【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 nch of fl oor space and I actual y have t o wal k on them to get in or out of the r oom . A shor t whil e ago, m y si ster hel ped me to car ry one of my old bookcases up the stair s. She went int o my room and got a big sur pr ise when she saw al those books on t he fl oor. 39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。 she said. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit here i n your spare t im e and read the carpet! 39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest f i r e i n Cal i f or ni a. Since then, t hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. Forest f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by cigaret te ends which people carelessl y t hr ow away. Yest erday 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 rem 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 s parks 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 t he house was quiet. So I deci ded t o make som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng but t er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past r y. At exactl y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky f inger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o 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 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 r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng l ost t r easur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。The Revealer39。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur i ed i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used i n a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pi r at es used t o hi de gold. The pi r at es would of ten bur y gol d i n the cave and then fai 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 enjoyed herself making t he asistant bri ng almost ever yt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buyi ng the dr ess she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d to possess a 39。cur sed t ree39。. Because the t ree was ment ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now i ncr eased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only i n r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad l uck。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil lager s beli eve t hat t he tr e has alr eady cl ai med a number of victi ms. The vi car has been asked to have the t ree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has point ed out t hat t he tr e is a usef ul sour ce of i ne as t our i st s have been ing f rom al part s of t he count ry t o se it . I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he touri sts have been pi cki ng l eaves and cut ti ng their names on t he tr e tr unk. So f ar , not one of them has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o sit outside our fr ont gate and bar k. Every ti me he wanted t o e int o the gar den he woul d bark unti l som eone opened t he gat e. As the neighbour s plained of the noi se, my husband spent weeks tr aining hi m t o pr ess his paw on the l at ch to l et hi msel f in. Rex soon became an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was going out shopping l ast week, I not iced him in the garden near t he gat e. Thi s ti me he was barking so t hat someone would l et hi m out ! Since then, he has devel oped another bad habi t. As soon as he opens the gate fr om t he out si de, he c omes int o the gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone lets hi m out . Af t er t his he i mmediatel y let s hi mself in and begins barki ng agai n. Yester day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen hi m i nt o t he cave hopi ng t o f i nd buri ed tr easur e. The l eader of t he par t y was exami ning t he soil near the entr ance t o t he cave when t he m achi ne showed t hat t her e was gol d under t he gr ound. Ver y exci ted, t he part y dug a hol e t wo f eet deep. They fi nal l y found a sm al gol d coi n which was alm ost wor thl ess. The part y t hen searched the whol e cave t hor oughl y but di d not f i nd anyt hi ng except an em pt y t in t r unk. I n spit e of t hi s, m any peopl e ar e confi dent t hat 39。The Revealer39。 m ay r eveal som et hing of value f ai rl y soon. Leson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a r ace i s hel d f or ol d car s. A l ot of car s ent ered f or this r ace last year and t here was a gr eat deal of exci t em ent j ust bef ore i t began. One of t he m ost handsom e car s