【正文】 way. I went on an excur si on recent ly, but m y t ri p took me longer t han I expect ed. 39。 l esson46 Expensive and un f ort abl e 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane f rom London ar ri ved at Sydney ai rpor t, wor ker s began t o unload a number of wooden boxes whi ch cont ai ned cl othing. No one could account f or t he fact that one of t he boxes was extr em el y heavy. It suddenl y occurr ed to one of t he worker s to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A m an was lying i n t he box on top of a pil e of wooll en goods. He was so sur pr i sed at bei ng discover ed that he di d not even t ry t o r un away. Af ter he was ar est ed, t he man adm it ted hidi ng in t he box bef ore t he plane lef t London. He had had a long and unf ort abl e t ri p, f or he had be en conf ined t o the wooden box f or over ten hours. The man was order ed to pay amp。 Onl y 25 per cent a thi ef now! 39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whol e vil lage soon l ear nt that a large sum of m oney had been lost. Sam Bent on, t he local butcher, had lost hi s wal et while taking his savings to the post of fi ce. Sam was sur e that the wal let must have been f ound by one of t he vil lager s, but it was not ret ur ned to hi m. Three m ont hs passed, and then one morni ng, Sam found his wal le t out side his f r ont door. I t had been wr apped up in newspaper and i t contained half t he money he had lost , together wit h a note whi ch sai d: 39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. Forest f ir e ar e of t en caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends which peopl e carel essl y t hr ow away. Yest erday t he f ir em en exam ined t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o fi nd any br oken glass. They wer e al so qui t e sur e that a ci garet e end di d not st art t he fi re. This m or ning, however, a f i r em an accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able to solve t he mystery. The expl anat ion was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snatched up the snake f r om t he gr ound and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake then wound i tself round t he wir es. When it did so, it sent spar ks down to the gr ound and t hese im mediately st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent the chil dren t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was atan i nt o ser ious t rouble. At one poi nt, it seem ed cer tain that heir plane would cr ash. It could onl y get over the mountai ns i f it r ose t o 10,000 f et . Byr d at once or der ed his m en to t hrow out t wo heavy f ood sacks. The pl ane was t hen abl e to ri se a nd i t cl ear ed the m ountai ns by 400 feet. Byrd now knew that he would be able to r each t he Sout h Pole whi ch was 300 mi les away, f or there wer e no mor e mountains i n sight. The air craft was able to f ly over the endless whit e plains wi thout dif fi cul ty. Le sson44 Through the forest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne Sterl ing di d not t hink of t he ri sk she was t aki ng when she r an thr ough a for est aft er t wo m en. They had rushed up to her whil e she was having a piic at the edge of a for est wi th her chi ldr en and tr ied t o st eal her handbag. I n t he st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi th the bag in their possesi on, both m en st art ed running t hrough the t rees. Mrs St er li ng got so angry that she r an aft er t hem . She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued t o r un. When she caught up wi th them, she saw t hat t hey had sat down and wer e goi ng thr ough t he cont ent s of the bag, so she ran st raight at them. The men got such a f ri ght t hat t hey dr opped t he bag and r an away. 39。Thi s i s the pr et ti est car pet I have ever seen,39。We are goi ng back now,39。 I sai d. 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 39。 You39。 39。m goi ng t o Woodfor d Gr en,39。 230 ! Leson47 A t hirst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was r ecentl y bought by Mr I an Thom pson i s up f or sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng t o sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He tol d m e t hat he coul d not go t o sl eep one ni ght because he hear d a str ange noi se i ng f rom the bar. The next m or ni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he f ur ni tur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned t he li ghts of f bef or e he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n t he m or ni ng. He al so sai d t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bot tl es which t he ghost m ust have dr unk t he ni ght bef or e. When I suggest ed t hat som e vil ager s m ust have e i n f or a f r ee dr i nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vi l ager s have t old him t hat t hey wil l not accept t he i nn even i f he gi ves it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el m e som et hi ng? 你想對(duì)我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask questi ons when it i s im possi ble f or you t o answer . My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h a nd had tol d m e t o r est f or a whi le. I tr ied t o say som et hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot ton wool . He knew I col l ect ed bi rds39。s m oney was pai d back i n t hi s way. The l ast not e sai d:39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hi ef! 39。 sai d Mrs St er li ng l at er , 39。The st rap needs m endi ng,39。A t hi ef, yes, 39。 I n t im e, al Sam39。 345 f or t he cost of t he tr i p. The norm al pr ice of a ti cket i s amp。 I39。t know wher e i t is.39。 answered t he conduct or. I sat i n t he f r ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of t he count r ysi de. Aft er som e t im e, t he bus st opped. Looki ng round, I r eal i zed wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger left on t