【正文】 om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o the wi r es. The snake t hen wound i tsel f r ound t he wir es. When it di d so, it sent sparks down t o t he gr ound and t hese i mm edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 St icky fi ngers 粘糊的手指 Aft er br eakf ast, I sent t he chi l 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 dren wer e at school , m y husband was a t wor k and t he house was quiet. So I decided t o m ake som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butt er and f lour and m y hands were soon cover ed wit h st i cky past r y. At exact l y t hat m om ent , t he t el ephone r ang. Not hi ng coul d have been m or e annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r ecei ver bet wen t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed when I r ecogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t ook me t en mi nut es t o persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast 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 t o t he kit chen t han the door bel l rang l oud enough t o wake t he dead. This t im e it was t he postm an and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dream s of fi nding l ost tr easur e al most cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。You don39。Thi s i s t he pr et i est car pet I have ever seen,39。Wel l, i n that case, I pr ef er to st ay on the bus, 39。We ar e goi ng back now,39。l l get off here.39。 I said. 39。I t doesn39。 I f ot to put you off .39。Oh dear,39。 I s t hi s Woodf or d Gr een ?39。Thi s is as f ar as we go.39。of f here,39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 39。t mat er,39。I 39。 39。 sai d t he conduct or . 39。 I answer ed. Leson51 Reward for vi rt ue 對美德的獎賞 My fr iend, Her ber t, has al ways been fat, but thi ngs got so bad recent ly t hat he decided t o go on a di et. He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wr ot e out a long li st of al t he f oods whi ch were f orbi dden. The l i st i ncl uded m ost of the t hi ngs Herbert l oves: but ter, pot at oes, ri ce, beer , mi lk, chocolat e, and sweet s. Yester day I pai d hi m a visit . I rang t he bel and was not sur pri sed t o see t hat Her bert was sti l as f at as ever . He l ed m e i nt o his r oom and hurr iedl y hi d a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvi ous t hat he was ver y em bar r assed. When I asked hi m what he was doi ng, he sm il ed gui lt il y and t hen put the parcel on the desk. He expl ai ned t hat hi s di et was so st ri ct t hat he had t o r ewar d hi msel f occasional l y. Then he showed m e t he cont ents of t he par cel . It cont ained fi ve l ar ge bar s of chocolat e and t hre e bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pret t y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust m oved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng har d al m or ning. I have been tr ying t o get m y new r oom i n order. This has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at er s wor se, t he r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put m y books on the f loor. At t he moment, t hey cover ever y inch of fl oor spac e and I act ual y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whil e ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car r y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st ai rs. She went i nt o m y r oom and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al t hose books on t he f l oor. 39。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for som e ti me t hen added, 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e i n your spar e ti me and r ead t he car pet !39。The Reveal er39。cur sed tr ee39。 if he pi cks a leaf, he wi l die. Many vil l agers beli eve that the t ree has al r eady claim ed a num ber of vi ct im s. The vi car has been asked t o have the t ree cut down, but so far he has ref used. He has poi nt ed out t hat t he tr ee is a usef ul sour ce of in e as t our ists have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o see i t. I n spit e of al l that has been sai d, t he t ouri st s have been pi cki ng leaves and cutt ing t hei r nam es on the t reet runk. So f ar , not one of t hem has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y tim e he want ed t o e i nt o t he gar den he would bar k unt il s omeone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s pl ained of t he noi se, my husband spent weeks tr ai ni ng hi m to pr es hi s paw on t he lat ch t o l et him sel f in. Rex soon becam e an exper t at opening t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast week, I noti ced hi m in t he gar den near t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d let him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e f rom the outsi de, he es int o the gar den and wait s unti l t he gate shuts. Then he si ts and barks unti l som eone l et s him out . Af ter t hi s he imm edi atel y l ets him sel f i n and begi ns bar ki ng agai n. Yest er day m y husband r em oved t he gat e and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him si nce. Lesson60 The fut ure 卜算未來 At a vil l age f ai r, I decided t o vi sit a f ort unet el er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her tent and she t ol d m e to sit down. Af ter I had given her some m oney, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal l and said: 39。 As soon as I went out si de, I f ot al l about Madam Bel li nsky because m y wif e hurr ied t owar ds me. 39。 she asked im pat i entl y. 39。 As she walked away, I f oll owed her out of the f ai r. Lesson61 Troubl e wi t h t he H ubbl e 哈勃望 遠鏡的困境 I n f ut ur e, ast r onauts wi l be r equi red t o descend fr om a spaceshi p whi l e it i s st il l i n space and t o r et urn t o it . The abil it y t o do t hi s wil l be necess