【正文】 amp。A t hief, yes, 39。t have too m any hats,39。 39。 We m ustn39。t have sai d that,39。 m ay r eveal somet hi ng of val ue fair l y soon. Lesson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a race is hel d for ol d car s. A lot of car s ent ered f or t his r ace l ast year and t her e was a gr eat deal of exci t em ent j ust bef ore i t began. One of t he m ost handsom e car s was a Rol s Royce Sil ver Ghost. The m ost unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y thr e wheels. Buil t in 1885, i t was t he ol dest car t aki ng par t. Af t er a gr eat m any l oud expl osi ons, t he r ace began. Many of t he car s broke down on t he cour se and som e dri vers spent m or e ti me under their cars t han i n t hem ! A few car s, however , pl et ed t he r ace. The wi nni ng car r eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hour m uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i vals. It sped downhi l at the end of t he r ace and i ts dr iver had a lot of tr oubl e tr ying t o st op i t. The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pl easur e. It was very di f erent fr om m oder n car r aces but no less excit i ng. Lesson57 Can I hel p you, m adam? 你要買(mǎi)什么，夫人？ A woman i n bl ue j eans st ood at t he wi ndow of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesi t at ed for a m om ent, she fi nal y went i n and asked t o see a dr ess t hat was i n t he wi ndow. The asist ant who served her di d not li ke t he way she was dressed. Gl ancing at her scor nf ul l y, he t ol d her that the dr ess was sol d. The wom an wal ked out of t he shop angri l y and deci ded t o puni sh the assi st ant next day. She ret ur ned to t he shop t he f ol lowi ng m or ni ng dressed i n a f ur coat, wi th a handbag in one hand and a l ong um br el l a in t he other. Af ter seeki ng out t he r ude asist ant s he asked f or t he same dr es. Not reali zi ng who she was, t he asist ant was eager t o ser ve her t hi s ti me wi t h gr eat di f icult y, he cl im bed i nt o t he shop wi ndow t o get t he dress. As soon as she saw i t, t he wom an sai d s many ti es. 39。 sai d Mr s St er li ng lat er , 39。s money was pai d back in t his way. The l ast not e sai d: 39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Gr een,39。 You39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。We are goi ng back now,39。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g f or est fi r e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e bega n. For est fi r e ar e of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the gr ound car ef ul l y, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e t hat a ci gar et e end di d not st art t he fi re. Thi s m or ning, however, a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l i ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he m yst ery. The expl anati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual . A bi r d had snatc hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped it on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it di d so, it sent spar ks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mm edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear ly when I r etur ned hom e. The chi l dr en 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 t art s f or t ea. I n a shor t tim e I was busy m i xi ng but t er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat m om ent, t he tel ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky fi nger s and was dismayed 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 sua de her t o r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he recei ver . What a m ess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough to wake t he dead. This t im e i t was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a r egi ster 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 easure alm ost cam e t rue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。t need, 39。 I sai d. 39。dance39。 Two months l at er, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。 eggs and asked me whether my col lection was gr owing. He t hen asked me how my brot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I either nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy searching out t he hol e where t he tooth had been. I suddenl y fel t ver y worr ied, but could not say anyt hi ng. When the denti st at last r emoved the cott on wool fr om my mouth, I was abl e t o tel hi m t hat he had pull ed out t he wrong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on the f loor , a young man i n Teher an saved up f or year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst t i m e i n his l if e, he became the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spri ngs and a mat ress. Because the weat her was very hot , he car i ed t he bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for the f ir st two ni ght s, but on the t hir d night, a st or m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, t he man was mi raculousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he matr es. Gl ancing at t he bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, the m an sadly picked up the mat tr ess and car ri ed it i nto hi s house.