【正文】 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 rema ins 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 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 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 a nd was dismayed when 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. What 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 pa rt 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 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 e cent 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 new play i s ing t o The Globe soon,39。Wil you be seei ng it ?39。 No, 39。Wi l you be spending your holidays abroad thi s year ?39。 No,39。 Wil l you be st ayi ng in Engl and?39。 No,39。 Young man,39。 i f you at e mor e and talked less, we would both enj oy our di nner ! 39。Do you cal t hat a hat ?39。You needn39。 my wi fe answered as she looked at herself i n the m ir ror . I sat down on one of t hose m oder n chai rs wi th hol es in i t and wai ted. We had been in the hat shop f or half an hour and my wi fe was st il l in f ront of the mi r or. 39。t buy thi ngs we don39。 I remar ked suddenl y. I r egr eted saying i t al most at once. 39。t have said t hat ,39。 I need not remi nd you of t hat t er r ible tie you bought yester day.39。 I fi nd it beaut if ul ,39。A man can never have t oo i nt o t he cave hopi ng t o f i nd buri ed tr easur e. The l eader of t he par t y was exami ning t he soil near the entr ance t o t he cave when t he m achi ne showed t hat t her e was gol d under t he gr ound. Ver y exci ted, t he part y dug a hol e t wo f eet deep. They fi nal l y found a sm al gol d coi n which was alm ost wor thl ess. The part y t hen searched the whol e cave t hor oughl y but di d not f i nd anyt hi ng except an em pt y t in t r unk. I n spit e of t hi s, m any peopl e ar e confi dent t hat 39。 m ay r eveal som et hing of value f ai rl y soon. Leson56 Fast er t han sound! 比聲音還快！ Once a year a r ace i s held f or ol d cars. A l ot of cars ent er ed f or t hi s r ace l ast year and t her e was a grea t deal of excit em ent j ust bef or e it began. One of t he m ost handsome cars was a Rol l s Royce Si lver Ghost . The m ost unusual car was a Benz whi ch had onl y t hr ee wheel s. Buil t i n 1885, it was t he ol dest car t aki ng part. Aft er a gr eat m any l oud expl osi ons, the r ace began. Many of t he car s broke down on t he cour se and som e dri vers spent m or e ti me under t heir cars t han i n t hem ! A f ew car s, however , pl eted the r ace. The wi nni ng car r eached a speed of f ort y mi les an hour much f aster t han any of i ts r ivals. It s ped downhi l at he end of the r ace and i ts dri ver had a l ot of t rouble tr yi ng to st op it . The race gave everyone a great dea l of pleasur e. I t was ver y dif fer ent f rom moder n car races but no l ess exci ti ng. Leson57 Can I hel p you, m adam ? 你要買什么，夫人？ A woman in bl ue jeans st ood at t he window of an expensive shop. Though she hesit at ed for a moment , she f inal y went in and asked to see a dress that was in t he wi ndow. The asi st ant who served her did not li ke the way she was dressed. Glancing at her scornf ully, he t ol d her that the dress was sol d. The woman walked out of t he shop angri ly and decided to puni sh the asist ant next day. She r etur ned t o t he shop t he foll owing morning dr esed in a fur coat, wit h a handbag i n one hand and a long umbrel la i n the ot her . Aft er seeking out the r ude assistant she asked