【正文】 her chi ldr en and tr ied to st eal her handbag. I n the st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi th the bag in their possesi on, both m en st art ed running t hr ough the t rees. Mrs St er li ng got so angry that she r an af t er t hem. She was soon out of br eat h, but she cont inued to r un. When she ca ught up wi th them, she saw that hey had sat down and were goi ng thr ough t he cont ent s of t he bag, so she ran str aight at t hem . The m en got such a fr ight that they dr opped t he bag and r an away. 39。 she answer ed. Ten mi nutes lat er we walked out of t he shop t oget her . My wi fe was wear ing a hat that looked li ke a li ghthouse ! Lesson42 Not very musical 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long wal k thr ough one of t he markets of Ol d Delhi , we stopped at a squar e to have a r est . Aft er a ti me, we noticed a snake char mer wit h two lar ge basket s at the other side of the squar e, so we went t o have a look at him. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a l ong pi pe which was covered wi th coins and opened one of t he basket s. When he began to play a t une, we had our fi rst gli mpse of t he snake. I t rose out of t he basket and began to f oll ow t he movem ent s of the pipe. We wer e very m uch sur pr ised when t he snake char mer suddenl y began t o play j az tunes and moder n pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued to 39。And a woman can39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電 的蛇 At l ast fi rem en have put out a bi g for est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Since t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f ind out how t he fi re bega n. For est fi r e ar e oft en caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch people car el esly throw away. Yester day t he fi reme n exami ned t he ground car eful ly, but wer e not able to f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e that a cigaret te end did not star t he fi re. This m orning, however , a fi reman acci dent aly discovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power line. In this way, he was able t o sol ve the m yst er y. The explanati on was si mple but very unusual . A bir d had snat c hed up t he snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on to t he wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round the wi r es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and these imm edi at ely star ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast , I sent the chil dr en to school and t hen I went t o market. I t was st il l ear ly when I r etur ned home. The chi ldr en were at school, m y husband was at ser ve her t his t im e wit h great dif fi cul ty, he clim bed into the shop window t o get the dress. As soon as she saw it, t he woman sai d s m any t ies.39。You don39。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。Il l get off her e.39。t mat er,39。 39。 sa i d the conduct or suddenl y.39。 I asked. 39。Thi s i s as f ar as we go. 39。l l have to get off her e,39。 answer ed t he conductor. I sat i n t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of t he countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus st opped. Looki ng r ound, I reali zed wit h a shock t hat I was t he onl y pasenger l ef t on t he bus. 39。 I 39。 but I don39。m goi ng t o Woodf or d Gr een,39。t li ke losing m y way. I went on an excur si on r ecentl y, but my t ri p t ook m e l onger than I expect ed. 39。 230 ! Leson47 A t hirsty ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publi c house whi ch was r ecent l y bought by Mr I an Thom pson i s up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng t o sel l it because it i s haunt ed. He t ol d m e that he coul d not go t o sleep one night because he heard a st range noi s e i ng f r om t he bar. The next m orni ng, he f ound t hat t he door s had been bl ocked by chai rs and t he fur ni t ur e had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned the li ghts of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ni ng. He also sai d t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bottl es whi ch t he ghost must have dr unk t he night bef ore. When I suggested t hat som e vil lager s m ust have e i n f or a fr ee dr i nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vi l ager s have t old him t hat t hey wil l not accept t he i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o t el l m e som et hi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s im possi ble f or you to ans wer. My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h and had t ol d me t o r est f or a whi le. I tr ied t o say som et hi ng, but m y m out h was f ul l of cot ton wool . He knew I col l ect ed bi r ds39。 l eson46 Expensi ve and unf ort able 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane fr om London ar i ved at Sydney ai rport , workers began to unl oad a num ber of wooden boxes whi ch contai ned cl ot hi ng. No one coul d account for t he f act t hat one of t he boxes was ext remel y heavy. I t suddenly occur r ed t o one of t he wor kers t o open up the box. He was ast oni shed at what he f ound. A man was l yi ng i n the box on t op of a pi l e of wool len goods. He was so sur pr ised at bei ng di scovered t hat he di d not even tr y t o run away. Aft er he was ar r ested, the m an admi t ed hi di ng i n t he box bef or e t he pl ane l eft London. He had had a l ong and unf or t abl e tr ip, f or he had been confi ned t o t he wooden box for over t en hour s. The m an was or dered t o pay amp。s m oney was pai d back i n t hi s way. The l ast not e sai d:39。 Onl y 25 per cent a t hief now!39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hief! 39。 Lesson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whol e vi l age soon l ear nt t hat a l ar ge sum of m oney had been l ost. Sam Bent on, t he local but cher, had l ost his wal let whil e t aki ng hi s savi ngs t o t he post off i ce. Sam was sure t hat t he wal et m ust have been f ound by one of t he vil lager s, but it