【正文】 t im e, t he Ast ra wil have been fl yi ng t hr ough space f or sevent en hours and wi l have ci r cl ed t he ear t h a great m any tim es. When t he fi r st r adi o messages have been r ecei ved, t he resul t s of t he tr i p wil l be announced im me diat el y. Lesson62 Af t er t he fi re 大火之后 Fi r em en had been fi ght i ng t he f or est f ir e f or nearl y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get it under cont r ol . A short ti m e bef or e, gr eat t r es had cover ed t he count rysi de f or m il es ar ound. Now, sm oke st il l rose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desol at e hil ls. Wi nt er was i ng on and t he hi l s t hr eat ened t he sur r oundi ng vil l ages wit h dest r ucti on, f or heavy r ai n woul d not onl y wash away the soil but woul d cause seri ous f l oods as wel . When t he f ir e had at last been put out , t he f or est aut hori ti es ordered sever al t ons of a special type 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 ant i ng seed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began to r ain. By t he n, however , i n m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken root. I n place of the gr eat tr ees which had been gr owi ng t here f or cent ur ies, pat ches of green 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 Ham pden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s very popular at par ti es. Ever ybody admi r es him f or hi s f ine sense of hum orever ybody, t hat i s, except his si x year ol d daught er , Jenny. Recent l y, one of Geoff rey39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。. Because the t ree 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 r e was pl ant ed near a chur c h fi ft y years ago, but it i s onl y i n r ecent years t hat i t has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches t he t ree, he wil l have bad l uck。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir em en have put out a big f or est fi re i n Cali f or nia. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng t o f i nd 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 rem en exam i ned t he gr ound car efull y, but wer e not abl e t o f i nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e al so quit e sur e t hat a cigaret e end di d not start t he fi r e. This m or ni ng, however, a fi reman acci dent al l y di scovered t he cause. He not iced t he r em ains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l i ne. I n this way, he was able t o sol ve t he m yst er y. The expl anati on was si mpl e but ver y unusual . A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o t he wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wi r es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and t hese imm edi at ely st ar ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er breakf ast , I sent the chil dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dr en wer e at school, m y husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I deci ded t o make som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng but t er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past r y. At exactl y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky f inger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o per suade her t o r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he recei 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 to t he kit chen t han t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng l ost t r easur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。t mat er,39。 said t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 39。 You39。 39。m goi ng to Woodf or d Gr en,39。 230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thom pson is up f or sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng t o sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He tol d m e t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one ni ght because he hear d a st r ange noise i ng f r om t he bar . The next mor ni ng, he f ound that he doors had been bl ocked by chair s and t he f ur nit ure had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned t he l i ght s of f befor e he went t o bed, t hey were on i n t he m orni ng. He al so sai d t hat he had f ound fi ve em pt y whi sky bot l es whi ch the ghost m ust have dr unk t he ni ght befor e. When I suggest ed t hat some vi l ager s m ust have e i n f or a f ree dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook his head. The vil l agers have t ol d him t hat t hey wi l not acept t he inn even if he gi ves i t away. Leson48 Di d you want to t el m e som et hing? 你想對(duì)我說(shuō)什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask questi ons when i t is im possi bl e f or you t o answer. My denti st had j ust pul l ed out one of m y t eet h and had t ol d m e t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say som et hi ng, but m y m out h was f ull of cot t on wool . He knew I coll ect ed bi r ds39。345 f or t he cost of t he t ri p. The norm al pr i ce of a t icket i s amp。 I39。t know where i t is.39。 answer ed t he conduct or. I sat i n the f r ont of the bus t o get a good view of t he count ryside. Aft er some t im e, t he bus st opped. Looki ng round, I r eal ized wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger left on t he bus. 39。Thi s