pri 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 told me that he coul d not go to sl ep one night because he heard a st r ange nois e ing f r om t he bar . The next morni ng, he f ound that he door s had been bl ocked by chair s and t he fur nit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thompson had t urned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey 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 whi ch the ghost must have dr unk the night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers m ust have e in f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lager s have told hi m that they wil l not accept the i nn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s im possible f or you to answer. My dent ist had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi l e. I tr ied to say somethi ng, but my mout h was ful l of cott onwool. He knew I col lected bir ds39。 eggs and asked me whether my coll ect ion was gr owing. He t hen asked me how m y brot her was and whether I li ked m y new j ob in London. I n answer t o t hese questi ons I ei ther nodded or ma de str ange noises. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy searching out the hol e wher e t he tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worr ie d, but could not say anythi ng. When the dent ist at last r emoved the cotton wool f r om my mouth, I was abl e to tel him t hat he had pull ed out t he wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 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 i n his l if e, he becam e the pr oud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a mat tr es. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on to t he roof of his house. He slept ver y wel l f or the f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on the t hir d 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 crashi ng int o the court yar d below. The young man di d not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mi racul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on the m at tr es. Glancing at the bi ts of wood and metal t hat lay ar ound hi m, the m an sadly pi cked up the mat ress and car ri ed it i nt o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he pr omptl y went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t ravel li ng in the count ry, but I don39。t l ike l osi ng my way. I went on an excursion r ecentl y, but my tr ip t ook me l onger than I expected. 39。 I 39。m going t o Woodf or d Gr een, 39。 I said t o t he conduct or as I got on t he bus,39。 but I don39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I 39。l t el l you where t o get of f, 39。 answered t he conduct or. I sat i n the f ront of the bus to get a good view of the count ryside. Aft er some t ime, t he bus st opped. Looking round, I r eal ized wi th a shock that I was the only passenger l eft on t he bus. 39。 You39。l l have to get of f her e, 39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。This i s as far as we go.39。 39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear, 39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 39。I t doesn39。t m at t er , 39。 I said. 39。I 39。l get off here.39。 39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。 said the conductor . 39。Wel l, in that case, I pr ef er to stay on t he bus, 39。 I answer ed. Lesson51 Reward f or virtue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Herber t, has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that he decided t o go on a di et . He began hi s diet a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l t he foods which wer e f or bidden. The l ist included most of t he thi ngs Her bert loves: butt er, potatoes, r ice, beer , m il k, chocol ate, and sweets. Yest er day I pai d him a vi si t. I rang t he bel l and was not surpri sed to see that Herbert was sti l as f at as ever . He led m e int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l ar ge pa rcel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was very embar rased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned that hi s diet was so st r ict that he had t o r ewar d him sel f occasi onal ly. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. I t contai ned f ive l arge bars of chocol at e and thr e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved i nt o a new hous