【正文】 him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put the par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned that hi s diet was so st ri ct hat he had t o rewar d him self occasi onal y. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. It contained f ive l ar ge bars of chocolat e and three bags of sweets! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved i nto a new house and I have been worki ng har d al m or ning. I have been tr ying t o get my 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 st er hel ped me to car ry one of my old bookcases up the stair s. She went i nto my r oom and got a bi g surpr ise when she saw al l those books on the f loor . 39。 39。t mat er ,39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。 39。 You39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I39。345 f or t he cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr ice of a t icket i s amp。 In ti me, al l Sam 39。A thi ef , yes, 39。The st rap needs m endi ng, 39。opened one of the basket s. When he began to pl ay a tune, we had our f i rst gl im pse of t he snake. I t rose out of t he basket and began t o f oll ow the m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e ver y m uch surpr ised when the snake charmer suddenl y began t o play j azz t unes and modern pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued t o 39。 said Mr s Sterl ing l at er, 39。but onl y 5o per cent a thi ef ! 39。s money was pai d back in t his way. The last not e sai d:39。230 ! Leson47 A thirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr I an Thompson is up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel i t because i t i s haunt ed. He t old m e that he c oul d not go to sleep one night because he heard a st range noise ing f rom the bar . The next morni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he fur nitur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, they wer e on in the mor ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les which t he ghost must have dr unk t he night bef ore. When I suggested that som e vil lager s must have e i n f or a fr e dr ink, Mr Thompson shook hi s head. The vi l ager s have t old hi m t hat t hey wil l not accept the i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o tel l m e som ethi ng? 你想對(duì)我說(shuō)什么嗎？ Dent ists always ask questi ons when it i s impossi ble f or you t o answer . My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t et h and had told me to rest for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somethi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot tonwool . He knew I col lected bir ds39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Gr een, 39。 I 39。l l have to get of f her e, 39。 Is t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 I said. 39。We are goi ng back now, 39。This i s the pr et ti est car pet I have ever seen, 39。 Leson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi rem en have put out a bi g for est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Since t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f ind out how t he fi re bega n. For est fi r e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch people car el esly throw away. Yester day t he fi remen exami ned t he ground car eful ly, but wer e not able to f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e that a cigaret te end did not star t he fi re. This morning, however , a fi reman acci dent aly discovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power line. In this way, he was able t o sol ve the myst er y. The explanati on was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound the wi res. When it did so, it sent sparks down t o the gr ound and t hese i mmediat el y start ed a f ir e. Leson54 Sti cky 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 earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldren wer e at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some t ar ts f or tea. I n a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exact ly that moment, the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r ecei ver between two sti cky f ingers and was di smayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It t ook m e ten m inutes t o per suade her to r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he receiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y f inger s, on the tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he want ed m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m ine 并非金礦 Dr eams of f inding lost t reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。. Because the t ree was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he number of visit ors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed ne ar a chur ch fi f ty years ago, but it i s onl y i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil r eputat ion. It is said that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wi l l have bad luck。Wher e have you been hiding ?39。cl ock thi s evening. By t hat ti me, the Ast ra wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space for seventeen hour s and wil l have ci rcled t he ear th a gr eat many times. When t he fi rst radi o mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of t he tr ip wi l be announced im medi ately. Leson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fi remen had been f i ght ing t he for est fi re for near ly three we