【正文】 was past ry on m y f inger s, on the 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 eter ! Leson55 Not a gold mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng lost tr easure alm ost came t rue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne caled 39。You don39。This i s the pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。Wel l, in that case, I pr ef er to st ay 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。Thi s 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 is.39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on t he bus, 39。 I39。 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. Be cause 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 below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had str uck t he gr ound. Al t hough t he bed was smashed to pi eces, t he man was mi raculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat ress. Gl anci ng at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat l ay around him, t he man sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ied i t into hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he promptl y went to sl ep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r avel ing i n the countr y, but I don39。s cl osest f ri ends asked him t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng r ecepti on. Thi s is t he sor t of t hi ng t hat Geof fr ey l oves. He pr epar ed t he speech caref ul l y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had i ncl uded a l ar ge num ber of f unny st ori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat success. As soon as he had fi ni shed, Jenny t ol d him she wanted t o go hom e. Geof fr ey was a li t l e di sappoi nt ed by thi s but he di d as hi s daught er asked. On t he way hom e, he asked Jenny if she had enj oyed the speech. To his sur pr ise, she sai d she hadn39。 As she wal ked away, I f ol lowed her out of t he f air . Lesson61 Trouble wit h t he H ubble 哈勃望遠鏡的困境 In f utur e, ast r onauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceshi p whi l e it is sti l i n space and t o ret ur n t o it . The abi lit y t o do t hi s wil l be necessar y i n fut ur e fl i ght s to di st ant pl as. Sci ent ist s ar e now t r yi ng to di scover i f t hi s is possi bl e. The spaceship Ast ra whi ch l ef t he eart h a shor t tim e ago, wi l be t raveli ng t hr ee hundr ed m il es int o space. At a cert ai n poi nt , the As t ra wi l st op f or a shor t tim e and an ast r onaut wil at tempt t o l eave t he st at i onar y spaceshi p and t hen ret ur n t o it . We shal l not know whet her t he experi ment has been succesf ul unti l we have recei ved a r adi o message. The f ir st m esage i s expect ed t o ar i ve at 7 o39。 she asked im pat ientl y. 39。 As soon as I went out si de, I f or got al about Madam Bel li nsky because m y wif e hurr ied t owards me. 39。 if he pi cks a l eaf , he wil l die. Many vil lagers beli eve t hat t he tr ee has al ready cl aim ed a num ber of victi ms. The vi car has been asked t o have t he t r ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spit e of al t hat has been sai d, the t our ists have been pi cking l eaves and cut ti ng their nam es on t he t r et r unk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out side our fr ont gat e and bar k. Ever y tim e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bark unti l som eone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s plai ned of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr aini ng hi m t o pr es hi s paw on t he l at ch t o let hi mself i n. Rex soon becam e an expert at openi ng t he gat e. However , when I was goi ng out shoppi ng last week, I not i ced him i n t he gar den near the gate. Thi s ti m e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habit . As soon as he opens t he gat e f r om t he out si de, he es int o the gar den and wait s unt il t he gat e shut s. Then he sit s and bar ks unt il som eone l ets him out. Af t er t hi s he imm edi atel y lets him sel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yester day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Leson60 The f uture 卜算未來 At a vi l age fair , I deci ded t o visit a fort une t el er cal led Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d m e to sit down. Af ter I had gi ven her some m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al