【正文】 hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. Forest f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by cigaret te ends which people carelessl y t hr ow away. Yest erday the f ir emen exam ined the gr ound caref ull y, but were not able t o fi nd any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however, a f ir em an accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he rem ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound the electr ic wi r es of a 16,000vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The expl anat ion was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake fr om t he ground and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wir es. When it did so, it sent s parks down t o the gr ound and t hese i mmediatel y st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent t he chi ldren t o school and then I went to m ar ket. It was sti l earl y when I ret ur ned home. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I deci ded t o make som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi 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 exactl y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky f inger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o per suade her t o r ing back lat er . At last 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 to t he kit chen t han t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng l ost t r easur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。. Because the t ree was ment ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only i n r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad l uck。 39。dance39。but they did not steal anythi ng. 39。 Two months lat er , som e more money was sent to Sam wit h anot her not e: 39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y coll ecti on was growi ng. He then asked m e how my br other was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. I n answer t o these questi ons I eit her nodded or made st range noises. Meanwhil e, my tongue was busy sear ching out the hole wher e the t oot h had been. I suddenly f elt very wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When t he dent ist at l ast removed t he cot tonwool f rom my m out h, I was able to t el l him that he had pul led out the wr ong tooth. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sleeping on t he fl oor, a young man in Teher an saved up for year s t o buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime in hi s li fe , he became t he proud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was ver y hot, he car ri ed the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He sl ept very wel f or t he fi rst two nights, but on t he thi rd ni ght , a st orm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it cr ashing i nto t he cour tyard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck the ground. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed to pi eces, t he man was m ir aculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il on t he mat res s. Gl anci ng at he bit s of wood and m et al that l ay around him , t he man sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ied i t into hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he prompt ly went to sl eep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove tr avel ing i n t he countr y, but I don39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on the bus, 39。 I39。l l have t o get of f her e, 39。 I asked. 39。 I t doesn39。l l get of f her e. 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward for virt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f r iend, Her ber t, has always been f at, but things got so bad r ecentl y t hat he deci ded to go on a di et. He began his diet a week ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ote out a long l ist of al l the f oods whi ch were f orbi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of the t hings Herbert l oves: but ter , potat oes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid hi m a vi si t. I r ang the bel and was not surpr ised to see t hat Her ber t was st il l as f at as ever. He l ed me i nto hi s room and hur ri edl y hid a large parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous t hat he was very em bar ra ssed. When I asked hi m what he was doing, he smil ed gui lt il y and then put t he par cel on t he desk. He explained that his di et was so str ict that he had to r eward hi m sel f 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 m y new r oom i n order. Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To make mat er s wor se, the r oom i s rat her smal , so I have tempor ar il y put my books on the f loor. At t he moment, they c over 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, m y si ster hel ped me to car ry one of my old bookcases up the stair s. She went int o my room and got a big sur pr ise when she saw al those books on t he fl oor. 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here i n your spare t im e and read the carpet! 39。