【正文】 oof of hi s house. He sl ept very wel for t he fi rst two nights, but on t he thir d ni ght , a st orm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off t he roof and sent it cr ashing i nto t he cour tyard bel ow. The young man di d not wake up unt il the bed had str uck the ground. Alt hough t he 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 ancing at t he bi ts of wood and met al t hat l ay ar ound hi m, t he m an 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 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。 I 39。 answered t he conductor. I sat i n t he f r ont of the bus t o get a good view 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 of .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。Thi s is t he pr et iest carpet I have ever seen,39。You don39。 Lesson53 H ot snake 觸電的蛇 At last f ir emen have put out a big f orest f ir e i n Cali for ni a. Si nce then, t hey have been tr ying t o fi nd out how the f ir e bega n. For est f ir e are of ten caused by br oken gl as s or by cigaret te ends which peopl e car elessl y thr ow away. Yest er day the f ir emen exami ned the gr ound caref ully, but were not abl e t o fi nd any broken glas. They were al so qui te sure t hat a ci gar ete end di d not st ar t the f ir e. Thi s morni ng, however , a f ir em an accidental y discover ed the cause. He noti ced t he remai ns of a snake which was wound r ound t he electr ic wi r es of a 16, 000 vol t 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 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 my 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 recogni zed t he voi ce of Mr s Bates. I t took me t en mi nut es to persuade her t o ri ng back later . At l ast I hung up the r ecei ver . What a mes! There was pastr y on my fi nger s, on t he telephone, 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. This tim e it was t he postm an and he want ed me t o sign f or a register ed let er ! Lesson55 Not a gol d mi ne 并非金礦 Dr eams of fi nding l ost tr easure al most came t rue r ecentl y. A new m achi ne cal ed 39。 has been invented and it has been used to det ect gold which has been buri ed in the ground. The machi ne was used i n a cave near the seashore wher eit is saidpir ates used to hi de gol d. The pi rates woul d oft en bur y gold i n t he cave and then f ai l to col lect i t. Ar med wi th the new m achine, a sear ch par ty went he did not l ike it . She enj oyed herself m aki ng the assi st ant br ing alm ost ever ything in t he window bef or e f inal y buyi ng the dr es she had fi rst asked f or . Leson58 A bl essing i n di sguise? 是因禍得福嗎？ The ti ny vi l age of Fr inl ey is said t o posses a 39。. Because t he tr e was ment ioned in a newspaper , the number of vi sitor s to Fri nl ey has now increased. The tr ee was planted near a chur ch fi ft y year s ago, but it is onl y in r ecent year s that it has gai ned an evi l reputati on. I t is sai d t hat i f anyone touches t he tr e, he wi l have bad l uck。A rela t ion of your s is i ng to see you. She wi l l be ar ri ving t hi s eveni ng and i ntends to st ay f or a f ew days. The moment you leave this t ent , you wil l get a bi g sur pri se. A wom an you know wel wi l r ush t owards you. She wi l speak to you and t hen she wi l lead you away f rom this pl ace. That i s al. 39。Wher e have you been hidi ng ?39。Your si st er wil l be her e in les t han an hour and we m ust be a t the stati on to meet her. We are l ate al ready. 39。clock thi s evening. By t hat t ime, the Ast ra wi l l have been fl yi ng thr ough space for seventee n hours and wi l have ci rcled t he ear th a great many ti mes. When the f ir st r adi o messages have been received, t he resul ts of t he tr ip wi l l be announced i mmediatel y. Lesson62 Af ter t he fi re 大火之后 Fi remen had been fi ght ing t he for est f ir e for near ly thr e weeks befor e they coul d get it under contr ol . A short ti me bef or e, gr eat t rees had covered t he countr yside f or m il es ar ound. Now, smoke st il l rose up fr om t he warm gr ound over the desol at e hi l l s. Wi nter was ing on and t he hi l s thr eat ened t he sur rounding vil lages wit h dest ructi on, f or heavy r ai n would not only wash away t he soi l but would cause ser ious f loods as wel l. When t he fi re had at l ast been put out, the f orest aut hor it ies order ed sever al tons of a special type of grass sed whi ch would gr ow quickly. The sed was sprayed over t he ground in huge quanti ties by aeroplanes. T