【正文】 d recent ly that he decided t o go on a diet . He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wrot e out a l ong li st of al t he foods which wer e for bidden. The l ist included most of t he thi ngs Her ber t loves: butt er , potatoes, r ice, beer, m il k, chocol at e, and sweets. Yest er day I pai d him a visit . I rang t he bel l and was not sur pri sed t o se that Herbert was sti l as fat as ever . He led m e into his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l ar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious that he was ver y embar ased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put the par cel on the desk. He expl ai ned that hi s diet was so st ri ct hat he had t o rewar d himself occasional y. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of t he par cel. It contained f ive l ar ge bar s of chocolat e and three bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved i nt o a new house and I have been worki ng har d al mor 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 make mat er s wor se, the r oom i s rather smal , so I have tempor ar il y put my books on the f loor. At t he moment, they cover every inch of fl oor space and I actual y have t o wal k on them to get in or out of the r oom . A shor t whil e ago, my si ster hel ped me to car ry one of my old bookcases up the stair s. She went int o my room and got a big sur pr ise when she saw al those books on t he fl oor. 39。t need bookcases a t al l. You can sit here i n your spare t im e and read the carpet! 39。cur sed tr e39。 As soon as I went outside, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because my wi fe hurr ied t owards me. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fai r. Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 In fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f rom a spaceshi p whil e it i s st il l in space and t o r et urn t o i t. The abili ty to do t his wi l be necessar y i n fut ure f li ght s to di stant pl a s. Scienti st s are now tr yi ng to discover if t hi s is possi ble. The spaceship Astr a which l ef t the eart h a short ti me ago, wil l be tr avel ing t hree hundr ed mi les int o space. At a cer tai n poi nt, the Ast ra wi l l st op for a short ti me and an astr onaut wil l at tempt t o leave the stati onar y spaceshi p and the n r et urn to i t. We shal not know whether the exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have r eceived a r adi o message. The fi rst mes age is expect ed to ar ri ve at 7 o39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard bel ow. 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 prom pt ly went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車(chē)兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count ry, but I don39。 I said t o the conduct or as I got on the bus,39。 I39。l have to get off here, 39。 I s thi s Woodfor d Gr en ?39。 I f or got to put you off .39。 I sai d. 39。We are goi ng back now, 39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce then, t hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. Forest f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret te ends which pe opl e carelessl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exami ned the gr ound caref ully, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glas. They were al so qui te sure t hat a ci gar ete end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however , a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o sol ve the myster y. The explanation was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake fr om the ground and then dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mmediat el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il l earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldr en were at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded to m ake some t ar ts f or tea. In a short t im e I was busy m ixing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactly that moment, the t elephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I picked up the r ece i ver between t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm