【正文】 d my new job i n London. In answer to these quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade st range 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 coul d not say anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott onwool 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 美夢告終 Ti red of sleeping 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 orm 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 di d not wake up unti l the bed had str uck t he ground. Al t hough t he bed was smashed to pi eces, t he ma n was mi raculousl y unhur t . When he woke up, he was sti l on t he matr es. Gl ancing at t he bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, the m an sadly picked up the mat tr ess and car ri ed it i nto hi s house. Af t er he had put i t on the f loor , he pr omptl y went to sleep agai n. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t raveli ng in the count ry, but I don39。 I39。 I said to t he conductor as I got on t he bus,39。t know wher e it i s. 39。 I 39。 answered t he conductor. I sat i n t he f r ont of the bus t o get a good view of the count ryside. Aft er some ti me, t he bus st opped. Looki ng round, I r eal ized wi th a shock that I was the only passenger left on t he bus. 39。l l have t o get of f her e, 39。This i s as far as we go.39。 Is t his Woodf ord Gr een ?39。Oh dear, 39。 I f ot to put you off .39。I t doesn39。 I said. 39。l get off 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 sen,39。You don39。 Leson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last fi remen have put out a big for est fi re in Cal if or nia. Since then, they have be en t rying t o f ind out how t he fi re began. Forest fi re ar e oft en caused by broken glas or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people care l essly t hrow away. Yesterday t he fi remen examined t he gr ound car ef ull y, but were not able t o f ind any broken glass. They wer e al so qui te sur e that a cigaret e end did not start t he fi re. This mor ning, however, a f ir eman aci dental ly di scover ed the cause. He noti ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he elect r ic wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able to solve t he myst ery. The expl anat ion was sim pl e but ver y unusual. A bi rd had snatched up the snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dropped it on t o the wi res. The snake then wound i tsel f round t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spar ks down to the ground and these im medi ately st ar ted a fi re. Lesson54 Sti cky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast, I sent the chil dren t o school and then I went t o mar ket . It was sti l ear ly when I retur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , my husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I decided t o make som e tart s f or t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mi xi ng butter and f lour and m y hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exact ly t hat moment , t he tel ephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I pi cked up t he receiver bet ween two st icky f inger s and was dismayed when I recogni zed t he voice of Mr s Bates. I t took me ten mi nut es to per suade her t o r ing ba ck later . At last I hung up t he r ecei ver . What a mess! There was pastr y on my fi nger s, on t he telephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang loud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s ti me i t was t he post man and he wanted me t o sign f or a regist er ed let ter ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m ine 并非金礦 Dreams of f inding l ost t reasur e almost came tr ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。 has been i nvented and i t has been used t o detect gold which has been bur ied i n the gr ound. The machi ne was used i n a cave near the seashore wher e it i s saidpi rates used to hi de gol d. The pi rat es woul d oft en bur y gold in t he cave and t hen f ail t o col lect it . Ar med wi t h the new m achi ne, a sear ch par ty went i nto t he cave hoping t o fi nd buri ed tr easure. The leader of t he par ty was examini ng the soil near t he ent rance to the cave when the machine showed that here was gold under the gr ound. Very excit ed, t he par ty dug a hol e two feet deep. They fi nal ly f ound a sm al l gol d coin whi ch was almos t wort hless. The part y then sear ched t he whole cave thoroughly but did not f ind anyt hi ng except an em pt y t in t r unk. In spit e of t hi s, m any peopl e ar e confi dent t hat 39。 m ay r eveal som et hing of val ue f ai rl y soon. Leson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a race is hel d for ol d car s. A lot of car s ent ered f or t his r ace l ast year and t her e was a gr eat deal of exci teme nt just bef or e i t began. One of t he m ost handsom e car s was a Roll s Royce Si l ver Ghost . The most unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y t hr ee wheel s. Bui lt i n 1885, it was t he oldest car taking part . Aft er a great m any loud expl osi ons, t he r ace began. Many of t he car s br oke down on t he cour se and some dr i ver s spent m ore t im e under t heir cars t han in t hem ! A f ew car s, however , pl eted t he race. The wi nni ng car reached a speed of f ort y mi les an hour m uch f ast er t han any of i ts r i vals. It sped downhi l at the end of the r ace and i ts dri ver had a l ot of t r oubl e tr yi ng t o st op it . The rac