Lesson 52 A pretty carpet

'You don't need bookcases at all.You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!'

“你根本用不著書櫥，空閑時(shí)你可以坐在這兒讀地毯！”

Lesson 53 Hot snake

At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.

消防隊(duì)員們終于撲滅了加利福尼亞的一場(chǎng)森林大火。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.

從那時(shí)起，他們一直試圖找出起火的原因。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away.

森林火災(zāi)時(shí)常由破碎的玻璃或人們隨手扔掉的香煙頭引起。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were not able to find any broken glass.

昨天，消防隊(duì)員仔細(xì)查看了地面，但未能發(fā)現(xiàn)碎玻璃。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.

他們還十分肯定火災(zāi)也不是由煙頭引起的。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

This morning, however, a firemen accidentally discovered the cause.

然而今天上午，一個(gè)消防隊(duì)員偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了起火的原因。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.

他發(fā)現(xiàn)了纏繞在16，000伏高壓線上的一條死蛇。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

In this way, he was able to solve the mystery.

就這樣，他解開(kāi)了起火之謎。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

The explanation was simple but very unusual.

解釋很簡(jiǎn)單，卻異乎尋常。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.

一只鳥把蛇從地上抓起來(lái)，然后把它扔到了電線上。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

The snake then wound itself round the wires.

于是蛇就纏住了幾根電線。

Lesson 53 Hot snake

When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.

當(dāng)它這樣做時(shí)，把火花送到了地面，這些火花立刻引起了一場(chǎng)大火。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to the shops.

早飯后，我送孩子們上學(xué)，然后就去了商店。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

It was still early when I returned home.

我回到家時(shí)，時(shí)間還早。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

The children were at school, my husband was at work and the house was quiet.

孩子們?cè)谏蠈W(xué)，我丈夫在上班，家里清靜得很。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

So I decided to make some meat pies.

于是我決定做些肉餡餅。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry.

不一會(huì)兒我就忙著調(diào)拌起了黃油和面粉，很快我的手上就沾滿了粘粘的面糊。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

At exactly that moment, the telephone rang.

恰恰在此時(shí)，電話鈴響了。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

Nothing could have been more annoying.

沒(méi)有什么能比這更煩人了。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Helen Bates.

我用兩個(gè)沾滿面糊的手指捏起了話筒。當(dāng)聽(tīng)出是海倫。貝茨的聲音時(shí)，非常喪氣。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later.

我用了10分鐘的時(shí)間才說(shuō)服她過(guò)會(huì)兒再來(lái)電話。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

At last I hung up the receiver.

我終于掛上了話筒。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the doorknobs.

真是糟糕透了！我的手指上、電話機(jī)上以及門的把手上，都沾上了面糊。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead.

我剛回到廚房，門鈴又響了起來(lái)，響聲足以把死人喚醒。

Lesson 54 Sticky fingers

This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter!

這次是郵遞員，他要我簽收一封掛號(hào)信！

Lesson 55 Not a gold mine

Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true recently.

最近，找到失蹤寶藏的夢(mèng)想差一點(diǎn)兒變成現(xiàn)實(shí)。

Lesson 55 Not a gold mine

A new machine called 'The Revealer' has been invented and it has been used to detect gold which has been buried in the ground.

一種叫“探寶器”的新機(jī)器已經(jīng)發(fā)明出來(lái)，并被人們用來(lái)探測(cè)地下埋藏的金子。

Lesson 55 Not a gold mine

The machine was used in a cave near the seashore where -- it is said -- pirates used to hide gold.

在靠近海邊的一個(gè)據(jù)說(shuō)過(guò)去海盜常在里面藏金子的巖洞里，這種機(jī)器被派上了用場(chǎng)。

Lesson 55 Not a gold mine

The pirates would often bury gold in the cave and then fail to collect it.

海盜們過(guò)去常把金子埋藏在那個(gè)洞里，可后來(lái)卻沒(méi)能取走。