【正文】 ng when she ran t hrough a f or est aft er t wo m en. They had r ushed up t o her whi le she was havi ng a pi i c at t he edge of a f orest wit h her chil dren and t ri ed t o st eal her handbag. I n the str uggl e, t he st r ap br oke and, wit h t he ba g i n t hei r possesion, bot h m en st ar ted r unni ng t hr ough t he tr ees. Mr s St er li ng got so angry t hat she r an af ter t hem. She was soon out of br eat h, but she cont i nued t o r un. When she caught up wi th t hem , she saw t hat t hey had sat down and were goi ng t hr ough t he cont ent s of t he bag, so she ran str ai ght at t hem. The m en got such a fr i ght t hat t hey dr opped t he bag and r an away. 39。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now!39。t l i ke l osi ng m y way. I went on an excur si on r ecent l y, but m y t ri p t ook m e longer t han I expect ed. 39。l l t el l you wher e t o get of f,39。 I asked. 39。l l get of f her e. 39。You don39。but only 5o per cent a thief !39。230 ! Lesson47 A thi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up f or sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng to sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He told me t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one night because he heard a str ange noise i ng f r om t he bar . The next morni ng, he f ound that he door s had been bl ocked by chai r s and t he fur nit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thompson had t urned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les whi ch the ghost must have dr unk the night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers m ust have e in f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lager s have told hi m that hey wil l not accept the i nn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossible f or you to answer. My dent ist had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my mout h was f ull of cot tonwool . He knew I collected bi rds39。 39。 39。 I said. 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t f or som e ti me t hen added, 39。A t hi ef, yes, 39。 345 f or t he cost of t he tr i p. The norm al pr ice of a ti cket i s amp。t know wher e i t is.39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。t m at t er ,39。 I answer ed. Lesson51 Reward f or vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Her bert , has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y t hat he deci ded t o go on a di et. He began his di et a wek ago. Fi r st of al l, he wrot e out a l ong li st of al t he foods which wer e f or bidden. The l ist included most of t he t hi ngs Her ber t l oves: butt er, potat oes, r i ce, beer, m il k, chocol at e, and swets. Yest erday I pai d him a vi si t. I r ang t he bel l and was not sur pr ised t o see t hat Her ber t was st il l as f at as ever. He l ed m e i nt o hi s r oom and hur ri edl y hi d a l ar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious t hat he was ver y em bar assed. When I aske d him what he was doi ng, he smi l ed guil ti l y and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned t hat his di et was so str i ct t hat he had t o rewar d hi msel f occasional y. Then he showed m e t he cont ent s of t he par cel . It contai ned f ive l ar ge bar s of chocol at e and t hr e bags of swet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor king har d al l m or ni ng. I have been t r yi ng to get m y new r oom in or der . This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at er s wor se, t he r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put m y books on t he f l oor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y inch of fl oor space and I act ual y have to wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whi le ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st ai rs. She went i nto m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al t hose books on t he f l oor. 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t f or som e ti me t hen added, 39。I 39。 I s this Woodfor d Gr en ?39。 I39。 eggs and asked me whet her m y col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how m y br ot her was and whet her I li ked my new j ob i n London. I n answer to t hese quest i ons I eit her nodded or m ade st range noi ses. Meanwhil e, m y tongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hole wher e t he t oot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anyt hi ng. When t he denti st at l ast r em oved t he cot ton wool f rom m y m out h, I was abl e t o t el l him t hat he had pul led out the wr ong t oot h. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti r ed of sl epi ng on t he fl oor, a young m an i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he f ir st t im e i n hi s li f e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr i ngs and a m at r ess. Because t he weat her was ver y hot, he car ri ed t he bed on t o t he r oof of hi s house. He sl ept ver y wel f or t he fi r st t wo ni ght s, but on t he t hi r d ni ght , a storm bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent i t cr ashi ng int o the court yar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pi eces, the m an was m ir acul ousl y unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il l on the m at tr es. Glanci ng at the bit s of wood and m etal t hat lay ar ound him , the m an sadly pi cked up t he mat r ess and car ri ed it i nt o hi s house. Aft er he had put i t on t he f l oor, he pr om ptl y went to sl ep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r avel ing i n t he countr y, but I don39。 Two m ont hs l ater, som e m or e m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her note:39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e t