【正文】 but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon cover ed wi th sti cky pastr y. At exactl y t hat m om ent, t he tel ephone rang. Not hing could have been m ore annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he r eceiver bet ween t wo st icky fi nger s and was dismayed 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 lat er . At last I hung up t he r ecei 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 the 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 regist er ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dreams of fi nding l ost t reasur e al m ost cam e t r ue recent ly. A new m achi ne cal led 39。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur i ed 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 of t en bur y gol d i n t he cave and t hen f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi t h t he new m achi ne, a sear ch par ty went he di d not l ike it . She enj oyed her self m aki ng t he assi st ant br i ng alm ost everyt hi ng i n t he wi ndow bef or e f i nal y buyi ng t he dress she had f ir st asked f or. Lesson58 A blessi ng i n di sgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vil l age of Fri nley i s sai d t o possess a 39。. Because t he t ree was m enti oned in a news paper , t he num ber of vi si t or s to Fr i nl ey has now increased. The tr ee was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if t y year s ago, but i t is onl y i n r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at i on. It i s sai d t hat if anyone touches t he tr ee, he wil l have bad l uck。A rel at ion of yours i s i ng t o se you. She wil l be ar ri vi ng t his eveni ng and int ends t o st ay f or a f ew days. The m om ent you l eave t hi s tent, you wi l get a bi g sur pr ise. A woman you know wel l wil l rush t owar ds you. She wil l speak t o you and then she wil l ead you away fr om t his pl ace. That i s al l.39。Wher e have you been hi di ng ?39。Your si st er wil l be her e i n l es t han an hour and we must be at the stat ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready. 39。 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 court yard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unti l the bed had st r uck t he ground. Al t hough t he bed was smashed t o pi eces, t he m an was mi racul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he m at ress. Gl anci ng at t he bi ts of wood and m et al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, t he m an sadl y picked up the m at tr es and car ri ed it i nto hi s house. Aft er he had put it on t he f l oor , he pr omptl y went to sl ep again. Lesson50 Taken for a ri de 乘車兜風 I l ove t r avel ing i n t he count r y, but I don39。 I39。 I sai d t o t he conductor as I got on t he bus,39。t know wher e i t i s. 39。l l tel you wher e to get off ,39。 You39。 t he conduct or sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 sai d t he conduct or suddenl y. 39。 I t doesn39。 I sai d. 39。l l get off here. 39。 said the conductor . 39。 I answered. Lesson51 Reward f or virt ue 對美德的獎賞 My f ri end, Her ber 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. Fi rst of al l, he wr ot e out a long l ist of al l the f oods whi ch were f orbidden. The list incl uded most of the t hi ngs Herbert l oves: but ter, potat oes, ri ce, beer , mil k, chocol ate , and sweets. Yest erday I paid hi m 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 i nt o his r oom and hurr iedly hid a l arge parcel under his desk. I t was obvious t hat he was very em bar rassed. When I asked hi m what he was doing, he smi led gui lti ly and t hen put t he par cel on t he desk. He expl ained 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 the 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 moved into a new house and I have been wor king hard al l morning. I have been t rying to 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, t he room i s r at her smal , so I have t em por ari ly put my books on the f loor . At the moment, t hey cover ever y inch of fl oor space and I actual y have to wal k on t hem to get i n or out of the r oom. A short whi le ago, m y sister hel ped me t o car r y one of m y old bookcases up the stai rs. She went i nto my room and got a bi g sur pri se when she saw al t hose books on the f loor. 39。 she said. She gazed at it f or some ti me then added, 39。t need bookcases at al. You can sit here in your spar e ti me and read t he car pet !39。The Revea