【正文】 9 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eping on t he f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up for years t o buy a r eal bed. For the f ir st im e in hi s li fe, he became t he proud owner of a bed which had spr ings and a mat tr ess. Because t he weather was ver y hot, he car ri ed the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or t he fi rst two nights, but on t he thi rd ni ght , a storm blew up. A gust of wi nd swept the bed of f the r oof and sent i t cr ashing into the cour tyar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck the gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed to pi eces, the man was m ir aculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat ress. Gl anci ng at he bit s of wood and m etal that lay around him , t he man sadl y picked up t he matr es and car ied i t into his house. Af ter he had put it on t he fl oor , he prompt ly went to sl eep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count ry, but I don39。 I39。 I s thi s Woodfor d Gr en ?39。 I sai d. 39。Thi s is the pret tiest ca r pet I have ever sen,39。. Because the t ree was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if ty years ago, but it i s only i n recent years t hat i t has gained a n evil r eputat ion. It is said that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad luck。You don39。l l get of f her e.39。Oh dear, 39。 answer ed the conduct or. I sat in the f ront of the bus to get a good view of t he countr ysi de. Af t er some t ime, the bus stopped. Looking r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he only pasenger l ef t on the bus. 39。 I 39。 In ti me, al l Sam39。The str ap needs mendi ng, 39。 if he picks a l eaf , he wi l l di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve that the t ree has alr eady clai med a number of vi ct ims. The vicar has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r efused. He has pointed out that the t ree i s a usef ul source of ine as t our ists have been i ng f rom al l par t s of the count ry t o see it . In spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he tour ists have been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r names on the tr ee tr unk. So far, 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 to sit outsi de our f ront gat e and bar k. Ever y ti me he want ed to e i nto t he gar den he would bark unt il s omeone opened the gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks t raini ng him to pr es hi s paw on the l atch t o let himself i n. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last wek, I noticed him i n the garden near the gate. This ti me he was bar ki ng so that someone would let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has developed anot her bad habit . As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om the outside, he es i nto t he gar den and waits unt il the gate shuts. Then he si ts and barks unti l someone let s him out . Aft er this he i mmedi at el y l et s hims elf i n and begi ns bar king agai n. Yest er day my husband r emoved t he gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen hi m si nce. 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 int o her t ent and she told me t o si t down. Af t er I had given her som e money, she looked into a crystal bal l and said: 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t f or som e ti me t hen added, 39。I 39。 I asked. 39。l l t el l you wher e to get of f, 39。t li ke losing m y way. I went on an excur sion r ecentl y, but my t ri p t ook me longer than I expected. 39。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now! 39。t he di f f erence bet ween Indian m usic and j az! Leson43 Over t he Sout h Pol e 飛越南極 I n 1929, t hr ee year s aft er hi s fl ight over t he Nor t h Pole, the Am er ican expl orer , R. E. Byr d, successf ull y fl ew over the South Pol e for t he fi rst ti me. Though, at f ir st , Byrd and hi s men were abl e to t ake a great many phot ogr aphs of t he mount ains that lay below, t hey soon r an into ser ious tr oubl e. At one point , i t seemed cert ai n t hat t hei r pl ane woul d crash. I t coul d only get over t he mount ains i f i t rose to 10, 000 feet. Byr d at once ordered hi s men t o thr ow out two heavy f ood sacks. The plane was then able t o r ise and it cleared t he mountains by 400 f et . Byr d now knew that he woul d be able t o reach the South Pol e whi ch was 300 mil es away, for t her e were no more mount ains in si ght . The ai rcr af t was abl e t o fl y over t he e ndl es whi te pl ai ns wit hout di f icult y. Leson44 Through t he f orest 穿過森林 Mrs Anne St er li ng did not thi nk of the r isk she was taking when she ran t hrough a f orest af ter two men. They had r ushed up t o her whi le she was having a pi i c at t he edge of a f orest wit h her chil dren and t ri ed to steal her handbag. I n t he str uggl e, t he str ap br oke and, wi th t he bag in t hei r possesion, bot h men st ar ted r unni ng thr ough the tr ees. Mr s Ster li ng got so angry t hat she ran af ter them. She was soon out of breath, but s he continued t o run. When she caught up wi th t hem , she saw t hat they had sat down and wer e going t hr ough the contents of the bag, so she r an st rai ght at them. The men got such a f ri ght t hat hey dropped the bag and ran away. 39。 Two months lat er , some more m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her not e: 39。 eggs and asked m e whether my coll ect ion was growi ng. He then asked m e how my br other was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. I n answer t o these questi ons I ei ther nodded or made st range noises. Meanwhi l e, m y tongue was busy searching out the hole wher e the t ooth had been. I suddenly f elt very wor r ied, but coul d not say