【正文】 rning, however , a fi reman acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l ine. In this way, he was able t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanati on was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round the wi r es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and these imm edi at ely star ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast , I sent the chil dr en to school and t hen I went t o market. I t was st il l ear ly when I r etur ned home. The chi ldr en were at school, m y husband was at i nt o t he cave hopi ng to fi nd bur ied t reasur e. The leader of the part y was exam ini ng the soil near t he ent rance to t he cave when t he machi ne showed t hat t her e was gold under the ground. Very excit ed, the par ty dug a hole two feet deep. They f inal y f ound a smal l gol d coi n whi ch was al most wort hl es. The par ty then sear ched t he whol e cave thoroughly but did not fi nd anyt hing except an empty ti n tr unk. I n spi te of t his, many people ar e conf ident that 39。Thi s is t he pret iest car pet I have ever sen,39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。t mat er,39。 sai d the conduct or suddenl y.39。 39。 You39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I 39。 345 f or t he cost of t he tr i p. The norm al pr ice of a ti cket i s amp。 In t im e, al Sam39。A t hief, yes, 39。The st r ap needs m endi ng,39。t have too m any hats,39。The Reveal er39。 may r eveal som et hi ng of val ue f ai rl y soon. Leson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a r ace i s hel d f or ol d car s. A l ot of cars enter ed for t hi s r ace l ast year and t her e was a great deal of excit em e nt j ust bef or e it began. One of t he m ost handsome cars was a Rol l s Royce Si lver Ghost . The m ost unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y t hr ee wheel s. Bui lt i n 1885, it was t he ol dest car taking part . Aft er a great m any loud expl osi ons, t he r ace began. Many of the cars br oke down on the cour se and som e dr i ver s spent m ore t im e under t hei r car s than i n them ! A f ew car s, however , pl et ed t he r ace. The wi nni ng car eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hourm uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i val s. It sped downhi l at t he end of t he r ace and i ts dr i ver had a l ot of tr oubl e t ryi ng t o st op i t. The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pl easure. It was ver y di f fer ent fr om m oder n car races but no l ess exci ti ng. Leson57 Can I hel p you, m adam ? 你要買什么，夫人？ A wom an in bl ue jeans st ood at t he wi ndow of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesit at ed f or a m om ent , she fi nal y went i n and as ked to see a dr ess t hat was i n the wi ndow. The assi st ant who ser ved her di d not l ike t he way she was dr esed. Gl anci ng at her scor nf ul y, he tol d her t hat t he dr ess was sol d. The wom an wal ked out of t he shop angril y and deci ded to puni sh t he asist ant next day. She r etur ned t o t he shop t he foll owi ng m orni ng dr esed i n a f ur coat , wit h a handbag i n one hand and a long um br el l a i n t he ot her. Af ter s eki ng out t he r ude asist ant she asked f or t he same dr es. Not reali zi ng who she was, t he asist ant was eager t o ser ve her t hi s tim e wi th gr eat dif fi cul t y, he cli mbed i nt o t he shop wi ndow t o get t he dr es. As soon as she saw it , t he wom an sai d s many ti es.39。 she answer ed. Ten mi nut es lat er we wal ked out of t he shop t oget her. My wi f e was wear i ng a hat t hat l ooked li ke a li ghthouse ! Lesson42 Not very m usical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a l ong wal k t hr ough one of t he mar ket s of Old Del hi , we st opped at a square t o have a r est. Af t er a t im e, we not iced a snake charm er wi t h t wo l ar ge basket s at t he other si de of t he squar e, so we went t o have a look at hi m. As soon as he saw us, he pi cked up a l ong pi pe whi ch was covered wi t h c oi ns and opened one of t he basket s. When he began t o pl ay a t une, we had our f ir st gli m pse of t he snake. It r ose out of t he basket and began t o f ol l ow t he m ovem ents of t he pi pe. We wer e ver y m uch sur pr ised when t he snake charm er suddenl y began t o pl ay j azz t unes and m oder n pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued to 39。 said Mr s St erl ing l at er, 39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hief !39。s m oney was pai d back i n t hi s way. The l ast not e sai d: 39。 230 ! Leson47 A t hirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was r ecent l y bought by Mr I an Thom pson i s up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng t o sel l it because it i s haunt ed. He t old m e t hat he coul d not go t o sleep one night because he heard a st range noi se ing f r om t he bar. The next m or ni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he f ur ni t ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned t he l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ning. He also sai d t hat he had f ound f i ve em pt y whisky bott les whi ch t he ghost m ust have dr unk t he ni ght bef ore. When I suggested t hat som e vil lagers m ust have e i n f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lager s have t ol d hi m t hat hey wil l not accept t he i nn even i f he gi ves it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l me somet hi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent i st s al ways ask quest i ons when it i s im possibl e for you t o answer. My dent ist had j ust pull ed out one of m y teet h a nd had t ol d me t o r est f or a whil e. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot ton wool . He knew I col l ect ed bi rds39。m going t o Woodf or d Gr een,39。 I 39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 I s t his Woodf or d Gr en ?39。 I f or got t o put you off .39。 I