【正文】 sts al ways ask quest ions when it i s im possible f or you to answer. My dent ist had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi l e. I tr ied to say somethi ng, but my mout h was ful l of cott onwool. He knew I col lected bir ds39。 l esson46 Expensive and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane fr om London ar ived at Sydney air por t, wor ker s began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clot hi ng. No one could account f or the f act that one of the boxes was extr emely heavy. I t suddenl y occur red t o one of the wor ker s to open up t he box. He was astonished at what he f ound. A man was lyi ng in t he box on top of a pi le of wooll en goods. He was so sur pri sed at being discover ed that he did not even t ry to r un away. Af t er he was ar rested, t he man admit ted hi di ng in the box befor e the pl ane l ef t London. He had had a l ong and unfor table t ri p, for he had been confi ned to t he wooden box f or over ten hour s. The man was or der ed to pay amp。s money was pai d back i n t hi s way. The last note said: 39。 Onl y 25 per cent a thi ef now! 39。but only 5o per cent a thief !39。t . Geoff rey asked her why t his was so and she told hi m that she did not l ike t o see so m any peopl e l aughi ng at hi m ! Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 I n l 858, a Fr ench engi neer , Ai m e Thom e de Gam ond, ar r i ved i n Engl and wi t h a pl an f or a t went y one m i l e t unnel acr oss t he Engl i sh Channel . He sai d t hat i t woul d be possi bl e t o bui l d a pl at f or m i n t he cent r e of t he Channel . Thi s pl at f or m woul d ser ve as a por t and a r ai l way st at i on. The t unnel woul d be wel l vent i l at ed i f t al l chi m neys wer e bui l t above sea l evel . I n 1860, a bet t er pl an was put f or war d by an i n newspaper and i t contained half t he money he had lost , together wit h a note whi ch sai d: 39。clock t hi s evening. By t hat t ime, t he Ast ra wil l have been fl ying t hr ough space for seventeen hours and wi l have ci rcl ed the eart h a great many ti mes. When the f ir st r adi o messages have been received, t he results of t he tr ip wil l be announced i mmediatel y. Lesson62 Af ter t he f ire 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ght ing t he for est f ir e for nearl y thr e weeks befor e they could get it under contr ol . A short t ime bef or e, gr eat t rees had covered t he count ryside f or m il es ar ound. Now, smoke st il l rose up fr om the war m gr ound over the desol at e hil ls. Wi nter was ing on and t he hi l s thr eat ened t he sur rounding vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy r ai n would not only wash away t he soi l but woul d cause ser ious f loods as wel l. When the f ir e had at l ast been put out, the f orest aut hor it ies order ed several tons of a special type of grass sed whi ch would gr ow quickly. The seed was spr ayed over t he ground i n huge quanti ti es by aeropl anes. The pl anes had been pl ant ing seed for near ly a month when i t began t o rai n. By then, however, i n m any pl aces the gr ass had alr eady t aken r oot . In pl ace of t he gr eat rees which had been growi ng there for cent uri es, pat ches of green had begun t o appear in the blackened soil . Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺(jué)得好笑 Geof fr ey Hampden has a large ci rcle of f ri ends and i s ver y popul ar at part ies. Ever ybody admir es him for his fi ne sense of humor ever ybody, that is, except hi s si xyear ol d daught er , Jenny. Recentl y, one of Geoff rey39。Your si ster wil l be her e in less than an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We are late al ready. 39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。A r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ivi ng thi s evening and i nt ends t o stay f or a few days. The m oment you l eave t his tent , you wi l get a big surpr ise. A wom an you know wel l wi l l r ush towards you. She wil l speak to you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f rom thi s pl ace. That i s al .39。. Because t he tr ee was mentioned i n a newspaper, the number of visit or s t o Fri nley has now incr eased. The t ree was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it is onl y in recent year s t hat it has gained an evi l reputati on. I t is said t hat i f anyone touches t he tr ee, he wi l have bad luck。 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 m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hide gold. The pir ates would of ten bury gol d i n the cave and then fai l t o coll ect it . Ar med wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making t he asistant bri ng almost ever yt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buyi ng the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil lage of Fr inl ey is said t o posses a 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng to fi nd out how t he fi re began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car el esly thr ow away. Yester day the f ir emen exami ned t he ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e t o fi nd any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however, a f ir em an acidental ly di scover ed the cause. He noti ced the r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound the electr ic wi r es of a 16,000vol t power l ine. I n t hi s way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The explanat ion was sim ple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake fr om t he ground and then dropped it on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound t he wi res. When it did so, it sent sparks down t o the gr