【正文】 ar at par ti es. Ever ybody adm ir es hi m for his f i ne sense of hum or ever ybody, t hat is, except hi s si x year ol d daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geof fr ey39。Wher e have you bee n hi di ng ?39。. Because t he t ree was m enti oned in a newspaper , t he num ber of vi si tor s to Fr i nl ey has now i ncreased. The tr ee was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if t y year s ago, but i t is onl y in r ecent year s t hat it has gai ned an evi l reput ati on. I t i s sai d t hat i f anyone t ouches t he tr ee, he wi l have bad l uck。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g for est fi r e in Cal if or ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t ryi ng to f i nd out how t he fi re bega n. For est fi r e ar e oft en caused by br oken gl ass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch peopl e car el esl y thr ow away. Yest er day t he fi r em en exami ned t he gr ound caref ul ly, but wer e not abl e t o fi nd any br oken gl as. They were al so quit e sure t hat a ci gar et t e end di d not st ar t t he f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however , a fi r em an aci dental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve t he m yster y. The explanat i on was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake fr om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it sel f r ound t he wi r es. When it di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and t hese imm edi at ely st ar ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St i cky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast , I sent t he chil dr en t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I r et urned hom e. The chi ldr en wer e at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded to m ake some t art s f or t ea. I n a shor t tim e I was busy m i xi ng but t er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past r y. At exact ly t hat m om ent , the t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I picked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti cky f i nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up t he recei ver . What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the kit chen t han t he door bel l r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a r egi st er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of f indi ng l ost t reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。 she said. She gazed at it f or som e t im e t hen added, 39。The Reveal er 39。 i f he pi cks a l eaf, he wi l di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve t hat the t ree has al r eady claim ed a num ber of vi ct im s. The vi car has been asked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has ref used. He has poi nt ed out t hat t he tr ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spi t e of al l that has been sai d, t he t ouri sts have been pi cki ng l eaves and cutt i ng t hei r nam es on t he t reet r unk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit out si de our f r ont gat e and bark. Ever y t im e he want ed t o e int o t he gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng him t o pr ess hi s paw on t he lat ch t o l et him sel f in. Rex soon becam e an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I not i ced him i n t he gar den near t he gat e. This t im e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d l et him out ! Si nce t hen, he has developed anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e f rom the outsi de, he es int o the gar den and wait s until t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l et s hi m out . Aft er this he i mm edi at el y l et s him self i n and begi ns bar ki ng again. Yest erday m y husband removed t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來 At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o vi si t a f or tunet el ler cal l ed Madam Bel insky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d me t o sit down. Aft er I had gi ven her som e m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。 she asked im pat i entl y. 39。s cl osest fr iends asked him t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng recept i on. This i s the sort of t hi ng t hat Geoff rey l oves. He pr epared t he speech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l ar ge num ber of f unny stori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, i t was a great success. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t old hi m she want ed t o go home. Geoff rey was a l it tl e disappoi nt ed by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On t he way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enj oyed t he speech. To his sur pr ise, she said she hadn39。 of si x pr et y gi rl s, he set of f down t he m ai n str eet of t he ci ty r i di ng a baby el ephant cal led Jum bo. He, shoul d have known that he poli ce woul d never al ow t his sort of t hi ng. A poli cem an appr oached Jim m y and t old him he ought t o have gone al ong a si destr eet as Jum bo was hol di ng up t he tr af ic. Though Jim my agr ed t o go at once, Jum bo ref used t o m ove. Fi ft een poli cem en had t o push ver y har d to get him off t he m ain st reet. The poli ce had a di f i cult t im e, but they wer e m ost am used. 39。t have t o car r y hi m. Of course, we shoul