【正文】 ar y i n fut ur e fl i ght s to di st ant pl as. Sci ent i st s ar e now t r yi ng t o di scover if t hi s i s possi ble. The spaceshi p Astr a whi ch l eft t he eart h a short t im e ago, wil l be tr avel li ng thr e hundr ed m il es i nto space. At a cert ai n poi nt , t he Astr a wi l stop f or a shor t im e and an ast r onaut wi l at tempt t o l eave t he stati onar y spaceshi p and then r et urn t o i t. We shal not know whet her t he exper im ent has been successf ul unt il we have r ecei ved a r adi o m essage. The fi rst message i s exp ect ed t o ar ri ve at 7 o39。s cl osest fr iends asked him t o m ake a speech at a weddi ng r ecept i on. Thi s i s the sort of t hi ng that Geoff rey l oves. He prepared t he speech car ef ull y and went t o t he weddi ng wit h Jenny. He had incl uded a l arge number of f unny st ori es i n t he speech and, of cour se, it was a gr eat succes. As soon as he ha d f ini shed, Jenny tol d him she want ed to go home. Geoff rey was a li tl e disappoi nted by t hi s but he di d as his daught er asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny i f she had enjoyed the speech. To his surpr ise, she sai d she hadn39。 t he conductor sai d. 39。 39。 I asked. 39。 said t he conductor suddenly.39。 39。t mat er ,39。Il l get of f her e.39。We are going back now,39。Wel , in t hat case, I prefer t o stay on t he bus,39。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。You don39。 Lesson53 Hot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest fi re i n Cal i f orni a. Si nce t hen, t hey have been tr yi ng to fi nd out how the f ir e began. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl ass or by cigaret e ends whi ch peopl e car elesl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir em en exami ned the ground careful ly, but wer e not abl e to fi nd any br oken gl as. They wer e also quit e sure t hat a ci gar et te end di d not star t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a fi reman accidental y discover ed the cause. He noticed t he remains of a snake which 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 snatched 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 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 . It was sti l ear ly when I retur ned hom e. The chil dr en were at school , m y husband was at wor k and t he house was qui et . So I deci ded t o make some tar ts f or tea. I n a short t ime I was busy mi xing butt er and f lour and my hands were soon cover ed wit h sticky pastr y. At exact ly that m oment , the t el ephone r ang. Nothi ng coul d have been mor e annoying. I picked up the r eceiver between two sticky f ingers and was dismayed whe n I r ecogni zed the voice of Mr s Bates. It took m e ten m inutes to per suade her to r ing back lat er . At last I hung up t he receiver. W hat a m ess! Ther e was past ry on m y fi nger s, on t he tel ephone, and on t he door knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kit chen t han the door bel l rang loud enough to wake t he dead. This t ime it was the postman and he wanted m e to si gn for a r egi stered l et ter ! Leson55 Not a gold mine 并非金礦 Dr eam s of f i ndi ng lost tr easure alm ost came tr ue r ecentl y. A new machine cal ed 39。 has been invent 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 wherei t 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 asist 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 disguise? 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 r elati on of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l be ar ri vi ng thi s evening and i ntends to sta y f or a few days. The moment you leave t his t ent , you wil l get a big sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and then she wi l lead you away fr om this pl ace. That i s al l. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。Your si st er wi l l be her e in l es t han an hour and we m ust be at the stati on to meet her. We are l ate alr eady. 39。cl ock this evening. By that ti me, the Astr a wi l have been f lyi ng thr ough space f or seventeen hour s and wil l have cir cled t he ear th a gr eat m any t im es. When t he fi rst radio mesages have been r ecei ved, the r esul ts of the t ri p wi l be announced im medi ately. Leson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fir emen had been f ight ing t he forest fi re f or near ly t hree weeks bef ore t hey coul d get i t under cont rol . A shor t ti me befor e, gr eat tr ees had cover ed the countr ysi de for mi les around. Now, sm oke sti l r ose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desolat e hil ls. Wi nt er was i ng on and the hi l s threatened the surr oundi ng vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy rai n would not only wash away t he soi l but would ca use ser ious fl oods as wel l. When t he fi re had at last been put out , the f orest author it ies ordered sever al t ons of a special type of grass seed whi ch woul d gr ow quickly. The sed was sprayed over t he ground in h