【正文】 had pul led out the wr ong toot h. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl eping on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For the f ir st im e in hi s li fe, he became t he proud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a mat tr ess. Because t he we ather was ver y hot, he car r ied the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo nights, but on the thi rd ni ght , a st or m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he court yard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, t he man was mi racul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he matr es. Gl ancing at the bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, the man sadly picked up the mat tr ess and car ri ed it i nto hi s house. Af t er he had put i t on the f loor , he pr omptl y went to sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t raveli ng in the count ry, but I don39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?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。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi r em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cal if or nia. Si nce t hen, they have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e began. For est fi r e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret e ends which peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t 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。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。We ar e goi ng back now,39。 I said. 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。l l have to get of f here,39。 I 39。m goi ng t o Woodf ord Green, 39。My denti st had j ust pul l ed out one of m y t eet h and had t ol d m e t o r est for 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 r ds39。 I39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 You39。 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。t mat er,39。 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My fr iend, Her ber t, has al ways been fat, but thi ngs got so bad recent ly t hat he decided t o go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long li st of al t he f oods whi ch were f orbi dden. The l i st i ncl uded m ost of the t hi ngs Herbert l oves: but ter, pot at oes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d hi m a visit . I rang t he bel and was not sur pri sed t o see t hat Her bert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e i nt o his r oom and hurr iedl y hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous t hat he was ver y em bar r assed. When I asked hi m what he was doi ng, he sm il ed gui lt il y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He expl ai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had t o r ewar d hi msel f occasional l y. Then he showed m e t he cont ents of t he par cel . It cont ained fi ve l ar ge bar s of chocolat e and t hre e bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret t y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng har d al m or ning. I have been tr ying t o get m y new r oom i n order. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m a t er s wor se, t he r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put m y books on the f loor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y inch of fl oor space and I act ual y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whil e ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car r y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st ai rs. She went i nt o m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al t hose books on t he f l oor. 39。t need bookcases at a l . You can si t her e i n your spar e ti me and r