【正文】 coul d get it under contr ol . A short t im e bef ore, great t r es had cover ed the count r ysi de f or m il es ar ound. Now, smoke sti l r ose up f r om t he war m gr ound over t he desolat e hi l s. Wi nt er was i ng on and the hil ls t hreatened t he surr oundi ng vi l ages wi t h destr uct i on, f or heavy r ai n would not only wash away t he soil but woul d cause ser ious fl oods as wel l. When t he fi r e had at l ast been put out, t he f or est aut hor it ies or der ed several t ons of a speci al t ype of gr ass seed whi ch woul d gr ow qui ckl y. The seed was spr ayed over t he gr ound i n huge quanti ti es by aer opl anes. The planes had been planti ng sed f or nearl y a m ont h when it began t o rai n. By t hen, however , in m any pl aces t he gr as had alr eady t aken root. I n place of the gr eat tr ees whi ch had been gr owi ng t her e f or cent uri es, patches of gr en had begun to appear i n the bl ackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geof f rey Hampden has a lar ge ci rcle of f r iends and i s ver y popular at part ies. Ever ybody admi res him f or hi s fi ne sense of hum or ever ybody, that is, except hi s sixyear old daught er, Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff r ey39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。We are going back now,39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g for est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f ind out how t he fi re bega n. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the ground caref ul ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as . They were also quit e sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accidental y discover ed the cause. He noticed t he remains of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able to solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snatched up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dropped it on to the wi res. The snake then wound i tsel 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 breakfast , 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 wer e 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 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。Wher e have you been hiding ?39。 39。 I sai d. 39。 she sai d. She gazed at it f or som e tim e t hen added, 39。 i f he picks a l eaf, he wi l di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve t hat t he t ree has al r eady cl aim ed a num ber of vi ct im s. The vi car has been asked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has point ed out t hat t he t ree i s a usef ul sourc e of i ne as t our ists have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spi te of al t hat has been sai d, t he t ouri st s have been pi cki ng l eaves and cut ti ng t heir names on t he t r ee tr unk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit outsi de our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y tim e he want ed t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s plai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks t rai ni ng hi m to pr es hi s paw on t he l atch t o let him self i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced hi m i n t he gar den near t he gat e. Thi s t im e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d l et him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om t he out side, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unt il t he gat e shuts. Then he si ts and bar ks unti l som eone l et s him out . Af ter t hi s he imm edi at ely l ets him sel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng again. Yest er day m y husband removed t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o visit a f ort une t el er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d m e t o si t down. Af t er I had gi ven her som e m oney, she looked int o a crystal bal l and sai d: 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol l owed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he H ubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f r om a spaceshi p whil e it i s st il l i n space and t o r et ur n to i t. The abil it y t o do thi s wil l be nec esary i n f ut ur e fl ights t o dist ant pla s. Sci ent ists ar e now tr yi ng t o di scover i f thi s i s possi bl e. The spaceshi p Ast ra whi ch lef t he ear t h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t r aveli ng t hr ee hundr ed mil es i nt o space. At a cer tai n poi nt , t he Ast ra wi l st op for a shor t ti m