【正文】 sses a 39。You don39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus,39。l l get of f her e. 39。I t doesn39。Oh dear, 39。Thi s is as f ar as we go. 39。 answer ed the conduct or. I sat in the f ront of the bus to get a good view of t he countr yside. Af t er some t ime, the bus stopped. Looking r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock that I was t he only pasenger l ef t on the bus. 39。t know where it is.39。 I 39。s closest f r i ends asked hi m t o make a speech at a weddi ng r ecepti on. This i s the sort of t hi ng that Geoff rey l oves. He prepared t he spe ech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l arge number of f unny st ori es in t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat succes. As soon as he had f ini shed, Jenny tol d him she want ed to go hom e. Geoff r ey was a li t le disappoi nted by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed the speech. To his surpr ise, she sai d she hadn39。 she asked i mpatientl y. 39。 if he picks a l eaf , he wil l di e. Many vil ager s bel ieve t hat the t ree has alr eady cl ai med a number of vi ctim s. The vi car has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r efused. He has point ed out t hat the t ree i s a usef ul source of i ne as t our ists have been ing f rom al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spite of al l t hat has been said, t he touri st s have been picking leaves and cutti ng their names on t he tr e tr unk. So f ar, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit outside our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y ti me he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unt il s om eone opened the gate. As the neighbour s plained of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr aining hi m to pr ess his paw on the l at ch to let hi mself i n. Rex soon became an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was going out shoppi ng last week, I not iced him in the garden near t he gat e. Thi s ti me he was barki ng so that someone would l et hi m out ! Si nce t hen, he has developed anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens the gat e fr om t he out side, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he si ts and bar ks unti l someone lets hi m out . Af t er t his he i mmediatel y let s himself i n and begins bar ki ng agai n. Yester day my husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來 At a vil lage fair , I deci ded t o visi t a for tune tel ler cal led Madam Beli nsky. I went into her t ent and she t old m e to si t down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nto a cr yst al bal and said: 39。The Reveal er39。 she said. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。 said t he conductor. 39。I 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。l l t el l you wher e to get of f, 39。 but I don39。t li ke losing m y way. I went on an excur sion r ecentl y, but my t ri p t ook me longer than I expected. 39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed of t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard bel ow. The young m an did not wake up until t he bed had st ruck the gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glancing a t the bit s of wood and metal that lay ar ound hi m, the man sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it int o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he prom pt ly went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count ry, but I don39。 I said t o the conduct or as I got on the bus,39。 I39。l have to get off here, 39。 I s thi s Woodfor d Gr en ?39。 I f or got to put you off .39。 I sai d. 39。We are goi ng back now, 39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce 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 ass or by cigaret te ends which peopl e carelessl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exami ned the gr ound caref ully, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glas. They were al so qui te sure t hat a ci gar ete end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however , a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o 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 it self 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