【正文】 my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om my mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong t ooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me in his l if e, he became the proud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m at tr es. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo night s, but on the t hi rd night, a stor m 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 below. The young m an did not wake up until t he bed had st ruck the gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glancing at the bit s of wood and metal that lay ar ound hi m, the man sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it int o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he prom pt ly went t o sleep 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。dance39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e in Calif orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t ryi ng to fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken glass or by cigaret e ends whi ch peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yester day the f ir em en exami ned the ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They we r e also quit e sur e t hat a cigar et te end di d not star t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accident al y discovered t he cause . He not iced t he remains of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but very unusual . A bi rd had snat ched up the snake f rom the gr ound and then dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and these i mmediat el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il l earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldr en were at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et . So I deci ded to m ake some t ar ts f or tea. In a short t im e I was busy m ixing butt er and f l our and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactly that moment, the t elephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I picked up the r ecei ver be tween t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me t en m inutes t o per suade her to r i ng back l at er. At last I hung up the r eceiver. What a mess! Ther e was past ry on my f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen than the door bel l rang l oud enough to wake the dead. This t ime it was t he post m an and he want ed me to si gn for a r egistered l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng lost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 I 39。The str ap needs mending,39。 sai d Mr s Ster li ng later , 39。m going t o Woodfor d Gr een, 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。The Reveal er 39。 sl owly. I t obvious ly could not t el l the dif f er ence between I ndi an music and j azz! Leson43 Over the Sout h Pole 飛越南極 In 1929, thr e years af ter his f li ght over the Nor th Pol e, t he Amer ican expl or er, R. E. Byrd, succesf ul ly fl ew over t he Sout h Pole for the f ir st im e. Though, at fi rst , Byr d and his m en were able t o t ake a gr eat m any photogr aphs of the mount ai ns that lay below, they soon ran i nto seri ous t rouble. At one point, i t seemed cer tai n that their pl ane woul d crash. I t coul d onl y get over the mount ai ns if i t rose to 10, 000 f eet . Byrd at once ordered hi s men to throw out t wo heavy food sacks. The pl ane was then able t o ri se and it cleared t he mount ains by 400 feet. Byr d now knew t hat he would be abl e to r each t he Sout h Pole which was 300 mi les away, f or there wer e no mor e mountains i n sight. The a ir craf t was able to f ly over the endless whit e plains wi thout dif fi cul ty. Lesson44 Through t he forest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne Sterl ing di d not think of t he ri sk she was t aki ng when she r an thr ough a for est aft er t wo m en. They had rushed up to her whil e she was havi ng a piic at the edge of a for est wi th her childr en and tr ied t o steal her handbag. I n t he st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi th the bag in their possessi on, both men st art ed running t hrough the t rees. Mrs St erl ing got so angry that she r an aft er t hem . She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued t o r un. When she caught up wi th them, she saw t hat t hey had sat down and were going t hrough t he contents of t he bag, so she ran str ai ght at t hem. The men got such a fr ight that they dropped the bag and r an away. 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 expect ed. 39。Oh dear, 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e i n your spar e t ime and r ead the carpet! 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。m going t o Woodfor d Gr een, 39。 sai d Mr s Ster li ng later , 39。cur sed t ree39。I t doesn39。 but I don39。 Lesson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whole vi l l age soon lear nt that a lar ge sum