【正文】 iced the r emai ns of a snake whi ch was wound r ound the electr ic wir es of a 16, 000 vol t power l ine. In t his way, he was abl e to sol ve the myster y. The explanat ion was si mple but ver y unusual. A bir d had snat ched up t he sna ke fr om t he ground and then dr opped i t on t o t he wir es. The snake t hen wound itself r ound the wi res. When it di d so, i t sent spar ks down to the 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 husband was at work and t he house was quiet. So I decided to make some tart s for t ea. I n a shor t ti me I was busy mixi ng but ter and fl our and m y hands wer e soon covered wi th st icky past ry. At exactl y t hat moment, t he telephone rang. Not hing could have been more annoyi ng. I pi cked up t he receiver bet ween two st icky fi nger s and was dismayed when I r ecognized t he voi ce of Mr s Bat es. I t took me t en mi nut es to persuade her t o ri ng back l ater. At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! There was pastr y on my f ingers, on the t elephone, and on the door knobs. I had no sooner got back t o t he ki tchen than t he door bel r ang l oud enough t o wake the dead. Thi s ti me it was t he post man and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d m ine 并非金礦 Dreams of f inding l ost tr easur e al most came t r ue recent ly. A new machi ne cal led 39。 has been i nvent ed and it has been used to detect gol d whi ch has been bur ied i n t he gr ound. The machine was used in a cave near t he seashor e where i t i s sai d pir at es used to hide gold. The pir at es would of ten bury gol d in the cave and t hen fail t o coll ect it . Arm ed wit h t he new machi ne, a sear ch part y went he di d not li ke it. She enjoyed her sel f making t he assistant bri ng al most everyt hing i n the wi ndow befor e fi nal ly buying the dress she had f ir st asked for . Lesson58 A blessi ng in disgui se? 是因禍得福嗎？ The t iny vil lage of Fri nley i s said to possess a 39。. Because the t ree was menti oned i n a newspaper, t he num ber of visit ors t o Fr inley has now i ncr eased. The t ree was pl ant ed near a chur ch f if ty years ago, but it i s only i n recent years t hat i t has gained an evil r eputat ion. It is said that if anyone t ouches the t ree, he wil l have bad luck。A rel at ion of yours i s ing t o se you. She wil l be ar r iving t his eveni ng and int ends to st ay for a f ew days. The mom ent you leave thi s tent, you wi l get a bi g surpr ise. A woman you know wel l wi l l r ush towar ds you. She wil l speak to you and t hen she wi l l ead you away f rom thi s place. That is al .39。Where have you been hi ding ?39。Your sister wi l be her e i n less than an hour and we must be at the st at ion t o meet her . We ar e late al ready.39。clock thi s evening. By t hat t ime, the Ast ra wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space for sevent een hour s and wi l l have ci r cl ed t he ear t h a gr eat m any t i m es. When t he f i r st r adi o m essages have been r ecei ved, t he r esul t s of t he t r i p wi l l be announced i m m edi at el y. Lesson62 Af t er t he f i re 大火之后 Fi r em en had been f i ght i ng t he f or est f i r e f or near l y t hr ee weeks bef or e t hey coul d get i t under cont r ol . A shor t t i m e bef or e, gr eat t r ees had cover ed t he count r ysi de f or m i l es ar ound. Now, sm oke st i l l r ose up f r om t he war m t he di f f erence bet ween Indian m usic and j az! Leson43 Over t he Sout h Pol e 飛越南極 I n 1929, t hr ee year s aft er hi s fl ight over t he Nor t h Pole, the Am er ican expl orer , R. E. Byr d, successf ull y fl ew over the South Pol e for t he fi rst ti me. Though, at f ir st , Byrd and hi s men were abl e to t ake a great many phot ogr aphs of t he mount ains that lay below, t hey soon r an into ser ious tr oubl e. At one point , i t seemed cert ai n t hat t hei r pl ane woul d crash. I t coul d only get over t he mount ains i f i t ros e to 10, 000 feet. Byr d at once ordered hi s men t o thr ow out two heavy f ood sacks. The plane was then able t o r ise and it cleared t he mountains by 400 f et . Byr d now knew that he woul d be able t o reach the South Pol e whi ch was 300 mil es away, for t her e were no more mount ains in si ght . The ai rcr af t was abl e t o fl y over t he endl es whi te pl ai ns wit hout di f icult y. Leson44 Through t he f orest 穿過森林 Mrs Anne St er li ng did not thi nk of the r isk she was taking when she ran t hrough a f orest af ter two men. They had r ushed up t o her whi le she was having a pi i c at t he edge of a f orest wit h her chil dren and t ri ed to steal her handbag. I n t he str uggl e, t he str ap br oke and, wi th t he bag in t hei r possesion, bot h men st ar ted r unni ng thr ough the tr ees. Mr s Ster li ng got so angry t hat she ran af ter them. She was soon out of breath, but she continued t o run. When she caught up wi th t hem , she saw t ha t they had sat down and wer e going t hr ough the contents of the bag, so she r an st rai ght at them. The men got such a f ri ght t hat hey dropped the bag and ran away. 39。 said Mr s Sterl ing l ater, 39。 Leson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whole vil lage soon learnt that a lar ge sum of money had been lost. Sam Bent on, t he local but cher, had lost his wal let whil e taking hi s savings t o the post off ice. Sam was sur e that the wal let must have been found by one of the vil lagers, but i t was not r et urned to him. Thr e m ont hs passed, and then one mor ning, Sam found his wal let outside hi s fr ont door. I t had been wr apped up i n newspaper and i t contai ned hal f t he money he had lost, together wit h a note which said: 39。but onl y 5o per cent a thi