【正文】 quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil. Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不覺得好笑 Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his fine sense of humoreverybody, that is, except his sixyearold daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Geoffrey39。Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her. We are late already.39。Where have you been hiding ?39。A relation of yours is ing to see you. She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A woman you know well will rush towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place. That is all.39。. Because the tree was mentioned in a newspaper, the number of visitors to Frinley has now increased. The tree was planted near a church fifty years ago, but it is only in recent years that it has gained an evil reputation. It is said that if anyone touches the tree, he will have bad luck。 has been invented and it has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground. The machine was used in a cave near the seashore whereit is saidpirates used to hide gold. The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it. Armed with the new machine, a search party went he did not like it. She enjoyed herself making the assistant bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for. Lesson58 A blessing in disguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a 39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fire are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself round the wires. When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire. Lesson54 Sticky fingers 粘糊的手指 After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some tarts for tea. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter ! Lesson55 Not a gold mine 并非金礦 Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently. A new machine called 39。You don39。This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen,39。Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the bus,39。We are going back now,39。ll get off here.39。 I said. 39。It doesn39。 I fot to put you off.39。Oh dear,39。 Is this Woodford Green ?39。This is as far as we go.39。off here,39。 the conductor said. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 said the conductor suddenly.39。 39。t matter,39。I39。 39。 said the conductor. 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward for virtue 對美德的獎賞 My friend, Herbert, has always been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden. The list included most of the things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room and hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious that he was very embarrassed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained that his diet was so strict that he had to reward himself occasionally. Then he showed me the contents of the parcel. It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pretty carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been trying to get my new room in order. This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. At the moment, they cover every inch of floor space and I actually have to walk on them to get in or out of the room. A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the floor. 39。 she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, 39。t need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!39。The Revealer39。cursed tree39。 if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cu