【正文】 off ,39。 answer ed t he conduct or . I sat i n t he f ront of t he bus to get a good vi ew of t he countr ysi de. Af t er som e ti me, t he bus stopped. Looking r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l ef t on t he bus. 39。 You39。l l have to get off here,39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 39。 I s t hi s Woodfor d Gr een ?39。 I asked. 39。Oh dear ,39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 I f or got t o put you of f. 39。 I t doesn39。t m at t er ,39。 I sai d. 39。I 39。l l get of f her e. 39。 We ar e goi ng back now,39。 sai d t he conduct or. 39。Wel l, i n t hat case, I pr efer t o st ay on t he bus,39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward f or vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My fr iend, Her bert, has al ways been fat, but thi ngs got so bad r ecentl y t hat he deci ded t o go on a diet. He began his di et a wek ago. Fi r st of al l, he wr ot e out a l ong l i st of al l t he f oods whi ch wer e for bi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of t he t hi ngs Her ber t l oves: but t er , pot at oes, ri ce, beer, mi l k, chocol at e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d hi m a visit . I r ang t he bel and was not sur pr i sed t o se t hat Her ber t was st il l as fat as ever. He led m e i nt o hi s r oom and hur ri edl y hi d a lar ge par cel under hi s desk. I t was obvi ous that he was ver y em bar ased. When I asked hi m what he was doi ng, he sm il ed guilt il y and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ai ned t hat hi s diet was so st ri ct t hat he had t o r ewar d him self occasi onal y. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. I t cont ai ned f i ve l arge bars of chocol at e and t hr ee bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pret ty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust m oved int o a new house and I have been wor king har d al l mor ni ng. I have been t r yi ng t o get m y new r oom in or der . This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at t er s worse, the r oom i s rat her sm al l, so I have tem por ar il y put m y books on the f loor. At t he m oment, t hey cover ever y i nch of fl oor space and I act ual y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whi le ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st ai rs. She went i nt o m y r oom and got a bi g surpri se when she saw al l those books on t he fl oor . 39。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t f or some t im e then added, 39。You don39。t need bookcases at al l. You can sit her e in your spar e ti me and r ead t he carpet!39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f orest fi re i n Cali f or nia. Since t hen, they have been t ryi ng t o f i nd out how t he fi r e bega n. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people car el essl y t hrow away. Yester day t he fi r em en exam i ned t he ground car ef ul ly, but wer e not abl e t o fi nd any br oken gl ass. They were al so qui te sur e that a ci garet e end did not start t he fi r e. This m orni ng, however , a fi r em an accident al y discover ed t he cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ectr i c wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l i ne. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to sol ve t he myster y. The expl anat ion was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped it on t o t he wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he gr ound and t hese imm edi atel y st ar t ed a f i re. Lesson54 St i cky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast , I sent t he chil dr en t o s chool and then I went to m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I r et ur ned home. The chi ldr en were at school, m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exact l y that m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he recei ver bet ween t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nutes t o per suade her t o r i ng back l at er . At l ast I hung up t he r ecei ver. What a m es! Ther e was past r y on m y f i ngers, on t he t el ephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki t 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 t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed l et er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi ndi ng l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。The Reveal er39。 has been i nvented and it has been used t o det ect gol d whic h has been buri ed i n the gr ound. The m achi ne was used i n a cave near t he seashore wher e it i s sai dpi rat es used to hi de gol d. The pi rat es woul d oft en bur y gol d i n t he cave and t hen f ail t o col lect i t. Arm ed wi t h the new m achi ne, a sear ch par t y went he di d not l ike i t. She enj oyed her sel f m aki ng t he assi st ant br i ng alm ost everyt hi ng i n t he wi ndow bef ore f i nal y buying t he dress she had fi r st asked f or. Lesson58 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 ne ar 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 eput ati on. It i s sai d t hat i f anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil have bad l uck。 if he pi cks a l eaf, he wil di e. Many vi l ager s bel ieve t hat t he t r e has alr eady cl aim ed a number of vi ct im s. The vi car has been a