【正文】 Lesson53 H ot s nake 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. 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 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, 000 vol t power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snatc hed up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped it on to the wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spar ks down to the ground and these im medi ately st ar ted a fi re. 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 . It was sti l ear ly when I retur ned hom e. 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 my 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 recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t took me t en mi nut es to persuade her t o ri ng back later . At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! There was pastr y on my fi nger s, on t he telephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake the dead. This tim e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of fi nding l ost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。We are goi ng bac k now, 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。l l have t o get of f her e, 39。 I said to t he conductor as I got on t he bus,39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。but t hey di d not st eal anything.39。Your si st er wil l be her e in les t han an hour and we m ust be a t the stati on to meet her. We are l ate al ready. 39。 has been invented and it has been used to det ect gold which has been buri ed in the ground. The machi ne was used i n a cave near the seashore wher eit is saidpir ates used to hi de gol d. The pi rates woul d oft en bur y gold i n t he cave and then f ai l to col lect i t. Ar med wi th the new m achine, a sear ch par ty went he did not l ike it . She enj oyed herself m aki ng the assi st ant br ing alm ost ever ything in t he window bef or e f inal y buyi ng the dr es she had fi rst asked f or . Leson58 A bl essing i n di sguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vi l age of Fr inl ey is said t o posses a 39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus, 39。I t doesn39。This i s as far as we go.39。t know wher e it i s. 39。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pri ce of a t icket is amp。A t hi ef, yes, 39。opened one of the basket s. When he began to pl ay a tune, we had our f i rst gl im pse of t he snake. I t rose out of t he basket and began t o f oll ow the m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e ver y m uch surpr ised when the snake charm er suddenl y began t o play j azz t unes and modern pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued t o 39。but only 5o per cent a t hief! 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 sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng to sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He told me t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one night because he hear d a str ange noise ing fr om t he bar . The next mor ni ng, he f ound that the door s had been bl ocked by chair s and t he fur nit ur e had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had t urned the l ight s of f before he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m orning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive em pt y whi sky bott les whi ch the ghost must have dr unk the night before. When I suggested t hat some vi 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 they wi l not accept t he inn 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？ Dentist s al ways ask quest ions when it i s im possible for you to answer. My dent ist had j ust pull ed out one of my teeth and had tol d me t o r est f or a whi le. I tr i ed t o say somet hing, but my mouth was f ull of cot ton wool. He knew I coll ect ed bi rds39。 39。 39。t mat er, 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward f or vi rtue 對美德的獎賞 My fr iend, Herbert , has always been fat , but thi ngs got s o bad recent ly t hat he decided to go on a diet . He began his di et a wek ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a l ong li st of al t he foods which wer e for bidden. The l ist included most of t he things Her ber t loves: butt er , pot atoes, r ice, beer, mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d him a visit . I rang the bel and was not sur pri sed t o se that Her bert was sti l as fat as ever . He led me into hi s r oom and hur r iedly hi d a lar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious that he was ver y embar ased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smil ed guil til y and then put the parcel on the desk. He explai ned t hat hi s diet was so st ri ct t hat he had to rewar d himself occasional y. Then he showed me t he contents of t he par cel . It contained f ive lar ge bar s of chocolate and t hree bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved i nt o a new house and I have been worki ng har d al