【正文】 i t i s. 39。A thief, yes, 39。 if he pi cks a leaf , he wil l di e. Many vil lagers bel ieve t hat the tr e has alr eady cl aim ed a num ber of vi ct ims. The vi car has been asked to have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out t hat he t ree is a useful sour ce of ine as t ouri st s have been ing fr om al parts of the count ry t o see i t. I n spi te of al t hat has been said, t he t ouri st s have been pi cking leaves and cut ing thei r nam es on t he tr et runk. So far, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit out si de our f r ont gate 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 pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weks t raining him t o pr ess hi s paw on the latch to 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. Thi s tim e he was barking so t hat someone woul d l et him out ! Si nce then, he has developed anot he r bad habit. As soon as he opens t he gat e f r om t he outside, he es i nt o the gar den and wai ts unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone l et s him out. Af ter t hi s he imm edi at el y l et s him self in and begi ns barking again. Yest er day my husband r emoved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來(lái) At a vil age f air , I deci ded to visit a f 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 gi ven her som e m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr ystal bal and sai d: 39。 I said. 39。 39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hi ef! 39。dance39。 eggs and asked m e whether my col lect ion was growing. He t hen asked m e how my brother was and whet her I l iked m y new job in London. I n answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, m y t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e wher e t he t oot h had been. I suddenl y felt ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When the dentist at last r emoved t he cot ton wool fr om m y m out h, I was abl e to t el him t hat he had pul ed out t he wr ong t ooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl epi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an i n Teheran saved up for year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he f ir st tim e in his li fe, he becam e t he pr oud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a mat res. Because t he weat her was ver y hot, he car ied the bed on to t he r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel for the fir st t wo ni ghts, but on t he t hir d night , a storm bl ew up. A gust of wind swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent it cr ashing into t he court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up unt il the bed had str uck the gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed to pieces, t he man was mi racul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was stil l on t he mat res. Gl anci ng at the bi ts of wood and metal t hat lay ar ound him , t he m an sadly picked up the m at tr ess and car ried it i nt o hi s house. Aft er he had put it on the fl oor, he pr omptl y went to sl eep agai n. Leson50 Taken f or a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove tr aveli ng i n the count ry, but I don39。 I asked. 39。You don39。 she answered. Ten minut es l at er we wal ked out of the shop t ogether . My wife was weari ng a hat t hat looked l ike a lighthouse ! Leson42 Not very musi cal 并非很懂音樂(lè) As we had had a long walk t hr ough one of t he markets of Ol d Del hi , we stopped at a squar e to have arest . Af ter a t ime, we noticed a snakecharmer with t wo large baskets at he other side of t he square, so we went to have a look at him. As oon as he saw us, he picked up a l ong pipe whi ch was cover ed wi th coi ns and opened one of t he basket s. When he began t o pl ay a t une, we had our fir st glimpse of the snake. It rose out of the basket and began t o foll ow the movements of the pi pe. We wer e very much surpri sed when the snake char mer suddenly began to play jaz t unes and modern pop songs. The snake, however , cont inued to 39。230 ! Lesson47 A thirst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house which was recentl y bought by Mr I an Thom pson i s up f or sal e. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel it because it is haunted. He told me t hat he could not go to sleep one ni ght because he heard a str ange noise ing fr om the bar. The next morning, he found t hat the door s had been blocked by chai rs and t he f ur niture had been m oved. Though Mr Thompson had turned t he l ight s of f before he went to bed, they were on in t he morning. He also said t hat he had f ound fi ve empty whisky bot tl es which the ghost must have dr unk the night bef or e. When I suggested that some vi lager s must have e i n for a fr e dri nk, Mr Thomps on shook his head. The vi lager s have t ol d hi m that hey wil l not accept t he i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want o tel me somethi ng? 你想對(duì)我說(shuō)什么嗎？ Denti st s always ask questi ons when it i s i mpossi bl e for you to answer . My dentist had just pul led out one of my teet h and had told me t o rest for a whi le. I t ried to say somet hi ng, but my mout h was full of cott onwool. He knew I coll ected bi rds39。 I s this Woodf or d Green ?39。 she said. She gazed at it for some time t hen added, 39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit her e in your spare ti me and read the carpet !39。Oh dear, 39。t li ke l osing my way. I went on an excur si on r ecentl y, but my t rip t ook me longer than I expect ed. 39。 slowly. It obviously coul d not tel the di f er ence between I ndian music and jaz! Leson43 Over the Sout h Pol e 飛越南極 In 1929, t hr e year s af ter his f light over t he Nort h Pole, the Amer ican explor er , R. E. Byrd, succesfull y flew over the South Pole for the fi rst ime. Th