【正文】 if he pi cks a leaf , he wil l die. Many vil agers bel ieve t hat he t ree has al ready claimed a number of vi ctim s. The vi car has been asked to have t he tr ee cut down, but so far he has r ef used. He has poi nt ed out t hat he t ree is a useful sour ce of ine as t ouri st s have been ing fr om al par ts of the count ry t o see i t. In spi te of al t hat has been said, t he t ouri st s have been pi cking leaves and cutt ing thei r nam es on the tr et runk. So far, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit out si de our f ront gat e and bar k. Ever y tim e he want ed t o e into t he gar den he woul d bark unt il s omeone opened t he gat e. As the nei ghbours plained of t he noi se, my husband spent weks tr ai ni ng him t o pr ess hi s paw on the l at ch t o let him self i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced him i n the gar den near t he gat e. This tim e he was bar ki ng so that someone woul d let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f rom t he out si de, he es i nt o t he garden and wait s unti l t he gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks unti l som eone lets him out. Aft er this he immedi at el y lets himsel f i n and begins bar ki ng agai n. Yesterday m y husband r em oved t he gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen him since. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vil lage f ai r, I deci ded t o visit af ort unet el er cal led Madam Beli nsky. I went into her t ent and she t ol d m e t o si t down. Aft er I had given her som e m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr ystal bal and sai d: 39。 I said. 39。 she asked i mpati entl y. 39。 said t he conductor . 39。 the conductor said. 39。You don39。 I asked. 39。I t doesn39。cursed t ree39。Oh dear, 39。You don39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。Wel , i n that case, I pr ef er t o st ay on the bus,39。Your sister wi l be here i n l ess than an hour and we must be at the st at ion to meet her . We ar e lat e al ready.39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last fi remen have put out a bi g forest fi re i n Cali fornia. Si nce then, they have been t rying to f ind out how t he f ir e began. Forest fi re are oft en caused by broken glas or by cigar et te ends whi ch peopl e carel esl y t hr ow away. Yester day the fir em en exami ned the gr ound caref ul y, but were not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They were also quit e sure t hat a ci garet e end di d not st ar t he f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however, a fi rem an acci dental y discover ed t he cause. He not iced t he r emains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ectr ic wi res of a 16, 000 vol t power li ne. In t hi s way, he was abl e to sol ve t he m yst ery. The explanati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snat ched up t he snake f rom t he gr ound and t hen dr opped it on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound t he wi res. When i t di d so, i t sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and these immediat el y st ar ted a fi re. Lesson54 St icky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er breakf ast, I sent t he chi ldren to school and t hen I went t o market . I t was st il ear ly when I r et ur ned hom e. The chi ldren wer e at school, my husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I decided t o m ake some t art s for t ea. In a short tim e I was busy mi xi ng but ter and fl our and my hands wer e soon covered wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactl y that moment, t he t el ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I picked up the receiver bet ween t wo sti cky fi ngers and was di smayed when I r ecognized t he voice of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nutes t o per suade her t o r i ng back later. At last I hung up t he r ecei ver. What a m ess! Ther e was past r y on my fi ngers, on t he t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen than t he door bel rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This tim e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o si gn f or a regist er ed l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng l ost reasure almost came tr ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。 said t he conduct or suddenl y. 39。. Because t he t ree was ment ioned in a newspaper, the number of vi sit or s to Fri nl ey has now increased. The t ree was plant ed near a church fi fty year s ago, but it i s only in r ecent years t hat it has gained an evi l reputati on. It is said t hat if anyone t ouches the tree, he wil have bad l uck。 I sai d. 39。 she asked im pati entl y. 39。 sai d the conductor. 39。of f here,39。 We are goi ng back now, 39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。t mater, 39。cur sed tree39。Oh dear ,39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here i n your spare t ime and r ead the car pet!39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of the fair. Lesson61 Trouble wit h t he Hubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n future, ast r onauts wil l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceshi p whil e it is st il l i n space and t o return t o it. The abili ty t o do t hi s wi l be nec essary i n f ut ure fl ight s to distant plas. Scient ists are now t r yi ng t o di scover i f t hi s is possi bl e. The spaceship Ast ra which left t he eart h a short tim e ago, wil l be t ravel ing three hundr ed mi les into space. At a cer tain point, the Ast ra wil l stop f or a short tim e and an ast ronaut wi l at tem pt t o leave the st at ionar y spaceship and t hen retur n t o it. We shal not know whether t he experim ent has been succesful until we have r ecei ved a radi o mesage. The f ir st mesage is expect ed t o ar ri ve at 7 o39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward f or virt ue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My fr iend, Her bert , has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that he deci ded t o go on a di et . He began hi s di et aweek ago. Fi rst of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l the foods whi c