【正文】 ady claimed a number of victims. The vi car has been asked t o have the tr e cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a usef ul source of ine as tourists have been ing from al par ts of the count ry to se it . In spi te of al that has been sai d, the tour ist s have been picki ng leaves and cutt ing t heir names on the tr etr unk. So far, not one of t hem has been st ruck down by sudden death! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來 還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit outside our front gate and bar k. Every ti me he want ed to e into the garden he would bark unt il s omeone opened t he gat e. As the neighbour s pl ai ned of the noise, my husband spent weks t rai ni ng him to press hi s paw on t he l atch to let hi mself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I not iced him i n the garden near the gate. This time he was bar ki ng so t hat someone would。cursed tr e39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here in your spar e time and r ead the carpet !39。 I answered. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Herber t, has always been fat, but things got so bad r ecentl y that he decided t o go on a di et. He began his diet a wek ago. Fir st of al, he wr ot e out a long list of al l the foods which were f or bi dden. The li st incl uded most of t he t hi ngs Her bert loves: but ter , potatoes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolate, and sweet s. Yester day I paid him a visit. Ir ang the bel and was not sur pr ised to se that Herber t was st il as fat as ever. He l ed me into his room and hurri edly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious t hat he was ver y embarased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smiled guil til y and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained t hat his diet was so st rict that he had t o r eward himsel f occasi onal ly. Then he showed me the content s of the parcel. It contained fi ve l ar ge bar s of chocolate and three bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pret ty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard al mor ning. I have been trying to get my new room in or der . This has not been easy because I own over athousand books. To make maters worse, the room is rather smal , so I have tempor ar ily put my books on the floor. At he moment , they cover ever y inch of f loor space and I actualy have to walk on them t o get i n or out of the room. A shor t whil e ago, my si ster helped me t o cary one of my old bookcases up the stair s. She went i nt o my r oom and got a big sur pr ise when she saw al l those books on the fl oor. 39。 39。 I t doesn39。 I asked. 39。l have t o get off her e,39。 I 39。 I sai d to the conduct or as I got on t he bus,39。 eggs and asked me whet her my collect ion was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether Il iked my new job in London. In answer to these quest ions I eit her nodded or made strange noi ses. Meanwhile, my t ongue was busy searchi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenly f el t ver y wor ried, but c ould not say anything. When the dent ist at last removed the cottonwool fr om my mout h, Iwas able to t el l him t hat he had pul led out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sl epi ng on the floor, a young man in Teher an saved up for years to buy a real bed. For the f irst ime in his lif e, he became the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a matr ess. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ried the bed on t o the r oof of his house. He slept very wel for t he f irst wo ni ghts, but on t he t hi rd night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed of f the r oof and sent it cr ashing i nt o the cour tyar d below. The young man did not wake up until the bed had st ruck the ground. Alt hough t he bed was smashed t o pi eces, t he man was mi raculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was st il on t he matr ess. Glancing at the bi ts of wood and m etal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mat res and car ied it nt o hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor, he promptl y went t o sleep again. Leson50 Taken for a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove travel ling in the count ry, but I don39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 Two months l ater, some more money was ent to Sam wi th another not e: 39。but they di d not steal anything. 39。dance39。Your si ter wi l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her . We are late already.39。A relation of your s i s ing to see you. She wil be ar ivng t hi s evening and intends to st ay f or a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you wil get a big surprise. A woman you know wel wi l rush towards you. She wil l speak t o you and then she wil lead you away f rom t his place. That is al.39。 has been i nvent ed and it has bee n used t o detect gold which has been buri ed in t he ground. The machine was used i n a cave near t he seashore wher e it is said pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es woul d of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail to coll ect i t. Ar med with the new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not like it. She enj oyed herself maki ng t he asist ant bri ng almost everything in the window before fi naly buyi ng the dres she had fi rst asked f or . Lesson58 A blessing in disgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The tiny vi l l age of Frinley is said to possess a 39。You don39。Wel, in that case, I prefer to st ay on the bus,39。Il l get off here.39。 I f or got to put you off. 39。 Is this Woodfor d Gr en ?39。You39。 39。m going to Woodf or d Green,39。230 ! Lesson47 A t hirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was recent ly bought by Mr I an Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel l i t because i t i s haunted. He told me that he coul d not go to sleep one night because he heard a st range noise ing fr om the bar. The next m or ni ng, he found t hat he doors had been blocked by chair s and