【正文】 . Because the t ree was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if ty years a go, but it i s only i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil r eputat ion. It is said that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad luck。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d which has been bur ied i n the gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where it i s sai d pi rat es used to hide gold. The pir at es woul d of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o collect it . Arm ed wit h the new machi ne, a sear ch part y went he di d not like i t. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant bri ng al most everyt hi ng in the wi ndow before fi nal ly buying t he 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。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir emen have put out a bi g f or est f ir e i n Cali forni 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 cigaret e ends which peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exami ned the ground caref ul ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They were also quit e sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced 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 to 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 r om t he ground and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound the wi res. When i t di d so, i t sent spa rks down t o t he gr ound and these i mm edi at el y star ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast , I sent t he childr en to school and t hen I went to market. I t was st il l ear ly when I r eturned home. The chi ldr en were at school, my husband was at wor k and the house was qui et. So I deci ded to m ake some t ar t s for tea. In a shor t im e I was busy m ixing but ter and fl our and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactl y that moment, the t elephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I picked up t he recei ver between t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voi ce of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me t en minutes t o persuade her to ri ng back l at er. At l ast I hung up the r eceiver. What a m es! Ther e was past ry on my f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o the ki tchen than the door bel rang l oud enough to wake the dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of f inding lost reasur e alm ost cam e tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。You don39。This i s the pr eti est carpet I have e ver seen, 39。Wel l, in that case, I pr ef er to stay on the bus, 39。 We ar e goi ng back now, 39。I 39。t mat ter, 39。 I for got t o put you of f. 39。Oh dear ,39。 Is t his Woodf ord Green ?39。This is as far as we go.39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。 answer ed the conductor . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus st opped. Looki ng round, I reali zed wi th a shock t hat I was the onl y passenger lef t on the bus. 39。 I 39。t know wher e i t i s.39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on t he bus, 39。 I39。 eggs and asked me whet her m y col lecti on was growi ng. He then asked me how my br other was and whet her I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer t o t hese quest ions I ei ther nodded or made str ange noises. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy searching out the hol e where t he tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worr ied, but could not say anythi ng. When the dentist at last r emoved the cott on wool f r om my mouth, I was abl e to tel him 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 years to buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me i n his l if e, he becam e the pr oud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m at tr es. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on to t he roof of his house. He slept ver y wel l f or the f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on the t hir d night, a stor m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent i t crashi ng int o the court yar d below. The young man did not wake up unti l t he bed had st ruck t he gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the m at tr es. Glancing at the bi ts of wood and metal that la y ar ound hi m, the m an sadl y pi cked up the m at tr es and car ied i t i nto hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he pr omptl y went to sl ep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t ravel ing i n the countr y, but I don39。345 f or t he cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr ice 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 t hi ef , yes, 39。but they did not steal anythi ng. 39。The str ap needs mending,39。s cl osest f ri ends asked hi m to m ake a speech at a wedding r ecepti on. Thi s is t he sor t of t hing t hat Geof fr ey loves. He pr epar ed the speech car eful ly and went to t he wedding wi th Jenny. He had i ncl uded a large number of funny stor ies in the speech and, of cour se, i t was a gr eat success. As soon as he had fi nished, Jenny t ol d him she wanted t o go home. Geof fr e