Lesson 53
Hot snake觸電的蛇
First listen and then answer the question.聽錄音,然后回答以下問題.
What caused the fire?
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 fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people 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 firemen accidentally discovered the cause.He noticed the remains of a snake which 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 so,it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
hot adj.帶電的,充電的fireman n.消防隊員cause v.引起； n.原因examine v.檢查accidentally adv.意外地,偶然地remains n.尸體,殘骸wire n.電線volt n.伏特（電壓單位）
power line 電力線solve v.解決mystery n.謎snatch v.抓住spark n.電火花
參考譯文
消防隊員們終于撲滅了加利福尼亞的一場森林大火.從那時起,他們一直試圖找出起火的原因.森林火災時常由破碎的玻璃或人們隨手扔掉的香煙頭引起.昨天,消防隊員仔細查看了地面,但未能發(fā)現(xiàn)碎玻璃.他們還十分肯定火災也不是由煙頭引起的.然而今天上午,一個消防隊員偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了起火的原因.他發(fā)現(xiàn)了纏繞在16,000伏高壓線上的一條死蛇.就這樣,他解開了起火之謎.解釋很簡單,卻異乎尋常.一只鳥把蛇從地上抓起來,然后把它扔到了電線上.于是蛇就纏住了幾根電線.當它這樣做時,把火花送到了地面,這些火花立刻引起了一場大火.
Lesson 59
In or out?
進來還是出去?
First listen and then answer the question.聽錄音,然后回答以下問題.
Why did Rex run away?
Our dog,Rex,used to sit outside our front gate and dark.Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened 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 barking 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 barking again.Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
bark v.狗叫
press v.按,壓
paw n.腳爪
latch n.門閂
expert n.專家
develop v.養(yǎng)成
habit n.習慣
remove v.拆掉,取下
參考譯文
我家的狗雷克斯,過去常坐在大門外面叫.每當它想到花園里來時,便汪汪叫個不停,直到有人把門打開.由于鄰居們對狗叫很有意見,所以我丈夫花了幾個星期的時間訓練它用腳爪按住門閂把自己放進來.雷克斯很快成了開門的專家.然而上星期我正要出去買東西時,發(fā)現(xiàn)它正呆在花園里邊靠門的地方.這次它叫著讓人把它放出去!從那以后,它養(yǎng)成了另外一種壞習慣.它從外面把門一打開,就走進花園,等著門自動關上.這之后他就坐下汪汪叫起來,直到有人來把它放出去.出去之后,它又馬上把自己放進來,接著再開始叫.昨天,我丈夫把門卸了下來,雷克斯很生氣,此后我們便再也沒有見到它.