【正文】 he f ir em en exami ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e al so qui t e sur e t hat a cigaret e end di d not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however , a fi rem an acci dent al y discover ed t he cause. He not i ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanat i on was sim pl e but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o the 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 i mm edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was quiet. So I decided t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h st i cky past r y. At exact l y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e a nnoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast 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 t o t he kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi nding l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。. Because t he tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of vi sit ors t o Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. The tr ee was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if t y year s ago, but i t is onl y i n recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l r eput ati on. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches t he t r e, he wil l have bad l uck。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pi r at es woul d of ten bur y gol d i n the cave and t hen f ai l t o coll ect i t. Arm ed wi th t he new m achine, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike i t. She enj oyed her sel f m aki ng t he assi stant br i ng al most ever yt hi ng i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal l y buyi ng the dr ess she had f ir st asked f or . Lesson58 A bl essi ng i n di sguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t i ny vi l age of Fr i nl ey is sai d t o possess a 39。You don39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。l l get off here.39。I t doesn39。Oh dear,39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 answer ed t he conduct or . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of t he countr ysi de. Af t er som e ti me, t he bus stopped. Looki ng r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l ef t on t he bus. 39。 but I don39。t l ike l osi ng m y way. I went on an excursi on r ecentl y, but m y tr ip t ook me l onger t han I expect ed. 39。 安全作為交通運(yùn)輸?shù)氖自趩栴}，關(guān)系到人民群眾生命財(cái)產(chǎn)安全，關(guān)系到改革發(fā)展穩(wěn)定大局，受到全社會的關(guān)注，受到黨和各級 政府的高度重視。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil lagers beli eve t hat t he tr e has alr eady cl aimed a number of victi ms. The vi car has been asked to have the t ree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has point ed out t hat t he tr e is a usef ul sour ce of i ne as t ouri st s have be en ing f rom al part s of the count ry t o see it . I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he t our i st shave been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to si t out si de our f ront gate and bark. Ever y t ime he want ed to e into the garden he would bar k unti l someone opened the gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of the noise, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng him to pres hi s paw on t he latch t o let him sel f i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shopping l ast week, I noti ced hi m i n t he gar den near the gate. This t ime he was bar king so that som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce then, he has devel oped another bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f rom the outsi de, he es into the garden and wait s unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l et s him out. Af ter thi s he imm edi ately l ets him sel f in and begins bar king again. Yest erday my husband r emoved the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen hi m si nce. Leson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age fair , I decided t o visit a f ort une tel er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nto her tent and she t old m e to si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。The Revealer 39。 she said. She gazed at i t for some t ime then added, 39。 said t he conductor. 39。I 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 the conductor sai d. 39。l l t el you where t o get of f, 39。 I said to t he conductor as I got on t he bus,39。 eggs and asked m e whether my coll ect ion was gr owi ng. He then asked m e how my brother was and whether I l iked m y new job in London. I n answer t o these questi ons I ei ther nodded or made st range nois es. Meanwhil e, m y tongue was busy searching out the hole wher e the t ooth had been. I suddenly f elt very wor r ied, but coul d not say anything. When t he dent ist at l ast r em oved t he cot tonwool f rom my m out h, I was abl e to t el him that he