【正文】 er, 39。 slowly. I t obvi ously could not t el l the di f er ence between I ndian music and j azz! Leson43 Over the Sout h Pole 飛越南極 I n 1929, thr ee year s af ter his f li ght over the Nor th Pol e, t he Amer ican expl orer, R. E. Byr d, successf ul ly fl ew over t he Sout h Pole f or the f ir st t im e. Though, at fi rst, Byr d and his m en wer e able t o t ake a gr eat many photographs of the mountai ns that l ay bel ow, they soon ran i nto seri ous t rouble. At one poi nt, i t seemed cer tai n that their plane woul d crash. I t could onl y ge t over the m ount ai ns if i t r ose to 10,000 f eet . Byrd at once or dered his m en to t hrow out t wo heavy food sacks. The pl ane was then abl e t o ri se and i t clear ed the m ount ai ns by 400 feet. Byr d now knew t hat he would be abl e to reach the South Pol e which was 300 mi les away, for there were no mor e mountai ns in sight . The ai rcraf t was abl e to f ly over t he endless whit e plai ns wi t hout dif fi cul ty. Lesson44 Through t he forest 穿過森林 Mr s Anne Ster li ng di d not think of t he ri sk she was t aki ng when she ran t hr ough a for est aft er two men. They had rushed up to her whi le she was havi ng a piic at t he edge of a f or est wi th her chil dr en and tr ied t o steal her handbag. In t he st ruggle, the st rap broke and, wit h the bag i n their possessi on, both men start ed running t hrough t he t r es. Mr s St erl ing got so angr y that she r an af t er them. She was soon out of breath, but she conti nued t o run. When she caught up wi th t hem , she saw t hat they had sat down and wer e going t hr ough the contents of the bag, so she r an st rai ght at them. The men got such a f r ight that hey dropped the bag and ran away. 39。 she answer ed. Ten mi nut es later we wal ked out of the shop together. My wi fe was wear ing a hat that looked li ke a li ght house ! Leson42 Not very m usi cal 并非很懂音樂 As we had had a long walk through one of the m ar ket s of Old Delhi, we st opped at a squar e to have a r est . Af t er a t im e, we not iced a snakecharm er wi th two large basket s at t he other si de of the squar e, so we went t o have a l ook at hi m. As soon as he saw us, he picked up a long pi pe which was cover ed wit h coins and opened one of the baskets. When he began to pl ay a tune, we had our f ir st gl im pse of the snake. I t rose out of t he basket and began t o f ollow the m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e ver y much surpr ised when the snake charm er suddenl y began t o play j azz t unes and modern pop songs. The snake, however, conti nued t o 39。And a wom an can39。m any t i es. 39。 39。t have too m any hats,39。dance39。The str ap needs mendi ng, 39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hing.39。A thief , yes, 39。 Two months lat er , some more money was sent to Sam wit h anot her not e: 39。 In ti me, al l Sam39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr ice of a t icket i s amp。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was growi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whet her I l iked my new job i n 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 chi ng out t he hole wher e the t oot h had been. I suddenly f elt ver y wor ri ed, but coul d not say anything. When t he dent ist at l ast removed t he cot tonwool f rom my m out h, I was able t o t el l him that he had pul led out the wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sleeping on t he fl oor , a young man in Teheran saved up for year s t o buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime in hi s li fe, he became t he proud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was ver y hot , he car ri ed the bed on t o the r oof of hi s house. He sl ept very wel f or t he fi rst two nights , but on t he thi rd ni ght , a st orm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it cr ashing i nto t he cour tyard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unt il the bed had str uck the ground. Alt hough t he bed was sm ashed to pi eces, t he man was mi ra culously unhurt . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat ress. Gl anci ng at t he bit s of wood and m et al t hat l ay around him, t he man sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ied i t into hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he fl oor , he prompt ly went to sl eep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t ravel li ng in the count ry, but I don39。 I 39。 I said 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 l you where t o get of f, 39。 You39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。 39。t mat er ,39。Il l get of f here.39。We are goi ng back now,39。Wel , in t hat case, I pref er t o stay on t he bus,39。Thi s is t he pret iest car pet I have ever seen,39。You don39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cali for nia. Since then, t hey have been tr ying t o f ind out how the f ir e began. Forest f i 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 fi nd any broken glass. They were al so qui te sure that a ci gar et e end di d not st art the f ir e. Thi s mor ni ng, however, a f ir em an acidental ly di scover ed the cause. He noti ced the r emai ns of a snake which was wound r ound the electr ic wi r es of a 16,000vol t power l ine. I n t his way, he was abl e to solve t he mystery. The explanat ion was simple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snatched up the snake fr om t he ground and t hen dropped it on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound i tself r ound the wi res. When it did so, it sent sparks down t o the gr ound and t hese i mmediatel y start ed a f ir e. Leson54 Sti cky fi