【正文】 He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o sol ve the myster y. The explanation was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat ched up t he snake fr om the ground and then dr opped i t on to t he wir es. The snake t hen wound it self r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mmediat el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il l earl y when I r et urned 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 ts f or tea. In a short t im e I was busy m ixing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exactly that moment, the t elephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been mor e annoyi ng. I picked up the r ece i ver between t wo sti cky f ingers and was di sm ayed when I r ecognized the voice of Mrs Bat es. It t ook me ten m inutes t o per suade her to r i ng back l at er. At last I hung up the r eceiver. What a m ess! Ther e was pastr y on my f ingers, on the t elephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s ti me it was t he post man and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m ine 并非金礦 Dreams of f inding l ost tr easur e al most came tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。You don39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus,39。We are goi ng back now, 39。l l get of f her e. 39。 I sai d. 39。I t doesn39。 I f or got to put you off .39。Oh dear, 39。 I s thi s Woodfor d Gr en ?39。Thi s is as f ar as we go. 39。l have to get off here, 39。 answer ed the conduct or. I sat in the f ront of the bus to get a good view of t he countr yside. Af t er some t ime, the bus stopped. Looking r ound, I r eali zed wit h a shock that I was t he only pasenger l ef t on the bus. 39。 I39。t know where it is.39。 I said t o the conduct or as I got on the bus,39。 I 39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard bel ow. The young m an did not wake up until t he bed had st ruck the gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glancing at the bit s of wood and metal that lay ar ound hi m, the man sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it int o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he prom pt ly went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count ry, but I don39。s closest f r i ends asked hi m t o make a speech at a weddi ng r ecepti on. This i s the sort of t hi ng that Geoff rey l oves. He prepared t he spe ech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l arge number of f unny st ori es in t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat succes. As soon as he had f ini shed, Jenny tol d him she want ed to go hom e. Geoff r ey was a li t le disappoi nted by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed the speech. To his surpr ise, she sai d she hadn39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he fai r. Lesson61 Troubl e wit h t he Hubble 哈勃望遠(yuǎn)鏡的困境 In fut ur e, astr onaut s wil l be requir ed to descend f rom a spaceshi p whil e it i s st il l in space and t o r et urn t o i t. The abili ty to do t his wi l be necessar y i n fut ure f li ght s to di stant pl a s. Scienti st s are now tr yi ng to discover if t hi s is possi ble. The spaceship Astr a which l ef t the eart h a short ti me ago, wil l be tr avel ing t hree hundr ed mi les int o space. At a cer tai n poi nt, the Ast ra wi l l st op for a short ti me and an astr onaut wil l at tempt t o leave the stati onar y spaceshi p and the n r et urn to i t. We shal not know whether the exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have r eceived a r adi o message. The fi rst mes age is expect ed to ar ri ve at 7 o39。 she asked i mpatientl y. 39。 As soon as I went outside, I for got al about Madam Bel insky because my wi fe hurr ied t owards me. 39。 if he picks a l eaf , he wil l di e. Many vil ager s bel ieve t hat the t ree has alr eady cl ai med a number of vi ctim s. The vi car has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so f ar he has r efused. He has point ed out t hat the t ree i s a usef ul source of i ne as t our ists have been ing f rom al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spite of al l t hat has been said, t he touri st s have been picking leaves and cutti ng their names on t he tr e tr unk. So f ar, not one of t hem has been str uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來還是出去？ Our dog, Re