【正文】 ve t he myst er y. The expl anati on was simpl e but very unusual . A bi rd had snat che d up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to the wi res. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wir es. When it did so, it sent spar ks down to the gr ound and t hese im mediately st art ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent the chi ldren t o school and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at work and t he house was quiet . So I decided t o make som e tar ts f or t ea. I n a short ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and my hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exact ly t hat m om ent , the tel ephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I pi cked up the r eceiver bet ween two st icky f ingers and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voice of Mr s Bates. I t took me ten mi nutes to per suade her t o r ing back later . At last I hung up t he recei ver . What a mess! There was pastr y on my 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 t he door bel l r ang loud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he wanted me to sign for a r egi st ered l et t er ! Lesson55 Not a gold m ine 并非金礦 Dr eams of f inding l ost t reasur e almost cam e tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。The Revealer39。 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 i n a cave near t he seashor e wher e it i s sai dpi rat es used to hi de gold. The pi r at es woul d oft en bury gol d in t he cave and t hen fail t o col lect it . Ar m ed wit h the new machi ne, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike i t. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant br ing al most everyt hi ng in the wi ndow bef ore fi nal ly buying t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blesi ng in di sgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fri nl ey is said to possess a 39。cursed tr ee39。. Because the tr ee was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fri nley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil reputat ion. I t is said tha t i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wi l l have bad luck。 if he picks a l eaf , he wi l di e. Many vi l l ager s beli eve t hat t he tr ee has alr eady cl aimed 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 e d out t hat t he tr e is a useful sour ce of i n e as t ouri st s have been ing f rom al part s of the count ry t o see it . I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he tour ists have been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on t he tr ee tr unk. So far, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to sit outsi de our f ront gat e and bar k. Ever y t ime he want ed to e i nto t he gar den he would bar k unt il someone opened the gate. As t he nei ghbours pl ai ned of t he noise, my husband spent weeks t raini ng him to pr es hi s paw on the l atch t o let himself i n. Rex soon became an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I noti ced hi m i n the gar den near the gate. This t ime he was bar ki ng so that someone would let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has developed anot her bad habit . As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om t he outside, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he si ts and barks unti l someone lets hi m out . Aft er t his he i mmediat el y let s himself i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yester day my husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not sen hi m since. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來 At a vil lage fai r, I deci ded t o visi t a for tune tel ler cal led Madam Bel insky. I went into her t ent and she t old me to si t down. Af ter I had given her some money, she looked i nto a cr yst al bal l and said: 39。A relat ion of yours i s ing t o see you. She wil l be ar ri ving t his eveni ng and intends to st ay for a f ew days. The moment you leave this tent, you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A woman you know wel wi l r ush towards you. She wil l speak to you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f rom thi s pl ace. That i s al .39。 As soon as I went outside, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because m y wi fe hurr i ed towards me. 39。Where have you been hi di ng ?39。 she asked i mpatient ly. 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 ar e late al ready. 39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fair . Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠鏡的困境 In futur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f rom a spaceship whil e it i s st il l in space and t o r et urn t o i t. The abi li ty to do t his wi l be necessar y i n fut ur e f li ght s to di st ant pl as. Scienti st s ar e now t r yi ng to di scover if t hi s is possi ble. The spaceship Ast r a which l ef t the eart h a shor t ti me ago, wil l be tr avel ing t hree hundr ed mi les int o space. At a cer tain poi nt, the Ast ra wi l l st op for a shor t ti me and an ast ronaut wil 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 successf ul unt il we have received a r adi o message. The f ir st mesage is expected t o ar i ve at 7 o39。cl ock this eveni ng. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lying through space f or sevent een hour s and wil l have cir cled t he ear th a gr eat many t imes. When t he fi rst radio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esult s of the t ri p wi l l be announced imm edi at ely. Lesson62 Aft er the f ire 大火之后 Fir emen had been f