【正文】 Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。t m at ter ,39。 t he conduct or said. 39。 but I don39。 leson46 Expensi ve and unf ortable 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane fr om London ar ived at Sydney ai rport , workers began to unl oad a number of wooden boxes which contained clot hing. No one coul d acount for the f act t hat one of the boxes was ext remely heavy. I t suddenly occurr ed to one of the wor kers t o open up the box. He was ast oni shed at what he f ound. A man was l yi ng in the box on t op of a pi le of wool len goods. He wa s so surpr ised at being di scovered t hat he did not even tr y to run away. Aft er he was ar rested, the man admi t ed hi ding i n the box bef or e t he pl ane left London. He had had a l ong and unf or tabl e tr ip, for he had been conf ined to the wooden box for over t en hour s. The man was ordered t o pay amp。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whol e vil lage soon l ear nt that a large sum of m oney had been lost. Sam Bent on, the l ocal butcher, had lost hi s wal et whi le taking his savings to the post of fi ce. Sam was sur e that the wal et must have been f ound by one of t he vil lager s, but it was not ret ur ned to hi m. Three m ont hs passed, and then one morni ng, Sam found his wal let out side his f ront door. It had been wrapped up in newspaper and i t cont ai ned hal f the money he had lost, t ogether wi th a not e which said: 39。And a woman can39。The Revealer39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 answer ed the conductor . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus stopped. Looki ng r ound, I reali zed wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger lef t on the bus. 39。 I39。 In ti me, al l Sam 39。The st rap needs m ending, 39。The Revealer39。 she answer ed. Ten mi nutes lat er we walked out of t he shop t oget her . My wi fe was wear ing a hat that looked li ke a li ghthouse ! Lesson42 Not very musical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long wal k thr ough one of t he markets of Ol d Delhi , we stopped at a squar e to have a r est . Aft er a ti me, we noticed a snake char mer wit h two lar ge basket s at the other side of the squar e, so we went t o have a look at him. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a l ong pi pe which was covered wi th coins and ope ned one of t he basket s. When he began to play a t une, we had our fi rst gli mpse of t he snake. I t rose out of t he basket and be gan to f oll ow t he movem ent s of the pipe. We wer e very much sur pr ised when t he snake char mer suddenl y began t o play j az tunes and moder n pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued to 39。but onl y 5o per cent a thi ef !39。230 ! Leson47 A thirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr I an Thompson is up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel i t because i t i s haunt ed. He t old m e that he coul d not go to sleep one night because he heard a st range noise ing f rom the bar . The next morni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he fur nitur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thompson had t ur ned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, they wer e on i n the mor ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les which t he ghost must have dr unk t he night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers must have e i n f or a fr e dr ink, Mr Thompson shook hi s head. The vil ager s have t old hi m t hat t hey wil l not accept the i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o tel l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossi ble f or you to answer . My dent i st had just pul led out one of m y teeth and had t ol d me to r est f or a whil e. I t ri ed to say som et hing, but m y mouth was f ull of cott on wool. He knew I coll ect ed bir ds39。 39。 I s this Woodford Green ?39。I 39。You don39。The Revealer39。The st rap needs m ending, 39。 In ti me, al l Sam 39。 I39。 answer ed the conductor . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus stopped. Looki ng r ound, I reali zed wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger lef t on the bus. 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here i n your spare t im e and read the carpet! 39。l l get of f her e. 39。 I asked. 39。 I39。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y coll ecti on was growi ng. He then asked m e how my br other was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. I n answer t o these questi ons I eit her nodded or made st range noises. Meanwhil e, my tongue was busy sear ching out the hole wher e the t oot h had been. I suddenly f elt very wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When t he dent ist at l ast removed t he cot tonwool f rom my m out h, I was able to t el l him that he had pul led out the wr ong tooth. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sleeping on t he fl oor, a young man in Teher an saved up for year s t o buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime in hi s li fe , he became t he proud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was ver y hot, he car ri ed the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He sl ept very wel f or t he fi rst two nights, but on t he thi rd ni ght , a st orm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it cr ashing i nto t he cour tyard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck the ground. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed to pi eces, t he man was m ir aculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il on t he mat res s. Gl anci ng at he bit s of wood and m et al that 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 prompt ly went to sl eep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove tr