【正文】 n48 Di d you want t o tel l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossi ble f or you to answer. My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h and had told me t o rest for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot tonwool . He knew I col lected bi rds39。 lesson46 Expensi ve and un fortabl e 既昂貴又受罪 When a pl ane f rom London ar ri ved at Sydney ai rpor t, wor ker s began t o unload a number of wooden boxes whi ch cont ai ned cl othing. No one could account for t he fact that one of t he boxes was extr em el y heavy. It suddenly occurr ed to one of t he workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was l ying i n the box on t op of a pil e of woollen goods. He wa s so sur pr ised at bei ng discovered t hat he di d not even tr y t o r un away. Af ter he was ar est ed, the m an adm it ted hidi ng in t he box bef ore t he plane lef t London. He had had a long and unf ort abl e tr i p, f or he had been conf ined t o the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered t o pay amp。s m oney was paid back in this way. The l ast note said:39。 Only 25 per cent a thief now!39。but only 5o per cent a t hief! 39。 Lesson45 A clear conscience 問心無愧 The whole vi l age soon l ear nt t hat a l arge sum of money had been lost . Sam Benton, the l ocal butcher , had lost hi s wal et whi le t aki ng his savi ngs to t he post of fi ce. Sam was sure t hat he wal et must have been f ound by one of t he vi l ager s, but it was not retur ned to hi m. Three months passed, and t hen one morning, Sam f ound his wal et out si de his f ront door . It had been wr apped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had l ost , t oget her wi th a note whi ch sai d: 39。 sai d Mrs St er li ng lat er , 39。whi l e she was havi ng a piic at the edge of a f or est wi th her chil dr en and tr ied t o steal her handbag. I n t he st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi t h the bag i n their possessi on, both men start ed running t hrough the t rees. Mrs St erl ing got so angr y that she r an aft er t hem . She was soon out of br eat h, but she conti nued to r un. When she caught up wi th them, she saw that hey had sat down and were goi ng through 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。The str ap needs mending,39。but they did not steal anythi ng. 39。A t hi ef, yes, 39。 Two m ont hs l ater, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。 I n ti me, al Sam39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr i ce of a t icket i s amp。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or made str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear ching out the hole wher e t he tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worr ied, but could not say anythi ng. When the dent ist at l ast r emoved t he cot ton wool f rom my mouth, I was abl e to tel him t hat he had pulled out the wr ong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me in his l if e, he became the proud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m at tr es. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo night s, but on the t hi rd night, a stor m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed of f the r oof and sent i t cr ashi ng int o the court yar d below. The young m an did not wake up until t he bed had st ruck the gr ound. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, the m an was mir acul ously unhur t. When he woke up, he was st il l on the mat tr ess. Glancing at the bit s of wood and metal that lay ar ound hi m, the man sadly pi cked up t he mat ress and car ri ed it int o his house. Af ter he had put i t on the f loor, he prompt ly went t o sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love tr avel li ng in t he count r y, but I don39。 I39。 I sai d to the conductor as I got on t he bus, 39。t know wher e i t is.39。 I 39。 answer ed the conductor . I sat in t he fr ont of t he bus t o get a good vi ew of the countr ysi de. Af ter som e ti me, the bus st opped. Looki ng round, I reali zed wi th a shock t hat I was the onl y passenger lef t on the bus. 39。l l have t o get of f her e,39。Thi s is as far as we go.39。 Is t his Woodf ord Green ?39。Oh dear ,39。 I for got t o put you of f. 39。t mat ter, 39。I 39。 We ar e goi ng back now, 39。Wel l, in that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。Thi s is t he pret iest carpet I have ever seen,39。You don39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f i remen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cali for nia. Since then, they have been tr ying t o f ind out how the f ir e began. Forest fi re ar e oft en caused by br oken gl as or by cigar et te ends which people carelessl y t hr ow away. Yest erday the f ir emen exam ined the gr ound car ef ull y, but were not able t o f ind any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f i re. Thi s mor ning, however, a f ir eman 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 16,000 vol t power l ine. I n t his way, he was abl e to sol ve the myster y. The explanat ion was simple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up t he snake fr om t he ground and then dropped it on t o t he wir 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 ound and t hese i mmediatel y start ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter br eakfast, I sent t he chi ldr en to