【正文】 ay the f ir emen exam ined the gr ound caref ull y, but were not able t o fi nd any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however, a f ir em an accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he re m ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound the electr ic wi r es of a 16,000vol t power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The expl anat ion was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake fr om t he ground and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wir es. When it did so, it sent sparks down t o the gr ound and t hese i mmediatel y st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent t he chi ldren t o school and then I went to m ar ket. It was sti l earl y when I ret ur ned home. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at work and the house was quiet . So I decided t o make som e tar ts f or tea. I n a short ti me I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past ry. At exact ly t hat m om ent , the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r eceiver bet ween two st icky f ingers and was dismayed when I recogni zed the voice of Mr s Bates. I t took m e ten mi nutes to per suade her t o r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he recei ver. What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he telephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back to t he kit chen t han the door bel l r ang loud enough to wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the postman and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold mine 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f indi ng lost reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue recently. A new machine cal led 39。其中：固定資產(chǎn)投資 1115萬(wàn)元（土建投資 526 萬(wàn)元，設(shè)備及安裝投資 589 萬(wàn)元），科技研發(fā)投資 81r ewar d hi mself occasi onal y. Then he showed m e t he cont ent s of t he parcel. It contai ned f i ve l arge bars of chocol at e and t hr e e bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pret t y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng har d al m or ni ng. I have been tr yi ng t o get m y new r oom i n or der . Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at t er s wor se, the r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put my books on t he f l oor . At the m om ent, t hey cover ever y i nch of f l oor space and I act ual l y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whi le ago, m y sist er helped me t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went i nt o my r oom and got a bi g sur pr i se when she saw al t hose books on the f l oor. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he H ubbl e 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 I n fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f r om a spaceshi p whil e i t i s sti l i n space and t o ret ur n t o it. The abil it y t o do t hi s wi l be necessar y i n fut ur e f li ght s t o di st ant pl a s. Sci ent ists ar e now t ryi ng t o di scover i f t hi s is possi bl e. The spaceship Ast ra whi ch l ef t he eart h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t r avel ing t hr ee hundr ed mi les i nt o space. At a cer tai n poi nt, t he Ast ra wil st op for a short ti me and an ast r onaut wil l at t em pt t o l eave t he st at ionar y spaceshi p and t hen r etur n to i t. We shal l not know whet her t he experim ent has been successful unt il we have r ecei ved a radio m esage. The fi r st m essage i s expect ed t o ar ri ve at 7 o39。 she sai d. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。 has been invent ed and i t has been used to detect gol d which has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es woul d of t en bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enj oyed herself making the asi st ant bri ng alm ost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inal y buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for . Lesson58 A bl essing i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d t o possess a 39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil la ger s beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aim ed a num ber of victi ms. The vi car has been asked t o have t he t r ee cut down, but s o f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee i s a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spi te of al t hat has been sai d, t he t ouri st s have been pi cki ng l eaves and cutt i ng their nam es on t he t reet r unk. So f ar , not one of them has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y t im e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he neighbour s pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weks tr ai ning him t o pr ess his paw on t he l at ch to l et him sel f i n. Re x soon becam e an exper t at openi ng t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast wek, I not iced him i n t he garden ne ar t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was barki ng so t hat someone woul d l et him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om t he out si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone let s hi m out. Aft er t his he im mediat el y l et s hi mself i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen him si nce. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vil lage f ai r, I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel er cal