一 A private conversation
Last week I went to the theatre. I had a
very good seat. The play was very inter-
esting. 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 con-
versation!'.
二 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 out of the window. It was
dark outside. 'What a day!' I thought.
'It's raining again.' Just then, the tele-
phone 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!''
三 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
is few lines, but I did not understand a
word. Every day I thought about post-
cards. 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 !
四 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 be-
fore, so he is finding this trip very excit-
ing.
五 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. Yester-
day, 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.
六 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
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.
七 Too late
The plane was late and detectives were
waiting at the airport all morning. They
were expecting a valuable parcel of dia-
mond 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 de-
tectives 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 keep-
ing guard at the door, two others opened
the parcel. To their surprise, the precious
parcel was full of stones and sand!
八 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 Frith'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!
九 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
minute hand did not move. We waited
and waited, but nothing happened. Sud-
denly 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.
十 Not for jazz
We have an old musical instrument. It is
called a clavichord. It was made in Ger-
many in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in
the living-room. It has belong 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.