【正文】 the shop wi ndow t o get he dr ess. As soon as she saw i t, t he wom an s ai d s m any ti es.39。 has been invented and it has been used to det ect gold which has been buri ed i n the gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashore wher ei t i s said pi rates used t o i nt o the cave hoping to fi nd buri ed t reasur e. The leader of the part y was exami ni ng t he soi l near t he ent rance to t he cave when t he mac hi ne showed t hat ther e was gol d under t he gr ound. Ver y excited, t he part y dug a hole t wo feet deep. They f inal ly f ound a small gol d coin which was almost wort hl ess. The par ty t hen searched the whol e cave t hor oughl y but di d not fi nd anyt hi ng except an empty ti n tr unk. I n spit e of t hi s, m any people are confi dent t hat 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir emen have put out a bi g forest fi re i n Cali for nia. Si nce t hen, they have been t rying to f ind out how t he f ir e began. Forest fi re are oft en caused by broken glas or by cigar et te ends whi ch people car el esl y thr ow away. Yester day t he fir em en exam ined t he gr ound caref ul y, but were not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl ass. They wer e al so quit e sure that a cigar et te end di d not start t he fi re. This m or ni ng, however, a fir em an acident al y di scover ed t he cause. He noti ced the rem ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he el ectri c wir es of a 16,000 volt power l ine. I n this way, he was abl e t o solve the m yst er y. The expl anat ion was simple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat ched up t he snake fr om the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o t he wi res. The snake then wound i tsel f r ound the wir es. When it did so, it sent spar ks down t o the gr ound and t hese imm ediately start ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter br eakf ast, I sent t he chil dr en t o school and t hen I went to market . It was stil l earl y when I r et urned hom e. The chi l dr en were at school , m y husband was at work and t he house was qui et . So I decided t o m ake some t ar ts f or tea. I n a shor t ime I was busy mi xi ng but ter and fl our and my hands wer e soon cover ed wit h sti cky pastr y. At exact ly t hat m oment , t he t el ephone rang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I picked up the receiver bet ween t wo sti cky fi ngers and was di smayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. It t ook m e ten m inut es t o per suade her to r ing back later. At last I hung up t he r ecei ver. What a mes! There was past ry on my fi ngers, on the telephone, and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to t he kit chen t han the door bel l r ang loud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was t he post man and he want ed me t o si gn f or a registered leter ! Leson55 Not a gol d mine 并非金礦 Dreams of fi ndi ng l ost reasure almost came tr ue r ecent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。You don39。This is t he preti est car pet I have ever seen,39。Wel l, i n t hat case, I pr ef er t o stay on t he bus,39。We ar e going back now,39。Il l get off her e.39。t mater, 39。 I fot t o put you off. 39。Oh dear,39。 Is t hi s Woodford Gr en ?39。This i s as far as we go.39。l l have t o get off here,39。 answered the conductor. I sat i n t he f r ont of the bus t o get a good view of the count rysi de. After som e tim e, t he bus stopped. Looking round, I r eali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he only pasenger left on the bus. 39。 I39。 but I don39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Green,39。t li ke l osing m y way. I went on an excur si on r ecentl y, but my t ri p t ook me l onger than I expect ed. 39。230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thom pson is up for sale. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng t o sel l it because i t i s haunt ed. He t ol d m e that he could not go to sleep one ni ght because he heard a str ange noise ing fr om the bar. The next m or ni ng, he f ound that t he doors had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he f urnit ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had tur ned t he l i ghts off bef or e he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ni ng. He al so sai d that he had f ound fi ve em pt y whi sky bot tl es whi ch t he ghost m ust have dr unk t he night bef or e. When I suggest ed t hat som e vi l ager s m ust have e in f or a fr e dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook his head. The vil lager s have t ol d him t hat hey wil l not accept t he i nn even i f he gives it away. Leson48 Did you want to t el me som et hi ng? 你想對(duì)我說什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask questi ons when i t i s impossi bl e for you t o answer. My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had t ol d m e to r est f or a whil e. I tri ed t o say something, but m y m outh was f ull of cot ton wool. He knew I col lect ed bir ds39。 l esson46 Expensive and unf ortabl e 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane f rom London ar ri ved at Sydney air por t, wor ker s began to unl oad a num ber of wooden boxes which cont ai ned clothing. No one coul d account f or t he f act hat one of t he boxes was ext rem el y heavy. It suddenly occurr ed t o one of t he worker s t o open up t he box. He was astoni shed at what he f ound. A m an was l yi ng in t he box on t op of a pil e of wooll en goods. He was so sur pri sed at bei ng di scovered that he di d not even tr y t o r un away. After he was ar rest ed, the m an adm it ed hi di ng i n t he box bef or e the pl ane left London. He had had a l ong and un f ort abl e t ri p, f or he had been conf i ned t o t he wooden box f or over t en hour s. The m an was or der ed t o pay amp。s money was paid back i n t hi s way. The l ast not e sai d:39。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hi ef now!39。but only 5o per cent a t hi ef !39。 Leson45 A clear consci ence 問心無愧 The whol e vi l age soon l ear nt that a l ar ge sum of money had been l ost. Sam Benton, t he l ocal but cher, had l ost his wal et whi le taking hi s savi ngs to t he post offi ce. Sam was sur e