【正文】 t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e ti me and r ead the car pet! 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for some ti me t hen added, 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward f or virt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Her ber t, has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that he deci ded t o go on a di et . He began hi s diet a week ago. Fir st of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l t he foods whi ch wer e f orbidden. The l ist included most of the thi ngs Her bert loves: but ter, potatoes, r i ce, beer , mil k, chocol ate, and sweets. Yest erday I pai d him a vi si t. I r ang t he bel l and was not surpr ised to see that Herbert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous that he was ver y embar assed. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smil ed guilt il y and then put the parcel on the desk. He explai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had to reward hi mself occasional y. Then he showed me the contents of t he par cel . It cont ained fi ve lar ge bar s of chocolate and t hree bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret t y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved int o a new house and I have been working har d al mor ni ng. I have been tr yi ng to get my new room in or der . This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To m ake m at ter s worse, t he room is r ather sm al l, so I have temporar ily put m y books on t he fl oor . At the m oment , they cover ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on them t o get i n or out of t he room. A shor t whi le ago, my sist er helped me to car y one of my ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went into my r oom and got a bi g surpr ise when she saw al l those books on the f loor . 39。 said the conductor . 39。l l get off here. 39。 I said. 39。 I t doesn39。 sai d the conduct or suddenl y. 39。 I asked. 39。 39。 the conduct or said. 39。 You39。l t el you where t o get of f, 39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I said to t he conduct or as I got on t he bus,39。 I 39。 eggs and asked me whether my col lection was gr owing. He t hen asked me how my brot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I either nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy searching out t he hol e where t he tooth had been. I suddenl y fel t ver y worr ied, but could not say anyt hi ng. When the denti st at last r emoved the cott on wool fr om my mouth, I was abl e t o tel hi m t hat he had pull ed out t he wrong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on the f loor , a young man i n Teher an saved up f or year s to buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst t i m e i n his l if e, he became the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spri ngs and a mat ress. Because the weat her was very hot , he car i ed t he bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for the f ir st two ni ght s, but on the t hir d night, a st or m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, t he man was mi raculousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he matr es. Gl ancing at t he bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, the m an sadly picked up the mat tr ess and car ri ed it i nto hi s house. Af t er he had put i t on the f loor , he pr omptl y went to sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t raveli ng in the count ry, but I don39。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr i ce of a t icket i s amp。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 I n ti me, al l Sam 39。 Two months l at er, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。A thi ef , yes, 39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hing.39。The str ap needs mendi ng,39。dance39。t have too many hats,39。 39。The Reveal er39。 I sai d. 39。 39。 my wi f e answered.39。You needn39。t need, 39。 We m ust n39。. 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 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 reputati on. I t is said t hat i f anyone t ouches the tr ee, he wi l have bad luck。 has been i nvent ed and it has been used t o det ect gold whi ch has been bur i ed 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 pir at es woul d of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o col lect it . Arm 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。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g f or est fi r e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng to f i nd out how t he fi r e bega n. For est fi r e ar e of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car elessl y t hr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the gr ound car ef ul l y, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e t hat a ci gar et e end di d not st art t he fi re. Thi s m or ning, however, a f ir em an acci dent al ly di scovered t he cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l i ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he m yst ery. The expl anati on was sim pl e but ver y unusual . A bi r d had snatc hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen 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