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Book II
Lesson 1
A private
conversation ??Last week I went to the theatre.
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!'.
Book II Lesson 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 out of 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!'
'
Book II Lesson 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 !
Book
II Lesson 4
An exciting trip ? DDI 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.
Book II Lesson 5
No wrong numbers ?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.
Book II Lesson 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 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.
Book II Lesson 7
Too
late ? The plane was late and detectives were
waiting at the airport all morning.
They were
expecting a valuable parcel of diamond 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!
Book II Lesson 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
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!
Book II Lesson 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 minute 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.
Book II Lesson 10
Not for jazz ?We have an
old musical instrument.
It is called a
clavichordIt was made in Germany 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.
Book II
Lesson 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 asked 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!
'
Book II Lesson 12
Goodbye and good luck ? Our ncighbour, Captain
Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth
tomorrow.
We shall meet him at the harbour
early in the morning.
He will be in his small
boat, Topsail.
Tapsail 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 good-bye
to him.
He will be away for two months.
We
are very proud of him.
He will take part in an
important race across the Atlantic.
Book
II Lesson 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
youngpeople 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.
Book II Lesson 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!
Book II Lesson 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 his desk when I entered.
After I had sat
down, he said that business was very bad.
He
told me that the firm could not afford to pay such
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!
Book II Lesson 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
You will enjoy your stay here 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!
Book II Lesson 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-coloured dress.
If anyone ever asked her how old she is, she
always answers, 'My dear, it must be terrible to
be grown up!
'
Book II Lesson 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 back to me.
'I'm very sorry,' he
said ' My dog had taken it into the garden.
He
often does this.
'
Book II Lesson 19
Sold out ? The play may begin at any moment,'
I said.
'It may have begun already,' Susan
answered.
'I hurried to the ticket-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.
'Could I have those two tickets please
?'
I asked.
'Certainly, 'the girl said,
'but they are for next Wednesday's performance.
'I might as well have them,' I said sadly.
Book II Lesson 20
One man in a boat ?
Fishing is my favourite sport.
I often fish
for hours without catching anything.
But this
does not worry me.
Some fishermen are unlucky.
Instead of catching fish, they catch old boots
and rubbish.
I am even less lucky.
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 !
Book II
Lesson 21
Mad or not?
Aeroplanes are
slowly driving me mad.
I live near an airport
and passing planes can be heard night and day.
The airport was built during the war, but for
some reason it could not be used then.
Last
year, however, it came into use.
Over a
hundred people must have been driven away from
their homes by the noise.
I am one of the few
people left.
Sometimes I think this house will
be knocked down by a passing plane.
I have
been offered a large sum of money to go away, but
I am determined to stay here.
Everybody says I
must be mad and they are probably right.
Book II Lesson 22
A glass envelope?y
daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a
letter from a girl of her own age in
Holland.
Last year, we were travelling across the
Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her
name and address
on it into a bottle.
She
threw the bottle into the sea.
She never
thought of it again, but ten months later, she
received a letter from a girl in Holland.
Both
girls write to each other regularly now.
However, they have decided to use the post-
office.
Letters will cost a litt1e
more, but they will certainly travel faster.
Book II Lesson 23
A new house ?ihad a
letter from my sister yesterday.
She lives in
Nigeria.
In her letter, she said that she
would come to England next year.
If she comes,
she will get a surprise.
We are now living in
a beautiful new house in the country.
Work on
it had begun before my sister left.
The house
was completed five months ago.
In my letter, I
told her that she could stay with us.
The
house has many large rooms and there is a lovely
garden.
It is a very modern house, so it looks
strange to some people.
It must be the only
modern house in the district.
Book II
Lesson 24
It could be worse ? 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 complain
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 !
'
Book
II Lesson 25
Do the English speak English?
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
understand him.
My teacher never spoke English
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
wonder.
In England, each man speaks a
different language.
The English understand
each other, but I don't understand them !
Do
they speak English ?
Book II Lesson 26
The best art critics ?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 children 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!
Book II
Lesson 27
A wet night 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 began to rain.
The boys felt tired so they pet out the fire
and crept into their tent.
Their sleeping-bags
were warm and comfortable, 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
sleeping-bags and hurried outside.
It was
raining 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!
Book II Lesson 28
No parking ?
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
someone 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 outside 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!
Book II Lesson
29
Taxi!
Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an
unusual taxi and has begun a new service.
The
'taxi' is a small Swiss aeroplane called a
'Pilatus Porter'.
This wonderful plane
can carry seven passengers.
The most
surprising thing about it, however, is that it can
land anywhere: on snow, water, or even on a
ploughed field.
Captain Fawcett's first
passenger was a doctor who flew from Birmingham to
a lonely village in the Welsh
mountains.
Since then, Captain Fawcett has flown
passengers to many unusual places.
Once he
landed on the roof of a block of flats and on
another occasion, he landed in a deserted car
park.
Captain Fawcett has just refused a
strange request from a businessman.
The man
wanted to fly to Rockall, a lonely island in the
Atlantic Ocean, but Captain Fawcett did not take
him because the trip was too dangerous.
Book II Lesson 30
Football or polo?
The Wayle is a small river that cuts across
the park near my home.
I like sitting by the
Wayle on fine afternoons.
It was warm last
Sunday, so I went and sat on the river bank as
usual.
Some children were playing games on the
bank and there were some people rowing on the
river.
Suddenly, one of the children kicked a
ball very hard and it went towards a passing boat.
Some people on the bank called out to the man
in the boat, but he did not hear them.
The
ball struck him so hard that he nearly fell into
the water.
I turned to look at the children,
but there weren't any in sight: they had all run
away!
The man laughed when he realized what
had happened.
He called out to the children
and threw the ball back to the bank.
Book
II Lesson 31
Success story
Yesterday
afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his
experiences as a young man.
Frank is now the
head of a very large business company, but as a
boy he used to work in a small shop.
It was
his job to repair bicycles and at that time he
used to work fourteen hours a day.
He saved
money for years and in 1938 he bought a small
work-shop of his own.
During the war Frank
used to make spare parts for aeroplanes.
At
that time he had two helpers.
By the end of
the war, the small work-shop had become a large
factory which employed seven hundred and
twenty-eight people.
Frank smiled when he
remembered his hard early years and the long road
to success.
He was still smiling when the door
opened and his wife came in.
She wanted him to
repair their son's bicycle!
Book II
Lesson 32
Shopping made easy People are not so
honest as they once were.
The temptation to
steal is greater than ever before--especially in
large shops.
A detective recently watched a
well-dressed woman who always went into a large
store on Monday
mornings.
One Monday,
there were fewer people in the shop than usual
when the woman came in, so it was easier for
the detective to watch her.
The woman
first bought a few small articles.
After a
little time, she chose one of the most expensive
dresses in the shop and handed it to an assistant
who
wrapped it up for her as quickly as
possible.
Then the woman simply took the
parcel and walked out of the shop without paying.
When she was arrested, the detective
found out that the shop-assistant was her
daughter.
The girl' gave' her mother a free
dress once a week !
Book II Lesson 33
Out of the darkness
Nearly a week passed
before the girl was able to explain what had
happened to her.
One afternoon she set out
from the coast in a small boat and was caught in a
storm.
Towards evening, the boat struck a rock
and the girl jumped into the sea.
Then she
swam to the shore after spending the whole night
in the water.
During that time she covered a
distance of eight miles.
Early next morning,
she saw a light ahead.
She knew she was near
the shore because the light was high up on the
cliffs.
On arriving at the shore, the girl
struggled up the cliff towards the light she had
seen.
That was all she remembered.
When
she woke up a day later, she found herself in
hospital.
Book II Lesson 34
Quick
work ?
Ted Robinson has been worried all the
week.
Last Tuesday he received a letter from
the local police.
In the letter he was asked
to call at the station.
Ted wondered why he
was wanted by the police, but he went to the
station yesterday and now he is not
worried
any more.
At the station, he was told by a
smiling policeman that his bicycle had been found.
Five days ago, the policeman told him, the
bicycle was picked up in a small village four
hundred miles
away.
It is now being sent
to his home by train.
Ted was most surprised
when he heard the news.
He was amused too,
because he never expected the bicycle to be found.
It was stolen twenty years ago when Ted was a
boy of fifteen !
Book II Lesson 35
Stop thief!
Rov Trenton used to drive a
taxi.
A short while ago, however, he became a
bus-driver and he was not regretted it.
He is
finding his new work far more exciting.
When
he was driving along Catford Street recently, he
saw two thieves rush out of a shop and run towards
a waiting car.
One of them was carrying a
bag full of money.
Roy acted quickly and drove
the bus straight at the thieves.
The one with
the money got such a fright that he dropped the
bag.
As the thieves were trying to get away in
their car, Roy drove his bus into the back of it.
While the battered car was moving away, Roy
stopped his bus and telephoned the police.
The
thieves' car was badly damaged and easy to
recognize.
Shortly afterwards, the police
stopped the car and both men were arrested.
Book II Lesson 36
Across the Channel??Erna
Hart is going to swim across the English Channel
tomorrow.
She is going to set out from the
French coast at five o'clock in the morning.
Erna is only fourteen years old and she
hopes lo set up a new world record.
She is a
strong swimmer and many people feel that she is
sure to succeed.
Erna's father will set out
with her in a small boat.
Mr Hart has trained
his daughter for years.
Tomorrow he will be
watching her anxiously as she swims the long
distance to England.
Erna intends to take
short rests every two hours.
She will have
something to drink but she will not eat any solid
food.
Most of Erna's school friends will be
waiting for her on the English coast.
Among
them will be Erna's mother, who swam the Channel
herself when she was a girl.
Book II
Lesson 37
The Olympic Games °The Olympic Games
will be held in our country in four years' time.
As a great many people will be visiting the
country, the government will be building new
hotels, an
immense stadium, and a fine new
swimming pool.
'They will also be building new
roads and a special railway-line.
The Games
will be held just outside the capital and the
whole area will be called 'Olympic City'.
Workers will have completed the new roads by
the end of this year.
By the end of next year,
they will have finished work on the new stadium.
The fine modern buildings have been designed
by Kurt Gunter.
Everybody will be watching
anxiously as the new buildings go up.
We are
all very excited and are looking forward to the
Olympic Games because they have never been held
before in this country.
Book II
Lesson 38
Everything except the weather ?
My old friend, Harrison, had lived in the
Mediterranean for many years before he returned to
England.
He had often dreamed of retiring in
England and had planned to settle down in the
country.
He had no sooner returned than he
bought a fine house and went to live there.
Almost immediately he began to complain about
the weather, for even though it was still summer,
it rained
continually and it was often
bitterly cold.
After so many years of
sunshine, Harrison got a shock.
He acted as if
he had never lived in England before.
In the
end, it was more than he could bear.
He had
hardly had time to settle down when he sold the
house and left the country.
The dream he had
had for so many years ended there.
Harrison
had thought of everything except the weather.
Book II Lesson 39
Am I all right?
While John Gilbert was in hospital, he asked
his doctor to tell him whether his operation had
been
successful, but the doctor refused to do
so.
The following day, the patient asked for a
bedside telephone.
When he was alone, he
telephoned the hospital exchange and asked for
Doctor Millington.
When the doctor answered
the phone, Mr Gilbert said he was inquiring about
a certain patient, a Mr John
Gilbert.
He
asked if Mr Gilbert's operation had been
successful and the doctor told him that it had
been.
He then asked when Mr Gilbert would be
allowed to go home and the doctor told him that he
would have to
stay in hospital for another two
weeks.
Then Dr Millington asked the caller if
he was a relative of the patient.'
No,' the patient answered,' I am Mr
John Gilbert.'
Book II Lesson 40
Food and talk ?
Last week at a dinner-
party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs
Rumbold.
Mrs Rumbold was a large, unsmiling
lady in a tight black dress.
She did not even
look up when I took my seat beside her.
Her
eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time,
she was busy eating.
I tried to make
conversation.'
A new play is coming
to
'Will you be seeing it ?'
' No,' she
answered.
'Will you be spending your holidays
abroad this year ?'
I asked.'
No,' she
answered.'
Will you be staying in England?'
I asked.'
No,' she answered.
In
despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her
dinner.'
Young man,' she answered,' if you
ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our
dinner !'
Book II Lesson 41
Do you
call that a hat?
'Do you call that a hat ?'
I said to my wife.
'You needn't be so rude
about it,' my wife answered as she looked at
herself in the mirror.
I sat down on one of
those modern chairs with holes in it and waited.
We had been in the hat shop for half an hour
and my wife was still in front of the mirror.'
We mustn't buy things we don't need,' I
remarked suddenly.
I regretted saying it
almost at once.
'You needn't have said that,'
my wife answered.'
I need not remind you of
that terrible tie you bought yesterday.'
' I
find it beautiful,' I said.
'A man can never
have too many ties.'
'And a woman can't have
too many hats,' she answered.
Ten minutes
later we walked out of the shop together.
My
wife was wearing a hat that looked like a
lighthouse !
Book II Lesson 42
Not
very musical As we had had a long walk through one
of the markets of Old Delhi, we stopped at a
square to have a rest.
After a time, we
noticed a snake-charmer with two large baskets at
the other side of the square, so we went
to
have a look at him.
As soon as he saw us, he
picked up a long pipe which was covered with coins
and opened one of the
baskets.
When he
began to play a tune, we had our first glimpse of
the snake.
It rose out of the basket and began
to follow the movements of the pipe.
We were
very much surprised when the snake charmer
suddenly began to play jazz tunes and modern pop
songs.
The snake, however,
continued to 'dance' slowly.
It obviously
could not tell the difference between Indian music
and jazz!
Book II Lesson 43
Over the
South Pole In 1929, three years after his flight
over the North Pole, the American explorer, .
Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole
for the first time.
Though, at first, Byrd and
his men were able to take a great many photographs
of the mountains that lay
below, they soon ran
into serious trouble.
At one point, it seemed
certain that their plane would crash.
It could
only get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000
feet.
Byrd at once ordered his men to throw
out two heavy food sacks.
The plane was then
able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400
feet.
Byrd now knew that he would be able to
reach the South Pole which was 300 miles away, for
there were no
more mountains in sight.
The
aircraft was able to fly over the endless white
plains without difficulty.
Book II Lesson
44
Through the forest ′? Mrs Anne Sterling did
not think of the risk she was taking when she ran
through a
forest after two men.
They had
rushed up to her while she was having a picnic at
the edge of a forest with her children and tried
to steal her handbag.
In the struggle, the
strap broke and, with the bag in their possession,
both men started running through the
trees.
Mrs Sterling got so angry that she ran after
them.
She was soon out of breath, but she
continued to run.
When she caught up with
them, she saw that they had sat down and were
going through the contents of the
bag, so she
ran straight at them.
The men got such a
fright that they dropped the bag and ran away.
'The strap needs mending,' said Mrs Sterling
later, 'but they did not steal anything.
Book II Lesson 45
A clear conscience?The
whole village soon learnt that a large sum of
money had been lost.
Sam Benton, the local
butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his
savings to the post-office.
Sam was sure that
the wallet must have been found by one of the
villagers, but it was not returned to him.
Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam
found his wallet outside his front door.
It
had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained
half the money he had lost, together with a note
which said: 'A thief, yes, 'but only 5o per
cent a thief!'
Two months later, some more
money was sent to Sam with another note:' Only 25
per cent a thief now!'
In time, all Sam's
money was paid back in this way.
The last note
said:' I am 100 per cent honest now!
'
Book II Lesson 46
Expensive and
uncomfortable ? When a plane from London arrived
at Sydney airport, workers began to
unload a
number of wooden boxes which contained clothing.
No one could account for the fact that one of
the boxes was extremely heavy.
It suddenly
occurred to one of the workers to open up the box.
He was astonished at what he found.
A man
was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen
goods.
He was so surprised at being discovered
that he did not even try to run away.
After he was arrested, the man admitted
hiding in the box before the plane left London.
He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for
he had been confined to the wooden box for over
ten hours.
The man was ordered to pay &345 for
the cost of the trip.
The normal price of a
ticket is &230 !
Book II Lesson 47
A
thirsty ghost
A public house which was
recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale.
Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is
haunted.
He told me that he could not go to
sleep one night because he heard a strange noise
coming from the bar.
The next morning, he
found that the doors had been blocked by chairs
and the furniture had been moved.
Though Mr
Thompson had turned the lights off before he went
to bed, they were on in the morning.
He also
said that he had found five empty whisky bottles
which the ghost must have drunk the night before.
When I suggested that some villagers must have
come in for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his
head.
The villagers have told him that they
will not accept the inn even if he gives it away.
Book II Lesson 48
Did you want to
tell me something?
Dentists always ask
questions when it is impossible for you to answer.
My dentist had just pulled out one of my teeth
and had told me to rest for a while.
I tried
to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton-
wool.
He knew I collected birds' eggs and
asked me whether my collection was growing.
He
then asked me how my brother was and whether I
liked my new job in London.
In answer to these
questions I either nodded or made strange noises.
Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out
the hole where the tooth had been.
I suddenly
felt very worried, but could not say anything.
When the dentist at last removed the cotton-
wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he
had pulled
out the wrong tooth.
Book
II Lesson 49
The end of a dream ? Tired of
sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran
saved up for years to buy a
real bed.
For
the first time in his life, he became the proud
owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress.
Because the weather was very hot, he carried
the bed on to the roof of his house.
He slept
very well for the first two nights, but on the
third night, a storm blew up.
A gust of wind
swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing
into the courtyard below.
The young man did
not wake up until the bed had struck the ground.
Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the
man was miraculously unhurt.
When he woke up,
he was still on the mattress.
Glancing at the
bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the
man sadly picked up the mattress and
carried
it into his house.
After he had put it on the
floor, he promptly went to sleep again.
Book II Lesson 50
Taken for a ride 3
I
love travelling in the country, but I don't like
losing my way.
I went on an excursion
recently, but my trip took me longer than I
expected.'
I'm going to Woodford Green,' I
said to the conductor as I got on the bus,' but I
don't know where it is.'
' I'll tell you
where to get off,' answered the conductor.
I sat in the front of the bus to get a
good view of the countryside.
After some time,
the bus stopped.
Looking round, I realized
with a shock that I was the only passenger left on
the bus.
You'll have to get off here,' the
conductor said.
'This is as far as we go.'
' Is this Woodford Green ?'
I asked.
'Oh dear,' said the conductor suddenly.'
I forgot to put you off.'
'It doesn't
matter,' I said.
'I'll get off here.'
'We
are going back now,' said the conductor.
'Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the
bus,' I answered.
Book II Lesson 51
Reward for virtue ? My friend, Herbert, has
always been fat, but things got so bad recently
that he decided
to go on a diet.
He began
his diet a week ago.
First of all, he wrote
out a long list of all the foods which were
forbidden.
The list included most of the
things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice,
beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets.
Yesterday I
paid him a visit.
I rang the bell and was not
surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as
ever.
He led me into his room and hurriedly
hid a large parcel under his desk.
It was
obvious that he was very embarrassed.
When I
asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily
and then put the parcel on the desk.
He
explained that his diet was so strict that he had
to reward himself occasionally.
Then he showed
me the contents of the parcel.
It contained
five large bars of chocolate and three bags of
sweets!
Book II Lesson 52
A pretty
carpet ? We have just moved into a new house and I
have been working hard all morning.
I have
been trying to get my new room in order.
This
has not been easy because I own over a thousand
books.
To make matters worse, the room is
rather small, so I have temporarily put my books
on the floor.
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.
A short
while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my
old bookcases up the stairs.
She went into my
room and got a big surprise when she saw all those
books on the floor.
'This is the prettiest
carpet I have ever seen,' she said.
She gazed
at it for some time then added, 'You don't need
bookcases at all.
You can sit here in your
spare time and read the carpet!'
Book II
Lesson 53
Hot snake ′At last firemen have put
out a big forest fire in California.
Since
then, they have been trying to find out how the
fire began.
Forest fire are often caused by
broken glass or by cigarette ends which people
carelessly throw away.
Yesterday the firemen
examined the ground carefully, but were not able
to find any broken glass.
They were also quite
sure that a cigarette end did not start the fire.
This morning, however, a fireman accidentally
discovered the cause.
He noticed the
remains of a snake which was wound round the
electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line.
In
this way, he was able to solve the mystery.
The explanation was simple but very unusual.
A bird had snatched up the snake from the
ground and then dropped it on to the wires.
The snake then wound itself round the wires.
When it did so, it sent sparks down to the
ground and these immediately started a fire.
Book II Lesson 54
Sticky fingers ? After
breakfast, I sent the children to school and then
I went to market.
It was still early when I
returned home.
The children were at school, my
husband was at work and the house was quiet.
So I decided to make some tarts for tea.
In a short time I was busy mixing butter and
flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky
pastry.
At exactly that moment, the telephone
rang.
Nothing could have been more annoying.
I picked up the receiver between two sticky
fingers and was dismayed when I recognized the
voice of Mrs
Bates.
It took me ten minutes
to persuade her to ring back later.
At last I
hung up the receiver.
What a mess!
There
was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on
the door-knobs.
I had no sooner got back to
the kitchen than the door-bell rang loud enough to
wake the dead.
This time it was the postman
and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter !
Book II Lesson 55
Not a gold mine
Dreams of finding lost treasure almost came true
recently.
A new machine called 'The Revealer'
has been invented and it has been used to detect
gold which has been
buried in the ground.
The machine was used in a cave near the
seashore where--it is said--pirates used to hide
gold.
The pirates would often bury gold in the
cave and then fail to collect it.
Armed with
the new machine, a search party went into the cave
hoping to find buried treasure.
The leader of
the party was examining the soil near the entrance
to the cave when the machine showed that
there
was gold under the ground.
Very excited, the
party dug a hole two feet deep.
They finally
found a small gold coin which was almost
worthless.
The party then searched the whole
cave thoroughly but did not find anything except
an empty tin trunk.
In spite of this, many
people are confident that 'The Revealer' may
reveal something of value fairly soon.
Book II Lesson 56
Faster than sound!
Once a year a race is held for old cars.
A
lot of cars entered for this race last year and
there was a great deal of excitement just before
it began.
One of the most handsome cars was a
Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
The most unusual car
was a Benz which had only three wheels.
Built
in 1885, it was the oldest car taking part.
After a great many loud explosions, the race
began.
Many of the cars broke down on the
course and some drivers spent more time under
their cars than in
them !
A few cars,
however, completed the race.
The
winning car reached a speed of forty miles an hour
--much faster than any of its rivals.
It sped
downhill at the end of the race and its driver had
a lot of trouble trying to stop it.
The race
gave everyone a great deal of pleasure.
It was
very different from modern car races but no less
exciting.
Book II Lesson 57
Can I
help you, madam?
A woman in blue jeans stood
at the window of an expensive shop.
Though she
hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and
asked to see a dress that was in the window.
The assistant who served her did not like the
way she was dressed.
Glancing at her
scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold.
The woman walked out of the shop angrily and
decided to punish the assistant next day.
She
returned to the shop the following morning dressed
in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a
long
umbrella in the other.
After seeking
out the rude assistant she asked for the same
dress.
Not realizing who she was, the
assistant was eager to serve her this time with
great difficulty, he climbed
into the shop
window to get the dress.
As soon as she saw
it, the woman said she did not like it.
She
enjoyed herself making the assistant bring almost
everything in the window before finally buying the
dress she had first asked for.
Book
II Lesson 58
A blessing in disguise?
The
tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a
'cursed tree'.
Because the tree was mentioned
in a newspaper, the number of visitors to Frinley
has now increased.
The tree was planted near a
church fifty years ago, but it is only in recent
years that it has gained an evil
reputation.
It is said that if anyone touches the tree, he
will have bad luck; if he picks a leaf, he will
die.
Many villagers believe that the tree has
already claimed a number of victims.
The vicar
has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so
far he has refused.
He has pointed out that
the tree is a useful source of income as tourists
have been coming from all parts of
the country
to see it.
In spite of all that has been said,
the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting
their names on the
tree-trunk.
So far, not
one of them has been struck down by sudden death!
Book II Lesson 59
In or out ?Our dog,
Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark.
Every time he wanted to come into the garden
he would bark until someone opened the gate.
As the neighbours complained of the noise, my
husband spent weeks training him to press his paw
on the
latch to let himself in.
Rex soon
became an expert at opening the gate.
However,
when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed
him in the garden near the gate.
This time he
was barking so that someone would let him out !
Since then, he has developed another bad
habit.
As soon as he opens the gate from the
outside, he comes into the garden and waits until
the gate shuts.
Then he sits and barks until
someone lets him out.
After this he
immediately lets himself in and begins barking
again.
Yesterday my husband removed the gate
and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since.
Book II Lesson 60
The future
At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-
teller called Madam Bellinsky.
I went into her
tent and she told me to sit down.
After I had
given her some money, she looked into a crystal
ball and said: 'A relation of yours is coming to
see you.
She will be arriving this evening
and intends to stay for a few days.
The moment
you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise.
A woman you know well will rush towards you.
She will speak to you and then she will lead
you away from this place.
That is all.'
As soon as I went outside, I forgot all about
Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards
me.
'Where have you been hiding ?'
she
asked impatiently.
'Your sister will be here
in less than an hour and we must be at the station
to meet her.
We are late already.'
As she
walked away, I followed her out of the fair.
Book II Lesson 61
Trouble with the Hubble
1t
In future, astronauts will be required to
descend from a spaceship while it is still in
space and to return to it.
The ability to do
this will be necessary in future flights to
distant planets.
Scientists are now trying to
discover if this is possible.
The spaceship
Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will
be travelling three hundred miles into space.
At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a
short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave
the stationary
spaceship and then return to
it.
We shall not know whether the experiment
has been successful until we have received a radio
message.
The first message is expected to
arrive at 7 o'clock this evening.
By that
time, the Astra will have been flying through
space for seventeen hours and will have circled
the
earth a great many times.
When the
first radio messages have been received, the
results of the trip will be announced immediately.
Book II Lesson 62
After the fire
Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for
nearly three weeks before they could get it under
control.
A short time before, great trees had
covered the countryside for miles around.
Now,
smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the
desolate hills.
Winter was coming on and the
hills threatened the surrounding villages with
destruction, for heavy rain
would not only
wash away the soil but would cause serious floods
as well.
When the fire had at last been put
out, the forest authorities ordered several tons
of a special type of
grass-seed which would
grow quickly.
The seed was sprayed over the
ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes.
The
planes had been planting seed for nearly a month
when it began to rain.
By then, however, in
many places the grass had already taken root.
In place of the great trees which had been
growing there for centuries, patches of green had
begun to appear
in the blackened soil.
Book II Lesson 63
She was not amused ?
D|Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends
and is very popular at parties.
Everybody admires him for his fine
sense of humor--everybody, that is, except his
six-year-old daughter,
Jenny.
Recently,
one of Geoffrey's closest friends asked him to
make a speech at a wedding reception.
This is
the sort of thing that Geoffrey loves.
He
prepared the speech carefully and went to the
wedding with Jenny.
He had included a large
number of funny stories in the speech and, of
course, it was a great success.
As soon as he
had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go
home.
Geoffrey was a little disappointed by
this but he did as his daughter asked.
On the
way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the
speech.
To his surprise, she said she hadn't.
Geoffrey asked her why this was so and she
told him that she did not like to see so many
people laughing at
him!
Book II
Lesson 64
The Channel Tunnel .In l858, a
French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in
England with a plan
for a twenty-one mile
tunnel across the English Channel.
He said
that it would be possible to build a platform in
the centre of the Channel.
This platform would
serve as a port and a railway station.
The
tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys
were built above sea-level.
In 1860, a better
plan was put forward by an Englishman, William
Low.
He suggested that a double railway tunnel
should be built.
This would solve the problem
of ventilation, for if a train entered this
tunnel, it would draw in fresh air
behind it.
Forty-two years later a tunnel was actually
begun.
If, at the time, the British had not
feared invasion, it would have been completed.
Recently, there has again been great interest
in the idea of a Channel Tunnel.
If it is
built, it will connect Britain to Europe for the
first time in history.
Book II Lesson 65
Jumbo versus the police
Last Christmas,
the circus owner, Jimmy Gates, decided to take
some presents to a children's hospital.
Dressed up as Father Christmas and accompanied
by a 'guard of honour' of six pretty girls, he set
off down
the main street of the city riding a
baby elephant called Jumbo.
He, should have
known that the police would never allow this sort
of thing.
A policeman approached Jimmy and
told him he ought to have gone along a side-street
as Jumbo was
holding up the traffic.
Though Jimmy agreed to go at once, Jumbo
refused to move.
Fifteen policemen had to push
very hard to get him off the main street.
The
police had a difficult time, but they were most
amused.
'Jumbo must weigh a few tons,' said a
policeman afterwards, 'so it was fortunate that we
didn't have to carry
him.
Of course, we
should arrest him, but as he has a good record, we
shall let him off this time.
'
Book II
Lesson 66
Sweet as honey!
The Hatheld
Puffin is a modern aero-plane, but its designer,
Mr John Wimpenny, is finding it difficult to
get it off the ground.
The reason for this
is that this plane is also a bicycle.
Its
pilot has to pedal hard to get it into the air.
After Mr Wimpenny had the plane built,
it was tested thoroughly.
In 1961, it was the
first man-powered aircraft to fly half a mile.
While being flown by a champion amateur
cyclist in 1963, the plane crashed on an airfield.
Since then, Mr Wimpenny has had it rebuilt.
He has had the length of the wings increased
so that they now measure 93 feet--almost as long
as those of a
Dakota.
Many people have
shown interest in this new and unusual sport.
But though air cyclists may learn how to fly
over short distances, and may, eventually, even
get across the
English Channel, it is doubtful
whether they will ever cycle across the Atlantic.
Book II Lesson 67
Volcanoes ?Haroun
Tazieff the Polish scientist, has spent his life-
time studying active volcanoes and deep
caves
in all parts of the world.
In 1948, he went to
lake Kivu in the Congo to observe a new volcano
which he later named Kituro.
Tazieff was able
to set up his camp very close to the volcano while
it was erupting violently.
Though he managed
to take a number of brilliant photographs, he
could not stay near the volcano for very
long.
He noticed that a river of liquid rock was
coming towards him.
It threatened to surround
him completely, but Tazieff managed to escape just
in time.
He waited until the volcano became
quiet and he was able to return two days later.
This time, he managed to climb into the mouth
of Kituro so that he could take photographs and
measure
temperatures.
Tazieff has often
risked his life in this way.
He has been able
to tell us more about active volcanoes than any
man alive.
Book II Lesson 68
Persistent ?DYI crossed the street to avoid
meeting him, but he saw me and came running
towards me.
It was no use pretending that I
had not seen him, so I waved to him.
I never
enjoy meeting Bert Dykes.
He never has
anything to do.
No matter how busy you are, he
always insists on coming with you.
I had to
think of a way of preventing him from following me
around all morning.
'Hullo, Bert,' I said.
'Fancy meeting you here !'
'Hullo,
Elizabeth,' Bert answered.'
I was just
wondering how to spend the morning--until I saw
you.
You're not busy doing anything, are you
?'
' No, not at all,' I answered.'
I'm
going to.
'Would you mind my coming with you
?'
he asked, before I had finished speaking.'
Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the
dentist.'
' Then I'll come with you,' he
answered.'
There's always plenty to read in
the 'waiting room !
'
Book II Lesson 69
But not murder!
I was being tested for a
driving licence for the third time.
I had been
asked to drive in heavy traffic and had done so
successfully.
After having been
instructed to drive out of town, I began to
acquire confidence.
Sure that I had passed, I
was almost beginning to enjoy my test.
The
examiner must have been pleased with my
performance, for he smiled and said, 'Just one
more thing,
Mr Eames.
Let us suppose that
a child suddenly crosses the road in front of you.
As soon as I tap on the window, I want the car
to be stopped immediately.'
I continued
driving and after some time, the examiner tapped
loudly.
Though the sound could be heard
clearly, it took me a long time to react.
I
suddenly pressed the brake pedal hard and we were
both thrown forward.
The examiner looked at me
sadly.
'Mr Eames,' he said, in a mournful
voice,' you have just killed that child !'
Book II Lesson 70
Red for danger ?During a
bullfight, a drunk suddenly wandered into the
middle of the ring.
The crowd began to shout,
but the drunk was unaware of the danger.
The
bull was busy with the matador at the time, but it
suddenly caught sight of the drunk who was
shouting
rude remarks and waving a red cap.
Apparently sensitive to criticism, the bull
forgot all about the matador and charged at the
drunk.
The crowd suddenly grew quiet.
The
drunk, however, seemed quite sure of himself.
When the bull got close to him, he clumsily
stepped aside to let it pass.
The crowd broke
into cheers and the drunk bowed.
By this time,
however, three men had come into the ring and they
quickly dragged the drunk to safety.
Even the
bull seemed to feel sorry for him, for it looked
on sympathetically until the drunk was out of the
way before once more turning its attention to
the matador.
Book II Lesson 71
A
famous clock ?When you visit London, one of the
first things you will see is Big Ben, the famous
clock
which can be heard all over the world on
the the Houses of Parliament had hot been burned
down in 1834,
the great clock would never have
been erected.
Big Ben takes its name from Sir
Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making
of the clock when the
new Houses of Parliament
were being built.
It is not only of immense
size, but is extremely accurate as well.
Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the
clock checked twice a day.
On the can hear
the clock when it is actually striking because
microphones are connected to the clock
tower.
Big Ben has rarely gone wrong.
Once,
however, it failed to give the correct time.
A
painter who had been working on the tower hung a
pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it
down !
Book II Lesson 72
A car called
Bluebird
300 miles per hour.
He set up a
new world record in September 1935 at Bonneville
Salt Flats, Utah.
Bluebird, the car he was
driving, had been specially built for him.
It
was over 30 feet in length and had a 2500 horse-
power engine.
Although Campbell reached a
speed of over 304 miles per hour, he had great
difficulty in controlling the
car because a
tyre burst during the first run.
After his
attempt, Campbell was disappointed to learn that
his average speed had been 299 miles per hour.
However, a few days later, he was told
that a mistake had been made.
His average
speed had been 301 miles per hour.
Since that
time, racing drivers have reached speeds of over
400 miles an hour.
Following his father's
footsteps many years later, Sir Malcolm's son,
Donald, also set up a world record.
Like his
father, he was driving a car called Bluebird.
Book II Lesson 73
The record-holder
?Little boys who play truant from school are
unimaginative.
A quiet day's fishing, or eight
hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and
over again, is usually as far
as they get.
They have all been put to shame by a boy who,
while playing truant, travelled 1600 miles.
He
hitch- hiked to Dover and, towards evening, went
into a boat to find somewhere to sleep.
When
he woke up next morning, he discovered that the
boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais.
No one noticed the boy as he crept off.
From there, he hitch-hiked to Paris in a
lorry.
The driver gave him a few biscuits and
a cup of coffee and left him just outside the
city.
The next car the boy stopped did not
take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it
would, but to
Perpignan on the French-Spanish
border.
There he was picked up by a policeman
and sent back to England by the local authorities.
He has surely set up a record for the
thousands of boys who dream of evading school.
Book II Lesson 74
Out of the
limelight ?An ancient bus stopped by a dry river
bed and a party of famous actors and actresses
got off.
Dressed in dark glasses and old
clothes, they had taken special precautions so
that no one should recognize
them.
But as
they soon discovered, disguises can sometimes be
too perfect.
'This is a wonderful place for a
picnic,' said Gloria Gleam.'
It couldn't be
better, Gloria,' Brinksley Meers agreed.
'No
newspaper men, no film fans!
Why don't we come
more often ?'
Meanwhile, two other actors,
Rockwall Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried
two large food baskets to a
shady spot under
some trees.
When they had all made themselves
comfortable, a stranger appeared.
He looked
very angry.
'Now you gut out of here, all of
you!'
he shouted: ' I'm sheriff here.
Do
you see that notice ?
It says
' Look,
sheriff, 'said Rockwall,' don't be too hard on us.
I'm Rockwall Slinger and this is Merlin
Greeves.'
' Oh, is it ?'
said the
sheriff with a sneer.
'Well, I'm Brinksley
Meers, and my other name is Gloria Gleam.
Now
you get out of here fast !
'
Book II
Lesson 75
When a light passenger plane flew
off course some time ago, it crashed in the
mountains and its pilot was
killed.
The only passengers, a young woman and
her two baby daughters, were unhurt.
It was
the middle of winter.
Snow lay thick on the
ground.
The woman knew that the nearest
village was miles away.
When it grew dark.
she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the
children inside it, covering them with all the
clothes she could
find.
During the night,
it got terribly cold.
The woman kept as near
as she could to the children and even tried to get
into the case herself, but it was
too small.
Early ,next morning she heard planes passing
overhead and wondered how she could send a signal.
Then she had an idea.
She stamped out the
letters' SOS' in the snow.
Fortunately, a
pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio
to the nearest town.
It was not long before a
helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the
survivors of the plane crash.
Book II
Lesson 76
April Fools Day .To end our special
news bulletin,' said the voice of the television
announcer,' we are
taking you to the macaroni
fields of Calabria.
Macaroni has been grown in
this area for over six hundred years.
Two of
the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and Ricardo
Brabante, tell me that they have been
expecting a splendid crop this year and
harvesting has begun earlier than usual.
Here
you can see two workers who, between them, have
just finished cutting three cart-loads of golden
brownmacaroni stalks.
The whole village
has been working day and night gathering and
threshing this year's crop before the
September rains.
On the right, you can see
Mrs Brabante herself.
She has been helping her
husband for thirty years now.
Mrs Brabante is
talking to the manager of the local factory where
the crop is processed.
This last scene shows
you what will happen at the end of the harvest:
the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating
competition !
Signor Fratelli, the present
champion, has won it every year since 1961.
And that ends our special bulletin for today,
Thursday, April 1st.
We are now returning you
to the studio.
'
Book II Lesson 77
A
successful operation ?The mummy of an Egyptian
woman who died in 800 .
has just had an
operation.
The mummy is that of Shepenmut who
was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes.
As
there were strange marks on the X-ray plates taken
of the mummy, doctors have been trying to find out
whether the woman died of a rare disease.
The only way to do this was to operate.
The operation, which lasted for over four
hours, proved to be very difficult because of the
hard resin which
covered the skin.
The
doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it
to a laboratory.
They also found something
which the X-ray of the god Duamutef.
This god
which has the head of a cow was normally
placedinside a mummy.
The doctors have not yet
decided how the woman died.
They feared
that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut
it open, but fortunately this has not
happened.
The mummy successfully survived
the operation.
Book II Lesson 78
The
last one?
After reading an article entitled
'Cigarette Smoking and Your Health' I lit a
cigarette to calm my nerves.
I smoked with
concentration and pleasure as I was sure that this
would be my last cigarette.
For a whole week I
did not smoke at all and during this time, my wife
suffered terribly.
I had all the usual
symptoms of someone giving up smoking: a bad
temper and an enormous appetite.
My friends
kept on offering me cigarettes and cigars.
They made no effort to hide their amusement
whenever I produced a packet of sweets from my
pocket.
After seven days of this I went to a
party.
Everybody around me was smoking and I
felt extremely uncomfortable.
When my old
friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette, it
was more than I could bear.
I took one
guiltily, lit it and smoked with satisfaction.
My wife was delighted that things had returned
to normal once more.
Anyway, as Brian pointed
out, it is the easiest thing in the world to give
up smoking.
He himself has done it lots of
times!
Book II Lesson 79
I used to
travel by air a great deal when I was a boy.
My parents, used to live in South America and
I used to fly there from Europe in the holidays.
An airhostess would take charge of me and I
never had an unpleasant experience.
I am used
to travelling by air and only on one occasion have
I ever felt frightened.
After taking off, we
were flying low over the city and slowly gaining
height, when the plane suddenly
turned round
and flew back to the airport.
While we were
waiting to land, an air-hostess told us to keep
calm and to get off the plane quietly as soon
as it had touched down.
Everybody on board
was worried and we were curious to find out what
had happened.
Later we learnt that there was a
very important person on board.
The police had
been told that a bomb had been planted on the
plane.
After we had landed, the plane was
searched thoroughly.
Fortunately, nothing was
found and five hours later we were able to take
off again.
Book II Lesson 80
The
Crystal Palace ?Perhaps the most extraordinary
building of the nineteenth century was the Crystal
Palace, which was built in Hyde Park for the
Great Exhibition of 1851.
The Crystal Palace
was different from all other buildings in the
world, for it was made of iron and glass.
It
was one of the biggest buildings of all time and a
lot of people from many countries came to see it.
A great many goods were sent to the exhibition
from various parts of the world.
There was
also a great deal of machinery on display.
The
most wonderful piece of machinery on show was
Nasmyth's steam hammer.
Though in those days,
travelling was not as easy as it is today, steam
boats carried thousands of visitors
across the
Channel from Europe.
On arriving in England,
they were taken to the Crystal Palace by train.
There were six million visitors in all, and
the profits from the exhibition were used to build
museums and
colleges.
Later, the Crystal
Palace was moved to South London.
It
remained one of the most famous buildings in the
world until it was burnt down in 1936.
Book II Lesson 81
When he had killed the
guard, the prisoner of war quickly dragged him
into the bushes.
Working rapidly in the
darkness, he soon changed into the dead man's
clothes.
Now, dressed in a blue uniform and
with a rifle over his shoulder, the prisoner
marched boldly up and
down in front of the
camp.
He could hear shouting in the camp
itself.
Lights were blazing and men were
running here and there: they had just discovered
that a prisoner had
escaped.
At that
moment, a large black car with four officers
inside it, stopped at the camp gates.
The
officers got out and the prisoner stood to
attention and saluted as they passed.
When
they had gone, the driver of the car came towards
him.
The man obviously wanted to talk.
He
was rather elderly with grey hair and clear blue
eyes.
The prisoner felt sorry for him, but
there was nothing else he could do.
As the man
came near, the prisoner knocked him to the ground
with a sharp blow.
Then, jumping into the car,
he drove off as quickly as he could.
Book II
Lesson 82
Monster or fish?
Fishermen and
sailors sometimes claim to have seen monsters in
the sea.
Though people have often laughed at
stories told by seamen, it is now known that many
of these 'monsters'
which have at times been
sighted are simply strange fish.
Occasionally,
unusual creatures are washed to the shore, but
they are rarely caught out at sea.
Some time
ago, however, a peculiar fish was caught near
Madagascar.
A small fishing-boat was carried
miles out to sea by the powerful fish as it pulled
on the line.
Realizing that this was no
ordinary fish, the fisherman made every effort not
to damage it in any way.
When it was
eventually brought to shore, it was found to be
over thirteen feet long.
It had a head like a
horse, big blue eyes, shining silver skin, and a
bright red tail, The fish, which has since
been sent to a museum where it is being
examined by a scientist, is called an oarfish.
Such creatures have rarely been seen alive by
man as they live at a depth of six hundred feet.
Book II Lesson 83
After the elections
′The former Prime Minister, Mr Wentworth Lane, was
defeated in the recent elections.
He is now
retiring from political life and has gone abroad.
My friend, Crawley, has always been a
fanatical opponent of Mr Lane's Radical
Progressive Party.
After the elections,
Crawley went to the former Prime Minister's house.
When he asked if Mr Lane lived there, the
policeman on duty told him that since his defeat,
the ex-Prime
Minister had gone abroad.
On
the following day, Crawley went to the house
again.
The same policeman was just walking
slowly past the entrance, when Crawley asked the
same question.
Though a little suspicious this
time, the policeman gave him the same answer.
The day after, Crawley went to the house once
more and asked exactly the same question.
This
time, the policeman lost his temper.'
I told
you yesterday and the day before yesterday,' he
shouted, 'Mr Lane was defeated in the elections.
He has retired from political life and gone to
live abroad !'
' I know,' answered Crawley,'
but I love to hear you say it !'
Book II
Lesson 84
On strike ?
Busmen have
decided to go on strike next week.
The strike
is due to begin on Tuesday.
No one knows how
long it will last.
The busmen have stated that
the strike will continue until general agreement
is reached about pay and
working conditions.
Most people believe that the strike will last
for at least a week.
Many owners of private
cars are going to offer 'free rides' to people on
their way to work.
This will relieve pressure
on the trains to some extent.
Meanwhile, a
number of university students have volunteered to
drive buses while the strike lasts.
All the
young men are expert drivers, but before they
drive any of the buses, they will have to pass a
special
test.
The students are going to
take the test in two days' time.
Even so,
people are going to find it difficult to get to
work.
But so far, the public has expressed its
gratitude to the students in letters to the Press.
Only one or two people have objected that the
students will drive too fast!
Book II
Lesson 85
Never too old to learn ??
I have
just received a letter from my old school
informing me that my former head- master, Mr
Regmald
Page, will be retiring next week.
Pupils of the school, old and new, will be
sending him a present to mark the occasion.
All those who have contributed towards the
gift will sign their names in a large album which
will be sent to
the headmaster's home.
We
shall all remember Mr Page for his patience and
understanding and for the kindly encouragement he
gave us when we went so unwillingly to school.
A great many former pupils will be attending a
farewell dinner in his honour next Thursday.
It is a curious coincidence that the day
before his retirement, Mr Page will have been
teaching for a total of
forty years.
After
he has retired, he will devote himself to
gardening.
For him, this will be an entirely
new hobby.
But this does not matter, for, as
he has often remarked, one is never too old to
learn.
Book II Lesson 86
Out of
control ?
As the man tried to swing the speed-
boat round, the steering-wheel came away in his
hands.
He waved desperately to his companion,
who had been water-skiing for the last fifteen
minutes.
Both men had hardly had time to
realize what was happening when they were thrown
violent1y into the
sea.
The speed-boat had
struck a buoy, but it continued to move very
quickly across the water.
Both men had just
begun to swim towards the shore.
when they
noticed with dismay that the speed-boat was moving
in a circle.
It now came straight towards them
at tremendous speed.
In less than a minute, it
roared past them only a few feet away.
After
it had passed, they swam on as quickly as they
could because they knew that the boat would soon
return.
They had just had enough time to
swim out of danger when the boat again completed a
circle.
On this occasion, however, it had
slowed down considerably.
The petrol had
nearly all been used up.
Before long,
the noise dropped completely and the boat began to
drift gently across the water.
Book II
Lesson 87
A perfect alibi ?
At the time
the murder was committed, I was travelling on the
8.
0 o'clock train to London,' said the man.
'Do you always catch such an early train ?'
asked the inspector.
'Of course I do,'
answered the man.'
I must be at work at
o'clock.
My employer will confirm that I was
there on time.'
' Would a later train get you
to work on time ?'
asked the inspector.'
I suppose it would, but I never catch a later
train.'
'At what time did you arrive at the
station ?'
'At ten to eight.
I bought a
paper and waited for the train.'
'And you
didn't notice anything unusual ?'
'Of course
not.'
'I suggest,' said the inspector, 'that
you are not telling the truth.
I suggest that
you did not catch the 8.
0 o'clock train, but
that you caught the 8.
25 which would still
get you to work on time.
You see, on the
morning of the murder, the 8.
0 o'clock train
did not run at all.
It broke down at Ferngreen
station and was taken off the line.
'
Book
II Lesson 88
Trapped in a mine ?
men have
been trapped in a mine for seventeen hours.
If
they are not brought to the surface soon they may
lose their lives.
However, rescue operations
are proving difficult.
If explosives are used,
vibrations will cause the roof of the mine to
collapse.
Rescue workers are therefore
drilling a hole on the north side of the mine.
They intend to bring the men up in a special
capsule.
If there had not been a hard layer of
rock beneath the soil, they would have completed
the job in a few
hours.
As it is, they
have been drilling for sixteen hours and they
still have a long way to go.
Meanwhile, a
microphone, which was lowered into the mine two
hours ago, has enabled the men to keep in
touch with the closest relatives.
Though
they are running out of food and drink, the men
are cheerful and confident that they will get out
soon.
They have been told that rescue
operations are progressing smoothly.
If they
knew how difficult it was to drill through the
hard rock, they would lose heart.
Book II
Lesson 89
A slip of the tongue ?People will do
anything to see a free show--even if it is a bad
one.
When the news got round that a variety
show would be presented at our local cinema by the
U.
Bird Seed Company, we all rushed to see it.
We had to queue for hours to get in and
there must have been several hundred people
present just be- fore
the show began.
Unfortunately, the show was one of the dullest
we have ever seen.
Those who failed to get in
need not have felt disappointed as many of the
artistes who should have
appeared did not
come.
The only funny things we heard that
evening came from the advertiser at the beginning
of the programme.
He was obviously very
nervous and for some minutes stood awkwardly
before the microphone.
As soon as he opened
his mouth, everyone burst out laughing.
We all
know what the poor man should have said, but what
he actually said was: 'This is the Poo and Ee
Seed Bird Company.
Good ladies, evening
and gentlemen !
'
Book II Lesson 90
Whats for supper ?
Though Brazil is one of
the richest countries in the world, much of it has
not yet been developed.
It was mainly for this
reason that the Brazilian government decided to
have a new city built 600 miles
north-west of
Rio de Janeiro.
Designed by the great
architect Lucio Costa, the new city, Brasilia,
replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital of
Brazif in 1960.
Brasilia has been
carefully planned for modern living.
Its wide
roads, which can take fourteen lanes of traffic,
have been keptaway from living areas.
Children
do not have to cross busy streets to go to school.
Housewives can visit-shopping centres on foot,
for in these specially designed living areas, cars
are
unnecessary.
At first, the government
had great difficulty in persuading people to leave
Rio and to settle in Brasilia.
Since 1960,
however, the population has been growing all the
time.
Brasilia has quickly established itself
as the capital of the country.
The idea to
have the capital moved so far inland will have a
great effect on the future of Brazil.
Book II Lesson 91
Three men in a basket ?
A pilot noticed a balloon which seemed to be
making for a Royal Air Force Station nearby.
He informed the station at once, but no one
there was able to explain the mystery.
The
officer in the control tower was very angry when
he heard the news, because balloons can be a great
danger to aircraft.
He said that someone
might by spying on the station and the pilot was
ordered to keep track of the strange
object.
The pilot managed to circle the balloon for
some time.
He could make out three men in a
basket under it and one of them was holding field-
glasses.
When the balloon was over the
station, the pilot saw one of the men taking
photographs.
Soon afterwards, the balloon
began to descend and it landed near an airfield.
The police were called in, but they could not
arrest anyone, for the basket contained two
Members of
Parliament and the Commanding
Officer of the station!
As the Commanding
Officer explained later, one half of the station
did not know what the other half was
doing !
Book II Lesson 92
Asking for trouble
×?It must have been about two in the morning when
I returned home.
I tried to wake up my
wife by ringing the door-bell, but she was fast
asleep, so I got a ladder from the shed
in the
garden, put it against the wall, and began
climbing towards the bedroom window.
I was
almost there when a sarcastic voice below said,' I
don't think the windows need cleaning at this time
of the night.
'I looked down and nearly
fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman.
I
immediately regretted answering in the way I did,
but I said, 'I enjoy cleaning windows at night.'
'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same
tone.
'Excuse my interrupting you.
I hate
to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but
would you mind coming with me to the station ?'
'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said.
'You see, I've forgotten my key.'
'Your
what ?'
he called.
'My key,' I shouted.'
Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who
opened the window just as the policeman had
started to
climb towards me.
Book II
Lesson 93
A noble gift ?
One of the most
famous monuments in the world, the Statue of
Liberty, was presented to the United States
of
America in the nineteenth century by the people of
France.
The great statue, which was designed
by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, took ten years
to complete.
The actual figure was made of
copper supported by a metal framework which had
been especially
constructed by Eiffel.
Before it could be transported to the United
States, a site had to be found for it and a
pedestal had to be
built.
The site chosen
was an island at the entrance of New York Harbour.
By 1884, a statue which was 151 feet tall, had
been erected in Paris.
The following year, it
was taken to pieces and sent to America.
By
the end of October 1886, the statue had been put
together again and it was officially presented to
the
American people by Bartholdi.
Ever
since then, the great monument has been a symbol
of liberty for the millions of people who have
passed through New York Harbour to make their
homes in America.
Book II Lesson 94
Future champions ?
Experiments have proved
that children can be instructed in swimming at a
very early age.
At a special swimming pool in
Los Angeles, children become expert at holding
their breath under water
even before they can
walk.
Babies of two months old do not appear
to be reluctant to enter the water, It is not long
before they are so
accustomed to swimming that
they can pick up weights from the floor of the
pool.
A game that is very popular with these
young swimmers is the underwater tricycle race.
Tricycles are lined up on the floor of the
pool seven feet under water.
The children
compete against each other to reach the other end
of the pool.
Many pedal their tricycles, but
most of them prefer to push or drag them.
Some
children can cover the whole length of the pool
without coming up for breath even once.
Whether they will ever become future Olympic
champions, only time will tell.
Meanwhile,
they should encourage those among us who cannot
swim five yards before they are gasping for
air.
Book II Lesson 95
Dé11When the Ambassador of Escalopia returned
home for lunch, his wife got a shock.
He
looked pale and his clothes were in a frightful
state.
'What has happened ?'
she asked.
'How did your clothes get into such a mess ?'
'A fire-extinguisher, my dear,' answered the
Ambassador drily.
'University students set the
Embassy on fire this morning.'
'Good heavens!'
exclaimed his wife.
'And where were you at
the time ?'
'I was in my office as usual,'
answered the Ambassador.
'The fire broke out
in the basement.
I went down immediately.
of course, and that fool, Horst, aimed a fire-
extinguisher at me.
He thought I was on fire.
I must definitely get that fellow posted.'
The Ambassador's wife went on asking
questions, when she suddenly noticed a big hole in
her husband's
hat.
'And how can you
explain that ?'
she asked.
'Oh, that,'
said the Ambassador.
'Someone fired a shot
through my office window.
Accurate, don't you
think ?
Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at
the time.
If I had been, I would not have been
able to get home for lunch.'
Book II
Lesson 96
The dead return í?A Festival for the
Dead is held once a year in Japan.
This
festival is a cheerful occasion, for on this day,
the dead are said to return to their homes and
they are
welcomed by the living.
As they
are expected to be hungry after their long
journey, food is laid out for them.
Specially-
made lanterns are hung outside each house to help
the dead to find their way.
All night long,
people dance and sing.
In the early morning,
the food that had been laid out for the dead is
thrown into a river or into the sea as it is
considered unlucky for anyone living to eat
it.
In towns that are near the sea, the tiny
lanterns which had been hung in the streets the
night before, are
placed into the water when
the festival is over.
Thousands of lanterns
slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their
return journey to the other world.
This is a
moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on
the shore watching the lanterns drifting away
until they can be seen no more.