【正文】 , however , pl et ed t he r ace. The wi nni ng car r eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hour m uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i val s. I t sped downhi l at t he end of t he r ace and i t s dr i ver had a l ot of tr oubl e tr yi ng t o st op i t. The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pl easure. It was ver y di f erent fr om m oder n car r aces but no less excit i ng. Lesson57 Can I help you, m adam ? 你要買什么，夫人？ A wom an i n bl ue j eans st ood at t he wi ndow of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesi tat ed f or a m om ent, she fi nal l y went i n and as ked t o se a dr es t hat was i n t he window. The asistant who ser ved her di d not l i ke t he way she was dr essed. Glanci ng at her scor nf ul ly, he tol d her t hat t he dress was sol d. The wom an wal ked out of t he shop angr il y and deci ded to punish t he asistant ne xt day. She r et ur ned t o t he shop t he f oll owing m or ning dr esed in a fur coat , wit h a handbag i n one hand and a l ong um brel a i n t he ot her . Aft er seeki ng out t he r ude assi st ant she asked f or t he sam e dress. Not r eali zing who she was, the assi st ant was eager t o ser ve her t his t im e wit h gr eat di f fi cul ty, he cl im bed i nt o t he shop wi ndow t o get he dr ess. As soon as she saw i t, t he woman s ai d s m any t ies.39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f or est fi re i n Cali f or nia. Since t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng t o f ind out how t he fi re began. For est fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glass or by ci gar et t e ends whi ch people car el esly t hr ow away. Yester day t he fi r em en exam i ned t he ground car efull y, but wer e not abl e to f i nd any br oken gl as. They were al so quit e sure t hat a ci gar et t e end di d not st ar t t he f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however , a fi r em an acci denta l y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 volt power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to sol ve t he myster y. The expl anat ion was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi r d had snat ched up t he snake fr om t he ground 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 spar ks 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 arket. I t was st il earl y when I r et ur ned home. The chi ldr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et . So I deci ded t o m ake some t ar t s for t ea. I n a short t im e I was busy m ixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat moment, t he t elephone r ang. Not hing coul d have been m ore annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he recei ver bet ween 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 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 i s t he pr et ti est car pet I have ever seen, 39。 We ar e goi ng back now,39。t m at t er, 39。Oh dear ,39。Thi s i s as far as we go.39。 answer ed t he conduct or . I sat i n t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of t he countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, t he bus stopped. Looki ng r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l ef t on t he bus. 39。 but I don39。t li ke l osi ng m y way. I went on an excursion r ecentl y, but m y tr ip t ook m e l onger t han I expect ed. 39。 l eson46 Expensi ve and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane fr om London ar i ved at Sydney air port , workers began to unl oad a num ber of wooden boxes whi ch contai ned cl ot hi ng. No one coul d account for t he f act t hat one of t he boxes was ext remel y heavy. It suddenly occurr ed to one of t he workers t o open up t he box. He was astonished at what he f ound. A m an was l yi ng in t he box on t op of a pi l e of wool len goods. He was so sur pr ised at bei ng di scover ed t hat he di d not even tr y t o r un away. Af ter he was ar est ed, t he m an adm it ted hi di ng i n the box bef or e t he pl ane l eft London. He had had a l ong and unf or t abl e tr ip, f or he had been conf ined t o the wooden box f or over ten hours. The m an was or der ed to pay amp。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now! 39。 Leson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whole vil l age soon lear nt t hat a l ar ge sum of money had been l ost. Sam Bent on, t he l ocal but cher, had l ost his wal l et whil e t aki ng hi s savi ngs t o t he post off i ce. Sam was sure t hat t he wal l et m ust have been f ound by one of t he vi l ager s, but i t was not r etur ned t o him . Thr ee mont hs passed, and t hen one m orni ng, Sam f ound hi s wal et out si de hi s f ront door . It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it cont ained half t he m oney he had l ost , t oget her wit h a note whi ch sai d: 39。 sl owly. It obviousl y coul d not tel t he dif fer ence bet ween I ndi an m usi c and j azz! Lesson43 O ver t he Sout h Pol e 飛越南極 I n 1929, thr e years af ter his f li ght over the Nor th Pol e, t he Ameri can expl or er, R. E. Byr d, succesf ul l y fl ew over t he Sout h Pol e f or t he f ir st t im e. Though, at fi r st, Byr d and his m en were abl e t o t ake a gr eat m any phot ogr aphs of t he m ount ai ns that lay below, t hey soon r an i nto seri ous tr oubl e. At one poi nt , it seem ed cert ain t