【正文】 as been asked t o have t he t r ee cut down, but s o f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that he tr ee i s a usef ul sour ce of in e as t ouri sts have been i ng fr om al l par ts of t he countr y t o se i t. I n spi te of al t hat has been sai d, t he t ouri st s have been pi cki ng l eaves and cutt i ng their nam es on t he t reet r unk. So f ar , not one of them has been st r uck down by sudden deat h! Lesson59 In or out ？ 進(jìn)來(lái)還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used t o si t out si de our fr ont gate and bar k. Ever y t im e he wanted t o e i nt o t he gar den he woul d bar k unti l s om eone opened t he gat e. As t he neighbour s pl ai ned of t he noi se, m y husband spent weks tr ai ning him t o pr ess his paw on t he l at ch to l et him sel f i n. Re x soon becam e an exper t at openi ng t he gat e. However, when I was goi ng out shoppi ng l ast wek, I not iced him i n t he garden ne ar t he gat e. Thi s tim e he was barki ng so t hat someone woul d l et him out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t. As soon as he opens t he gat e fr om t he out si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai ts unti l the gate shuts. Then he sit s and bar ks until someone let s hi m out. Aft er t his he im mediat el y l et s hi mself 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 sen him si nce. Lesson60 The f ut ure 卜算未來(lái) At a vil lage f ai r, I deci ded t o visit a f ort une tel er cal ed Madam Bel li nsky. I went i nt o her t ent and she t ol d m e t o si t down. Aft er I had gi ven her som e money, she l ooked i nt o a cr yst al bal and sai d: 39。cur sed tr ee39。The Reveal er39。t need bookcases a t al l. You can sit her e in your spar e ti me and r ead t he car pet!39。 she sai d. She gazed at it f or some t im e then added, 39。r ewar d hi mself occasi onal y. Then he showed m e t he cont ent s of t he parcel. It contai ned f i ve l arge bars of chocol at e and t hr e e bags of sweet s! Lesson52 A pret t y carpet 漂亮的地毯 We have j ust moved i nt o a new house and I have been wor ki ng har d al m or ni ng. I have been tr yi ng t o get m y new r oom i n or der . Thi s has not been easy because I own over a t housand books. To m ake m at t er s wor se, the r oom i s rat her sm al , so I have t em por ar il y put my books on t he f l oor . At the m om ent, t hey cover ever y i nch of f l oor space and I act ual l y have t o wal k on t hem t o get i n or out of t he r oom . A short whi le ago, m y sist er helped me t o car y one of m y ol d bookcases up t he st air s. She went i nt o my r oom and got a bi g sur pr i se when she saw al t hose books on the f l oor. 39。Thi s i s the pr et ti est car pet I have ever seen,39。You don39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At l ast f ir em en have put out a bi g f orest f ir e i n Cal if or ni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been t r yi ng t o fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of t en caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends which peopl e carel essl y t hr ow away. Yest er day t he fi remen exam i ned t he gr ound car ef ull y, but wer e not able t o f ind any br oken gl ass. They wer e also quit e sur e t hat a ci gar et te end di d not st ar t he f ir e. Thi s m or ni ng, however , a fi r em an accident al y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he r em ai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e t o sol ve the m yst er y. The expl anati on was si mpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snat c hed up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped i t on t o t he 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 im m edi at el y start ed a f ir e. Lesson54 Sti cky 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 at wor k and t he house was qui et. So I deci ded 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 sti cky past r y. At exact l y that 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 recei ver bet ween t wo sti cky fi nger s and was di sm ayed 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 l at er . At last I hung up t he r eceiver. What a m ess ! Ther e was past r y on m y f ingers, on the t el ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki t chen t han t he door be l r ang loud enough t o wake t he dead. Thi s ti me i t was the post man and he want ed m e t o si gn f or a r egi st er ed l et t er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eam s of fi ndi ng l ost tr easur e alm ost came t r ue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。 has been i nvented and i t has been used t o det ect gol d which has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e wherei t i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pir ates woul d oft en bury gol d i n t he cave and t hen fail t o coll ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new machi ne, a search part y went he di d not li ke it. She enj oyed hersel f maki ng t he asist ant bri ng alm ost ever yt hi ng i n t he window bef or e fi nal y buyi ng t he dr es she had fi rst asked f or . Leson58 A bl essing i n di sguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t i ny vi l age of Fr i nl ey is sai d t o posses a 39。. Because t he tr ee was m ent i oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit or s t o Fri nley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it i s onl y i n r ecent years t hat i t has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone