【正文】 a in t he other. Af ter seeki ng out t he rude asist 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 t hey di d not st eal anything.39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 I said t o t he conduct or as I got on t he bus,39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。 39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus,39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi rem en have put out a bi g for est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Since t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f ind out how t he fi re bega n. For est fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch people car el esly throw away. Yester day t he fi remen exami ned t he ground car eful ly, but wer e not able to f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e that a cigaret te end did not star t he fi re. This m orning, however , a fi reman acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He not ic ed the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l ine. In this way, he was able t o sol ve the myst er y. The explanati on was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round the wi res. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and these i mmedi at e ly star ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast , I sent the childr en to school and t hen I went t o market. I t was st il l ear ly when I r eturned home. The chi l dr en were at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was quiet. So I decided to make some t art s for t ea. In a shor t ti me I was busy mixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wi th sti cky pastr y. At exactl y that moment, t he telephone rang. Not hing could have been m ore annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he recei ver bet wen t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di smayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mrs Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ate r. At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! Ther。We are goi ng back now,39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。 You39。 I 39。 In tim e, al l Sam39。The str ap needs mending,39。Your sister wil l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready. 39。 has been i nvented 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 e i t i s sai dpi r at es used t o hide gold. The pir ates would of ten bury gol d i n the cave and t hen fai l t o coll ect it . Ar med wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it . She enjoyed hersel f making t he asistant bri ng almost everyt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buyi ng the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s sai d to possess a 39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus,39。 39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。 I said t o t he conduct or 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。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 ret 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 asist ant she asked for t he same dr es. Not reali zi ng who she was, t he asistant was eage r 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 pai d back in t his way. The last not e sai d: 39。m going t o Woodfor d Gr een, 39。l l have to get of f her e, 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。 said t he conductor. 39。The Reveal er39。 she asked i mpati ent ly. 39。 sl owly. I t obviously could not t el l the dif fer ence between I ndi an music and j azz! Lesson43 Over the South Pole 飛越南極 In 1929, thr e years af ter his f li ght over the Nor th Pol e, t he Ameri can expl or er, R. E. Byrd, succesf ul ly fl ew over t he Sout h Pole f or the f ir st t im e. Though, at fi rst, Byr d and his m en wer e able t o t ake a gr eat many photographs of the mountai ns that l ay bel ow, they soon ran i nt o seri ous t rouble. At one poi nt, i t seemed cer tai n that their plane would cr ash. I t could onl y get over the m ount ai ns if i t r ose to 10,000 f eet . Byrd at once or dered his m en to t hrow out t wo heavy food sacks. The pl ane was then abl e to ri se and i t cl ear ed the mount ai ns by 400 feet. Byr d now knew t hat he would be abl e to reach the South Pol e which was 300 m i l es away, f or there wer e no mor e mountains i n sight. The air craft was able to f ly over the endless whit e plains wi thout dif fi cul ty. Lesson44 Through the forest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne Sterl ing di d not t hink of t he ri sk she was t aki ng when she r an thr ough a for est aft er t wo m en. They had rushed up to her whil e she was having a pi ic at the edge of a for est wi th her chi ldr en and tr ied to st eal her handbag. I n t he st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi th the bag in their possesi on, both m en st art ed running t hr ough the t rees. Mrs St er li ng got so angry that she r an af ter t hem. She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued t o r un. When she caught up wi th t hem, she saw t hat t hey had sat down and wer e going t hrough the contents of t he bag, so she r an str ai ght at them. The men got such a fr ight that they dropped the bag and ran away. 39。 Onl y 25