【正文】 cl ock this evening. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l ha ve cir cled t he ear th a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of the t ri p wi l be announced im medi ately. Leson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fir emen had been f ight ing t he forest fi re f or near ly t hree weeks bef ore t hey coul d get i t under cont rol . A shor t ti me befor e, gr eat tr ees had cover ed the countr ysi de for mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desolat e hil ls. Wi nt er was i ng on and the hi l s threatened the surr oundi ng vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy rai n would not only wash away t he soi l but would cause ser ious fl oods as wel l. When t he fi re had at。Your si st er wi l l be her e in l es t han an hour and we m ust be at the stati on to meet her. We are l ate alr eady. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ri vi ng thi s evening and i ntends to stay f or a few days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al l. 39。. Because the t ree was m ent ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now increased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone touches t he tr e, he wil l have bad l uck。 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 wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pir ates would of ten bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making the asist ant bri ng almost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inaly buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng i n disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d to possess a 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cal i f orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng to fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by ciga ret e ends whi ch peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They wer e also quit e sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not star t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accidental y discover ed the cause. He noticed t he remains of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snatched up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped it on to the wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spa r ks down to the ground and these im medi ately st ar ted a fi re. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakf ast , I sent the chil dren t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket . It was sti l ear ly when I retur ned hom e. The chil dr en were at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some tar ts f or tea. I n a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sticky pastr y. At exact ly that m oment , the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r eceiver between two sticky f ingers and was dismayed when I r ecogni zed the voice of Mr s Bates. It took m e ten m inute s to per suade her to r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he receiver. What a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang loud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi stered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold mine 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng lost tr easure alm ost came tr ue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。You don39。Thi s is t he pr e t iest carpet I have ever seen,39。Wel , in t hat case, I prefer t o stay on t he bus,39。We are going back now,39。Il l get of f her e.39。t mat er ,39。 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 I asked. 39。 39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。 You39。l l tel l you wher e to get off ,39。 39。 but I don39。m goi ng to Woodfor d Gr en,39。t li ke losing m y way. I went on an excur si on r ecentl y, but my t ri p took me longer than I expected. 39。 230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thom pson is up f or sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng to sel i t because i t i s haunt ed. He t ol d m e t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one ni ght because he hear d a st r ange noise i ng f r om t he bar . The next mor ni ng, he f ound that he door s had been bl ocked by chai r s and t he f ur nit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t urned t he l i ght s of f befor e he went t o be d, t hey wer e on i n t he m orni ng. He al so sai d t hat he had f ound fi ve em pt y whi sky bott l es whi ch the ghost m ust have dr unk the ni ght befor e. When I suggest ed t hat some vi l agers m ust have e in f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil lagers ha ve t ol d him t hat they wi l not accept t he inn even if he gi ves i t away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l me som et hi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask quest i ons when i t i s im possi bl e f or you t o answer. My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi