【正文】 Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。 I said. 39。 Is t his Woodf ord Gr een ?39。 I 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？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossi ble f or you to answer . My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h and had told me t o rest for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somethi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot tonwool . He knew I col lected bir ds39。but only 5o per cent a t hief! 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 musi 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 t o play a tune, we had our f ir st gli mpse of the snake. It r ose out of the basket and began t o fol low the movements of the pi pe. We were ver y 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。 As soon as I went out si de, I f or got al l about Madam Bel linsky because my wi fe hur ri ed towar ds me. 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here i n your spare t ime and read the carpet! 39。 39。 sai d the conduct or suddenly. 39。 You39。 I39。 I n t ime, al Sam39。The str ap nee ds mending,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。 sai d Mr s Ster li ng later , 39。s money was paid back i n thi s way. The l ast note said: 39。m going t o Woodf or d Gr een, 39。l l have t o get of f her e, 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。We are goi ng back now, 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce then, t hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e bega n. Forest f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret te ends which peopl e carelessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exami ned the gr ound caref ully, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glas. They were al so qui te sure t hat a ci gar ete end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a f ir 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 electr ic wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The expl anat ion was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snatc hed up the snake f r om t he gr ound and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake then wound i tself r ound t he wir es. When it did so, it sent spar ks down to the gr ound and t hese im mediately st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent the chil dren t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at work and t he house was quiet . So I decided t o make som e tar ts f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and my hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exact ly t hat m om ent , the tel ephone rang. Nothi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I picked up the r ecei ver between t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voi ce of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me t en minutes t o persuade her to ri ng back l at er. At l ast I hung up the r eceiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on my f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen than the door bel rang l oud enough to wake the dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o si gn f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of fi ndi ng lost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new m achine cal ed 39。Where have you been hi ding ?39。dance39。 Two m ont hs later , some m or e money was sent t o Sam wi th anot her note:39。 eggs and asked me whether my col lect ion was gr owing. He t hen asked me how m y 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 noises. 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,