【正文】 This i s the pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。 I sai d. 39。 I s this Woodfor d Gr en ?39。 39。 230 ! Lesson47 A thi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He told me that he coul d not go to sleep one night because he heard a st range noise ing f r om t he bar . The next morni ng, he f ound that he door s had been bl ocked by chai r s and t he fur nit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thompson had t urned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les whi ch the ghost must have dr unk the night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers m ust have e in f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lager s have told hi m that hey wil l not accept the i nn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s im possible f or you to answer. My dent ist 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。but onl y 5o per cent a thi ef !39。 she answered. Ten mi nut es l ater we wal ked out of the shop together. My wif e was weari ng a hat that looked l ike a light house ! Leson42 Not very m usi cal 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a l ong walk t hrough one of the mar ket s of Old Delhi, we st opped at a square to have a r est. Af ter a t ime, we not iced a snakecharmer wi th two l arge baskets at t he ot her si de of t he square, so we went to have a l ook at hi m. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pipe whi ch was cover ed wit h coins and opened one of the baskets. When he began to pl ay a tune, we had our f ir st gl impse of the snake. I t r ose out of the basket and began to foll ow t he movement s of the pipe. We were very much sur pri sed when t he snake char mer suddenly began to pl ay jazz tunes and moder n pop songs. The snake, however , cont inued to 39。Wher e have you been hiding ?39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir emen have put out a bi g f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce then, t hey have been tr yi ng to fi nd out how the f ir e bega n. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret te ends which peopl e car elessl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exa mi ned the gr ound caref ul ly, but were not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They were also qui te sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi r em an accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he elect r ic wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able to solve t he myst ery. The expl anat ion was simpl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snatched up the snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped it on t o the wi res. The snake t hen wound i t sel f round the wi r es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and these imm edi ately st ar ted a f ir e. 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 . I t was stil l ear ly when I retur ned home. The chil dr en were at school , m y husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I decided to make some tart s for t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat moment, t he telephone rang. Not hing could have been more annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he receiver bet ween two st icky fi nger s and was dismayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t took me t en mi nut es to persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! There was pastr y on my f ingers, on the t elephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang loud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s ti me it was t he post man and he want ed me t o sign f or a regist er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m ine 并非金礦 Dreams of f inding l ost t reasur e al most came tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。We ar e going back now, 39。 I for got t o put you of f. 39。 You39。m goi ng to Woodford Green,39。s money was pai d back in t his way. The last not e sai d: 39。 said Mrs St erl ing l at er, 39。scor nf ul l y, he told her t hat t he dr es was sold. The woman wal ked out of the shop angr il y and deci ded t o punish the assi stant next day. She r et urned to the shop the f ol lowi ng mor ning dressed i n a f ur coat, wi th a handbag in one hand and a l ong um br el a in t he other. Af ter seeki ng out t he rude asi st ant she asked for t he same dr es. Not reali zi ng who she was, t he asistant was eager to ser ve her t hi s ti me wi th gr eat di f icult y, he cl imbed i nt o t he shop wi ndow to get t he dr es. As soon as she saw i t, the wom an sai d s many ti es. 39。but they did not steal anyt hi ng.39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on the bus, 39。l l have to get off here,39。 39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。The Revealer 39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。dance39。 Two months lat er , some more m oney was sent to Sam wit h anot her not e: 39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was gr owi 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 to these questi ons I eit her nodded or made st range noises. Meanwhil e, my tongue was busy sear chi ng 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