【正文】 cursed tr ee39。t mat er, 39。t know wher e it i s. 39。A thi ef , yes, 39。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last fi remen have put out a bi g f or est fi re i n Cali f or nia. Since t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng t o f ind out how t he fi re began. For est fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glass or by ci gar et t e ends whi ch people car el essly t hr ow away. Yester day t he fi remen exam i ned t he gr ound car efull y, but wer e not abl e t o f i nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a cigar et e end di d not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however, a fi reman acci dent al l y di scover ed t he cause. He not iced t he r em ai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16, 000 volt power li ne. I n t hi 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 snat ched up the snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wi r es. When i t di d so, it sent spar ks down t o the gr ound and t hese imm edi atel y st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter br eakfast, I sent t he chil dr en t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I r et urned hom e. The chil dr en wer e at school , my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded t o m ake som e t ar ts f or tea. In a short t im e I was busy mi xi ng butt er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat m oment, t he t elephone 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 r ecogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o per suade her t o ri ng back later. At l ast I hung up t he recei ver . What a mess! 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 to t he kit chen t han t he door bel l rang l oud enough to wake t he dead. Thi s ti m 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 r ue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 I39。The st r ap needs m endi ng,39。 said Mr s St erl ing l at er, 39。m goi ng to Woodf or d Gr en,39。 I f ot t o put you off .39。The Reveal er 39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hi ef! 39。 I 39。 I said. 39。. Because the tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fri nley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was plant ed near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil reputat ion. It is said that i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wi l l have bad luck。 has been invent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been buri ed in t he ground. The machine was used i n a cave near t he seashor e wher e it i s sai dpi rat es used to hi de gold. The pir at es woul d oft en bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o col lect it . Arm ed wit h the new machi ne, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike i t. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant br ing al most everyt hi ng in the wi ndow bef ore fi nal ly buying t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blesi ng in di sgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fri nley is said to possess a 39。I t doesn39。 but I don39。 Leson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whole vi l age soon learnt t hat a l ar ge sum of money had been l ost . Sam Benton, the local but cher , had l ost his wal let whil e t aki ng his savi ngs t o t he post off ice. Sam was sure t hat t he walet must have been found by one of the vi l agers, but i t was not r etur ned t o him . Thr ee months pased, and t hen one m or ning, Sam f ound hi s wal et outsi de hi s fr ont door . I t had been wr apped up i n newspaper and it cont ained hal f the m oney he had lost, t oget her wi th a not e which said: 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit her e i n your spar e tim e and r ead t he car pet !39。Oh dear,39。t l ike l osi ng m y way. I went on an excursi on recent ly, but m y tr i p took m e l onger t han I expect ed. 39。 sl owl y. It obvi ousl y coul d not tel t he di f fer ence bet ween I ndi an m usi c and jazz! Lesson43 O ver t he Sout h Pol e 飛越南極 In 1929, t hr e years aft er hi s f li ght over t he Nort h Pol e, t he Am eri can expl or er , R. E. Byrd, succesf ul ly f l ew over t he Sout h Pole f or t he fi r st ti m e. Though, at fi rst, Byr d and hi s m en wer e able t o t ake a gr eat m any photogr aphs of the m ount ai ns t hat l ay bel ow, t hey soon ran i nt o seri ous t r oubl e. At one poi nt, i t seem ed cer t ai n t hat t heir pl ane woul d crash. I t coul d onl y ge t over t he m ount ai ns if i t r ose t o 10, 000 feet. Byr d at once or der ed hi s men t o t hr ow out t wo heavy f ood sacks. The pl ane was t hen abl e to r ise and it cl ear ed t he m ountai ns by 400 f eet . Byr d now knew t hat he would be abl e t o r each t he Sout h Pol e whi ch was 300 mi les away, f or there wer e no m or e m ount ai ns i n si ght. The air cr af t was abl e to f l y over t he endl ess whit e pl ai ns wit hout dif fi cul t y. Lesson44 Through t he f orest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne St er li ng di d not t hi nk of t he ri sk she was t aking when she r an t hr ough a f orest af ter t wo men. They had r ushed up t o her whi l e she was having a pi i c at he edge of a for est wit h her chi ldr en and t ri e d t o st eal her handbag. I n t he st ruggl e, the str ap broke and, wi t h the bag i n their possessi on, both m en st art ed running t hrough t he t r es. Mrs St erli ng got so angr y t hat she r an aft er t hem . She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued to r un. When she caught up wit h t hem, she saw that they had sat down and wer e goi ng t hr ough t he cont ent