asked me how my brother was and whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either 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. Lesson49 The end of a dream g 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 house. 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 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 ut I don't like losing my way. I went on an excursion recently, but my ' You'll have to get off here,' the conductor said. 'This is as far as we go.' ' Is this Woodford Green ?' I asked. 'Oh dear,' said the conductor suddenly.' I forgot to put you off.' 'It doesn't matter,' I said. 'I'll 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 fat, but things got so bad recently 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 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 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 carpetw 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 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!' Lesson53 Hot snakeut 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 people 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. gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour told me about him. Everybody knows him. His name is Percy Buttons. He calls at every house in the street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer. 'Don't interrupt,' he Said. Then he smiled and told me I would receive an extra &100 a year! Lesson 16 A polite requestwrong place, a traffic policeman will soon find it. You will be very lucky if he lets you go without a ticket. However, this does not always happen. Traffic police are sometimes very polite. During a holiday in Sweden, I found this note on my car:' Sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a \stay here if you pay attention to our street signs. This note is only a reminder.' If you receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it! Lesson 17 Always youngs. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this, she often appears on the stage as a young girl. Jennifer will have to take part in a new play soon. This time, she will be a girl of seventeen. In the play, she must appear in a bright red dress and long black stockings. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks and a bright, orange-coloured dress. If anyone ever asked her how old she is, she always answers, 'My dear, it must be terrible to be grown up!' lesson18 He often does this!e inn, I looked for my bag. I had left it on a chair beside the door and now it wasn't there ! As I was looking for it, the inn-keeper came in. 'Did you have a good meal ?' he asked. 'Yes, thank you,' I answered, 'but I can't pay the bill. I haven't got my bag.' The inn-keeper smiled and immediately went out. In a few minutes he returned with my bag and gave it back to me. 'I'm very sorry,' he said ' My dog had taken it into the garden. He often does this.' Lesson19 Sold out at any moment,' I said.?? 'It may have begun already,' Susan answered.