【導(dǎo)讀】offhere,'theconductorsaid.'Thisisasfaraswego.''IsthisWoodfordGren?

　　

【正文】 orni ng, however , a fi reman acci dent al l y discover ed t he c ause. He not i ced t he remai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e t o sol ve t he m yst er y. The expl anati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi r d had snatc hed up t he snake fr om t he gr ound and then dr opped it on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese im medi at el y start ed a fi r e. Lesson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l dr en to school and t hen I went t o m ar ket. I t was st il l earl y when I r et ur ned home. The chi l dr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded to m ake some t art s f or t ea. I n a shor t tim e I was busy m i xi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat m om ent, t he t el ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I pi cked up the r ecei ver bet ween t wo st i cky f i ngers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mrs Bat es. It t ook m e t en m i nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up t he r ecei 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 t o the kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a r egist er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of f indi ng l ost t reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。The Reveal er39。 has been invent ed and it has ben used to det ect gol d whi ch has been buri ed in t he gr ound. The m achi ne was used i n a cave near t he seashore wher ei t is sai dpi rat es used to hi de gol d. The pi r at es woul d oft en bury gol d in t he cave and t hen fail t o col l ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new m achi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it . She enj oyed herself m aki ng t he asi st ant bri ng alm ost ever ythi ng i n t he wi ndow bef or e f inal y buyi ng t he dr es she had fi r st asked f or. Leson58 A bl esi ng in di sgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fri nl ey is sai d t o possess a 39。cursed tr ee39。. Because t he 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 pl ant ed near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n r ecent years t hat i t has gained an evi l r eputati on. I t is sai d t hat i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wi ll have bad l uck。 i f he picks a l eaf, he wi l di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve t hat t he t ree has al r eady cl aim ed a num ber of vi ct im s. The vi car has been asked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has point ed out t hat t he t ree i s a usef ul sourc e of i ne as t our ists 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 cut ti ng t heir names on t he t r ee tr unk. So f ar , 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 outsi de our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y tim e he want ed t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s plai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks t rai ni ng hi m to pr es hi s paw on t he l atch t o let him self i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng the gate. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced hi m i n t he gar den near t he gat e. Thi s t im e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone 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 side, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unt il t he gat e shuts. Then he si ts and bar ks unti l som eone l et s him out . Af ter t hi s he imm edi at ely l ets him sel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng again. Yest er day m y husband removed t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o visit a f ort une t el er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d m e t o si t down. Af t er I had gi ven her som e m oney, she looked int o a crystal bal l and sai d: 39。A r el at i on of your s i s i ng t o see you. She wi l be ar i vi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m om ent you l eave t his t ent , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se . A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owar ds you. She wi l l speak t o you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f r om t hi s place. That is al .39。 As soon as I went out si de, I f or got al l about Madam Bel i nsky because my wi f e hur ri ed t owar ds m e. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。Your si st er wi l be her e in l es t han an hour and we m ust be at the stati on t o m eet her. We ar e l ate al ready.39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol l owed 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 it i s st il l i n space and t o r et ur n to i t. The abil it y t o do thi s wil l be nec esary i n f ut ur e fl ights t o dist ant pla s. Sci ent ists ar e now tr yi ng t o di scover i f thi s i s possi bl e. The spaceshi p Ast ra whi ch lef t he ear t h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t r aveli ng t hr ee hundr ed mil es i nt o space. At a cer tai n poi nt , t he Ast ra wi l st op for a shor t ti me and an ast r onaut wil l at t em pt t o leave t he st ati onar y spaceshi p and t hen r et ur n to i t. We shal l not know whet her t he experim ent has been successful unt il we have r ecei