【正文】 soon as I went outsi de, I for got al l about Madam Bel insky because my wi fe hur ri ed towar ds m e. 39。cur sed tr e39。t need bookcases at all . You can si t her e in your spar e ti me and r ead t he car pet !39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward f or vi rtue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My fr iend, Herbert , has always been fat , but thi ngs got so bad recent ly t hat he decided to go on a diet. He began his di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ote out a l ong li st of al t he f oods which wer e for bidden. The l ist included most of t he things Her ber t loves: butt er , pot atoes, r ice, beer, mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yester day I paid him a visit . I rang the bel and was not sur pri sed t o se t hat Her ber t was stil l as fat as eve r. He led me into hi s room and hur ri edly hi d a lar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious that he was ver y embar assed. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smil ed guilt il y and then put the parcel on the desk. He explai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had to reward himself occasional y. Then he showed me t he contents of t he par cel . I t cont ai ned fi ve large bar s of chocol ate and t hr ee 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 wor king hard al l morni ng. I have been t ryi ng to get my new room in or der . Thi s has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make mat ters wor se, t he room is r at her smal l, so I have t emporari ly put my books on t he fl oor . At the mom ent , t hey cover ever y inch of f loor space and I act ual ly have to walk on t hem t o get i n or out of t he room. A short whi le ago, my sister helped me t o car y one of my old bookcases up the st ai rs. She went i nto my r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al l t hose books on the f loor. 39。 39。I t doesn39。Oh dear, 39。Thi s i s as f ar as we go.39。cl ock t his eveni ng. By that tim e, t he Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or sevent een hour s and wil l have ci rcled t he ear t h a great m any tim es. When t he fi r st r a di o messages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul t s of t he tr i p wil l be announced im m edi at el y. Lesson62 Af t er the f ire 大火之后 Fi r em en had been fi ghti ng the f orest f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get it under cont rol. A shor t tim e befor e, gr eat tr ees had covered t he countr ysi de f or mi l es ar ound. Now, sm oke st il r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desol at e hil ls. Wi nter was ing on and t he hi l s t hr eat ened t he sur r oundi ng vi l ages wi th dest r uct ion, for heavy r ain woul d not onl y wash away t he soil but woul d cause seri ous fl oods as wel . When t he fi re had at last been put out , the f orest aut hor it es or der ed sever al t ons of a special t ype of grass sed whi ch would 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 pl anes had been pl a nti ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began to r ain. By t hen, however, i n many places t he gr ass had al r eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he gr eat t r es whi ch had been growi ng ther e f or cent ur i es, pat ches of gr en had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not am used 她并不覺(jué)得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum or ever ybody, t hat is, except hi s si x year old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff r ey39。Where have you been hi di ng ?39。. Because t he t r e was m ent i oned i n a newspaper , the number of vi si t or s t o Fri nl ey has now i ncr eased. The tr ee was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n recent years t hat it has gained an evi l r eput ati on. I t i s sai d that i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l 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 the f ir e bega n. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et e ends whi ch peopl e car el esl y thr ow away. Yest er day t he fi r em en exami ned t he gr ound car ef ul ly, but wer e not abl e to f i nd any br oken gl as. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however , a fi r em an accident al y discover ed t he cause. He not i ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ect ri c 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 myst er y. The expl anat ion was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi r d had snatc hed 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 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 arket. I t was st il 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 for t ea. I n a shor t im e I was busy m ixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wi th sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I picked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti 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 inut es t o per suade her to r i ng back l at er. At l ast I hung up t he r eceiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the kit chen t han t he door bel l r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t