中級口語(LRC)-英語聽力中級口語1a
Oral Workshop Discussion Lesson 1-5 ;
Lesson 1 Too Clever ;
Text A ;
A farmer who lived in a small village ;
suffered from a severe pain in the chest. ;
This never seemed to get any better. ;
The farmer eventually decided ;
that he would consult a doctor in the nearest town. ;
But as he was a miserly person ;
he thought he would find out what he would have to pay this doctor. ;
He was told that a patient had to pay three pounds for the first visit ;
and one pound for the second visit. ;
The farmer thought about this for a long time, ;
and then he decided to go and consult the doctor in the town. ;
As he came into the doctor's consulting room, ;
he said causally, "Good morning doctor.Here I am again." ;
The doctor was a little surprised. ;
He asked him a few questions,examined his chest ;
and then took the pound which the farmer insisted on giving him. ;
Then the doctor said with a smile,"Well, sir.There's nothing new. ;
Please continue to take ;
the same medicine I gave you the first time you came to see me." ;
Text B ;
A man went to see his doctor one day ;
because he was suffering from pains in his stomach. ;
After the doctor had examined him carefully,he said to him, ;
"Well,there's nothing really wrong with you,I'm glad to say. ;
Your only trouble is that you worry too much. ;
Do you know,I had a man with the same trouble as you in here a few weeks ago ;
and I gave him the same advice as I'm going to give you. ;
He was worried because he couldn't pay his tailor's bills. ;
I told him not to worry his head about the bills any more. ;
He followed my advice,and when he came to see me again two days ago, ;
he told me that he now feels quite all right again." ;
"Yes,I know all about that,"answered the patient sadly. ;
"You see,I'm that man's tailor." ;
Additional Information ;
Doctor:Good mooring. How are you? Patient:I'm very worried,doctor. ;
Doctor:Oh? what are you worried about? ;
Patient:I'm afraid that I'm very ill. ;
Doctor:I'm sorry to hear that. Why do you think so? ;
Patient:Because I feel tired all the time. ;
even when I wake up in the morning. ;
I find it very difficult to do any work. ;
I have no appetite. ;
My wife cooks me delicious meals but I can only eat a little. ;
Doctor:How do you sleep? Patient:Very badly, doctor. ;
Doctor:Do you find it difficult to get to sleep,or do you wake up early? ;
Patient:Both, doctor. ;
I never get to sleep until 2 o'clock and I always wake at 5. ;
Doctor:Are you worried about anything? ;
Patient:Well,yes. I am. ;
I'm worried about my work.I've just taken a new job. ;
I earn a lot of money but it's difficult work. ;
I'm always afraid of making a mistake. ;
Doctor:I see.Please take off your shirt and lie down on the couch. ;
Patient:Yes,doctor. (The Doctor examines the patient) ;
Doctor:Well,there's nothing very much wrong with you,I'm glad to say. ;
You're working too hard and worrying too much. ;
Do you take much exercise? ;
Patient:No,doctor. I never have enough time for exercise. ;
I start work very early in the morning and finish late in the evening ;
Then I can't get to sleep. ;
Can you give me some medicine to help me to sleep? ;
Doctor:I can,but I'm not going to. ;
You don't need medicine.You need advice.Don't work so hard. ;
Too much work is bad for you. ;
Don't worry about your work.It's silly to worry. ;
Take regular exercise. ;
Patient:But I may lose my job,doctor! ;
It's hard to get a job like mine. ;
Doctor:Then get an easier one,even if you earn less money. ;
Which would you rather have,health or wealth? ;
Patient:You're right,doctor. ;
It's more important to be healthy than wealthy. ;
I'll change my job. I'm grateful for your advice. ;
Doctor:Come and see me again in a month's time. ;
I think you'll be a different man! ;
Lesson 2 Au Pair Girl ;
Text A ;
Gretel comes from Austria.She is eighteen years old. ;
She is going to stay with the Clark family for a year. ;
Gretel has come to England because she wants to improve her English. ;
She works as an au pair girl.She helps Mrs Clark in the house ;
and attends English classes regularly in her spare time. ;
Gretel hasn't been in England long and everything is strange to her. ;
She often compares life in London with life in Vienna. ;
Some things are nicer in London; other things are not so nice. ;
For instance,the shops are bigger in London than in Vienna ;
and there is greater variety. ;
But it's more expensive to enjoy yourself in London. ;
It's expensive to have a meal at a restaurant or to go to a theatre. ;
Gretel has got used to many things already, ;
but she can't get used to breakfast in England. ;
"You English eat so much in the morning,"she often says. ;
"Fruit juice, porridge,bacon and gee,tea,toast and marmalade! ;
How can you face all that food so early in the day?" ;
Text B ;
Maria had decided that as soon as she had finished school ;
she would become an au pair girl in London. ;
Two of her friends had already spent a year with a family in Kensington, ;
and told her they had had an interesting time ;
and had managed to learn a lot of English. ;
She was advised by her Head Teacher to get her parents' consent ;
and to make all the necessary arrangements prior to her departure: ;
have enough money for her return fare, ;
know exactly what kind of a family she was going to live with ;
and what they expected of her. Shortly after her eighteenth birthday ;
Maria received a letter from Mrs Hutchinson, ;
the wife of an advertising executive, ;
stating the terms on which she would be employed. ;
The Hutchinsons lived in a house in Chelsea. ;
They had three children:two boys, aged fourteen and ten, ;
both at boarding school,the elder at a Public School in the Midlands ;
and the younger at a Preparatory School in Surrey; ;
the youngest child was a girl aged eight, ;
and she went to the French Lycee in South Kensington. ;
During term time Maria would have to take the girl to school in the morning ;
and fetch her in the afternoon. ;
She would have to help Mrs Hutchinson in the house-- washing up, ;
making the beds, laying the table, dusting the rooms, answering the door, ;
taking telephone messages,shopping and running errands. ;
She would be guaranteed three evenings a week free ;
and could attend En- glish classes either from eleven till one ;
in the morning or from half past one till four in the afternoon. ;
She would receive 3 pounds a week pocket money. ;
Maria was delighted with the conditions and thought that they were fair. ;
She also liked the look of the family, ;
as Mrs Hutchinson had thoughtfully enclosed a photograph with her letter. ;
Additional Information ;
It was nothing for a girl to be sent away to service ;
when she was eleven years old. ;
That meant leaving the family as she had never been ;
parted from for a day in her life before, ;
and going to some place miles away to be treated like a dog. ;
I've got nothing against girls going into good service. ;
In my opinion, good service in a properly run big house ;
was a wonderful training for a lot of girls ;
who never would have seen anything different ;
all the days of their lives if they hadn't gone. ;
It was better than working on the land, then,and if it still existed now. ;
I reckon I'd rather see any of my daughters be a good housemaid ;
or a well-trained parlour maid ;
than a dolled-up shop- assistant up a factory worker. ;
But folks are too proud to work for other folks,now, ;
even if it's to their own advantage, ;
though as far as I can see you are still working for other folks, ;
whatever you're doing. ;
Big houses didn't want little girls of eleven,even as kitchen maids, ;
so the first few years had to be put in somewhere else, ;
before you got even that amount of promotion. ;
Big houses expected good service, ;
but you got good treatment in return. ;
It wasn't like that at the sort of place my friends had to go. ;
Mostly they went to the farmers' houses ;
within ten or twenty miles from where they'd been born. ;
These farmers were a jumped up,proud lot ;
who didn't know how to treat the people who worked for them. ;
They took advantage of the poor people's need ;
to get their girls off their hands ;
to get little slaves for nearly nothing. The conditions were terrible. ;
Lesson 3 Who Took the Money? ;
Text A ;
Mr Smith gave his wife ten pounds for her birthday -- ten pretty pound notes. ;
So the day after her birthday,Mrs Smith went shopping. ;
She queued for a bus,got on and sat down next to an old lady. ;
After a while,she noticed that the old lady's handbag was open. ;
Inside it,she saw a wad of pound notes ;
exactly like the one her husband had given her. ;
So she quickly looked into her own bag--the notes had gone! ;
Mrs Smith was sure that the old lady who was sitting next to her had stolen them ;
She thought she would have to call the police; ;
but,as she disliked making a fuss and getting people into trouble, ;
she decided to take back the money from the old lady's handbag ;
and say nothing more about it. ;
She looked round the bus to make sure nobody was watching, ;
then she carefully put her hand into the old lady's bag, ;
took the notes and put them in her own bag.When she got home that evening, ;
she showed her husband the beautiful hat she had bought. ;
"How did you pay for it?" he asked. ;
"With the money you gave me for my birthday,of course," she replied. ;
"Oh? What's that, then?" ;
he asked,as he pointed to a wad of ten pound notes on the table. ;
Text B ;
"Goodbye,darling," said Mr Mackin. "I'll be late tonight." ;
Poor George,she thought.He was always in a hurry in the morning, ;
and it wasn't unusual for him to come home late at night. ;
He worked for a shoe company in Leeds,and there was such a lot of work ;
that he normally stayed in the office till seven or eight. ;
When George had left the house ;
Mrs Mackin sat down in an armchair and turned on the radio. ;
It was a few minutes past eight, ;
and she heard the last words of the news: ;
"...man who escaped from Leeds prison yesterday is still free. ;
The police warn you not to open your door to strangers." ;
She turned off the radio.The housework was waiting for her. ;
She made the beds and washed the dishes.There wasn't any shopping to do, ;
and so the thought for a moment of all the work in the garden. ;
The Mackins lived in a house with a large garden in a suburb of Leeds. ;
Behind the garden there were some trees,and then the open fields. ;
Suddenly Mrs Mackin remembered the news. She laughed uneasily. ;
That prison is only 15 miles away,she thought. ;
She didn't work in the garden,she mended her husband's shirts instead. ;
And she carefully locked the front door and closed all the windows. ;
It was getting dark. She turned on the lights in the living-room. ;
Then she noticed that she had turned on the lights in most of the rooms in the house. ;
"How silly I am!" she said nervously ;
and went into the other rooms and turned the lights on. ;
The person at the door said something loudly, ;
but she was so frightened that she didn't understand a word. ;
Additional Information ;
Do you believe in ghosts? I don't either-or at least ;
I didn't until I heard a strange story the other day ;
from Mr Mike Paton, of 19 Marlborough Hill. ;
It all began on November 28. when Mr Paton's eight-year-old son,Bob, ;
was playing in the big back garden of his parents' house. ;
He met an old man with a long white beard. ;
The old man told Bob he was building the underground railway there, ;
but Bob didn't believe him. ;
Bob told me afterwards ;
that he knew the underground ran under Marlborough Hill itself. ;
The old man said there had been an accident the day before. ;
Then he went away. At first the Patons didn't believe Bob's story. ;
Mrs Paton told me that Bob often made up stories about ghosts and monsters, ;
like other children of his age. ;
But Mr Paton was curious ;
and decided that he would go to the library to check up on the facts. ;
He found that the railway company ;
had started to build the line to the west of Marlbouroung Hill in 1881, ;
but they had run into an underground river. ;
Ten workmen had died in an accident ;
and the Company had changed the direction of the line ;
and built the present tunnel under Marlborough Hill. ;
At first I didn't believe Mr Paton's story either, ;
so I did some research myself. ;
Inspector Bright of the Merropolitan Police ;
said it was natural to find tramps in the district in winter, ;
but no one had reported one answering the description ;
I had given him since last August. ;
Mr Joseph Griffiths of London Transport checked the files on the accident for me. ;
He told me that the accident had apparently taken place ;
on or very near the junction of Marlborough Hill ;
and Woodstock Avenue on 27 November 1881. ;
Mr Paton's house stands on the corner! ;
The source of this extraordinary story was not affected by the news. ;
"I told Mummy it was true,"young Bob Paton told me yesterday. ;
When I left the house he was playing happily with his toy cars-in the garden! ;
Lesson 4 Musical Half-Notes ;
Text A ;
A musician who played Pop Music in a Club ;
lived in a boardinghouse in the centre of London. ;
He always used to get back to his room very late at night ;
and sometimes in the early hours of the morning. ;
He was so tired when he got back that he would sit on the edge of his bed, ;
take off his shoes and throw them on the floor and say, ;
"Thank goodness, another day is over." ;
He would then get into bed and fall fast asleep. ;
But the poor lodger who had the room under the musician's was woken up each night, ;
or early in the morning,by the two thuds ;
that the two shoes made as they landed on his ceiling. ;
Finally,he could not stand it any more ;
and went and complained to the musician. ;
Naturally the musician was very upset and promised that, ;
in future,after taking off his shoes, ;
he would put them down as quietly as possible on the carpet. ;
The next day,he got back from his club at about one o'clock in the morning, ;
went up to his room, sat on the edge of his bed, ;
took off one shoe and threw it on the floor. ;
He was just about to do the same with the other ;
when he suddenly remembered the promise he had made the day before. ;
So with great care he put the second shoe down silently on the carpet. ;
Then be got into bed and fell fast asleep. ;
An hour later,he was woken up by a violent knocking on his door. ;
It was the lodger who slept in the room just under his. ;
"Please,please, please," the lodger pleaded,"drop the other shoe. ;
I have been waiting for a whole hour for you to drop it. ;
As soon as you do I can go to sleep." ;
Text B ;
Of all the men who ever liked fresh air, ;
not one liked it more than James Wilson. ;
He took long walks in the fresh air.He ran long distances in the fresh air. ;
He played football and other games in the fresh air. ;
He liked to climb mountains and breathe the fresh air at the top. ;
He used to go to sit by the sea and watch the great waves in the fresh air. ;
He always slept with his windows wide open. ;
He had an open car with no roof,and he drove it madly through the fresh air. ;
If Wilson entered a room where the windows were shut, ;
he immediately opened them. ;
He did this even when snow was falling outside. ;
If someone else shut the windows again, ;
he walked out of the room in a manner which showed his opinions without any doubt. ;
When he travelled by sea,he could usually be found in a place on board ;
where the wild wind was blowing through his hair. ;
One winter Wilson went to Finland on business. ;
Good hotels in Finland are heated during the cold winter, ;
and this winter was even colder than usual. ;
When Wilson reached his room in the hotel, ;
he found that the windows were closed to keep the icy air out. ;
He did his best to open one,but failed. ;
It was absolutely impossible to open it: ;
the manager had very wisely arranged that. ;
Wilson undressed and got into bed.He was a very angry man. ;
The bedroom was very pleasant. ;
Two or three pictures on the walls ;
showed views of some beautiful parts of Finland. ;
There was no noise at all. ;
The bed was really excellent,but Wilson could not sleep. ;
He could not forget the closed window. ;
No fresh air! It was terrible to think of! ;
He got out of bed and tried once more to open the window; ;
but it was useless, and he sadly got back into bed. ;
At about one o'clock in the morning he was still awake, ;
worrying about the air in the bedroom. ;
He had turned over in bed two hundred and thirty-six times. He was very hot. ;
As he turned over for the two hundred and thirty-seventh time, ;
one arm came out of the bedclothes and hung down beside the bed. ;
His hand touched the floor.It also touched something on the floor. ;
This thing was a shoe.An idea came into his worried mind. ;
Angry men act quickly,and the shoe was in his hand in less than a second. ;
Where was the window? ;
He could see something that looked like glass over there. ;
He threw the shoe through the darkness with all the force of his strong right arm. ;
The shoe flew straight through the air and hit the glass in the middle. ;
A terrible sound of breaking glass filled the bedroom, ;
but to Wilson's sad heart it seemed like the sound of sweet and beautiful music. ;
"Now I have some fresh air in the room," he thought."Now I need not die." ;
Five minutes later he was peacefully asleep. ;
He did not move for many hours. ;
When daylight came gently through the window, ;
he awoke and lay with his eyes closed.Where was he? Oh,yes! ;
He was in Finland; but what was the matter?Was anything wrong? ;
There was something to worry about.What was it?Oh,the broken window! Yes,indeed. ;
He would have to pay for that.How much? Was it a big piece of glass? ;
He could not remember.He opened his eyes to look. ;
Slowly he turned them towards the window, ;
and then he sat up suddenly in bed. ;
He was very surprised:the window was not broken at all. ;
The glass was all in one piece,just as good as it had been the night before. ;
No fresh air was entering the room through that window. ;
What,then,had happened when he threw the shoe? ;
He turned his eyes to the side and saw a broken picture hanging on the wall. ;
There was a shoe on the floor below it. ;
He could see a lot of broken glass round the shoe, ;
and there was more inside it. ;
Additional Information ;
Here is what happened to Adrian Fox on the train one day: ;
Adrian Fox lives in Devon and he is travelling home from London by train. ;
He decides to have a cup of tea,and goes to the train buffet. ;
While he is drinking his tea, ;
an attractive girl comes and sits at the same table. ;
They begin talking and the girl tells Adrian she is going to Devon on holiday. ;
They are soon very friendly. ;
Adrian finds out that the girl hasn't found a hotel to stay in. ;
Adrian's mother has a spare room in her house, ;
and Adrian invites the girl to stay there. ;
He knows his mother won't mind.The girl accepts. ;
A few minutes later a man comes and sits beside the girl, ;
who introduces him to Adrian.He is her husband. ;
Adrian didn't know the girl was married,and he is a little angry. ;
His mother won't like to have two people staying in her house. ;
Then three children arrive. ;
Two of them are carrying cats, and one has a small dog. ;
They are the girl's children. ;
They are all very happy,the girl says, ;
to be staying in Adrian's mother's house. ;
But Adrian isn't so happy. ;
When he reaches the station he phones his mother... ;
Lesson 5 Is He a Hero? ;
Text A ;
"Fire! Fire!" What terrible words ;
to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! ;
It was a large,old, wooden house ;
--the sort that burns beautifully-- and my room was on the top floor. ;
I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped out into the passage. ;
It was full of thick smoke. ;
I began to run but as I was still only half- awake,instead of going towards the stairs. ;
I went in the opposite direction. ;
The smoke grew thicker and I could see flames all around. ;
The floor became hot under my bare feet. ;
I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. ;
But before I could reach it, ;
one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. ;
The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, ;
and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. ;
Just then the floor gave way under me ;
and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me. ;
I saw a flaming doorway in front, put the bundle over my fact and ran. ;
My feet burned me terribly,but I got through. ;
As I reached the cold air outside,my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry. ;
I nearly dropped it in my surprise. ;
Then I saw a crowd gathered in the street. ;
A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man's coat screamed ;
as the saw me and came running madly. "My baby! My baby!" she cried. ;
The crowd cheered wildly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. ;
I had some difficulty in recognizing her. ;
She was the Mayor's wife,and I had saved her baby. I was hero! ;
Text B ;
Teresa went up to Mrs Webster's room, two stairs at a time. ;
She was nearly at the top when she stopped and sniffed. ;
A strong smell of gas was coming from that direction. ;
Teresa ran up the remaining stairs and threw open the door. ;
She put her hands over her mouth to stop a scream. ;
Mrs Webster was lying on the floor near the sink. ;
Her skin and lips had a pinkish colour and she appeared to be unconscious. ;
The room was full of gas. ;
Additional Information ;
Who doesn't love sitting beside a cosy fire on a cold winter's night ;
Who doesn't love to watch flames curling up a chimney? ;
Frie is one of man's greatest friends, but also one of his greatest enemies. ;
Many big fires are caused by carelessness. ;
A lighted cigarette thrown out of a car or train window ;
or a broken bottle lying on dry grass can start a fire. ;
Sometimes,though,a fire can start on its own. ;
Wet hay can begin burning by itself. ;
This is how it happens:the hay starts to rot ;
and begins to give off heat which is trapped inside it. ;
Finally,it bursts into flames. ;
That's why farmers cut and store their hay when it's dry. ;
Fires have destroyed whole cities. ;
In the 17th century, a small fire which began in a baker's shop ;
burnt down nearly every building in London. ;
Moscow was set on fire during the war against Napoleon. ;
This fire continued burning for seven days. ;
And,of course,in 64 A.D.Nero fiddled while Rome burned! ;
Even today,in spite of modern fire- fighting methods, ;
fire causes millions of pounds' worth of damage each year ;
both in our cities and in the countryside. ;
It has been wisely said that fire is a good servant but a bad master. ;
Lesson 1 Too Clever ;
Text A ;
A farmer who lived in a small village ;
suffered from a severe pain in the chest. ;
This never seemed to get any better. ;
The farmer eventually decided ;
that he would consult a doctor in the nearest town. ;
But as he was a miserly person ;
he thought he would find out what he would have to pay this doctor. ;
He was told that a patient had to pay three pounds for the first visit ;
and one pound for the second visit. ;
The farmer thought about this for a long time, ;
and then he decided to go and consult the doctor in the town. ;
As he came into the doctor's consulting room, ;
he said causally, "Good morning doctor.Here I am again." ;
The doctor was a little surprised. ;
He asked him a few questions,examined his chest ;
and then took the pound which the farmer insisted on giving him. ;
Then the doctor said with a smile,"Well, sir.There's nothing new. ;
Please continue to take ;
the same medicine I gave you the first time you came to see me." ;
Text B ;
A man went to see his doctor one day ;
because he was suffering from pains in his stomach. ;
After the doctor had examined him carefully,he said to him, ;
"Well,there's nothing really wrong with you,I'm glad to say. ;
Your only trouble is that you worry too much. ;
Do you know,I had a man with the same trouble as you in here a few weeks ago ;
and I gave him the same advice as I'm going to give you. ;
He was worried because he couldn't pay his tailor's bills. ;
I told him not to worry his head about the bills any more. ;
He followed my advice,and when he came to see me again two days ago, ;
he told me that he now feels quite all right again." ;
"Yes,I know all about that,"answered the patient sadly. ;
"You see,I'm that man's tailor." ;
Additional Information ;
Doctor:Good mooring. How are you? Patient:I'm very worried,doctor. ;
Doctor:Oh? what are you worried about? ;
Patient:I'm afraid that I'm very ill. ;
Doctor:I'm sorry to hear that. Why do you think so? ;
Patient:Because I feel tired all the time. ;
even when I wake up in the morning. ;
I find it very difficult to do any work. ;
I have no appetite. ;
My wife cooks me delicious meals but I can only eat a little. ;
Doctor:How do you sleep? Patient:Very badly, doctor. ;
Doctor:Do you find it difficult to get to sleep,or do you wake up early? ;
Patient:Both, doctor. ;
I never get to sleep until 2 o'clock and I always wake at 5. ;
Doctor:Are you worried about anything? ;
Patient:Well,yes. I am. ;
I'm worried about my work.I've just taken a new job. ;
I earn a lot of money but it's difficult work. ;
I'm always afraid of making a mistake. ;
Doctor:I see.Please take off your shirt and lie down on the couch. ;
Patient:Yes,doctor. (The Doctor examines the patient) ;
Doctor:Well,there's nothing very much wrong with you,I'm glad to say. ;
You're working too hard and worrying too much. ;
Do you take much exercise? ;
Patient:No,doctor. I never have enough time for exercise. ;
I start work very early in the morning and finish late in the evening ;
Then I can't get to sleep. ;
Can you give me some medicine to help me to sleep? ;
Doctor:I can,but I'm not going to. ;
You don't need medicine.You need advice.Don't work so hard. ;
Too much work is bad for you. ;
Don't worry about your work.It's silly to worry. ;
Take regular exercise. ;
Patient:But I may lose my job,doctor! ;
It's hard to get a job like mine. ;
Doctor:Then get an easier one,even if you earn less money. ;
Which would you rather have,health or wealth? ;
Patient:You're right,doctor. ;
It's more important to be healthy than wealthy. ;
I'll change my job. I'm grateful for your advice. ;
Doctor:Come and see me again in a month's time. ;
I think you'll be a different man! ;
Lesson 2 Au Pair Girl ;
Text A ;
Gretel comes from Austria.She is eighteen years old. ;
She is going to stay with the Clark family for a year. ;
Gretel has come to England because she wants to improve her English. ;
She works as an au pair girl.She helps Mrs Clark in the house ;
and attends English classes regularly in her spare time. ;
Gretel hasn't been in England long and everything is strange to her. ;
She often compares life in London with life in Vienna. ;
Some things are nicer in London; other things are not so nice. ;
For instance,the shops are bigger in London than in Vienna ;
and there is greater variety. ;
But it's more expensive to enjoy yourself in London. ;
It's expensive to have a meal at a restaurant or to go to a theatre. ;
Gretel has got used to many things already, ;
but she can't get used to breakfast in England. ;
"You English eat so much in the morning,"she often says. ;
"Fruit juice, porridge,bacon and gee,tea,toast and marmalade! ;
How can you face all that food so early in the day?" ;
Text B ;
Maria had decided that as soon as she had finished school ;
she would become an au pair girl in London. ;
Two of her friends had already spent a year with a family in Kensington, ;
and told her they had had an interesting time ;
and had managed to learn a lot of English. ;
She was advised by her Head Teacher to get her parents' consent ;
and to make all the necessary arrangements prior to her departure: ;
have enough money for her return fare, ;
know exactly what kind of a family she was going to live with ;
and what they expected of her. Shortly after her eighteenth birthday ;
Maria received a letter from Mrs Hutchinson, ;
the wife of an advertising executive, ;
stating the terms on which she would be employed. ;
The Hutchinsons lived in a house in Chelsea. ;
They had three children:two boys, aged fourteen and ten, ;
both at boarding school,the elder at a Public School in the Midlands ;
and the younger at a Preparatory School in Surrey; ;
the youngest child was a girl aged eight, ;
and she went to the French Lycee in South Kensington. ;
During term time Maria would have to take the girl to school in the morning ;
and fetch her in the afternoon. ;
She would have to help Mrs Hutchinson in the house-- washing up, ;
making the beds, laying the table, dusting the rooms, answering the door, ;
taking telephone messages,shopping and running errands. ;
She would be guaranteed three evenings a week free ;
and could attend En- glish classes either from eleven till one ;
in the morning or from half past one till four in the afternoon. ;
She would receive 3 pounds a week pocket money. ;
Maria was delighted with the conditions and thought that they were fair. ;
She also liked the look of the family, ;
as Mrs Hutchinson had thoughtfully enclosed a photograph with her letter. ;
Additional Information ;
It was nothing for a girl to be sent away to service ;
when she was eleven years old. ;
That meant leaving the family as she had never been ;
parted from for a day in her life before, ;
and going to some place miles away to be treated like a dog. ;
I've got nothing against girls going into good service. ;
In my opinion, good service in a properly run big house ;
was a wonderful training for a lot of girls ;
who never would have seen anything different ;
all the days of their lives if they hadn't gone. ;
It was better than working on the land, then,and if it still existed now. ;
I reckon I'd rather see any of my daughters be a good housemaid ;
or a well-trained parlour maid ;
than a dolled-up shop- assistant up a factory worker. ;
But folks are too proud to work for other folks,now, ;
even if it's to their own advantage, ;
though as far as I can see you are still working for other folks, ;
whatever you're doing. ;
Big houses didn't want little girls of eleven,even as kitchen maids, ;
so the first few years had to be put in somewhere else, ;
before you got even that amount of promotion. ;
Big houses expected good service, ;
but you got good treatment in return. ;
It wasn't like that at the sort of place my friends had to go. ;
Mostly they went to the farmers' houses ;
within ten or twenty miles from where they'd been born. ;
These farmers were a jumped up,proud lot ;
who didn't know how to treat the people who worked for them. ;
They took advantage of the poor people's need ;
to get their girls off their hands ;
to get little slaves for nearly nothing. The conditions were terrible. ;
Lesson 3 Who Took the Money? ;
Text A ;
Mr Smith gave his wife ten pounds for her birthday -- ten pretty pound notes. ;
So the day after her birthday,Mrs Smith went shopping. ;
She queued for a bus,got on and sat down next to an old lady. ;
After a while,she noticed that the old lady's handbag was open. ;
Inside it,she saw a wad of pound notes ;
exactly like the one her husband had given her. ;
So she quickly looked into her own bag--the notes had gone! ;
Mrs Smith was sure that the old lady who was sitting next to her had stolen them ;
She thought she would have to call the police; ;
but,as she disliked making a fuss and getting people into trouble, ;
she decided to take back the money from the old lady's handbag ;
and say nothing more about it. ;
She looked round the bus to make sure nobody was watching, ;
then she carefully put her hand into the old lady's bag, ;
took the notes and put them in her own bag.When she got home that evening, ;
she showed her husband the beautiful hat she had bought. ;
"How did you pay for it?" he asked. ;
"With the money you gave me for my birthday,of course," she replied. ;
"Oh? What's that, then?" ;
he asked,as he pointed to a wad of ten pound notes on the table. ;
Text B ;
"Goodbye,darling," said Mr Mackin. "I'll be late tonight." ;
Poor George,she thought.He was always in a hurry in the morning, ;
and it wasn't unusual for him to come home late at night. ;
He worked for a shoe company in Leeds,and there was such a lot of work ;
that he normally stayed in the office till seven or eight. ;
When George had left the house ;
Mrs Mackin sat down in an armchair and turned on the radio. ;
It was a few minutes past eight, ;
and she heard the last words of the news: ;
"...man who escaped from Leeds prison yesterday is still free. ;
The police warn you not to open your door to strangers." ;
She turned off the radio.The housework was waiting for her. ;
She made the beds and washed the dishes.There wasn't any shopping to do, ;
and so the thought for a moment of all the work in the garden. ;
The Mackins lived in a house with a large garden in a suburb of Leeds. ;
Behind the garden there were some trees,and then the open fields. ;
Suddenly Mrs Mackin remembered the news. She laughed uneasily. ;
That prison is only 15 miles away,she thought. ;
She didn't work in the garden,she mended her husband's shirts instead. ;
And she carefully locked the front door and closed all the windows. ;
It was getting dark. She turned on the lights in the living-room. ;
Then she noticed that she had turned on the lights in most of the rooms in the house. ;
"How silly I am!" she said nervously ;
and went into the other rooms and turned the lights on. ;
The person at the door said something loudly, ;
but she was so frightened that she didn't understand a word. ;
Additional Information ;
Do you believe in ghosts? I don't either-or at least ;
I didn't until I heard a strange story the other day ;
from Mr Mike Paton, of 19 Marlborough Hill. ;
It all began on November 28. when Mr Paton's eight-year-old son,Bob, ;
was playing in the big back garden of his parents' house. ;
He met an old man with a long white beard. ;
The old man told Bob he was building the underground railway there, ;
but Bob didn't believe him. ;
Bob told me afterwards ;
that he knew the underground ran under Marlborough Hill itself. ;
The old man said there had been an accident the day before. ;
Then he went away. At first the Patons didn't believe Bob's story. ;
Mrs Paton told me that Bob often made up stories about ghosts and monsters, ;
like other children of his age. ;
But Mr Paton was curious ;
and decided that he would go to the library to check up on the facts. ;
He found that the railway company ;
had started to build the line to the west of Marlbouroung Hill in 1881, ;
but they had run into an underground river. ;
Ten workmen had died in an accident ;
and the Company had changed the direction of the line ;
and built the present tunnel under Marlborough Hill. ;
At first I didn't believe Mr Paton's story either, ;
so I did some research myself. ;
Inspector Bright of the Merropolitan Police ;
said it was natural to find tramps in the district in winter, ;
but no one had reported one answering the description ;
I had given him since last August. ;
Mr Joseph Griffiths of London Transport checked the files on the accident for me. ;
He told me that the accident had apparently taken place ;
on or very near the junction of Marlborough Hill ;
and Woodstock Avenue on 27 November 1881. ;
Mr Paton's house stands on the corner! ;
The source of this extraordinary story was not affected by the news. ;
"I told Mummy it was true,"young Bob Paton told me yesterday. ;
When I left the house he was playing happily with his toy cars-in the garden! ;
Lesson 4 Musical Half-Notes ;
Text A ;
A musician who played Pop Music in a Club ;
lived in a boardinghouse in the centre of London. ;
He always used to get back to his room very late at night ;
and sometimes in the early hours of the morning. ;
He was so tired when he got back that he would sit on the edge of his bed, ;
take off his shoes and throw them on the floor and say, ;
"Thank goodness, another day is over." ;
He would then get into bed and fall fast asleep. ;
But the poor lodger who had the room under the musician's was woken up each night, ;
or early in the morning,by the two thuds ;
that the two shoes made as they landed on his ceiling. ;
Finally,he could not stand it any more ;
and went and complained to the musician. ;
Naturally the musician was very upset and promised that, ;
in future,after taking off his shoes, ;
he would put them down as quietly as possible on the carpet. ;
The next day,he got back from his club at about one o'clock in the morning, ;
went up to his room, sat on the edge of his bed, ;
took off one shoe and threw it on the floor. ;
He was just about to do the same with the other ;
when he suddenly remembered the promise he had made the day before. ;
So with great care he put the second shoe down silently on the carpet. ;
Then be got into bed and fell fast asleep. ;
An hour later,he was woken up by a violent knocking on his door. ;
It was the lodger who slept in the room just under his. ;
"Please,please, please," the lodger pleaded,"drop the other shoe. ;
I have been waiting for a whole hour for you to drop it. ;
As soon as you do I can go to sleep." ;
Text B ;
Of all the men who ever liked fresh air, ;
not one liked it more than James Wilson. ;
He took long walks in the fresh air.He ran long distances in the fresh air. ;
He played football and other games in the fresh air. ;
He liked to climb mountains and breathe the fresh air at the top. ;
He used to go to sit by the sea and watch the great waves in the fresh air. ;
He always slept with his windows wide open. ;
He had an open car with no roof,and he drove it madly through the fresh air. ;
If Wilson entered a room where the windows were shut, ;
he immediately opened them. ;
He did this even when snow was falling outside. ;
If someone else shut the windows again, ;
he walked out of the room in a manner which showed his opinions without any doubt. ;
When he travelled by sea,he could usually be found in a place on board ;
where the wild wind was blowing through his hair. ;
One winter Wilson went to Finland on business. ;
Good hotels in Finland are heated during the cold winter, ;
and this winter was even colder than usual. ;
When Wilson reached his room in the hotel, ;
he found that the windows were closed to keep the icy air out. ;
He did his best to open one,but failed. ;
It was absolutely impossible to open it: ;
the manager had very wisely arranged that. ;
Wilson undressed and got into bed.He was a very angry man. ;
The bedroom was very pleasant. ;
Two or three pictures on the walls ;
showed views of some beautiful parts of Finland. ;
There was no noise at all. ;
The bed was really excellent,but Wilson could not sleep. ;
He could not forget the closed window. ;
No fresh air! It was terrible to think of! ;
He got out of bed and tried once more to open the window; ;
but it was useless, and he sadly got back into bed. ;
At about one o'clock in the morning he was still awake, ;
worrying about the air in the bedroom. ;
He had turned over in bed two hundred and thirty-six times. He was very hot. ;
As he turned over for the two hundred and thirty-seventh time, ;
one arm came out of the bedclothes and hung down beside the bed. ;
His hand touched the floor.It also touched something on the floor. ;
This thing was a shoe.An idea came into his worried mind. ;
Angry men act quickly,and the shoe was in his hand in less than a second. ;
Where was the window? ;
He could see something that looked like glass over there. ;
He threw the shoe through the darkness with all the force of his strong right arm. ;
The shoe flew straight through the air and hit the glass in the middle. ;
A terrible sound of breaking glass filled the bedroom, ;
but to Wilson's sad heart it seemed like the sound of sweet and beautiful music. ;
"Now I have some fresh air in the room," he thought."Now I need not die." ;
Five minutes later he was peacefully asleep. ;
He did not move for many hours. ;
When daylight came gently through the window, ;
he awoke and lay with his eyes closed.Where was he? Oh,yes! ;
He was in Finland; but what was the matter?Was anything wrong? ;
There was something to worry about.What was it?Oh,the broken window! Yes,indeed. ;
He would have to pay for that.How much? Was it a big piece of glass? ;
He could not remember.He opened his eyes to look. ;
Slowly he turned them towards the window, ;
and then he sat up suddenly in bed. ;
He was very surprised:the window was not broken at all. ;
The glass was all in one piece,just as good as it had been the night before. ;
No fresh air was entering the room through that window. ;
What,then,had happened when he threw the shoe? ;
He turned his eyes to the side and saw a broken picture hanging on the wall. ;
There was a shoe on the floor below it. ;
He could see a lot of broken glass round the shoe, ;
and there was more inside it. ;
Additional Information ;
Here is what happened to Adrian Fox on the train one day: ;
Adrian Fox lives in Devon and he is travelling home from London by train. ;
He decides to have a cup of tea,and goes to the train buffet. ;
While he is drinking his tea, ;
an attractive girl comes and sits at the same table. ;
They begin talking and the girl tells Adrian she is going to Devon on holiday. ;
They are soon very friendly. ;
Adrian finds out that the girl hasn't found a hotel to stay in. ;
Adrian's mother has a spare room in her house, ;
and Adrian invites the girl to stay there. ;
He knows his mother won't mind.The girl accepts. ;
A few minutes later a man comes and sits beside the girl, ;
who introduces him to Adrian.He is her husband. ;
Adrian didn't know the girl was married,and he is a little angry. ;
His mother won't like to have two people staying in her house. ;
Then three children arrive. ;
Two of them are carrying cats, and one has a small dog. ;
They are the girl's children. ;
They are all very happy,the girl says, ;
to be staying in Adrian's mother's house. ;
But Adrian isn't so happy. ;
When he reaches the station he phones his mother... ;
Lesson 5 Is He a Hero? ;
Text A ;
"Fire! Fire!" What terrible words ;
to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! ;
It was a large,old, wooden house ;
--the sort that burns beautifully-- and my room was on the top floor. ;
I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped out into the passage. ;
It was full of thick smoke. ;
I began to run but as I was still only half- awake,instead of going towards the stairs. ;
I went in the opposite direction. ;
The smoke grew thicker and I could see flames all around. ;
The floor became hot under my bare feet. ;
I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. ;
But before I could reach it, ;
one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. ;
The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, ;
and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. ;
Just then the floor gave way under me ;
and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me. ;
I saw a flaming doorway in front, put the bundle over my fact and ran. ;
My feet burned me terribly,but I got through. ;
As I reached the cold air outside,my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry. ;
I nearly dropped it in my surprise. ;
Then I saw a crowd gathered in the street. ;
A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man's coat screamed ;
as the saw me and came running madly. "My baby! My baby!" she cried. ;
The crowd cheered wildly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. ;
I had some difficulty in recognizing her. ;
She was the Mayor's wife,and I had saved her baby. I was hero! ;
Text B ;
Teresa went up to Mrs Webster's room, two stairs at a time. ;
She was nearly at the top when she stopped and sniffed. ;
A strong smell of gas was coming from that direction. ;
Teresa ran up the remaining stairs and threw open the door. ;
She put her hands over her mouth to stop a scream. ;
Mrs Webster was lying on the floor near the sink. ;
Her skin and lips had a pinkish colour and she appeared to be unconscious. ;
The room was full of gas. ;
Additional Information ;
Who doesn't love sitting beside a cosy fire on a cold winter's night ;
Who doesn't love to watch flames curling up a chimney? ;
Frie is one of man's greatest friends, but also one of his greatest enemies. ;
Many big fires are caused by carelessness. ;
A lighted cigarette thrown out of a car or train window ;
or a broken bottle lying on dry grass can start a fire. ;
Sometimes,though,a fire can start on its own. ;
Wet hay can begin burning by itself. ;
This is how it happens:the hay starts to rot ;
and begins to give off heat which is trapped inside it. ;
Finally,it bursts into flames. ;
That's why farmers cut and store their hay when it's dry. ;
Fires have destroyed whole cities. ;
In the 17th century, a small fire which began in a baker's shop ;
burnt down nearly every building in London. ;
Moscow was set on fire during the war against Napoleon. ;
This fire continued burning for seven days. ;
And,of course,in 64 A.D.Nero fiddled while Rome burned! ;
Even today,in spite of modern fire- fighting methods, ;
fire causes millions of pounds' worth of damage each year ;
both in our cities and in the countryside. ;
It has been wisely said that fire is a good servant but a bad master. ;
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