【正文】 e wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wi r es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down to t he ground and t hese imm edi at ely st ar ted a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er breakf ast , I sent the chil dr en t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket. I t was st il l ear l y when I ret ur ned hom e. The chil dr en wer e at school, m y husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I deci ded t o make som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng but t er and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi t h st icky past r y. At exactl y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been m or e annoying. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky f inger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t t ook m e ten mi nut es t o per suade her t o r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he recei ver . What a mess! Ther e was pastr y on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to t he kit chen t han t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi st ered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold m i ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng l ost t r easur e alm ost cam e tr ue r ecent l y. A new machi ne cal l ed 39。You don39。Thi s i s t he pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。Wel l, i n t hat case, I pr efer t o st ay on t he bus, 39。We ar e goi ng back now, 39。Il l get off her e.39。t mat er,39。 39。 said t he conduct or suddenl y.39。 I asked. 39。 39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。 You39。l l t el l you wher e t o get of f,39。 39。 but I don39。m goi ng to Woodf or d Gr en,39。t l i ke l osi ng my way. I went on an excur si on recent l y, but m y tr i p t ook m e longer t han I expect ed. 39。 230 ! Lesson47 A t hi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thom pson is up f or sal e. Mr Thom pson i s goi ng t o sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He tol d m e t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one ni ght because he hear d a st r ange noise i ng f r om t he bar . The next mor ni ng, he f ound that he doors had been bl ocked by chair s and t he f ur nit ure had been m oved. Though Mr Thom pson had t ur ned t he l i ght s of f befor e he went t o bed, t hey were on i n t he m orni ng. He al so sai d t hat he had f ound fi ve em pt y whi sky bot l es whi ch the ghost m ust have dr unk t he ni ght befor e. When I suggest ed t hat some vi l ager s m ust have e i n f or a f ree dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook his head. The vil l agers have t ol d him t hat t hey wi l not acept t he inn even if he gi ves i t away. Leson48 Di d you want to t el m e som et hing? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Denti st s al ways ask questi ons when i t is im possi bl e f or you t o answer. My denti st had j ust pul l ed out one of m y t eet h and had t ol d m e t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say som et hi ng, but m y m out h was f ull of cot t on wool . He knew I coll ect ed bi r ds39。t en hours. The m an was or der ed t o pay amp。345 f or t he cost of t he t ri p. The norm al pr i ce of a t icket i s amp。 eggs and asked m e whet her m y col l ecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked m e how m y br ot her was and whet her I l i ked m y new j ob in London. I n answer t o t hese questi ons I ei t her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, m y t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where t he t oot h had bee n. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anyt hing. When t he denti st at l ast r em oved t he cot ton wool f rom m y m out h, I was abl e to t el l him t hat he had pul l ed out t he wrong t oot h. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Tir ed of sl eepi ng on t he f l oor, a young m an i n Teheran saved up f or year s to buy a real bed. For t he fi r st ti me i n hi s l i fe, he becam e t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr i ngs 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 roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or t he f ir st t wo ni ght s, but on t he t hir d ni ght, a st or m blew up. A gust of wi nd swept the bed off t he r oof and sent it cr ashi ng i nto 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 the 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 meta l t hat l ay ar ound him , t he m an sadl y pi cked up t he mat r ess and car ri ed it i nt o hi s house. Af t er he had put i t on t he f l oor, he pr om ptl y went to sl ep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r aveli ng i n t he count r y, but I don39。 I39。 I sai d t o the conduct or as I got on the bus, 39。t know where i t is.39。 I39。 answer ed t he conduct or. I sat i n the f r ont of the bus t o get a good view of t he count ryside. Aft er some t im e, t he bus st opped. Looki ng round, I r eal ized wi th a shock t hat I was t he onl y passenger left on t he bus. 39。l l have t o get of f here,39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。Oh dear,39。 I f ot to put you off .39。I t doesn39。 I said. 39。 39。 sai d the conduct or . 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward f or vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My fr iend, Her bert, has al ways been fat, but t hi ngs got so bad r ecent l y t hat he deci ded t o go on a di et . He began hi s diet a week ago. Fir st of al l, he wr ot e out a l ong l ist of al l the f oods whi ch wer e f or bi dden. The li st i ncl uded m ost of t he t hi ngs Her ber t l oves: butt er , pot at oes, r ice, beer, mi l k, chocol at e, and sweet s. Yest er da y I pai d him a vi sit . I r ang t he bel l and was not surpri sed to see t hat Her bert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e i nt o hi s room a nd hur ri edl y hi d a lar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvi ous that he was ver y e