1. A PRIVATE
CONVERSATION
Last week I went to the theater. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I
did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were
talking loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned round. I looked at
the
man and the woman angrily.
They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not
bear
it. I turned round again. " I can't hear a word!" I said angrily. "It's none of your
business, "The young man said rudely." This is a private
conversation!"
2. BREAKFAST OR LUNCH?
It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunch time. Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked at the window. It was dark outside. "What a day!"
I Thought. "It's raining again." just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy.
"I've just arrived by train,"
she
said. "I'm coming to see
you." "But I‟m still having breakfast," I said. "What are
you doing?"
She asked. "I'm having breakfast,"
I repeated. "Dear me," she said. “Do you always get up so late? It's one o'clock!"
3. PLEASE SEND ME A CARD
Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited museums and sat in public gardens. A friendly waiter taught me a few words of Italian. Then he lent me
a book. I read
a few lines, but I did not understand a word. Every day I thought about
postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send any cards to my friends. On the last day I made a big decision. I got up early and bought thirty-seven cards. I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single
card.
4. AN EXCITING TRIP
I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australia. He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has already visited a great number of different places in Australia. He has just bought an
Australian car and has gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the centre of Australia. He will soon
visit Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before,
so
he is finding this trip very exciting.
5.
NO
WRONG NUMBER
Mr. James Scott has a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought another garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr. Scott cannot get a telephone
for
his new garage, so he has just bought twelve pigeons. Yesterday, a pigeon carried the
first message from Pinhurst to Silbury. The bird covered the distance in three minutes.
Up
to now, Mr. Scott has sent a great many
requests for spare parts and other urgent messages from one garage to the other. In this way, he has begun his own private 'telephone' service.
6. PERCY BUTTONS
I have just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my door.
He
asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In return for this, the beggar stood on his
head and sang songs. I 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 neighbor 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
bear.
7. TOO
LATE
The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning.
They were
expecting
a
valuable parcel of
diamonds
from
South Africa. A few hours
earlier,
someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were
waiting on the airfield. Two men took the
parcel off the plane
and
carried it into the customs house. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their
surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand!
8.
THE BEST AND THE WORST
Joe Sanders has the most beautiful garden in our town. Nearly everybody
enters for 'The Nicest Garden Competition' each year, but Joe wins every
time. Bill Firth's garden is
larger than Joe's. Bill
works harder than Joe and grows more flowers and
vegetables, but Joe's garden is more interesting.
He
has made neat paths and has built a wooden bridge
over a pool. I like gardens too, but I do not like hard work. Every year I enter for the garden competition too, and I always win a little
prize for the
worst garden in the
town!
9. A COLD WELCOME
On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a
large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock
stopped. The big minutes hand did not move. We waited
and
waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted, ' it's two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!' I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Year. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.
10. NOT FOR JAZZ
We have an old musical instrument. It is called a clavichord. It was made in Germany in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in the living room. It has belonged to our family
for
a long time.
The instrument was bought by my grandfather many years ago. Recently it was
damaged by a visitor She tried
to
play jazz on it! She
struck the
keys too hard and two of the strings were broken. My father was shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch it. It is being repaired by a friend of my father's
11. ONE
GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER
I was having dinner at a restaurant when Harry
Steele came in. Harry
worked in a
lawyer's office years ago, but he
is now working at a bank. He gets a
good salary, but he
always borrows money from his friends and never pays it back. Harry saw me and came and sat at the same table. He has never borrowed money from me. While he was eating, I ask him to lend me $ 2. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately. „I have never
borrowed any money from you",
Harry said, "so now you can pay for my dinner!‟
12. GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK
Our neighbor, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We shall
meet him at harbor early in the morning. He will be in his small boat, topsail. Topsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atlantic many times. Captain Alison will set
out at eight o‟clock, so we shall have plenty of time. We shall see his boat and then we
shall say goodbye to him. He will be away for two months. We are very proud of him.
He will take part in an important across the Atlantic.
13. THE GREENWOOD BOYS
The Greenwood boys are a group of popular singers. At present, they are visiting all
parts of the country. They will be arriving here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the young people in the town will be meeting them
at the station. Tomorrow evening they will be singing at the workers‟ club. The greenwood boys will be staying for five days. During this time, they will give five performances. As usual, the police
will have a difficult time. They will be trying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions.
14. DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH
I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the South of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped
and
he asked me for
a lift. As soon as
he had got into
the car, I said good morning to him
in French and he replied in the same language.
Apart from a few words, I do not know any
French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly
reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, “do you speak English?” as I soon learnt, he was English himself!
15. GOOD NEWS
The secretary told me that Mr. Harmsworth would see me. I felt very nervous when i
went into his office. He did not look up from the desk when i entered. After i had sat
down, he said that that business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford
to
pay large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come. “Mr. Harmsworth,” I said in a weak voice. “Don‟t interrupt,” he said. Then he smiled and told me
I would receive
an
extra £100 a
year!
16. A POLITE REQUEST
If you park your car in the wrong 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 “No Parking” area. You will enjoy
your stay hear 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!
17. ALWAYS YOUNG
My aunt Jennifer is an actress. 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-colored dress. If anyone ever asks her how old she is, she always answers, „my dear, it must terrible to be grown up!‟
18. HE OFTEN DOES THIS!
After I had had lunch at a village 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 go back to me.I‟m very sorry,‟ he
said. My dog
had
taken it into the garden. He often does this.‟
19. SOLD OUT
„The play may begin at any moment,‟ I
said.
„It may have begun already,‟ Susan answered.
I hurried to the ticked-office. „May I have two tickets please?‟ I asked.
„I‟m sorry, we‟ve sold out,‟ the girl said.
„what a pity!‟ Susan exclaimed.
Just then, a man hurried to the ticket office.
„Can I return these two tickets?‟ he asked.
„Certainly,‟ the girl said.
I went back to the ticket-office
at once.
„Could I have those two tickets please?‟ I asked.
„Certainly,‟ the girl said, „but they are for next Wednesday‟s performance. Do you still want them?‟
„I might as
well have them,‟ I said sadly.
20. ONE MAN IN A BOAT
Fishing is my favorite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anything. But this
does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. I never
catch anything-not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the river, I always go home with an empty bag. „You must give up fishing!‟ my friends say. „It‟s a waste of time.‟ But they don‟t
realize one important thing. I‟m not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all!