【正文】 l ot hing. No one coul d account f or t he fact hat one of t he boxes was ext r em el y heavy. It suddenl y occurr ed t o one of t he wor ker s t o open up t he box. He was ast onished at what he f ound. A m an was lyi ng i n t he box on top of a pil e of wooll en goods. He was so sur pri sed at bei ng di scover ed that he di d not even t r y to r un away. Aft er he was ar rest ed, t he man adm it t ed hi di ng i n t he box bef or e t he pl ane l eft London. He had had a l ong and un f or t abl e tr ip, f or he had been confi ned t o t he wooden box for over t en hours. The m an was or der ed t o pay amp。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now! 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cal i f orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng to fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret e ends whi ch peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They wer e also quit e sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not star t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accidental y discover ed the cause. He noticed t he remains of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snatc hed up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped it on to the wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spar ks down to the ground and these im medi ately st ar ted a fi re. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakf ast , I sent the chil dren t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket . It was sti l ear ly when I retur ned hom e. The chil dr en were at school , m y husband was at 青島利爾旺肉牛公司 種牛場擴建項目 可行性研究報告 農業(yè)部規(guī)劃設計研究院 二 OO 八年七月 i n newspaper and it cont ained hal f t he m oney he had l ost, t oget her wi t h a not e whi ch sai d: 39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。We are going back now,39。t mat er ,39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 39。 You39。 39。m goi ng to Woodfor d Gr en,39。 230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was recent ly bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sal e. Mr Thom pson i s going t o sel l it because it is haunted. He tol d me t hat he could not go to sl eep one ni ght because he hear d a str ange noi se i ng fr om t he bar . The next mor ning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chair s and the f urnit ure had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had turned t he li ght s off befor e he went to bed, t hey were on i n t he morni ng. He al so said that he had f ound fi ve em pty whi sky bot tl es whi ch the ghost m ust have dr unk the ni ght befor e. When I suggest ed that some vi l ager s must have e in for a f ree dri nk, Mr Thompson shook his head. The vil lagers have tol d him that they wi l not accept t he inn even if he gi ves i t away. Lesson48 Did you want to t el me somet hing? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Denti st s always ask questi ons when i t is i mpossibl e for you t o answer. My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my mout h was f ull of cot tonwool . He knew I collected bi rds39。s money was pai d back i n t hi s way. The last note said: 39。but only 5o per cent a thief !39。You don39。Wel l, i n t hat case, I pr efer t o st ay on t he bus, 39。Il l get off her e.39。 39。 I asked. 39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。l l t el l you wher e t o get of f,39。 but I don39。t l i ke l osi ng my way. I went on an excur si on recent l y, but m y tr i p t ook m e longer t han I expect ed. 39。 l eson46 Expensi ve and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane fr om London ar i ved at Sydney ai rport , workers began t o unl oad a num ber of wooden boxes whi ch cont ai ned cl ot hing. No one coul d account f or t he fact hat one of t he boxes was ext r em el y heavy. It suddenl y occurr ed t o one of t he wor ker s t o open up t he box. He was ast onished at what he f ound. A m an was lyi ng i n t he box on top of a pil e of wooll en goods. He was so sur pri sed at bei ng di scover ed that he di d not even t r y to r un away. Aft er he was ar rest ed, t he man adm it t ed hi di ng i n t he box bef or e t he pl ane l eft London. He had had a l ong and un f or t abl e tr ip, f or he had been confi ned t o t he wooden box for over t en hours. The m an was or der ed t o pay amp。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now! 39。i n newspaper and it cont ained hal f t he m oney he had l ost, t oget her wi t h a not e whi ch sai d: 39。 Two m ont hs l ater, some m or e m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her note:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y col l ecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked m e how m y br ot her was and whet her I l i ked m y new j ob in London. I n answer t o t hese questi ons I ei t her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, m y t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where t he t oot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anyt hing. When t he denti st at l ast r em oved t he cot ton wool f rom m y m out h, I was abl e to t el l him t hat he had pul l ed out t he wrong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on t he f l oor, a young m an i n Teheran saved up f or year s to buy a real bed. For t he fi r st ti me i n hi s l i fe, he becam e t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr i ngs and a mat r ess. Because t he weat her was ver y hot, he car ri ed t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or t he f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on t he t hir d ni ght, a st or m blew up. A gust of wi nd swept the bed off t he r oof and sent it cr ashi ng i nto t he cour t yar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il