【正文】 year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he f ir st ti me in his li fe, he became t he proud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a mat res. Because the weat her was ver y hot, he car ied the bed on to the roof of his house. He slept very wel for the fir st two nights, but on the thir d ni ght , a storm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent it cr ashi ng i nto the court yard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unti l t he bed had st ruck t he ground. Although t he bed was smashed to pieces, the man was mi raculously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glanci ng at he bit s of wood and met al that l ay around him, the man sadl y pi cked up t he mat res and cari ed i t i nto his house. After he had put i t on the fl oor , he pr ompt ly went to sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t ravel ing in the country, but I don39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。 Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam wi th another note:39。but t hey did not st eal anything. 39。dance39。 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit her e in your spare tim e and read t he car pet !39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Herbert, has al ways been f at, but t hi ngs got so bad recent l y t hat he deci ded to go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al the foods which wer e forbidden. The li st incl uded m ost of t he t hi ngs Her bert l oves: but er , potatoes, ri ce, beer, mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yesterday I pai d him a visit. I r ang the bel and was not sur pr ised t o see t hat Her ber t was st il as fat as ever. He led m e into his r om and hurr iedl y hi d a large pa rcel under hi s desk. It was obvi ous that he was ver y em bar assed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smi led guil til y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He explained t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct that he had t o r ewar d him self occasional y. Then he showed me t he cont ents of t he parcel . I t cont ai ned fi ve l ar ge bars of chocolate and t hr e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng hard al m orning. I have been t r yi ng t o get m y new r om i n or der. Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To make mat er s wor se, t he r oom i s rather sm al l, so I have tempor ar il y put m y books on the fl oor. At the m om ent, they cover every i nch of fl oor space and I actual ly have to walk on them to get i n or out of t he room. A shor t whil e ago, my sister helped m e t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he stai rs. She went into m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al those books on t he f loor . 39。 39。t m at ter,39。 said t he conduct or suddenly.39。 39。 You39。 39。m goi ng t o Woodfor d Gr en, 39。230 ! Leson47 A t hi rsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thom pson is up for sale. Mr Thom pson i s going to sel l i t because it i s haunted. He t ol d m e t hat he coul d not go t o sl eep one night because he hear d a st range noi se i ng f r om t he bar. The next m or ni ng, he found t hat he door s had been bl ocked by chair s and the fur nit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned the li ghts off bef or e he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ni ng. He al so sai d that he had f ound f ive em pt y whi sky bot les whi ch t he ghost m ust have dr unk the ni ght bef or e. When I suggested that some vil lagers must have e i n for a f ree dr ink, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lagers have t ol d him t hat t hey wil l not accept t he i nn even if he gi ves it away. Lesson48 Di d you want o tel me somet hi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask questi ons when it i s im possi bl e for you to answer . My dent ist had just pul led out one of m y t et h and had told me t o rest f or a whi le. I tr ied to say s om et hi ng, but m y m out h was f ul of cott on wool . He knew I coll ected bi rds39。s money was paid back i n t hi s way. The last not e said:39。but only 5o per cent a t hi ef !39。 sai d Mrs Sterl ing later, 39。 she answer ed. Ten m i nutes l at er we walked out of the shop t ogether . My wif e was weari ng a hat hat looked li ke a li ght house ! Leson42 Not very m usical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long wal k t hr ough one of the m ar kets of Old Del hi , we st opped at a square t o have a r est. Aft er atim e, we noti ced a snake charm er wit h t wo l ar ge basket s at the ot her si de of the squar e, so we went t o have a l ook at him. As soon as he saw us, he pi cked up a l ong pipe whi ch was cover ed wit h coi ns and opened one of t he basket s. When he began t o pl ay a t une, we had our fir st glim pse of t he snake. It r ose out of t he basket and began t o f ol ow the m ovem ents of the pi pe. We wer e ver y m uch sur pri sed when t he snake charm er suddenl y began to play jazz t unes and m odern pop songs. The snake, however, conti nued t o 39。m any ti es. 39。dance39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hi ng.39。 Two m onths later, som e m ore money was ent to Sam wit h anot her not e:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。 eggs and asked m e whet her my col lecti on was growing. He t hen asked me how m y br ot her was and whether I li ked my new job in London. I n answer t o these quest ions I eit her nodded or made str ange noises. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where t he t ooth had been. I suddenl y felt ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When the dentist at last r emoved t he cot ton wool fr om m y m out h, I was abl e to t el him t hat he had pul ed out t he wr ong t ooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl epi ng on t he fl oor , a young man in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he fir st tim e in his li fe, he becam e t he pr oud owner of a bed which had spr