【正文】 I sat i n the f r ont of the bus t o get a good view of the count ryside. Aft er some t im e, t he bus st opped. Looking round, I r eal ized wi th a shock that I was the only passenger l eft on t he bus. 39。 but I don39。t l ike l osi ng my way. I went on an excursion r ecentl y, but my tr ip t ook me l onger than I expected. 39。cl ock this evening. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l have cir cled t he ear th a gr eat m any t imes. When t he fi rst ra dio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of the t ri p wi l l be announced im mediat el y. Lesson62 Af t er t he fi re 大火之后 Fi r em en had been fi ght i ng t he f or est f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get it under contr ol . A short t im e bef ore, great t r es had cover ed t he count ryside f or m il es ar ound. Now, sm oke st il l r ose up f rom the warm gr ound over t he desol ate hil l s. Wi nter was i ng on and t he hi l s t hr eat ened t he sur r oundi ng vi l ages wit h dest r ucti on, for heavy r ai n woul d not onl y wash away t he soi l but woul d cause seri ous f l oods as wel l. When the f ir e had at l ast been put out, t he for est aut horit i es or der ed sever al t ons of a speci al t ype of gr ass seed which woul d grow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over the gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl a nt i ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began t o r ai n. By t hen, however, i n many pl aces the gr ass had al r eady t a ken r oot . I n pl ace of t he great t r es whi ch had been gr owi ng t her e for cent uri es, pat ches of gr en had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody adm ir es hi m f or his f ine sense of humoreverybody, t hat i s, except his six year ol d daughter , Jenny. Recent ly, one of Geof fr ey39。Where have you been hi ding ?39。. Because t he tr e was ment ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. The t ree was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it is onl y in recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l reputati on. I t is said t hat i f anyone touches t he tr ee, he wi l have bad luck。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cali for nia. Since then, t hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e bega n. Forest f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by cigar et te ends which people carelessl y t hr ow away. Yest erday the f ir emen exam ined the gr ound car ef 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 start t he fi re. This mor ning, however, a f ir eman aci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r em ains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e to sol ve the myster y. The explanation was si mple but very unusual. A bir d had snat ched up t he snake fr om the ground and then dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound itself r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mmediat el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il l earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldr en wer e at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some t ar ts f or tea. In a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exact ly that moment, the t elephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I picked up the r ecei ver between t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me ten m inutes t o per suade her to ri ng back l at er. At l ast I hung up the r eceiver. What a m es! Ther e was past ry on my f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen than the door bel rang l oud enough to wake the dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of fi ndi ng lost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new m achine cal ed 39。Thi s is t he pret iest carpet I have ever seen,39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。 I said. 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 Is t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。l l have to get of f her e, 39。 I 39。m going t o Woodf or d Gr een, 39。My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my mout h wa s f ull of cot tonwool . He knew I collected bi rds39。 I 39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 You39。 39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。t m at t er , 39。 39。 I answer ed. Lesson51 Reward f or virtue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My f ri end, Herber t, has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that he decided t o go on a di et . He began hi s diet a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l t he foods which wer e f or bidden. The l ist included most of t he thi ngs Her bert loves: butt er, potatoes, r ice, beer , m il k, chocol ate, and sweets. Yest er day I pai d him a vi si t. I rang t he bel l and was not surpri sed to see that He rbert was sti l as f at as ever . He led m e int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l ar ge parcel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was very embar rased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned that hi s diet was so st r ict that he had t o r ewar d him sel f occasi onal ly. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. I t conta