L52

1. I have been trying to get my new room in order. (get my new room in order) 2. I own over a thousand books.( over) 3  To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. (To make matters worse 更糟糕的是，temporarily 临时;rather small ）4. 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. （cover every inch of；at the moment ＝now  ） 5.A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs.（ A short while ago 几分钟前； carry up 搬上） 6.She gazed at it for some time （gazed at）7.temporarily 临时

L53

1.Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people carelessly throw away. （throw away ）2. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully。（examine 检查）3.They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire. （quite sure 肯定；start the fire）4.accidentally 偶然地 5. He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line. （remains of a snake ； 5.In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. （solve the mystery） 6.explanation 解释  7. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires.（snatched up ... ..dropped it on ）8.The snake then wound itself round the wires.  9.When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately started a fire. （sent sparks down）

L54

1.In a short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry.(In a short time 不一会儿；flour 面粉；covered with 粘满 ；sticky pastry 粘糊） 2. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. = Just then 3. Nothing could have been more annoying.  没有更烦人的事情了。4. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Helen Bates. （picked up； between；sticky fingers；dismay 失望； ）5. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. 6. What a mess! 7. There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the doorknobs. 7.  I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. （ no sooner...than... 刚..就...）8.This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter! （registered letter 挂号信）