【正文】 ey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how t he f ir e began. Forest fi re ar e oft en caused by br oken gl as or by ci gar et te ends whi ch people carel essl y t hrow 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 al so qui t e sur e t hat a cigaret e end did not start t he fi re. This m or ni ng, however, a f ir eman acci dent al l y di scovered t he cause. He not iced t he r em ains of a snake whi ch was wound round t he el ect ri c wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l i ne. I n this way, he was able t o sol ve t he m yst er y. The expl anati on was si m pl e but ver y unusual . A bi rd had snat ched up t he snake f r om t he gr ound and t hen dr opped i t on t o the wi res . The snake then wound it sel f r ound t he wir es. When i t di d so, i t sent spar ks down t o t he gr ound and t hese imm edi atel y st ar t ed a fi re. Leson54 Sti cky f i ngers 粘糊的手指 Af ter breakfast , I sent t he chil dren t o school and t hen I went t o m ar ket . It was sti l earl y when I r et ur ned hom e. The chil dren wer e at school , m y husband was at 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 a nd 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。 has been i nvent ed and i t has been used t o detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The m achine was used in a cave near t he seashor e whereit i s sai d pir at es used t o hi de gol d. The pir ates would of ten bur y gold i n the cave and then f ai l to coll ect i t. Ar med wi th t he new machine, a search part y went he did not li ke it . She enjoyed herself making the as ist ant bri ng almost ever ything i n t he window befor e f inaly buyi ng the dr ess she had fi rst asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng i n dis guise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vi l age of Fr inley i s sai d to possess a 39。. Because the t ree was m ent ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi si tor s to Fr inl ey has now increased. The tr e was pl ant ed near a church f if ty years ago, but i t is only in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evil r eput at ion. It i s sai d that if anyone touches t he tr e, he wil l have bad l uck。A thief , yes, 39。 Two m ont hs later , some m ore m oney was sent t o Sam wi t h anot her note: 39。 In t im e, al Sam39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。345 for t he cost of the t ri p. The norm al pr ice of a t icket i s amp。 eggs and asked me whether my coll ect ion was gr owing. He then asked me how m y brother was and whether I li ked m y new j ob in London. I n answer t o these questi ons I ei ther nodded or made str ange noises. Meanwhil e, m y tongue was busy searching out the hole wher e t he tooth had be en. I suddenly felt very worr ied, but could not say anythi ng. When the dent ist at l ast r em oved t he cot ton wool f rom my mouth, I was abl e to tel him t hat he had pul led out the wr ong t oot h. Leson49 The end of a dream 美夢(mèng)告終 Tir ed of sl epi ng on the f loor, a young man i n Teher an saved up f or years t o buy a r eal bed. For t he fi rst ti me in his l if e, he became the proud owner of a bed which had spri ngs and a m at tr ess. Because the weather was ver y hot, he car ied t he bed on t o t he roof of hi s house. He slept ver y wel f or the f ir st t wo night s, but on the t hi rd ni ght , a st or m bl ew up. A gust of wi nd swept t he bed off t he roof and sent it crashing i nt o t he court yard below. The young man did not wake up unti l the bed had st ruck t he ground. Al though the bed was sma shed t o pieces, t he man was mi racul ousl y unhur t. When he woke up, he was sti l on t he matr es. Gl ancing at the bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, the man 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。l l t el you where t o get of f, 39。 You39。 the conductor sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 said the conductor suddenly. 39。 39。t mat er,39。I 39。 39。 said t he conductor. 39。 I answer ed. Lesson51 Reward f or virtue 對(duì)美德的獎(jiǎng)賞 My f ri end, Herbert , has al ways been fat , but t hi ngs got so bad recent ly that he decided t o go on a diet . He began hi s di et a week ago. Fir st of al , he wrot e out a l ong li st of al t he foods which wer e for bidden. The l ist included most of t he thi ngs Her ber t loves: butt er , potatoes, r ice, beer, m il k, chocol at e, and sweets. Yest er day I pai d him a visit . I rang t he bel l and was not sur pri sed t o se that Herbert was sti l as fat as ever . He led me into his r oom and hurr iedly hi d a l ar ge par cel under hi s desk. It was obvious that he was ver y embar ased. When I asked him what he was doi ng, he smi led guil ti ly and t hen put the par cel on the desk. He expl ai ned that hi s diet was so st ri ct hat he had t o r ewar d himself occasional y. Then he showed me t he contents of t he par cel . I