【正文】 t been put out, t he f or est aut hor it ies or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr ass seed whi ch woul d gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The planes had been planti ng sed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began t o rai n. By t hen, however , in m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken root. I n place of the gr eat tr ees whi ch had been gr owi ng t her e f or cent uri es, patches of gr en had begun to appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof f rey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcle of f r iends and i s ver y popular at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum or ever ybody, that is, except hi s sixyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff r ey39。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 visit ors t o Fri nley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n r ecent years t hat i t has gained an evi l r eputati on. I t is sai d t hat i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wi ll have bad l uck。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est 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 t he 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 whi ch people car el essly t hr ow away. Yester day t he fi rem en exam i ned t he ground car efull y, but wer e not abl e t o f i nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et te end di d not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however , a fi reman acci dent al l y discover ed t he c ause. He not i ced t he remai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve t he m yst er y. The expl anati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi r d had snatc hed up t he snake fr om t he gr ound and then dr opped it on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im medi at el y start ed a fi r e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en to school and t hen I went t o m ar ket. I t was st il l earl y when I r et ur ned home. The chi l dr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded to m ake some t art s f or t ea. I n a shor t tim e I was busy m i xi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat m om ent, t he t el ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I pi cked up the r ecei ver bet ween t wo st i cky f i ngers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mrs Bat es. It t ook m e t en m i nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up t he r ecei 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 the 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 me t o sign f or a r egist er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of f indi ng l ost t reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。Thi s is t he pret iest car pet I have ever s en,39。 We ar e going back now,39。t m at ter, 39。Oh dear ,39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。 I asked. 39。 I t doesn39。l l get of f her e. 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward f or 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 r ecentl y t hat he deci ded t o go on a diet. He began his di et a wek ago. Fi r st of al l, he wrot e out a l ong li st of al t he f oods which wer e f or bi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of t he t hi ngs Her ber t l oves: butt er , pot at oes, r ice, beer, mi l k, chocol at e, and sweet s. Yest er day I pai d him a visit . I rang t he bel and was not sur pri sed t o see t hat Her bert was stil l as fat as ever. He led m e int o hi s r oom and hur r iedly hi d a l ar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious t hat he was ver y em bar ased. 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 ri ct hat he had t o r ewar d him self occasi onal y. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. It cont ai ned f i ve l ar ge bars of chocol at e and t hr ee bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pret ty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved int o a new house and I have been wor ki ng har d al l mor ni ng. I have been t r yi ng t o get m y new r oom i n or der. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at er s wor se, t he r oom i s r at her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put my books on t he f l oor. At he m om ent, t hey cover ever y i nch 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 whi l e ago, my si st er hel ped m e to car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went i nt o my r oom and got a bi g sur pr i se when she saw al t hose books on t he fl oor. 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e i n your spar e ti me and r ead the carpet!39。cursed tr ee39。 As soon as I went out si de, I f or got al l about Madam Bel i nsky because my wi f e hur ri ed t owar ds m e. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol l owed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he H ubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f r om a spaceshi p whil e it i s st il l i n space and t o r et ur n to i t. The abil it y t o do thi s wil l be nec esary i n f ut ur e fl ights t o dist ant pla s. Sci ent ists ar e now tr yi ng t o di scover i f thi s i s possi bl e. The spaces