【正文】 l e t o fi nd any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e that a ci garet e end di d not st art t he fi re. This m or ning, however, a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he caus e. He not iced t he r em ains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound 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 sol ve t he m yst er y. The expl anati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual . A bi r d had snat ched up the snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped it on t o t he wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im mediat el y start ed a fi r e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en to school and t hen I went t o m ar ket. I t was st il l ear ly when I r etur ned home. The chi l dr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et . So I deci ded t o 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 ecei ver between t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me ten m inutes t o per suade her to r ing back l at er. At last I hung up the r eceiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on my f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen than the door bel l rang l oud enough to wake t he dead. This t im e it was the postm an and he want ed me to si gn for a r egistered l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng lost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。Thi s is t he pret iest car pet I have ever seen,39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。 I sai d. 39。 I f or got t o put you of f.39。 Is t hi s Woodf ord Green ?39。l l have to get off her e, 39。 I39。 I sai d t o the conduct or as I got on the bus, 39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y col l ecti on was gr owi ng. He then asked m e how m y br other was and whet her I l i ked m y new j ob i n London. I n answer t o t hese questi ons I ei ther nodded or made st r ange noises. Meanwhil e, m y t ongue was busy searching out t he hol e wher e t he t ooth had been. I suddenl y fe lt ver y worr ied, but could not say anyt hi ng. When the dent i st at last r em oved t he cott on wool fr om m y m outh, I was abl e t o 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 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s t o buy a real bed. For the f ir st t im e i n hi s li fe, he becam e t he proud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat r ess. Because t he weat her was ver y hot , he car ri ed t he bed on t o t he r oof of hi s house. He sl ept ver y wel f or t he fi r st t wo ni ght s, but on the t hi r d ni ght, a storm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed off t he r oof and sent it cr ashing i nt o t he cour tyar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pieces, t he m an was m ir acul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was stil l on t he m at tr es. Gl anci ng at t he bi ts of wood and m et al t hat l ay ar ound him, t he m an sadl y picked up t he m at tr es and car ied i t int o hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor, he pr om pt l y went t o sl eep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風 I love tr avel li ng i n t he count r y, but I don39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 Two m ont hs lat er, some m ore m oney was se nt t o Sam wit h anot her not e:39。but t hey did not steal anyt hi ng.39。dance39。 39。And a wom an can39。 sl owl y. I t obvi ousl y coul d not t el l t he di f erence bet ween I ndi an m usi c and jazz! Lesson43 O ver t he South Pol e 飛越南極 I n 1929, t hree years aft er hi s fl i ght over t he Nort h Pol e, t he Am eri can expl or er , R. E. Byrd, succesf ul ly f l ew over t he Sout h Pole f or t he f ir st t im e. Though, at fi rst, Byr d and his m en were abl e t o t ake a gr eat m any phot ogr aphs of t he m ount ai ns t hat lay bel ow, t hey soon r an i nt o seri ous tr oubl e. At one poi nt , i t semed cert ai n t hat t hei r pl ane woul d cr ash. It coul d onl y get over t he m ountai ns i f it r ose t o 10,000 f eet. Byr d at once or der ed his m en t o t hrow out t wo heavy food sacks. The pl ane was t hen abl e t o ri se and i t cl ear ed t he m ount ai ns by 400 f et. Byr d now knew t hat he woul d be abl e t o r each t he Sout h Pol e whi ch was 300 m il es away, f or t her e wer e no mor e m ount ains i n si ght . The air cr aft was able t o f ly over the endl ess whi t e pl ains wi thout di f i cult y. Lesson44 Through t he forest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne Sterl i ng di d not t hi nk of t he ri sk she was t aki ng when she ran t hr ough a f or est aft er t wo m en. They had r ushed up t o her whi le she was having a pi i c at he edge of a for est wit h her chi l dr en and t ri ed t o st eal her handbag. I n t he st r uggle, t he str ap br oke and, wit h t he bag i n t heir possessi on, bot h men start e d r unni ng thr ough t he tr ees. Mr s Sterl i ng got so angry t hat she r an af ter t hem. She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued t o r un. When she caught up wi t h them , she saw t hat t hey had sat down and wer e goi ng t hr ough t he cont ent s of the bag, so she r an st rai ght at them . The men got such a f ri ght that hey dr opped the bag and r an away. 39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whol e vil lage soon l ear nt that a lar ge sum of m oney had been l ost. Sam Bent on, t he l ocal but cher, had l ost his wal let whil e t aki ng hi s savi ngs t o t he post off i ce. Sam was sure t hat t he wal et m ust have been f ound by