【正文】 Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f orest f ir e i n Cal if or ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of t en caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends which peopl e carel essl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t he fi remen exam i ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t he f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however , a fi r em an accident al y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The expl anati on was si mpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snat c hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped i t on t o t he wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im m edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky past r y. At exact l y that m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he recei ver bet ween t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o per suade her t o r ing back l at er . At last I hung up t he r eceiver. What a m ess ! Ther e was past r y on m y f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki t chen t han t he door be l r ang loud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a r egi st er ed l et t er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam 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。s closest f ri ends asked hi m to make a speech at a wedding r ecepti on. Thi s is t he sor t of t hing t hat Geoff r ey loves. He pr epar ed the speech car eful ly and went to t he weddi ng wi t h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a large number of funny stor ies in the speech and, of cour se, i t was a great success. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t old hi m she wanted t o go home. Geof fr ey was a l it le di sappointed by this but he did as hi s daughter asked. On the way hom e, he asked Jenny if she had enj oyed t he speech. To hi s sur pr i se, she said she hadn39。 if he pi cks a leaf , he wi l die. Many vil lagers beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aimed a number of victi ms. The vi car has been a sked to have the t ree cut down, but so far he has ref used. He has poi nt ed out t hat t he tr e is a useful sour ce of i ne as touri st s have been ing f rom al part s of the count ry to see it . In spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he tour ists have been pi cki ng leaves and cut t i ng t hei r names on t he tr e tr unk. So f ar, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit outside our f ront gat e and bar k. Ever y ti me he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unt il someone opened the gate. As the neighbours plai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr aini ng hi m to pr ess his pa w on the l at ch to let himself i n. Rex soon became an expert at opening t he gat e. However , when I was going out shoppi ng last week, I not iced him in the garden near t he gat e. Thi s ti me he was barki ng so that someone would l et hi m out ! Since t hen, he has de veloped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om t he outside, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate s huts. Then he si ts and barks unti l someone lets hi m out . Aft er t his he i mmediat el y let s himself i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yester day my husband r emoved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen hi m since. Lesson60 The f uture 卜算未來 At a vil lage fai r, I deci ded to vi si t a for tunet el ler cal led Madam Bel insky. I went into her t ent and she told me t o si t down. Af t er I had given her some money, she looked into a cr ystal bal l and said: 39。 she said. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f orest f ir e i n Cal if or ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of t en caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends which peopl e carel essl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t he fi remen exam i ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t he f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however , a fi r em an accident al y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The expl anati on was si mpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snat c hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped i t on t o t he wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im m edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The c