【正文】 me money, she looked into a crystal bal l and said: 39。cur sed t ree39。The Revealer 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e t ime and r ead the carpet! 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for some t ime t hen added, 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward f or virt ue 對(duì)美德 的獎(jiǎng)賞 My f ri end, Herber t, has al ways been f at , but t hings got so bad r ecentl y that 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 long l ist of al l t he foods whi ch wer e f orbidden. The l ist included most of the thi ngs He r bert loves: but ter, potatoes, r ice, beer , mil k, chocol ate, and sweets. Yest erday I pai d him a vi si t. I r ang t he bel l and was not surpr ised to see that Herbert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed me int o his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was very embar rassed. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put t he par ce l on t he desk. He expl ai ned that his diet was so str ict that he had t o r ewar d him sel f occasi onal ly. Then he showed me t he cont ent s of the parcel. I t contai ned f ive l arge bars of chocol at e and thr e bags of sweet s! Leson52 A pret y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have just m oved i nto a new house and I have been wor ki ng hard al l m orning. I have been tr ying t o get my new r oom i n order. Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To make mat ers wor se, the r oom i s rat her smal , so I have tem por ar i ly put my books on the f loor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on them t o get i n or out of t he room. A shor t while ago, my si st er helped m e to car y one of my ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went into my r oom and got a big surpr ise when she saw al l those books on t he fl oor . 39。 said the conductor . 39。l l get off here. 39。 I said. 39。 I t doesn39。 sai d the conduct or suddenl y.39。 I asked. 39。 39。 the conduct or said. 39。 You39。l l tel you where to get off ,39。 39。 but I don39。m goi ng to Woodf ord Green,39。t li ke l osi ng my way. I went on an excur si on recent ly, but m y tr ip took me longer t han I expect ed. 39。 年產(chǎn) 萬(wàn)噸環(huán)氧乙烷 /乙二醇車間環(huán)氧乙烷合成工段工藝設(shè)計(jì) My dent i st had j ust pull ed out one of my teet h and had tol d me t o r est for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my mout h was f ull of cot tonwool . He knew I collected bi rds39。 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 m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where the toot h had been. I suddenl y f el t ver y wor ri ed, but could not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om m y mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m that he had pull ed out t he wr ong tooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For the f ir st t ime i n his lif e, he became t he pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spr ings and a mat ress. Because t he weat her was very hot , he car ri ed the bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he fi rst two ni ghts, but on t he thir d night , a st or m blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he cour tyard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had str uck t he gr ound. Al t hough t he bed was smashed to pi eces, t he man was mi raculously unhurt . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat res s. 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 promptl y went to sl ep again. Leson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風(fēng) I l ove t r avel ing i n the countr 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。This i s the pr et ti est carpet I have ever seen, 39。You don39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f or est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng to fi nd out how t he fi re began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci garet e ends whi ch peopl e car el esly thr ow away. Yeste r day the f ir em en exami ned t he ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e to f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a cigar et te end did not star t the f ir e. This morning, however , a fi reman accident al y discovered t he cause. He not iced t he remains of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000 volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve the myst er y. The expl anati on was simpl e but very unusual . A bi rd had snat ched up the snake f rom the gr ound 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 ngers 粘糊的手指 Af t er br eakfast, I sent t he chi ldr en to school and then I went to market. I t was st il earl y when I r et urned home. The chi ldren wer e at school, my husba