【正文】 he hadn39。 she asked impatiently. 39。 if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of ine as tourists have been ing from all parts of the country to see it. In spite of all that has been said, the touristshave been picking leaves and cutting their names on the treetrunk. So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden death! L esson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wanted to e into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours plained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he es into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. L esson60 The future 卜算未來 At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortuneteller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she told me to sit down. After I had given her some money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: 39。The Revealer39。 she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, 39。 said the conductor. 39。I39。 39。 I asked. 39。 the conductor said. 39。ll tell you where to get off,39。 but I don39。t like losing my way. I went on an excursion recently, but my trip took me longer than I expected. 39。 lesson46 Expensive and unfortable 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and unfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered to pay amp。 Only 25 per cent a thief now!39。in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: 39。 Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。 eggs and asked me whether my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the dentist at last removed the cottonwool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth. L esson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real bed. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress. Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his house. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below. The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still on the mattress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again. Lesson50 Taken for a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love travelling in the country, but I don39。 I said to the conductor as I got on the bus,39。 I39。ll have to get off here,39。 Is this Woodford Green ?39。 I fot to put you off.39。 I said. 39。We are going back now,39。This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen,39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fire are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself round the wires. When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire. L esson54 Sticky fingers 粘糊的手指 After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some tarts for tea. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the r