24.
I entered the hotel manager's office and
sat down.I had just lost &50 and I felt
very upset.' I left the money in my room,'
I said,'and it's not there now.' The
manager was sympathetic,but he could
do nothing.'Everyone's losing money
these days,' he said.He started to com-
plain about this wicked world but was
interrupted by a knock at the door.A girl
came in and put an envelope on his desk.
It contained &5o.'I found this outside
this gentleman's room' she said.'Well,'
I said to the manager,'there is still some
honesty in this world !'
25.
I arrived in London at last.The railway
station was big,black and dark.I did not
know the way to my hotel,so I asked a
porter.I not only spoke English very
carefully,but very clearly as well.The
porter,however,could not understand
me; I repeated my question several times
and at last he understood.He answered
me,but he spoke neither slowly nor
clearly.'I am a foreigner,' I said.Then
he spoke slowly,but I could not under-
stand him.My teacher never spoke Eng-
lish like that!The porter and I looked at
each other and smiled.Then he said
something and I understood it.'You'll
soon learn English!' he said.I wonder.In England,each man speaks a different
language.The English understand each other,but I don't understand them !Do
they speak English
26.
I am an art student and I paint a lot of
pictures.Many people pretend that they
understand modern art.They always tell
you what a picture is 'about'.Of course,
many pictures arc not 'about' anything.
They are just pretty patterns.We like
them in the same way that we like pretty
curtain material.I think that young child-
ren often appreciate modern pictures
better than anyone else.They notice
more.My sister is only seven,but she
always tells me whether my pictures are
good or not.She came into my room
yesterday.
' What are you doing ' she asked.
' I'm hanging this picture on the wall,'
I answered.'It's a new one.Do you like it '
She looked at it critically for a moment.' It's all right,' she said,'but isn't it
upside-down '
I looked at it again.She was right!It was!
27.
Late in the afternoon,the boys put up
their tent in the middle of a field.As soon
as this was done,they cooked a meal over
an open fire.They were all hungry and
the food smelt good.After a wonderful
meal,they told stories and sang songs by
the camp fire.But some time later it be-
gan to rain.The boys felt tired so they
pet out the fire and crept into their tent.
Their sleeping-bags were warm and com-
fortable,so they all slept soundly.In the
middle of the night,two boys woke up
and began shouting.The tent was full of
water!They all leapt out of their sleep-
ing-bags and hurried outside.It was rain-
ing heavily and they found that a stream
had formed in the field.The stream wound its way across the field and then
flowed right under their tent!
28.
Jasper White is one of those rare people
who believes in ancient myths.He has
just bought a new house in the city,
but ever since he moved in,he has had
trouble with motorists.when he returns
home at night,he always finds that some-
one has parked a car outside his gate.
Because of this,he has not been able to
get his own car into his garage even once.
Jasper has put up' No Parking' signs out-
side his gate,but these have not had any
effect.Now he has put an ugly stone head
over the gate.It is one of the ugliest faces
I have ever seen.I asked him what it was
and he told me that it was Medusa,the
Gorgon.Jasper hopes that she will turn
motorists to stone.But none of them has been turned to stone yet!