【正文】 se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s said to possess a 39。 Leson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last fi remen have put out a big for est fi re in Cal if or nia. Since then, they have been t rying t o f ind out how t he fi re began. Forest fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glas or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people carel essly t hrow away. Yesterday t he fi remen examined t he gr ound car ef ull y, but were not able t o f ind any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e that a cigaret e end did not start t he fi re. This mor ning, however, a f ir eman aci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e to sol ve the myster y. The explanat ion was si mple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat ched up t he snake fr om t he ground and then dr opped i t on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound itself r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t 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 . 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 ecogniz ed 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 l oud 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 register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m ine 并非金礦 Dreams of f inding l ost tr easur e al most came t r ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。We ar e going back now,39。 I f or got t o put you of f .39。l have to get off here, 39。 I said t o the conduct or as I got on the bus,39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hing.39。 As soon as I went outside, I for got al l about Madam Bel insky because my wi fe hur ri ed towards me. 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e ti me and r ead t he car pet !39。 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 You39。m goi ng to Woodfor d Gr en,39。s money was pai d back in t his way. The last not e sai d: 39。 said Mr s Sterl ing l ater, 39。A thief , yes, 39。 345 for t he cost of t he tr ip. The normal pr ice of a ti cket is amp。t know where it is.39。Thi s is as f ar as we go. 39。I t doesn39。Wel , i n t hat case, I pr efer t o st ay on the bus,39。 has been i nvent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where i t i s sai d pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es would of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o coll ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new machi ne, a sear ch part y went he di d not li ke it. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant bri ng al most everyt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buying the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s said to possess a 39。Your sister wi l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the st at ion t o meet he r . We ar e late al ready.39。but onl y 5o per cent a thi ef !39。230 ! Lesson47 A t hirst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was recent ly bought by Mr I an Thompson i s up for sal e. Mr Thompson i s going t o sel l it because it is haunted. He tol d m e t hat he could not go t o 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 urni ture had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had tur ned t he li ght s off befor e he went to bed, they were on in t he morni ng. He al so sai d that he had f ound fi ve empty 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 dr ink, Mr Thompson shook his head. The vi lagers have tol d him that they wi l not accept t he inn even if he gi ves i t away. Leson48 Did you want to t el me somet hing? 你想對(duì)我說(shuō)什么嗎？ Denti st s always ask questi ons when i t is i mpossibl e for you t o answer. My dent ist 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 ething, but m y mouth was full of cott on wool. He knew I coll ect ed bir ds39。 39。 39。t mater ,39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My fr iend, Her ber t , has always been fat, but things got so bad r ecent ly t hat he deci ded to go on a diet. He began his di et a week ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ote out a l ong list of al the f oods whi ch were for bi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of t he thi ngs Her ber t loves: butt er, potatoes, r ice, beer , m il k, chocol at e, and sweets. Yest er day I pai d him a vi si t. I rang t he bel l and was not sur pri sed to see that Herbert was sti l as fat as ever . He led m e int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l ar ge parcel under hi s desk. It was obvious t hat he was very embar ased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned tha t hi s diet was so st ri ct that he had t o r ewar d him self occasi onal y. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. It contained f ive l ar ge bars of chocolat e and three bags of sweets! Leson52 A pret