【正文】 A shor t whil e ago, m y si st er hel ped m e t o car ry one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went i nt o my r oom and got a big sur pr ise when she saw al l t hose books on t he fl oor . 39。 39。t m at er ,39。Oh dear ,39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 answer ed 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 t im e, t he bus st opped. Looki ng r ound, I r eal i zed wi t h a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger left on t he bus. 39。t know where i t is.39。 I 39。 345 f or the cost of t he t ri p. The nor mal pri ce of a t i cket is amp。 I n t im e, al Sam39。A t hief, yes, 39。The str ap needs mendi ng, 39。t have too m any hats,39。The Reveal er 39。 39。You needn39。 We m ustn39。t buy t hi ngs we don39。t have sai d that,39。 I fi nd it beaut if ul,39。 m ay r eveal somet hi ng of val ue fair l y soon. Lesson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a race is hel d for ol d car s. A lot of car s ent ered f or t his r ace l ast year and t her e was a gr eat deal of exci t em ent j ust bef ore i t began. One of t he m ost handsom e car s was a Rol s Royce Sil ver Ghost. The m ost unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y thr e wheels. Buil t in 1885, i t was t he ol dest car t aki ng par t. Af t er a gr eat m any l oud expl osi ons, t he r ace began. Many of t he car s broke down on t he cour se and som e dri vers spent m or e ti me under their cars t han i n t hem ! A few car s, however , pl et ed t he r ace. The wi nni ng car r eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hour m uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i vals. It sped downhi l at the end of t he r ace and i ts dr iver had a lot of tr oubl e tr ying t o st op i t. The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pl easur e. It was very di f erent fr om m oder n car r aces but no less excit i ng. Lesson57 Can I hel p you, m adam? 你要買什么，夫人？ A woman i n bl ue j eans st ood at t he wi ndow of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesi t at ed for a m om ent, she fi nal y went i n and asked t o see a dr ess t hat was i n t he wi ndow. The asist ant who served her di d not li ke t he way she was dressed. Gl ancing at her scor nf ul l y, he t ol d her that the dr ess was sol d. The wom an wal ked out of t he shop angri l y and deci ded t o puni sh the assi st ant next day. She ret ur ned to t he shop t he f ol lowi ng m or ni ng dressed i n a f ur coat, wi th a handbag in one hand and a l ong um br el l a in t he other. Af ter seeki ng out t he r ude asist ant s he 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 ti me wi t h gr eat di f icult y, he cl im bed i nt o t he shop wi ndow t o get t he dress. As soon as she saw i t, 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 fe was wear ing a hat t hat l ooked li ke a li ght house ! Lesson42 Not very m usi cal 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long wal k t hr ough one of t he m arkets of Ol d Del hi, we st opped at a squar e t o have a r est . Aft er a tim e, we noti ced a snake charm er wit h t wo l ar ge basket s at the ot her side of t he squar e, so we went t o have a l ook at him. As soon as he saw us, he pi cked up a l ong pipe whi ch was covered wi t h coi ns and opened one of t he baskets. When he began t o pl ay a tune, 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 the m ovements of t he pi pe. We wer e ver y m uch surpri sed when the snake charm er suddenl y began t o play j az t unes and m oder n pop songs. The snake, however, conti nued t o 39。 sai d Mr s St er li ng lat er , 39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hief !39。s money was pai d back in t his way. The l ast not e sai d: 39。 230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ i c house whi ch was r ecentl y bought by Mr I an Thom pson i s up for sal e. Mr Thom pson i s going t o sel l it because it i s haunted. He t ol d m e t hat he coul d not go t o sleep one ni ght because he hear d a st range noi se i ng f rom the bar. The next m orni 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 i ghts of f bef or e he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n t he m or ni ng. He also said t hat he had f ound f i ve em pt y whi sky bott l es whi ch the ghost m ust have dr unk the ni ght befor e. Whe n I suggest ed t hat some vi l ager s m ust have e i n for a f ree dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook his head. The vi l ager s have t ol d him t hat t hey wi l not accept t he i nn even i f he gi ves i t away. Leson48 Di d you want t o tel m e som et hi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask questi ons when i t is i mpossi bl e f or you t o answer . 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 rest for a whil e. I t ri ed t o say somet hi ng, but m y m out h was f ul l of cot on wool. He knew I col lected bi rds39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Gr een,39。 39。 You39。 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 I s ai d. 39。We are goi ng back now,39。Thi s i s t he pr eti est car pet I have ever seen, 39。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g f or est fi r e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e bega n. For est fi r e ar e of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the gr ound car ef ul l y, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e t hat a ci gar et e end di d not st art t he fi re. Thi s m or ning, however, a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l i ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he m yst ery. The expl anati on was sim pl e