Lesson 52    A pretty carpet

We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been trying 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 the 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 don't need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!'

Lesson 53    Hot snake

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 fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a16,000-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.

carpet [ˈkɑːrpɪt] 地毯;

in order 秩序井然;按顺序，

to make matters worse 更糟糕的是

temporarily [ˈtɛmpəˌrɛrəlɪ] 暂时

bookcase [ˈbʊkkeɪs] 书架;书柜

gaze at 凝视

cigarette [ˈsɪɡəret] end 烟头

carelessly [ˈkerləsli] 粗心地;不用心地

cause [kɔːz] 原因

accidentally [ˌæksəˈdɛntəli] 意外地;偶然，

wire [ˈwaɪər] 电线;导线

power line 输电线;电源线

mystery [ˈmɪstəri] 神秘的事物;

 snatch [snætʃ] 抢夺;抢走     snatch up 夺取     snatch away 夺去;被提;夺走

spark [spɑːrk] 电火花

赶在今天结束前，完成了今日的录音和前两天的复习。好险！

好在今天的课文不难读。复习前两天的课文，也觉得读得更顺畅了。

明天一定要白天完成任务，不能拖到晚上。