【正文】 was at work and t he house was quiet. So I decided to make some tart s for t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mixi ng but ter and fl our and my hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat moment, t he telephone rang. Not hing could have been more annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he receiver bet ween two st icky fi nger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t took me t en mi nut es to persuade her t o ri ng back later . At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! There was pastr y on my fi ngers, on t he telephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang loud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s ti me i t was t he post man and he want ed m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m ine 并非金礦 Dr eams of f inding lost t reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。The Revealer 39。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d which has been bur ied i n the gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai dpi rat es used to hi de gold. The pir at es woul d of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o collect it . Arm ed wit h the new machi ne, a sear ch part y went he di d not like i t. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant br i ng al most everyt hi ng in the wi ndow before fi nal ly buying t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blesi ng in disgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fri nley is said to possess a 39。cursed tr ee39。. Because the t ree was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch fi f ty years ago, but it i s onl y i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil r eputat ion. It is said that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad luck。 if he picks a l eaf , he wi l l di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve that the t ree has alr eady clai med a number of vi ct ims. The vicar has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r efused. He has pointed out that the t ree i s a usef ul source of ine as t our ists have been i ng f rom al l par ts of t he countr y t o see i t. I n spi te of al l t hat has been said, the t ouri st s have been picking 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 gat e and bar k. Every ti me he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unt il someone opened t he gat e. As the neighbour s plained of t he 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 mself in. Rex soon became an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I not iced him in the garden near t he gat e. This t im e he was bar king so t hat someone woul d l et him out ! Since then, he has devel oped another bad habit . As soon as he opens the gate f rom the out si de, he es int o the garden and wait s unti l t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il someone l ets him out. Af ter t hi s he im medi ately lets hi msel f in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age f air , I decided t o visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her tent and she t ol d me to sit down. Af ter I had gi ven her some money, she l ooked i nt o a cr ystal bal and sai d: 39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ivi ng thi s evening and i ntends t o stay f or a few days. The moment you l eave t his t ent , you wi l get a big sur pr ise. A woman you know wel wi l rush t owar ds you. She wi l speak t o you and then she wil l lead you away fr om t his pl ace. That i s al l. 39。 As soon as I went out si de, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because m y wi fe hurr ied t owards me. 39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。 she asked i mpa tientl y. 39。Your si ster wil l be her e in less than an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We are late al ready. 39。 As she wal ked away, I fol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Trouble wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 In f utur e, astr onauts wi l l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceship whil e it i s st il l in space and t o ret ur n t o it . The abi li ty t o do t his wi l be necessar y in futur e f li ght s to di st ant pl as. Sci entist s ar e now t ryi ng to di scover if thi s is possi ble. The spaceship Ast ra which lef t the eart h a shor t ti me ago, wi l l be t ravel ing t hr ee hundr ed mi les int o space. At a cer tain poi nt, the Ast ra wi l stop f or a shor t ti me and an ast ronaut wi l l at tempt to leave the stati onar y spaceshi p and then r et urn t o i t. We shal not know whether the exper iment has been succesf ul unt il we have received a r adi o message. The f ir st m essage i s expected t o ar ive at 7 o39。cl ock t hi s eveni ng. By t hat t im e, t he Ast ra wil l have been fl ying t hr ough space for seventeen hours and wi l have ci rcl ed the eart h a great many ti mes. When the f ir st r adi o messages have been r eceived, t he result s of t he tr ip wil l be announced i mmediat el y. Lesson62 Af t er t he f ire 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ghting the f or est f ir e f or nearl y thr e weeks befor e they could get it under contr ol. A short t ime bef ore, great rees had cover ed the count ryside f or mil es ar ound. Now, smoke st il l rose up f rom the war m gr ound over the desol ate hil ls. Wi nter was ing on and t he hil s thr eat ened t he sur rounding vi lages wi th dest ruct ion, f or heavy r ain woul d not only wash away the soi l but woul d cause ser ious f loods as wel. When the f ir e had at l ast been put out, t he forest