【正文】 ad snat ched 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 r ound t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spar ks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im mediat el y st art 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 mar ket. I t was st il l ear ly when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dr en wer e at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded t o make som e t ar ts f or tea. I n a short t im e I was busy mi xi ng but er 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 tel ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet ween t wo st i cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t took m e t en mi nut es to per suade her t o ri ng back lat er . At last I hung up t he recei ver . What a m ess! 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 to 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 r egi ster ed l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi ndi ng l ost tr easur e alm ost came t r ue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。. Because t he tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fri nley has now i ncr ease d. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n r ecent years t hat i t has gained an evi l r eputati on. I t is sai d t hat i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil have bad l uck。Wher e have you been hi ding ?39。cl ock t his eveni ng. By t hat tim e, the Astr a wi l have been f l yi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l have ci rcl ed t he ear t h a great m any tim es. When t he fi r st r adi o messages have been recei ved, t he resul t s of t he tr i p wil l be announced im mediat el y. Lesson62 Af t er t he f ire 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 could get it under contr ol. A short t im e bef or e, great tr ees had cover ed t he count r ysi de f or mil es around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up f r om t he war m ground over t he desolat e hi l s. Wi nt er was i ng on and t he hil l s t hr eat ened t he surr oundi ng vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy r ai n woul d not only wash away t he soi l but woul d cause ser i ous fl oods as wel l. When t he fi r e had at l ast been put out, t he for est aut hor it i es or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr assseed which woul d grow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The planes had been pla nti ng sed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began t o rai n. By t hen, however , in m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken root. I n pl ace of the gr eat tr ees whi ch had been gr owing t her e f or centur ies, patches of gr een had begun to appear i n t he bl ackened soi l. Leson63 She was not am used 她并不覺得好笑 Geoff rey Ham pden has a l ar ge cir cl e of fr iends and is very popular at par ti es. Everybody adm ir es hi m f or his f ine sense of humoreverybody, t hat i s, except his six year old daughter , Jenny. Recent ly, one of Geof fr ey39。but they did not steal anythi ng. 39。 Two months lat er , some more m oney was sent to Sam wit h anot her not e: 39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 eggs and asked me whether my col lection was gr owing. He t hen asked me how my brot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I either nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy searching out t he hol e where t he tooth had been. I suddenl y fel t ver y worr ied, but could not say anyt hi ng. When the denti st at last r emoved the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was abl e t o tel hi m t hat he had pull ed out t he wrong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on the f loor , a young man i n Teheran saved up f or year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me i n his l if e, he becam e the pr oud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m atr es. Because the weather was very hot, he car ied t he bed on to t he roof of his house. He slept ver y wel l for the f ir st wo ni ght s, but on the t hir d night, a stor m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent it crashi ng int o the court yar d below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he gr ound. Al t hough t he bed was smashed to pi eces, t he man was mi raculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat res s. Gl anci ng at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat l ay around him, t he man sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ied i t into hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he promptl y went to sl ep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r avel ing i n the countr y, but I don39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on t he bus, 39。 I 39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 Is t his Woodf ord Green ?39。 I for got t o put you of f. 39。I 39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr efer to st ay on the bus,39。You don39。 has been invent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been bur i ed in t he ground. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e wherei t is sai d pir at es used t o hide gold. The pir ates would of ten bury gol d i n the cave and then fai l t o coll ect it . Ar med wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making t he asistant bri ng almost ever yt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buyi ng the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi lage of Fri nley i s sai d t o possess