【正文】 . 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。 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。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。 We ar e goi ng back now,39。t m at t er ,39。Oh dear ,39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.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。t know wher e i t is.39。 I39。Your sist er wi l be here i n l ess t han an hour and we must be at t he st ati on to m et her. We ar e l at e alr eady.39。A r el ati on of your s is ing to see you. She wi l be ar ivi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m oment you l eave t hi s tent , you wi l get a big surpr ise. A woman you know wel l wil 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 place. That is al l. 39。 has been invent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es would of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o coll ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new machi ne, a sear ch part y went he di d not li ke it. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant bri ng al most everyt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buying the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s said to possess a 39。You don39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr efer to st ay on the bus,39。l l get of f her e. 39。It doesn39。Oh dear ,39。 t he conduct or said. 39。l l tel you wher e to get of f , 39。 but I don39。t li ke losi ng my way. I went on an excur si on recent ly, but my t ri p took me longer t han I expect ed. 39。 she asked i m pati ent l y. 39。 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 asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has point ed out t hat t he t r e i s a usef ul sour ce of i ne as t our ist s have been i ng f r om al l par t s of t he count ry t o see it. I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he t ouri sts have been pi cki ng l eaves and cutt i ng t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. So far, not one of t hem has been st r uck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y t im e he wanted 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, m y husband spent weeks t rai ni ng hi m to pr es hi s paw on t he l at ch 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. This t im e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d l et him out ! Since 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 si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l t he gat e shuts. Then he si ts a nd bar ks unti l som eone l et s hi m out . Af t er t his he i mm edi at el y l et s him self i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day my husband r em oved t he gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen hi m si nce. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來 At a vi l age f ai