【正文】 hil 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。 she sai d. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil la ger s beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aim ed a num ber of victi ms. The vi car has been asked t o have t he t r ee cut down, but s o f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee i s a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts 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 cutt i ng their nam es on t he t reet r unk. So f ar , not one of them has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y t im e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he neighbour s pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weks tr ai ning him t o pr ess his paw on t he l at ch to l et him sel f i n. Re x soon becam e an exper t at openi ng t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast wek, I not iced him i n t he garden ne ar t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was barki ng so t hat someone 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 si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone let s hi m out. Aft er t his he im mediat el y l et s hi mself i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen him si nce. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vil lage f ai r, I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d m e t o si t down. Aft er I had gi ven her som e money, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。s cl osest f ri ends asked hi m t o m ake a speech at a wedding r ecepti on. Thi s is t he sor t of t hing t hat Geoff r ey l oves. He pr epar ed t he speech car ef ul y and went t o 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。 has been invent ed and i t has been used to detect gol d which has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es woul d of t en bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enj oyed herself making the asi st ant bri ng alm ost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inal y buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for . Lesson58 A bl essing i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d t o possess a 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。 she sai d. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil la ger s beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aim ed a num ber of victi ms. The vi car has been asked t o have t he t r ee cut down, but s o f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee i s a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts 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 cutt i ng their nam es on t he t reet r unk. So f ar , not one of them has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y t im e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he neighbour s pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weks tr ai ning him t o pr ess his paw on t he l at ch to l et him sel f i n. Re x soon becam e an exper t at openi ng t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast wek, I not iced him i n t he garden ne ar t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was barki ng so t hat someone 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 si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone let s hi m out. Aft er t his he im mediat el y l et s hi mself i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen him si nce. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vil lage f ai r, I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt