【正文】 ed bir ds39。s money was paid bac k in t his way. The last note said: 39。but only 5o per cent a t hief ! 39。 said M r s St erling lat er , 39。 she answer ed. Ten m inutes lat er we walked out of t he shop t oget her . M y wif e was wear ing a hat t hat looked like a light house ! Lesson42 Not very m usical 并 非很懂音樂 As we had had a long walk t hr ough one of t he m ar kets of Old Delhi, we st opped at a squar e t o have a r est. Af ter a t ime, we not iced a snake charm er wit h t wo lar ge baskets at t he ot her side of t he squar e, so we went t o have a look at him . As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe which was cover ed wit h coins and opened one of t he baskets. When he began t o play a t une, we had our fir st glim pse of t he snake. I t r ose out of t he basket and began t o f olow t he m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e ver y m uch surpr ised when t he snake char mer suddenly began t o play jazz t unes and m oder n pop songs. The snake, however, cont inued t o 39。. Because t he t r ee was m entioned in a newspaper, t he number of visit or s t o Fr inley has now incr eased. The t r ee was plant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but it is only in r ecent year s t hat i has gained an evil r eput ation. I t is said t hat if anyone t ouches t he t r ee, he wil have bad luck。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f or est f ir e in Calif or nia. Since t hen, t hey have been t r ying t o f ind out how t he f ir e began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by br oken glass or by cigar et t e ends which people car elessly t hr ow away. Yest er day t he fir em en examined t he gr ound car ef uly, but wer e not able t o f ind any br oken glass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a cigar et t e end did not st art t he f ir e. This m or ning, however, a f ir eman accident aly discover ed t he cause. He not iced t he r em ains of a snake which was wound r ound t he elect r ic wir es of a 16, 00 volt power line. I n t his way, he was able t o solve t he m yst er y. The explanation was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped it on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound t he wir es. When it did so, it sent spar ks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im m ediat ely st ar t ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f inger s 粘糊的手指 Af ter br eakf ast, Isent t he childr en t o school and t hen I went t o m ar ket. I t was stil ear ly when I r et ur ned home. The childr en wer e at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was quiet . So I decided t o m ake s om e t art s f or t ea. I n a shor t t im e I was busy m ixing but t er and f lour and m y hands wer e soon covered wit h st icky past ry. At exactly t hat m om ent , t he t elephone r ang. Not hing could have been m or e annoying. I picked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo sticky f inger s and was dism ayed when I r ecognized t he voice of M r s Bat es. I t t ook m e t en m inut es t o per suade her t o r ing back lat er. At last I hung up t he r eceiver . What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y f inger s, on t he t elephone, and on t he door knobs. Ihad no sooner got back t o t he kit chen t han t he door bel r ang loud 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 sign f or a r egist ered let t er ! Lesson55 Not a gold m ine 并非金礦 Dr eams of finding lost t r easur e alm ost cam e t r ue r ecent ly. A new m achine caled 39。This is t he pr et t iest car pet Ihave ever seen,39。 W e ar e going back now, 39。t m at ter, 39。Oh dear , 39。 t he conduct or said. 39。l t ell you wher e t o get of f, 39。 I said t o t he conduct or as Igot on t he bus, 39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y colect ion was gr owing. He t hen asked m e how m y br other was and whet her I liked m y new job in London. I n answer t o t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade st r ange noises. M eanwhile, m y t ongue was busy sear ching out t he hole wher e t he t oot h had been. I suddenly f elt ver y wor r ied, but could not say anyt hing. When t he dent ist at last r em oved t he cot ton wool f r om m y m out h, I was able t o t ell him t hat he had puled out t he wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dr eam 美夢告終 Tir ed of sleeping on t he f loor , a young m an i Teher an saved up f or year s t o buy a r eal bed. For t he f ir st t im e in his l if e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a m at tr ess. Becaus e t he weat her was ver y hot , he car ried t he bed on t o t he r oof of his house. He slept ver y well f or t he fir st t wo night s, but on t he t hir d night , a st orm blew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent it cr ashing int o t he court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up unt il t he bed had st r uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pieces, t he m an was m ir aculously unhur t . When he woke up, he was st il on t he m at t ress. Glancing at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat lay ar ound him , t he m an sadly picked up t he m at r ess and car ried it int o his house. Af t er he had put it on t he f loor , he pr omptly went t o sleep again. Lesson50 Taken f or a r ide 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t r aveling in t he countr y, but I don39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 Two m ont hs lat er , som e m or e m oney was sent t o Sam wit h anot her not e:39。but t hey did not st eal anyt hing. 39。dance39。A f ew car s, however, plet ed t he r ace. The winning car r eached a speed of f ort y m iles an hour m uch f ast er t han any of it s r ivals. I t sped downhil at t he end of t he r ace and it s driver had a lot of t r ouble t r ying t o st op it . The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pleasur e. I t was ver y dif f er ent f r om m oder n car r aces but no less ex cit ing. Lesson57 Can Ihelp you, m ad