Hot Snake

At least 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 quiete sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. This morning, however, a firemen accidently 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 wa 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 immediatly started a fire.

A Pretty Carpet

We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard al mornig. 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 momment, 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 bookcase 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 capet I have ever seen,' she said. she gazed at it for some time then added,'You don't need bookcase at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!'

Reward for Virtue

My friend, Herbert, hasalways been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on 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 seewts. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not suprised 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 embarassed. 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!