1、酒的鬼魂A public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked b
2、y chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come i
3、n for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even if he gives it away. Lesson48 Did you want to tell me something? 你想对我说什么吗?Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had just pulled out one of my
4、 teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton-wool. He knew I collected birds eggs and asked me whether my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I eith
5、er nodded or made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the dentist at last removed the cotton-wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth. Le
6、sson49 The end of a dream 美梦告终Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real bed. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress. Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his h
7、ouse. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below. The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the man was
8、miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still on the mattress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again.Lesson50 Taken for a ride 乘车兜风I love t
9、ravelling in the country, but I dont like losing my way. I went on an excursion recently, but my trip took me longer than I expected. Im going to Woodford Green, I said to the conductor as I got on the bus, but I dont know where it is. Ill tell you where to get off, answered the conductor. I sat in
10、the front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside. After some time, the bus stopped. Looking round, I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on the bus. Youll have to get off here, the conductor said. This is as far as we go. Is this Woodford Green ? I asked. Oh dear, said
11、 the conductor suddenly. I forgot to put you off. It doesnt matter, I said. Ill get off here. We are going back now, said the conductor. Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the bus, I answered.Lesson51 Reward for virtue 对美德的奖赏My friend, Herbert, has always been fat, but things got so bad recentl
12、y that he decided to go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden. The list included most of the things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell
13、and was not surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room and hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious that he was very embarrassed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained that his
14、diet was so strict that he had to reward himself occasionally. Then he showed me the contents of the parcel. It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweets! Lesson52 A pretty carpet 漂亮的地毯We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been try
15、ing to get my new room in order. This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. At the moment, they cover every inch of floor space and I actually have to walk on them to get in or out of t
16、he room. A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the floor. This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen, she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, You dont need boo
17、kcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet! Lesson53 Hot snake 触电的蛇At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began. Forest fire are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which peopl
18、e carelessly throw away. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the remains of a snake which
19、 was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself round the wires. When it did
20、so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.Lesson54 Sticky fingers 粘糊的手指After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet. So I
21、 decided to make some tarts for tea. In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I re
22、cognized the voice of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the door-knobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to wake the de
23、ad. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter !Lesson55 Not a gold mine 并非金矿Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently. A new machine called The Revealer has been invented and it has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground. The
24、machine was used in a cave near the seashore where-it is said-pirates used to hide gold. The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it. Armed with the new machine, a search party went into the cave hoping to find buried treasure. The leader of the party was examining the
25、soil near the entrance to the cave when the machine showed that there was gold under the ground. Very excited, the party dug a hole two feet deep. They finally found a small gold coin which was almost worthless. The party then searched the whole cave thoroughly but did not find anything except an em
26、pty tin trunk. In spite of this, many people are confident that The Revealer may reveal something of value fairly soon.Lesson56 Faster than sound! 比声音还快!Once a year a race is held for old cars. A lot of cars entered for this race last year and there was a great deal of excitement just before it bega
27、n. One of the most handsome cars was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The most unusual car was a Benz which had only three wheels. Built in 1885, it was the oldest car taking part. After a great many loud explosions, the race began. Many of the cars broke down on the course and some drivers spent more ti
28、me under their cars than in them ! A few cars, however, completed the race. The winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour-much faster than any of its rivals. It sped downhill at the end of the race and its driver had a lot of trouble trying to stop it. The race gave everyone a great deal of
29、 pleasure. It was very different from modern car races but no less exciting. Lesson57 Can I help you, madam? 你要买什么,夫人?A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop. Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant
30、who served her did not like the way she was dressed. Glancing at her scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one han
31、d and a long umbrella in the other. After seeking out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, the woman said she did not
32、like it. She enjoyed herself making the assistant bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for.Lesson58 A blessing in disguise? 是因祸得福吗?The tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a cursed tree. Because the tree was mentioned in a newspaper, the num
33、ber of visitors to Frinley has now increased. The tree was planted near a church fifty years ago, but it is only in recent years that it has gained an evil reputation. It is said that if anyone touches the tree, he will have bad luck; if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the
34、tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists have been coming from all parts of the country to see it. In spite of all that has been said, the tou
35、rists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk. So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden death!Lesson59 In or out ? 进来还是出去?Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opene
36、d the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was bar
37、king so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins bar
38、king again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since. Lesson60 The future 卜算未来At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she told me to sit down. After I had given her some money, she looked i
39、nto a crystal ball and said: A relation of yours is coming to see you. She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A woman you know well will rush towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away
40、 from this place. That is all. As soon as I went outside, I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me. Where have you been hiding ? she asked impatiently. Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her. We are late already. As she wa
41、lked away, I followed her out of the fair. Lesson61 Trouble with the Hubble 哈勃望远镜的困境In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it. The ability to do this will be necessary in future flights to distant planets. Scientists are now try
42、ing to discover if this is possible. The spaceship Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will be travelling three hundred miles into space. At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave the stationary spaceship and then return to it. We shall
43、not know whether the experiment has been successful until we have received a radio message. The first message is expected to arrive at 7 oclock this evening. By that time, the Astra will have been flying through space for seventeen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times. When the f
44、irst radio messages have been received, the results of the trip will be announced immediately.Lesson62 After the fire 大火之后Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles ar
45、ound. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the f
46、orest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already t
47、aken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil. Lesson63 She was not amused 她并不觉得好笑Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his fine sense of
48、 humor-everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Geoffreys closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Geoffrey loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. He had included a larg
49、e number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Geoffrey was a little disappointed by this but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadnt. Geoffrey asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!Lesson64 The Channel Tunnel 海峡隧
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