【正文】 d I have been worki ng har d al mor ning. I have been tr ying t o get my new r oom in order. This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make mater s worse, the r oom i s r ather sm al l, so I have temporar il y put m y books on t he fl oor. At the m oment , they cover ever y i nch of f loor space and I act ual ly have t o walk on them t o get in or out of t he room. A shor t whil e 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。 she sai d. She gazed at i t for some t ime t hen added, 39。t need bookcases at al . You can si t her e in your spar e t ime and r ead the carpet! 39。The Revealer 39。The Revealer39。cur sed t ree39。 i f he picks a leaf, he wi l di e. Many vi l agers bel ieve that the t ree has al ready claim ed a number of vict ims. The vicar has been asked t o have t he tr ee cut down, but so f ar he has r ef used. He has poi nted out that the t ree is a useful sour ce of ine as tour ists ha ve been i ng fr om al l par ts of the countr y to see i t. In spi te of al t hat has been said, the t our ists have been picking l eaves and cut ti ng their names on the t reet runk. So far , not one of them has been st ruck down by sudden death! Leson59 In or out ？ 進來還是出去？ Our dog, Rex, used to si t out si de our fr ont gate and bark. Every t im e he wanted to e into the garden he would bar k unti l someone opened t he gat e. As t he nei ghbour s pl ained of the noise, m y husband spent weeks tr ai ning him t o press his paw on t he latch t o l et hi msel f in. Rex soon becam e an exper t at openi ng the gate. However, when I was going out shopping l ast wee k, I noti ced hi m in t he gar den near the gat e. Thi s t i m e he was bar ki ng so t hat som eone woul d l et hi m out ! Si nce t hen, he has devel oped anot her bad habi t . As soon as he opens t he gat e f r om t he out si de, he es i nt o t he gar den and wai t s unt i l t he gat e shut s. The n he si t s and bar ks unt i l som eone l et s hi m out . Af t er t hi s he i m m edi at el y l et s hi m 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 hi m m ont hs l ater, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。 I n ti me, al Sam39。 I am 100 per cent honest now!39。345 f or t he cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pr ice of a t icket i s amp。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked m e how m y br other 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 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 sleepi ng on t he fl oor , a young m an in Teheran saved up for year s to buy a real bed. For t he fi rst ti me i n his l if e, he became the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spri ngs and a mat ress. Because the 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 ght s, but on t he thir d night, a st or m blew up. A gust of wi nd 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 st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was smashed t o pieces, t he man was mi raculousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he mat res. Gl anci ng at t he bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound him, t he man sadl y picked up the mat tr ess and car r ied it i nto hi s hous e. Af t er he had put it on the f loor , he pr omptl y went to sleep again. Lesson50 Taken f or a ride 乘車兜風(fēng) I love t ravel ing i n 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 fr ont of the bus t o get a good vi ew 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。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 for est f ir e in Cal if orni a. Si nce t hen, they have been t ryi ng to f i nd out how t he fi re began. For est f ir e ar e of ten caused by broken glass or by ci gar et e ends whi ch peopl e car el esly thr ow away. Yester day t he fi r em en exami ned t he ground car eful 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 cigaret te end did not star t he fi r e. This morning, however , a fi reman acci dent aly discovered t he cause. He not iced the r emains of a snake whi ch was wound r ound t he el ect ri c wi res of a 16,000volt power li ne. I n thi s way, he was able t o solve t he myst ery. The expl anati on was simpl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snatc hed up the snake f rom the gr ound and t hen dr opped it on to the wi res. The snake then wound it sel f round t he wir es. When i t did so, it sent spar ks down to t he ground and these im medi ately st ar ted a fi re. Lesson54 St icky f ingers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakf ast , I sent the chil dren t o school and t hen I went t o mar ket . I t was stil l ear ly when I retur ned home. The chil dr en were at school , m y husba