【正文】 At last fi remen have put out a big f or est f ir e in Calif or ni a. Since t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng t o find out how the fi re began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glas or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people car el essl y throw away. Yesterday t he f ir emen examined t he ground carefull y, but wer e not abl e t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They were also quite sure that a cigar et te end did not start the f ire. This morning, however, a fir eman acident al ly discovered the cause. He noti ced the remai ns of a snake which was wound round t he electri c wires of a 16,000volt power l ine. I n this way, he was able t o solve the mystery. The explanat ion was simple but ver y unusual. A bird had snat ched up t he snake from the gr ound and then dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake then wound i tself r ound the wires. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o the gr ound and these immediately started a fi re. Leson54 St icky fingers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakf ast, I sent the chi ldren to school and t hen I went to market . I t was st il ear ly when I r et ur ned home. The chi ldren wer e at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was quiet. So I deci ded to m ake some tart s f or t ea. In a short ti me I was busy mixing but ter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sti cky pastr y. At exactl y that moment, t he telephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up t he r eceiver bet wen two sticky finger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed the voi ce of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minut es to persuade her to ri ng back l at er . At last I hung up the receiver . What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on my f ingers, on t he t el ephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen than t he door bel rang l oud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s time i t was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a r egi stered let er ! Lesson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of f inding lost tr easur e almost came t rue recentl y. A new machine caled 39。Thi s is the preti est carpet I have ever sen,39。 We ar e going back now,39。t mat er ,39。 sai d the conductor suddenl y. 39。 39。 安徽省黃山市屯溪區(qū)翔騰生態(tài)養(yǎng)殖基地生豬標準化規(guī)模養(yǎng)殖場項目實施方案 of f her e, 39。 I s this Woodf or d Green ?39。 I for got to put you of f .39。 I sai d. 39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。 she said. She gazed at it for some time t hen added, 39。The Revealer39。 i f he picks a l eaf, he wi l die. Many vi lager s beli eve that the tr e has alr eady cl ai med a number of victims. The vicar has been asked t o have the tree cut down, but so f ar he has refused. He has pointed out that the tr e i s a usef ul source of i n e as tourists have been i ng f rom al par ts of t he countr y to see it . I n spit e of al that has been sai d, the tourists have been picki ng l eaves and cut ti ng t heir names on t he t ree tr unk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden deat h! Leson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to sit out si de our f ront gat e and bar k. Ever y time he wanted to e into the gar den he would bark unt il someone opened the gat e. As the neighbours plained of the noi se, my husband spent weeks tr ai ni ng him to pres his paw on t he l at ch t o let himself in. Rex soon became an exper t at openi ng t he gate. However, when I was goi ng out shopping last week, I noticed hi m in t he gar den near the gate. Thi s t ime he was bar ki ng so that someone would let hi m out ! Since t hen, he has devel oped another bad habi t. As soon as he opens the gate f rom t he outsi de, he es int o the garden and wai ts unt il the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks unt il someone lets him out. After this he immedi at el y lets hi mself i n and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband r emoved the gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Leson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At avi l age fair , I decided to visi t a f ortune teler cal ed Madam Bel linsky. I went i nt o her tent and she t ol d me t o si t down. Aft er I had given her some money, she l ooked int o a crystal bal and said: 39。 she asked i mpati entl y. 39。s closest f ri ends asked hi m t o make a speech at a wedding reception. This is t he sor t of thing t hat Geoff rey loves. He prepared the speech car ef ul ly and went t o the weddi ng wi th Jenny. He had included a lar ge num ber of funny stori es in t he speech and, of cour se, it was a great succes. As oon as he had finished, Jenny told him she want ed t o go home. Geof frey was a l it le disappoi nt ed by this but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enj oyed t he speech. To hi s urpri se, she said she hadn39。 39。 sai d the conduct or suddenly.39。t mater, 39。 39。 I answered. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f riend, Herber t, has al ways been fat, but things got so bad r ecent ly that he decided t o go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. Fir st of al , he wrote out a long li st of al the foods which wer e forbidden. The li st included most of t he t hi ngs Her bert l oves: butt er , potatoes, rice, beer , mi lk, chocol at e, and swets. Yesterday I pai d hi m a visit. I rang t he bel and was not surpri sed to se that Herbert was sti l as f at as ever . He led me into his r oom and hur riedly hid a large par cel under his desk. It was obvi ous that he was very embar assed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smi led guil til y and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct that he had to r ewar d himsel f occasi onaly. Then he showed me the content s of the par cel. It contained f ive large bar s of chocolate and thre e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret ty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved into a new house and I have been wor king hard al morning. I have been tryi ng t o get my new r oom i n or der. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m