【正文】 n pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued to 39。And a wom an can39。 may r eveal som et hi ng of val ue f ai rl y soon. Leson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a r ace i s hel d f or ol d car s. A l ot of cars enter ed for t hi s r ace l ast year and t her e was a great deal of excit em e nt j ust bef or e it began. One of t he m ost handsome cars was a Rol l s Royce Si lver Ghost . The m ost unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y t hr ee wheel s. Bui lt i n 1885, it was t he ol dest car taking part . Aft er a great m any loud expl osi ons, t he r ace began. Many of the cars br oke down on the cour se and som e dr i ver s spent m ore t im e under t hei r car s than i n them ! A f ew car s, however , pl et ed t he r ace. The wi nni ng car eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hourm uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i val s. It sped downhi l at t he end of t he r ace and i ts dr i ver had a l ot of tr oubl e t ryi ng t o st op i t. The r ace gave ever yone a gr eat deal of pl easure. It was ver y di f fer ent fr om m oder n car races but no l ess exci ti ng. Leson57 Can I hel p you, m adam ? 你要買(mǎi)什么，夫人？ A wom an in bl ue jeans st ood at t he wi ndow of an expensi ve shop. Though she hesit at ed f or a m om ent , she fi nal y went i n and as ked to see a dr ess t hat was i n the wi ndow. The assi st ant who ser ved her di d not l ike t he way she was dr esed. Gl anci ng at her scor nf ul y, he tol d her t hat t he dr ess was sol d. The wom an wal ked out of t he shop angril y and deci ded to puni sh t he asist ant next day. She r etur ned t o t he shop t he foll owi ng m orni ng dr esed i n a f ur coat , wit h a handbag i n one hand and a long um br el l a i n t he ot her. Af ter s eki ng out t he r ude asist ant she asked f or t he same dr es. Not reali zi ng who she was, t he asist ant was eager t o ser ve her t hi s tim e wi th gr eat dif fi cul t y, he cli mbed i nt o t he shop wi ndow t o get t he dr es. As soon as she saw it , t he wom an sai d s many ti es.39。i nt o t he cave hopi ng t o f i nd bur ied t reasur e. The l eader of t he part y was exami ning t he soi l near t he entr ance t o t he cave when t he m achi ne showed t hat t her e was gol d under t he gr ound. Ver y exci t ed, t he part y dug a hol e t wo feet deep. They f i nal y f ound a sm al l gol d coi n whi ch was al m ost wort hl es. The par t y then sear ched t he whol e cave thor oughly but di d not f ind anythi ng except an em pt y ti n tr unk. I n s pit e of t his, many peopl e are confi dent t hat 39。The Reveal er39。 39。t have too m any hats,39。dance39。The st r ap needs m endi ng,39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hi ng. 39。A t hief, yes, 39。 Two m ont hs later, some m or e m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her note:39。 In t im e, al Sam39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 345 f or t he cost of t he tr i p. The norm al pr ice of a ti cket i s amp。 eggs and asked me whet her m y col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked m e how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked m y new job i n London. I n answer t o these questi ons I eit her nodded or m ade st range noi ses. Meanwhil e, m y t ongue was busy sear ching out the hole wher e t he t oot h had been. I suddenl y felt ver y worr ied, but coul d not say anyt hi ng. When t he dent ist at l ast r em oved t he cot t on wool f r om m y m outh, I was abl e t o tel him t hat he had pull ed out t he wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he f l oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s t o buy a real bed. For t he f ir st t im e i n hi s li fe, he becam e t he proud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat r ess. Because t he weat her was ver y hot , he car ri ed t he bed on t o t he r oof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on the t hi r d ni ght, a st orm bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f t he r oof and sent i t crashi ng i nt o t he cour t yar d bel ow. The young m an di d not wake up unt il t he bed had str uck t he gr ound. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed t o pi eces, the m an was m ir acul ousl y unhurt . When he woke up, he was st il l on the m at tr es. Glanci ng at the bit s of wood and m etal t hat lay ar ound him , the m an sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it i nt o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he pr om pt l y went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng i n t he count r y, but I don39。 I 39。 I sai d t o t he conduct or as I got on t he bus,39。t know wher e it i s. 39。l t el you where t o get of f, 39。 You39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 sai d the conduct or suddenl y.39。 39。t mat er,39。Il l get off her e.39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。Thi s is t he pret iest car pet I have ever sen,39。You don39。 Leson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast fi remen have put out a bi g for est fi r e in Cal if or ni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng t o f i nd out how t he fi re began. For est fi r e ar e oft en caused by br oken gl ass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch people car el esly throw away. Yester day t he fi remen 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 al ly di scovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound round the el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 volt power l ine. 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 ched 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