【正文】 t I was t he only pasenger l ef t on the bus. 39。 but I don39。t l ike l osi ng my way. I went on an excursion r ecent ly, but my tr ip t ook me l onger than I expect ed. 39。cl ock t hi s eveni ng. By t hat t im e, t he Ast r a wil l have been fl ying t hrough space f or sevent een hour s and wi l have cir cl ed t he eart h a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radi o m esages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul ts of t he t ri p wi l be announced imm ediatel y. Lesson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fi remen 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 could get it under contr ol. A short t im e bef ore, great tr ees had cover ed t he count r ysi de f or mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over t he desolate hi l s. Wint er was i ng on and t he hil ls t hreatened the surr oundi ng vi l ages wi t h destr uct i on, f or heavy rai n woul d not onl y wash away t he soil but would 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 order ed sever al t ons of a special type of grass sed whi ch woul d gr ow quickl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he ground i n huge quant it i es by aer opl anes. The pl anes had been pl a nt ing seed f or near l y a mont h when i t began t o r ai n. 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 t her e for cent uri es, pat ches of gr en had begun t o appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not am used 她并不覺得好笑 Geof fr ey Ham pden has a lar ge ci rcl e of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part i es. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum orever ybody, t hat i s, except hi s six year ol d daughter, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geof fr ey39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。. Because t he tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of vi sit ors t o Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. The tr ee was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if t y year s ago, but i t is onl y i n recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l r eput ati on. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches t he t r e, he wil l have bad l uck。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi r em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cal if or nia. Si nce t hen, they have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e began. For est fi r e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret e ends which peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t he f ir em en exami ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e al so qui t e sur e t hat a cigaret e end di d not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however , a fi rem an acci dent 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 electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanat i on was sim pl e but very unusual . A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mm edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l 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 dren wer e at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was quiet. So I decided t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h st i cky past r y. At exact l 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 pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet wen 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 persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast 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 t o t he kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi nding l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。We ar e goi ng back now,39。 I said. 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。l l have to get of f here,39。 I 39。m goi ng t o Woodf ord Green, 39。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 my m out h was f ul l of cot ton wool . He knew I col l ect ed bi r ds39。 I39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 You39。 39。 said t he conductor s uddenly.39。t mat er,39。 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My fr iend, Her ber t, has al ways been fat, but thi ngs got so bad recent ly t hat he decided t o go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long li st of al t he f oods whi ch were f orbi dden. The l i st i ncl uded m ost of the t hi ngs Herbert l oves: but ter, pot at oes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d hi m a visit . I rang t he bel and was not sur pri sed t o see t hat Her bert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e i nt o his r oom and hurr iedl y hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous t hat he was ver y em bar r assed. When I asked hi m what he was doi ng, he sm il ed gui lt il y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He expl ai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had t o r ewar d hi msel f occasional l y. Then he showed m e t he cont ents of t he par cel . It cont ained fi ve l ar ge bar s of chocolat e and t hre e bags