Text 98

It was two weeks before Christmas, and Mrs Smith was very busy. She bought a lot of Christmas cards to send to her friends and to her husband's friends, and put them on the table in the living-room. Then, when her husband came home from work, she said to him, 'Here are the Christmas cards for our friends, and here are some stamps, a pen and

our book of addresses. Will you please write the cards while

I am cooking the dinner?'

Mr Smith did not say anything, but walked out of the living-room and went to his study. Mrs Smith was very angry with him, but did not say anything either.

Then a minute later he came back with a box full of

Christmas cards. All of them had addresses and stamps on

them.

'These are from last year,' he said. 'I forgot to post them.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.When was Mrs Smith very busy?

2.What did she do ?

3.Why did she buy the cards ?

4.Where did she put them ?

5.What did she say to her husband?

6.What did Mr Smith say?

7.What did he do ?

8.How did Mrs Smith feel?

9.What did she say?

10.What did Mr Smith do a minute later?

11.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. after

2. free

3. enemies

4. get

5. into

6. happy

7. front

8. empty

9. next

10. remembered

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. It was four weeks after Christmas.

2. Mrs. Smith was free

3. She bought a lot of presents.

4. She wanted to send presents to her parents

5. She put cards on the desk in the kitchen.

6. Mrs. Smith's husband came home from disco club.

7. She asked him to fix a faucet.

8. Mr. Smith went to take his neighbour.

9. He brought tools to fix a faucet.

10. He wrote all the cards.

Text 99

Mrs Jones was waiting for an important telephone call, but she had no bread in the house, so she left the baby at home and said to his five-year-old brother, 'I am going to the shops, Jimmy, and I will be back in a few minutes.' While she was out, the telephone rang, and Jimmy answered. 'Hallo,' said a man, 'is your mother there?'

'No,' answered Jimmy.'Well, when she comes back, say to her, "Mr Baker telephoned"."'

'What?'

'Mr Baker. Write it down. B-A-K-E-R.'

'How do you make a B?'

'How do I make ... ? Listen, little boy, is there anybody else with you? Any brothers or sisters?'

'My brother Billy is here.'

'Good, I want to talk to him, please.'

'All right.' Jimmy took the telephone to the baby's bed

and gave it to Billy. When their mother came back, she asked,

'Did anyone telephone?'

'Yes,' said Jimmy, 'a man. But he only wanted to talk to Billy.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Why did Mrs Jones leave the house while waiting for a phone call?
Who stayed at home with the baby?
What important thing was Mrs Jones expecting?
What did Jimmy do when the telephone rang?
What did the caller ask Jimmy at the beginning of the call?
What name did the man ask Jimmy to write down?
Why did the man ask about how to make a “B”?
What did the caller want Jimmy to do after the confusion?
Who did Jimmy give the telephone to?
What misunderstanding happened in this story?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Important × __________
Leave × __________
Out × __________
Back × __________
Old × __________
Big × __________
Answer × __________
Easy × __________
Good × __________
Few × __________

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Mrs. Jones was waiting for a present.

2. She did not have cucumbers in the house.

3. She left a baby with baby-sitter

4. She had a 7 - years old brother.

5. She said that she is going to come back in 1 hour.

6. Somebody came and knocked at the door.

7. Jimmy opened the door.

8. Jimmy and a caller had a nice conversation.

9. Jimmy gave a telephone receiver to Billy

10. A caller wanted to speak with Billy.

Text 100

Nasreddin had an old shed. It had no windows, so it was very dark, and it was full of old things.

One day Nasreddin went into this shed to get a ladder, but slipped on something and fell against a big garden fork. The fork hit him on the head and knocked him down. Then it fell on top of him and hit him hard on the left leg. The ends of the fork then went into his long beard. He fought with the fork fiercely, and at last threw it off him, jumped up and ran

out of the shed. He was very angry. He had an old sword under his bed, and he now ran and got this. Then he ran back to the shed, opened the door suddenly and shouted in a terrible voice, 'All right, come out and fight, you and all the other forks in the world! I'm not afraid of you!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin have?

2.What was it like inside?

3.Why was it dark ?

4.What happened one day?

5.Why did Nasreddin go into the shed?

6.What did he do inside the shed?

7.What did the fork do?

8.What did it do after that ?

9.What did the ends of the fork do ?

10.What did Nasreddin do?

11.How did he feel?

12.What did he have under his bed?

13.What did he do now?

14.What did he shout?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1.young

2.light

3. up

4. bottom

5.front

6. whispered

7. short

8.caught

9. empty

10. right

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin had a modern shed with many windows. ________
The shed was bright and clean inside. ________
Nasreddin went into the shed to get a ladder. ________
He found the ladder easily and left immediately. ________
A garden fork hit him on the leg and head. ________
The fork got stuck in his beard. ________
Nasreddin stayed calm and laughed. ________
He ran out of the shed and went to sleep. ________
He did not get angry after the accident. ________
Nasreddin shouted at the forks as if they were alive. ________

Text 101

A man always went to the same bar at the same time every day and asked for two glasses of beer. He drank them and then asked for two more.

One day the man behind the bar said to him, 'Why do you always ask for two glasses of beer? Why don't you get one big glass instead?'

The man answered, 'Because I do not like to drink alone. I drink with my friend.'

But a few days later the man came in and asked only for

one beer.

'Oh,' said the barman, 'has your friend died?'

'Oh, no,' said the man. 'He is very well. This beer is for him. But I have stopped drinking beer. My doctor doesn't want me to drink any more because it is dangerous for me.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Where did the man go every day?
What did he usually ask for at the bar?
How many glasses of beer did he drink each time?
What question did the barman ask the man?
Why did the man say he ordered two glasses of beer?
Who did the man say he was drinking with?
What change happened a few days later?
What did the barman think had happened to the man’s friend?
Why did the man stop drinking beer?
What did the man do with the single beer he ordered later?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. never

2. different

3. answered

4. in front of

5. enemy

6. less

7. out

8. badly

9. safety

10. lived

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. A man went to a different theatre

2. He spoke to the flight attendant.

3. He asked for tasty pizza.

4. A man drank orange juice.

5. A man and a barman did not speak to each other.

6. A man dissapeared for a few days.

7. A man came to the bar with his wife a few days after dissapearing.

8. He asked for three glasses of bear.

9. He had medical problems.

10. He stopped drinking beer.

Text 102

Old Mr Black loved shooting bears, but his eyes were not good any more. Several times he nearly shot people instead of bears, so his friends were always very careful when they went out shooting with him.

One day a young friend of his wanted to have a joke, so he got a big piece of white paper and wrote on it in very big letters 'I AM NOT A BEAR'. Then he tied it to his back and went off. His friends saw it and laughed a lot.

But it did not save him. After a few minutes Mr Black shot at him and knocked his hat off.

The young man was frightened and angry. 'Didn't you see this piece of paper ?' he shouted to Mr Black. 'Yes, I did,' said Mr Black. Then he went nearer, looked carefully at the paper and said, 'Oh, I am very sorry. I did not see the word NOT.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mr Black love ?

2.What was the matter with him ?

3.What happened several times?

4.What did his friends do when they went out shooting with him ?

5.What did one of his young friends want to do one day?

6.What did he do ?

7.What did he write on the piece of paper ?

8.What did he do then ?

9.What did his friends do ?

10.What happened then ?

11.Did the paper save the young man ?

12.How did he feel?

13.What did he shout ?

14What did Mr Black do?

15.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. hated

2. bad

3. enemy

4. into

5. scaried

6. black

7. cried

8. before

9. whispered

10.carelessly

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Mr. Black hated shooting ducks.

2. He could see very far.

3. He nearly shot deers instead of bears.

4. His friends liked shooting with him

5. His friend wanted to have a joke one day.

6. His friend wrote "Here is a beer" on the piece of paper.

7. He tied this piece of paper near bear's den.

8. Mr. Brown and his friends had lunch time.

9. When Mr. Brown saw this piece of paper, he came into the bear's den.

10. The paper did not save a young man.

Text 103

Mrs Brown's old grandfather lived with her and her husband. Every morning he went for a walk in the park and came home at half past twelve for his lunch.

But one morning a police car stopped outside Mrs Brown's house at twelve o'clock, and two policemen helped Mr Brown to get out of police car and one of them said to Mrs Brown, 'The poor old gentleman lost his way in the park and telephoned us for

help, so we sent a car to bring him home.' Mrs Brown was very

surprised, but she thanked the policemen and they left.

'But, Grandfather,' she then said, 'you were to that

park nearly every day for twenty years. How did you lose

your way there?'

The old man smiled, closed one eye and said, 'I didn't

quite lose my way. I just got tired and I didn't want to walk

home!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Who lived with Mr and Mrs Brown?

2.What did he do every morning ?

3.When did he come home?

4.What did he come home for ?

5.What happened one morning ?

6.At what time did it happen?

7.What did the two policemen do?

8.What did one of them say to Mrs Brown?

9.How did Mrs Brown feel?

10.What did she do ?

11.What did she say to her grandfather?

12.What did the old man do?

13.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. died

2. went

3. inside

4. rich

5. found

6. got

7. take

8. came

9. cried

10. opened

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Mrs. Brown's mother lived with her and her husband.

2. Mrs. Brown's mother went to the mall.

3. She came back at night.

4. The school bus stopped near Mrs. Brown's house.

5. The policemen came at 3 p. m.

6. A lot of children got out of the school bus.

7. One of policemen asked Mrs.Brown to take care about children.

8. Mrs.Brown was suprised.

9. Mrs.Brown kicked policemen 👮 and children out of her house.

10. Granddaughter sent grandfather to old people's home.

Text 104

Helen's eyes were not very good, so she usually wore glasses. But when she was seventeen and she began to go out with a young man, she never wore her glasses when she was with him. When he came to the door to take her out, she took her glasses off, and when she came home again and he left, she put them on.

One day her mother said to her, 'But Helen, why do you never wear your glasses when you are with Jim? He takes you to beautiful places in his car, but you don't see anything.'

'Well, Mother,' said Helen, 'I look prettier to Jim when I am not wearing my glasses- and he looks better to me too!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What problem did Helen have with her eyes?
What did Helen usually wear because of her eyesight?
What changed when she started going out with a young man?
What did Helen do when her boyfriend came to pick her up?
When did Helen put her glasses back on?
What question did Helen’s mother ask her?
What did Helen’s mother say about the places Jim took her to?
Why did Helen avoid wearing glasses when she was with Jim?
How did Helen say she looked without her glasses?
What did Helen think about Jim’s appearance?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. finish

2. took off

3. bad

4. give

5. without

6. old

7. Take off

8. into

9. ended

10. left

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Helen had perfect eyesight. ________
Helen never wore glasses. ________
She wore glasses only at school. ________
Helen stopped going out with Jim after a week. ________
Jim could not drive a car. ________
Helen’s mother did not notice anything strange. ________
Helen always wore her glasses when Jim arrived. ________
Helen thought she looked worse without her glasses. ________
Helen’s mother thought Jim did not take her to nice places. ________
Helen thought she and Jim both looked better without glasses. ________

Text 105

A man was trying to build an electric motor-car. He worked in an office in the town during most of the week, but on Saturdays and Sundays he stayed at home in the country and worked on his electric car. Every Monday he told his friends at the office about his work on the car, but his news about it was never very good. Then at last one Monday morning he came to the office and said to his friends, 'I have done it! I have driven from my home to here by electricity!'

His friends were all very glad. 'How much did it cost to get here by electricity?' they asked.

'Three hundred and two pounds,' he answered. 'Two pounds for the electricity, and three hundred pounds for the electric wires from my house to the car.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What was the man trying to build?
Where did he work during the week?
When did he work on his electric car?
What did he usually talk about on Mondays?
How did his progress usually go before he finished?
What did he announce one Monday morning?
How did his friends react to his news?
What question did his friends ask him about his journey?
How much did the electricity cost?
Why was the total cost so high?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Electric × __________
Work × __________
Town × __________
Week × __________
Good × __________
Start × __________
Cheap × __________
Friend × __________
Home × __________
Much × __________

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The man was building a petrol car. ________
He worked at home during the week. ________
He worked on his car only on weekdays. ________
He never talked about his car at the office. ________
He said he had not finished the car. ________
His friends were unhappy about his news. ________
He drove from the office to his home by train. ________
The electricity cost three hundred pounds. ________
The electric wires cost two pounds. ________
He claimed he had successfully driven by electricity. ____

Text 106

An artist went to a beautiful part of the country for a holiday, and stayed with a farmer. Every day he went out with his paints and his brushes and painted from morning to evening, and then when it got dark, he went back to the farm and had a good dinner before he went to bed.

At the end of his holiday he wanted to pay the farmer, but

the farmer said, 'No, I do not want money-but give me one of your pictures. What is money? In a week it will all be finished, but your painting will still be here.'

The artist was very pleased and thanked the farmer for saying such kind things about his paintings.

The farmer smiled and answered, 'It is not that. I have a son in London. He wants to become an artist. When he comes here next month, I will show him your picture, and then he will not want to be an artist any more, I think.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Where did the artist go for his holiday?
With whom did the artist stay during his holiday?
What did the artist do every day?
When did the artist return to the farm each day?
What did the artist usually do in the evening at the farm?
How did the artist want to pay the farmer?
What did the farmer ask for instead of money?
Why did the farmer say money was not important?
Why was the artist pleased with the farmer’s words?
What was the farmer’s real reason for wanting the painting?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. ugly

2. after

3. take

4. asked

5. light

6. front

7. last

8. started

9. left

10. cried

C) Which of these sentences are true? Write the correct ones down.

1. An artist went to the city.

2. An artist visited all disco clubs every day.

3. He came back to the farm when it got morning

4. He had a cup of black tea for dinner

5. An artist paid a lot of money to the farmer.

6.The farmer did not want money.

7. The farmer wanted a picture.

8. The farmer had a daughter.

9. The farmer's son lived in New York.

10.The farmer's son wanted to be an architect.

Text 107

Mr Jones was very angry with his wife, and she was very angry with her husband. For several days they did not speak to each other at all. One evening Mr Jones was very tired when he came back from work, so he went to bed soon after dinner. Of course, he did not say anything to Mrs Jones before he went upstairs. Mrs Jones washed the dinner things and

then did some sewing. When she went up to bed much later than her husband, she found a piece of paper on the small table near her bed. On it were the words, 'Mother.-Wake me up at 7 a.m.-Father.'

When Mr Jones woke up the next morning, it was nearly 8 a.m. and on the small table near his bed he saw another piece of paper. He took it and read these words: 'Father.- Wake up. It is 7 a.m.-Mother.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Why did not Mr and Mrs Jones speak to each other for several days?

2.Why did Mr Jones go to bed soon after dinner?

3.Did he speak to his wife before he went upstairs ?

4.What did Mrs Jones do after dinner?

5.When did she go to bed?

6.What did she find when she went to bed?

7.Where did she find it?

8.What did she read?

9.At what time did Mr Jones wake up the next morning?

10.What did he see when he woke up ?

11.What did he read?

12.Why did not Mr Jones wake up at 7 a.m. ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. happy

2. without

3. (to be ) silent

4. energetic

5. left

6. front

7. before

8. something

9. stayed

10. down

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1.Mr Jones was very happy with his wife for several days.

2. They spoke with each other despite their quarrel.

3. One evening he came with a lot of positive thoughts after visiting Disney-Land.

4. He did not say anything about Disney-Land to his wife.

5. She painted the picture after dinner

6. Mrs Jones went to night club.

7. Mr Jones found flowers on her table.

8. Mrs Jones had a wardrobe near her bed.

9. "Honey, I love you " were the words on the piece of paper.

10. His wife woke his husband up.

Text 108

The lights were red, so the old man stopped his car and waited for them to change to green. While he was waiting, a police car came up behind him, hit his car hard in the back and stopped.

There were two policemen in the police car, and they were very surprised and glad when the old man got out of his car and walked towards them without any trouble after such an accident. He was over 70 years old.

The old man came to the door of the police car, smiled kindly, and said, 'Tell me, young man, how dis you stop this car when the lights are red and I was not here ?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Why did the old man stop his car?

2.What did he wait for?

3.What happened while he was waiting ?

4.What people were there in the police car?

5.What did the old man do ?

6.How did the policemen feel about it?

7.Why were they surprised?

8.How old was the man ?

9.What did he do then ?

10.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. started

2. left ( verb)

3.in front of

4. backward

5. light

6. front

7. with

8. upset

9. young

10. after

11.angrily

12. cried

13. ( to be ) silent

14. there

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. The old man stopped his bike on the traffic-lights.

2. The old man went through the red lights on his truck .

3. The ambulance came up behind him.

4. There were two thieves in the ambulance.

5. The thieves stole the old man's car.

6. There were famous thieves in the car.

7. 10 years old girl went out of the car.

8. She walked towards the thieves without any trouble.

9. The girl said that they will have a huge problems with her grandfather.

10. Her grandfather was over 70 years old.

Text 109

Mrs Williams loved flowers and had a small but beautiful garden. In the summer, her roses were always the best in her street. One summer afternoon her bell rang, and when she went to the front door, she saw a small boy outside. He was about seven years old, and was holding a big bunch of beautiful roses in his hand.

'I am selling roses,' he said. 'Do you want any? They are

quite cheap. Five pence for a big bunch. They are fresh.

I picked them this afternoon.'

'My boy,' Mrs Williams answered, 'I pick roses whenever I want, and don't pay anything for them, because I have lots in my garden.'

'Oh, no, you haven't,' said the small boy. 'There aren't any roses in your garden-because they are here in my hand!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mrs Williams love ?

2.What did she have?

3.What were her roses like in the summer?

4.What happened one summer afternoon ?

5.What did Mrs Williams do then ?

6.What did she see?

7.Where did she see this boy?

8.How old was he?

9.What was he holding ?

10.What did he say to Mrs Williams?

11.What did Mrs Williams answer?

12.What did the small boy say then ?

13.Why weren't there any roses in Mrs Williams's garden?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. hated

2. awful

3. never

4. the worst

5. back

6. inside

7. buying

8. tall

9. expensive

10. spoil

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mrs Williams disliked flowers. ________
She had a large but ugly garden. ________
Her roses were worst in her street. ________
The bell rang in the morning. ________
A young girl came to her door. ________
The child was selling apples. ________
The roses cost fifty pence each bunch. ________
Mrs Williams had no flowers at all. ________
The boy said the roses were not fresh. ________
The boy said the roses were already in his hand. ________

Text 110

A woman was having some trouble with her heart, so she went to see the doctor. He was a new doctor, and did not know her, so he first asked some questions, and one of them was, 'How old are you?'

'Well,' she answered, 'I don't remember, doctor, but I will try to think.' She thought for a minute and then said, 'Yes, I remember now, doctor! When I married, I was eighteen years old, and my husband was thirty. Now my husband is sixty, I know; and that is twice thirty. So I am

twice eighteen. That is thirty-six, isn't it?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Why did the woman go to see the doctor?
What kind of doctor did she visit?
Why did the doctor ask her questions first?
What question did the doctor ask her about her age?
Why did the woman say she did not remember her age at first?
What memory did she use to calculate her age?
How old was her husband when they got married?
How old was her husband at the time of the visit?
How did the woman calculate her own age?
Was her final answer about her age correct?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. benefit

2. New

3. Asked

4. Questions

5. Forget

6. Divorce

7. last

8. without

9. young

10. badly

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The woman had a stomach problem. ________
The doctor had known her for many years. ________
The doctor asked her about her job first. ________
The woman quickly remembered her age. ________
She said she married at twenty years old. ________
Her husband was thirty-five at the time of marriage. ________
Her husband was sixty years old at the time of the visit. ________
She said she was forty years old. ________
She calculated her age using her husband's age. ________
The woman believed she was thirty-six years old. ________

Text 111

One day Mrs Jones went shopping. When her husband came home in the evening, she began to tell him about a beautiful cotton dress. 'I saw it in a shop this morning,' she said, 'and ...'

'And you want to buy it,' said her husband. 'How much

does it cost?'

'Fifteen pounds.'

'Fifteen pounds for a cotton dress? That is too much!'

But every evening, when Mr Jones came back from work, his wife continued to speak only about the dress, and at last, after a week, he said, 'Oh, buy the dress! Here is the money!' She was very happy.

But the next evening, when Mr Jones came home and asked, 'Have you got the famous dress?' she said, 'No.'

'Why not?' he said.

'Well, it was still in the window of the shop after a weekso I thought, "Nobody else wants this dress, so I don't want it either"."

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mrs Jones do one day?

2.When did her husband come home?

3.What did Mrs Jones do when he came home?

4.What did she say to him?

5.What did he answer?

6.What did she say?

7.What did Mr Jones say then ?

8.What happened every evening after that?

9.What happened after a week ?

10.What did Mr Jones ask the next evening?

11.What did Mrs Jones answer?

12.What did her husband say then ?

13.What was her answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. asked

2. bought

3. nobody

4. back

5. morning

6. first

7. beautiful

8. expensive

9. happy

10. began

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mrs Jones saw a silk dress in the shop. ________
She told her husband about the dress in the morning. ________
The dress cost five pounds. ________
Mr Jones thought the dress was very cheap. ________
Mrs Jones stopped talking about the dress after one day. ________
Mr Jones bought the dress immediately. ________
Mrs Jones never wanted the dress at all. ________
The dress was sold out after a week. ________
Mrs Jones decided not to buy the dress in the end. ________
Mr Jones gave her the money for the dress after a week. ________

Text 112

One day a lady walked into a hat shop. The shopkeeper smiled and said, 'Good afternoon, madam.'

'Good afternoon,' the lady answered. There is a green hat with red flowers and blue leaves on it in your window. Will you please take it out of there.'

'Yes, madam,' the shopkeeper said. 'I will be very pleased to do that for you.' Usually ladies looked at a lot of hats before they chose one, and the shopkeeper got very tired. 'Good', he thought, 'I will sell this hat very quickly and it has been in my window for a very long time.'

'Do you want it in a box, madam,' he asked, 'or will you wear it?'

' Oh, I don't want it,' she answered. 'I only wanted you to take it out of your window. I pass your shop every day,

and I hate to see the ugly thing there!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions :

1.What happened one day?

2.What did the shopkeeper do?

3.What did he say?

4.What did the lady answer?

5.What did the shopkeeper say then?

6.What usually happened in the shop?

7.What did the shopkeeper think?

8. What did the shopkeeper do then ?

9.What did he say to the lady?

10.What was her answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of :

1. сried
2. asked
3.buy
4.like
5. beautiful
6. before
7. slowly
8. stayed
9. to be silent
10. good

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The lady went into a shoe shop. ________
The shopkeeper was rude to her. ________
The lady wanted to buy a green hat. ________
The hat had red flowers and blue leaves. ________
The shopkeeper did not want to sell the hat. ________
The lady looked at many hats before choosing one. ________
The shopkeeper was tired of selling hats. ________
The lady wanted to keep the hat in the window. ________
The lady wore the hat home. ________
The lady did not like the hat in the shop window. ________

Text 113

Nasreddin had a shed behind his house. It had no lights in it. One night he went out to the shed to get his ladder, and lost his ring there. He left the ladder, went out into the street and began to look around.

One of his friends saw him in the street outside his house,

and said to him, 'Hello, Nasreddin. What are you looking for?'

'My ring,' answered Nasreddin. 'It fell off my finger. It is a silver ring with a red stone in it.'

'Oh, yes,' said his friend. 'I remember it. I will help you

to look for it. Where did you lose it?'

'In my shed.'

'But why don't you look for it there?'

'Don't be stupid! It is quite dark in my shed, so how will I find my ring there? Here there is light from the lamps in the street.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin have behind his house?

2.What was his shed like?

3.What did he do one night?

4.Why did he do this?

5.What happened?

6.What did Nasreddin do then ?

7.Who saw him in the street ?

8.What did this person ask?

9.What was Nasreddin's answer?

10.What did his friend ask then

11.What did Nasreddin answer?

12.What did his friend say now ?

13.What did Nasreddin answer to him ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Behind ×
Night ×
Dark ×
Lost ×
Friend ×
Outside ×
Remember ×
Stupid ×
Light ×
Here ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin had a shed in front of his house.
The shed had many windows and lights.
He went to the shed to sleep.
He lost his ladder in the shed.
Nasreddin stayed inside the shed to search.
His friend did not see him in the street.
The ring was made of gold with a blue stone.
Nasreddin refused help from his friend.
The street was dark and empty.
Nasreddin thought it was easier to search where there was light.

Text 114

Mrs Andrews had a young cat, and it was the cat's first winter. One evening it was outside when it began to snow heavily. Mrs Andrews looked everywhere and shouted its name, but she did not find it, so she telephoned the police and said, 'I have lost a small black cat. Has anybody found one?'

'No, madam,' said the policeman at the other end. 'But cats are really very strong animals. They sometimes live for days in the snow, and when it melts or somebody finds them, they are quite all right.'

Mrs Andrews felt happier when she heard this. 'And', she said, 'our cat is very clever. She almost talks.'

The policeman was getting rather tired. 'Well then,' he

said, 'why don't you put your telephone down? Perhaps she

is trying to telephone you now.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mrs Andrews have got?

2.Was it the cat's first, second, or third winter?

3.What happened one evening?

4.Where was the cat when this happened?

5.What did Mrs Andrews do ?

6.Did she find the cat ?

7.What did she do then?

8.What did she say?

9.What was the policeman's answer?

10.How did Mrs Andrews feel after that?

11.What did she say?

12.How was the policeman feeling now?

13.What did he say to Mrs Andrews ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. old
2. morning
3. ( to be) silent
4. lose
5. big
6. Easily
7. Energetic
8. last
9. tall
10. left

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Mrs Andrews had a dog.
2. It was third cat's summer 🌞🏖️
2. One day , the dog was sick.
3. Mrs Andrews took good care of the dog.
4. The cat felt sick when weather was rainy
5. The weather was rainy when when cat went outside.
6. One day , Mrs Andrews called the vet.
7. The vet said that the dogs are strong animals.
8. The policeman said that cats can live underground.
9.The woman and policeman had a nice conversation.
10.The cat telephoned at the end of text.

Text 115

One morning Nasreddin left his house with six donkeys to go to the market. After a time, he got tired and got on to one of them. He counted the donkeys, and there were only five, so he got off and went to look for the sixth. He looked and looked but did not find it, so he went back to the donkeys and counted them again. This time there were six, so he got

on to one of them again and they all started.

After a few minutes he counted the donkeys again, and again there were only five! While he was counting again a friend of his passed, and Nasreddin said to him, 'I left my house with six donkeys; then I had five; then I had six again; and now I have only five! Look! One, two, three, four, five.'

'But, Nasreddin,' said his friend, 'You are sitting on a donkey too! That is the sixth! And you are the seventh!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin do one morning ?

2.How many donkeys did he have with him ?

3.What happened after a time?

4.What did Nasreddin do then ?

5.How many donkeys did he count?

6.What did he do then ?

7.Did he find the donkey ?

8.What did he do then ?

9.How many donkeys were there this time?

10.What happened then ?

11.What did Nasreddin do after a few minutes ?

12.How many donkeys did he count this time?

13.Who passed just then?

14.What did Nasreddin say to him ?

15.What did his friend answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Morning ×
Leave ×
Come ×
Start ×
Stop ×
Many ×
Find ×
First ×
After ×
Get on ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin went to the forest with six donkeys. ____
He was going to the market.
He had ten donkeys at the start.
He did not get tired during the journey.
He lost all the donkeys at once.
A stranger helped him find the missing donkey.
He always counted the same number of donkeys.
His friend said Nasreddin was not on a donkey.
Nasreddin’s friend said there were only five donkeys total.
Nasreddin himself was sitting on one of the donkeys. _

Text 116

One of Nasreddin's friends loved money very much, and never gave anything to anybody. Soon he became rich.

One day, he was walking near the river with his friends when he slipped and fell in. His friends ran to help him and one of them knelt on the ground, held out his hand and said, 'Give me your hand, and I will pull you out!' The rich man's head went under the water and then came up again, but he did not give his friend his hand. Again another of his friends

tried, but again the same thing happened.

Then Nasreddin said, 'Take my hand and I will pull you out! The rich man took his hand, and Nasreddin pulled him out of the water.

'You don't know our friend very well,' he said to the others."When you say "Give" to him, he does nothing; but when you say "Take", he takes!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What kind of person was Nasreddin’s friend at the beginning of the story?
What happened to the rich man near the river?
How did his friends try to help him at first?
Why did the first rescue attempt fail?
What happened when the second friend tried to help him?
What did Nasreddin say differently when he helped?
What did the rich man do when Nasreddin spoke to him?
Why was Nasreddin able to pull him out of the water?
What did Nasreddin say about the rich man’s behaviour?
What lesson does the story suggest about the rich man?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. always
2. hate
3. poor
4. fell asleep
5. under
6. little
7. far
8. threw
9. different
10. enemy

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The rich man loved helping other people.
He became poor very quickly.
He fell into the river while swimming.
His friends ignored him when he fell in.
The first friend said, “Take my hand.”
Nasreddin used the word “Give” to help him.
The rich man refused to take any help.
Nasreddin could not pull him out.
The rich man took Nasreddin’s hand in the end.
The story shows the man only responded when someone said “Take.”

Text 117

One day Nasreddin bought a donkey in the market; but while he was taking it home, two thieves followed him. One of them took the rope from the donkey's neck and tied it round his friend's neck. Then he went away with the donkey.

When Nasreddin got home, he turned and saw the young man. He was very surprised. 'Where is my donkey?' he said angrily.

'I am very sorry,' said the thief, 'but once I said some very bad things to my mother, and she changed me into a donkey. But because a good man bought me, I am now a man again! Thank you!"

Nasreddin untied the man and said, 'Go! And never say bad things to your mother again!'

The next day, Nasreddin saw the same donkey in the market again! The other thief was selling it.

Nasreddin went to it and said into its ear, 'Young man, some people will never learn!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin do one day?

2.Who followed him ?

3.When did they do this?

4.What did one of the men do?

5.What did he do then ?

6.What did Nasreddin do when he got home?

7How did he feel?

8.What did he say?

9.How did he say this ?

10.What did the thief answer?

11.What did Nasreddin do then?

12.What did he say?

13.What happened the next day?

14.Why was the donkey in the market?

15.What did Nasreddin do then?

16.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. sold
2.friends
3. leave
4. old
5. gave
6. always
7.tied
8.different
9. old
10. good

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Nasreddin bought a horse one day
2. He went to the supermarket
3. He came back to his uncle's house from market
4. Two helpers followed Nasreddin
5. Two thieves stole a donkey
6. When Nasreddin came home he found out cow 🐄 instead of donkey.
7. Nasreddin and a donkey had a nice conversation
8. Nasreddin forced a man to work.
9. Thief talked a lot of nonsense to Nasreddin .
10. Nasreddin went to the market next day to buy a new donkey

Text 118

Nasreddin wanted to buy some new clothes, so he went to a shop. First he asked for some trousers and put them on, but then he took them off and gave them back to the shopkeeper and said, 'No, give me a coat instead of these.'

The man gave him a coat, and said, 'This one costs the same as the trousers.' Nasreddin took the coat and walked out of the shop with it. The shopkeeper ran after him and said, 'You have not paid for that coat!'

'But I gave you the trousers for the coat,' said Nasreddin. 'They cost the same as the coat, didn't they?'

'Yes,' said the shopkeeper, 'But you didn't pay for the trousers either!'

'Of course I didn't!' answered Nasreddin. 'I did not take them. I am not stupid! Nobody gives things back and then pays for them!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin want to do?

2.Where did he go?

3.What did he do there first?

4.What did he do then ?

5.What did he say?

6.What did the shopkeeper do?

7.What did he say?

8.What did Nasreddin do then ?

9.What did the shopkeeper do?

10.What did he say?

11.What was Nasreddin's answer?

12.What did the shopkeeper say ?

13.What did Nasreddin say then ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1.sell
2.old
3.answered
4.take
5. without
6. different
7. Front
8.took off
9.clever
10. in

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin went to buy food at a market.
He first asked for a coat.
He wore the trousers and kept them.
The shopkeeper refused to give him anything.
The coat cost more than the trousers.
Nasreddin paid for both items in full.
The shopkeeper chased him because he didn’t pay.
Nasreddin returned both items to the shop.
The shopkeeper agreed Nasreddin had paid correctly.
Nasreddin believed swapping items meant no payment was needed.

Text 119

One day, the boys of Nasreddin's village said to him, 'You have a nice, fat sheep. Will you invite us to a party to eat it with you?'

Nasreddin did not want the boys to eat his sheep, so he said, 'It is not fat enough yet.'

'But have you not heard?' they said. 'The world is going to end tomorrow, so the sheep will never get fat!'

Nasreddin was getting tired of this, so he said, 'All right, boys, we will have a picnic tomorrow, and eat the sheep.'

So the next morning they all went to the river, the boys took off their clothes and jumped into the water, and Nasreddin killed the sheep.

When the boys came out of the water , their clothes were not there.

'Where are our clothes, Nasreddin?' they asked.

'Oh,' he answered, 'I made the fire to cook the sheep with your clothes. You will not need them again. The world is going to end today, don't you remember?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did the boys of Nasreddin's village say to him ?

2.What did not Nasreddin want ?

3.What did he say to the boys ?

4.What did they answer?

5.How did Nasreddin feel about this?

6.What did he say?

7.What happened the next morning?

8.What did the boys do ?

9.What did Nasreddin do?

10.What happened when the boys came out of the water?

11.What did they say?

12.What did Nasreddin answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. put on
2. city
3. thin
4. begin
5. yesterday
6. answered
7. send
8. left
9. without
10. always

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Nasreddin had a car.
2. The boys wanted to buy a sheep.
3. The sheep was thin.
4.Nasreddin wanted to save the sheep.
5. The boys said that tomorrow will be rainy day.
6. Nasreddin agreed to have a picnic two days later.
7. The boys went to the sea beach next morning.
8. They sunbathed.
9. Nasreddin hid the sheep🐑.
10. The boys put the nice clothes on after swimming for picnic. .

Text 120

Whenever it rained, water came through Nasreddin's roof, so one day he got his ladder, climbed up on to the roof and began to mend it. It was quite difficult and dangerous work.

While he was up there, he suddenly saw an old man in the street. This man was waving to him. He wanted Nasreddin to come down. Nasreddin thought, 'What has happened? What news has this man got for me?' So he climbed down the ladder quickly. Several times he slipped and nearly broke his neck. When he got to the bottom, the old man said,' I am a poor man. Please give me some money.'

Nasreddin was very angry, but he said, 'Come up.' He helped the old man to climb up the ladder and on to the roof. Then he said to him, 'I am a poor man too. I have no money for you. And now go down alone. I will not help you.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What happened whenever it rained?

2.What did Nasreddin do ?

3.What was this work like?

4.Whom did he see in the street ?

5.When did he see this person?

6.What did Nasreddin think?

7.What did he do ?

8.What happened while he was doing this?

9.What did the old man say when Nasreddin got to the bottom ?

10.How did Nasreddin feel?

11 .What did he say?

12. What did he do ?

13. What did he say when they were on the roof?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. day
2. began
3. broke
4. easy
5. save
6. young
7. rich
8. top
9. happy
10.leave

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Whenever it snowed, snow came through Nasreddin's roof
2. Nasreddin took a fork and climbed up into the roof.
3. He began to mend his bike.
4. While Nasreddin was up there, he suddenly saw his wife in the street.
5. Nasreddin' s wife was waving to him.
6. She wanted Nasreddin to come down.
7.Nasreddin climbed down the ladder slowly
8. When he got to the bottom, the his wife said that they are going to go shopping.
9. Nasreddin was very angry after that.
10.He helped his wife to climb up the ladder and on to the roof.

Text 121

One day Mr Robinson saw a lady in the street with ten children. He was very surprised because all the children were wearing the same clothes-white caps, dark blue coats and grey trousers.

'Are all those children yours?' he asked the mother.

'Yes, they are,' she answered.

'Do you always dress them in the same clothes?' asked Mr Robinson.

'Yes,' answered the mother. 'When we had only four children, we dressed them in the same clothes because we did not want to lose any of them. It was easy to see our children when they were among other children, because they were all wearing the same clothes. And now, when we have ten, we dress them like this because we do not want to take other children home too by mistake. When there are other children

among ours, it is easy to see them, because their clothes are different.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mr Robinson see one morning?

2.Where did he see this?

3.How did he feel about it?

4.Why did he feel like this?

5.What did he say?

6.What did the lady answer?

7.What did Mr Robinson say then ?

8.What was the lady's answer?

9.Why did she dress her children like that when she had four ?

10.Why did she dress them like that when she had ten ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

New ×
First ×
Give ×
Take ×
Same ×
In ×
Go ×
Buy ×
After ×
Pay ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mr Robinson saw a man with ten children.
The children wore different colored clothes.
The lady had only two children.
Mr Robinson was not surprised.
The children wore red caps and green coats.
The family dressed children differently to avoid confusion.
They started this system when they had ten children.
The mother said she wanted to lose her children in crowds.
The children’s clothes helped identify them easily.
They used the same clothes to avoid taking wrong children home.

Text 122

Mr and Mrs Brown lived in a small house near London with their child. Sometimes Mr Brown came back from work very late, when his wife and the child were asleep, and then he opened the front door of his house with his key and came in very quietly.

But one night when he was coming home late, he lost his key, so when he reached his house, he rang the bell. Nothing happened. He rang it again. Again nothing happened-nobody moved inside the house. Mr Brown knocked at the bedroom window, he spoke to his wife, he shouted, but she did not wake up. At last he stopped and thought for a few

seconds. Then he began to speak like a small child. 'Mother!' he said, 'I want to go to the lavatory!' He spoke quite quietly but at once Mrs Brown woke up. Then he spoke to her, and she opened the door for him.

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Where did Mr and Mrs Brown live?

2.How many children did they have?

3.What happened sometimes?

4.What were his wife and child doing when this happened?

5.What did Mr Brown do then ?

6.How did he come in?

7.What happened one night?

8.When did this happen?

9.What did Mr Brown do when he reached his house?

10.What happened?

11.What did Mr Brown do then?

12.What happened this time?

13.What did Mr Brown do then ?

14.What did his wife do?

15.What did Mr Brown do then?

16.How did Mr Brown wake his wife ?

17.What did he do then?

18.What did she do ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Small ×
Late ×
Quietly ×
Open ×
Come ×
Nothing ×
Wake up ×
Loud ×
Inside ×
Lost ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Mr and Mrs Brown lived in a big apartment
2. Mr and Mrs Brown had three children
3. Mr and Mrs Brown lived in Paris.
4. Sometimes Mr Brown came back from work very early
5. His wife and the child had a party at night
6. Mr Brown came into the the house very loudly.
7. Mr Brown had a smartphone.
8. He lost his way one day.
9. He had an extra key.
10.It took short time to come into the house when Mr Brown lost his key.

Text 123

Peter's uncle lived in the country. Once Peter went to stay with him for a few weeks. Whenever they went for a walk or for a drive in the car and they passed somebody, his uncle waved. Peter was surprised, and said, 'Uncle George, you know everybody here. Where did you meet them all?'

'I don't know all these people,' said his uncle.

'Then why do you wave to them?' asked Peter.

'Well, Peter,' answered his uncle, 'when I wave to some one and he knows me, he is pleased. He continues his journey with a happier heart. But when I wave to someone and he doesn't know me, he is surprised and says to himself, "Who is that man? Why did he wave to me?" So he has something to think about during the rest of his journey, and that makes his journey seem shorter. So I make everybody happy.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Where did Peter’s uncle live?
Why did Peter go to stay with his uncle?
What did the uncle do whenever they passed someone?
Why was Peter surprised by his uncle’s behaviour?
Did Peter’s uncle know all the people he waved to?
What did Peter ask his uncle about the people they met?
How did people feel when they recognized the uncle’s wave?
What did people think when they did not recognize him?
Why did the uncle say he waved to strangers?
According to the uncle, how did waving make journeys feel?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Country ×
Few ×
Always ×
Pass ×
Know ×
Happy ×
Start ×
Same ×
Long ×
Together ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Peter lived in the country with his uncle all year round.
2.Peter’s uncle waved only to people he personally knew.
3.Everyone they passed on walks completely ignored Peter’s uncle.
4.Peter already understood why his uncle waved at strangers.
5.Uncle George waved to people because he wanted them to stop and talk.
6.The strangers became angry when Uncle George waved at them.
7.Peter and his uncle never went for walks, only long train rides.
8.Uncle George waved to people so that they would recognize him as famous.
9.Nobody was ever surprised by Uncle George’s waving.
10.Uncle George believed waving made people’s journeys longer.

Text 124

It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot, so Mr Andrews was surprised when he saw an old gentleman at the bus-stop with a big, strong black umbrella in his hand

Mr Andrews said to him, 'Are we going to have rain today, do you think?'

'No', said the old gentleman, 'I don't think so.'

'Then are you carrying the umbrella to keep the sun off you?'

'No, the sun is not very hot in spring.'

Mr Andrews looked at the big umbrella again, and the gentleman said, 'I am an old man, and my legs are not very strong, so I really need a walking-stick. But when I carry a walking-stick, people say, "Look at that poor old man", and I don't like that. When I carry an umbrella in fine weather, people only say, "Look at that stupid man"."

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What was the weather like?

2.What did Mr Andrews see?

3.How did he feel about this ?

4.Why did he feel like this?

5.What did Mr Andrews ask ?

6.What did the old gentleman answer?

7.What did Mr Andrews ask then ?

8.What was the old gentleman's answer?

9.What did Mr Andrews do then ?

10.What did the old gentleman say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Beautiful ×
Old ×
Strong ×
Hot ×
Black ×
Yes ×
Like ×
Strong ×
Poor ×
Stupid ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1.It was a cold and rainy spring morning.
2.Mr Andrews saw a young boy at the bus-stop.
3.The sun was very hot that day.
4.The old gentleman expected heavy rain.
5.The umbrella he carried was small and white.
6.He carried the umbrella to protect himself from the hot sun.
7.The old gentleman had very strong legs.
8.People praised him for carrying a walking-stick.
9.He liked being called a “poor old man.”
10.When he carried an umbrella in fine weather, people admired him.

Text 125

Many years ago, an English family were living in China. One evening an important Chinese officer came to visit them. It got later and later, and he still did not go, so his hostess invited him to have dinner with them. But she had very little food in the house, so she quickly went to the kitchen and spoke to her Chinese cook. He said, 'It is all right. You will have a very good dinner.'

When they all sat down to eat, the lady was very surprised, because there was a lot of very good food on the table.

After the dinner, the hostess ran to the kitchen and said to the cook, 'How did you make such a good meal in half an hour?'

'I did not make it, madam,' he said. 'I sent one of the servants to the Chinese officer's house, and he brought back the Chinese officer's dinner.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.When did this story happen?

2.Where were the English family living?

3.What happened one evening ?

4.What did the hostess do ?

5.Why did she do this?

6.Why did she go to the kitchen ?

7.What did the cook say?

8.What did the English family and the Chinese officer do then ?

9.How did the lady feel?

10.Why did she feel like this?

11.What did she do after the dinner?

12.What did she say to the cook?

13.What was his answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Many ×
Old ×
English ×
Important ×
Later ×
Little ×
Good ×
Quick ×
Surprised ×
Before ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. The Ukrainian family was living in China.
2. Ukrainian officer came to visit English family one day.
3. The hostess invited Chinese officer to have breakfast.
4. Chinese officer was glad to stay on a visit.
5. The hostess had a lot of food at the begining.
6. The hostess went to the barbershop.
7. The hostess ran to the kitchen after lunch.
8. The hostess's cook cooked a lot of food.
9. Chinese officer's cook brought food to English family .
10. The table had a lot of spoil food.

Text 126

One day Nasreddin went to a big dinner party. He was wearing old clothes, and when he came in, nobody looked at him and nobody gave him a seat at a table. So Nasreddin went home, put on his best clothes, and then went back to the party. The host at once got up and came to meet him. He took him to the best table, gave him a good seat, and offered

him the best dishes.

Nasreddin put his coat in the food and said, 'Eat, coat!'

The other guests were very surprised and said, 'What are you doing?'

Nasreddin answered, 'I was inviting my coat to eat. When I was wearing my old clothes, nobody looked at me or offered me food or drink. Then I went home and came back in these clothes, and you gave me the best food and drink. So you gave me these things for my clothes, not for myself.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin do one day?

2.What was he wearing?

3.What happened when he came in ?

4.What did Nasreddin do then ?

5.What happened when he went back to the party?

6.What did Nasreddin do then?

7.What did he say?

8.How did the other guests feel?

9.What did they say?

10.What was Nasreddin's answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Old
Big
Best
Good
Home
Come
Give
Surprised
Respect
Rich

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin went to a wedding party.
He wore beautiful new clothes the first time.
The guests welcomed him warmly at first.
Nasreddin stayed at the party the whole time.
The host gave him the worst seat in the room.
Nasreddin put his hat in the food.
The guests laughed and ignored him completely.
Nasreddin said the food was terrible.
The story shows that people never judge appearance.
Nasreddin returned to the party wearing his best clothes.

Text 127

Nasreddin wanted a big pot for a party, so he borrowed one from a neighbour. After the party he took it back with another small pot inside.

'Your pot had a baby while it was with us,' he said.

Of course, the neighbour was very pleased, and when Nasreddin came to borrow the big pot again for another party, he lent it to him very gladly.

This time Nasreddin did not bring the pot back, so after a few days the man went to Nasreddin's house.

'What has happened to my big pot?' he asked. 'Why have you not brought it back yet?' 'Oh, the big pot?' said Nasreddin. 'It died while it was with us.'

'Died?' said the neighbour angrily. 'But pots do not die!'

'Why do you say that?' answered Nasreddin. 'When I said, "The pot has had a baby", you did not say, "Pots do not have babies", did you?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin want?

2.What did he want it for ?

3.What did he do ?

4.What did he do after the party?

5.What did he say?

6.How did his neighbour feel?

7.What did Nasreddin do after that in the story?

8.What did his neighbour do?

9.What happened to the pot this time ?

10.What did the neighbour do then ?

11.What did he say to Nasreddin ?

12.What was Nasreddin's answer?

13.What did the neighbour say then ?

14.How did he say it?

15.What did Nasreddin answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. little

2. gave

3. outside

4. front

5. happily

6. asked

7. carried away

8. many

9. before

10. without

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Nasreddin wanted a small pot to сook the food.

2. He borrowed a pot from his neighbour.

3. The neighbour took the pot back after cinema.

4. Nasreddin took the pot back with candy inside to his neighbour.

5. The neighbour was very glad.

6. Nasreddin came to borrow the chicken second time.

7. He did not bring the pot back to the neighbour.

8. The neighbour went to Nasreddin's cafe a few days later.

9. The pot was alive.

10. The pot had a baby second time.

Text 128

One day Nasreddin's donkey was ill, so he borrowed a horse from an officer. It was a big, strong animal, and usually nobody rode it except the officer. It tried to throw Nasreddin off, but he stayed on it. Then it suddenly began to run away with him. He tried to turn it towards his house, and he tried to stop it, but it continued to run the opposite way.

One of Nasreddin's friends was working in his field and saw him riding very fast towards this friend's house. He thought, 'Why is Nasreddin riding so fast? Perhaps he has some bad news. Perhaps he is riding to my house to give me some bad news!'

He was frightened and shouted to Nasreddin, 'Nasreddin!

Nasreddin! What is the matter? Where are you going?'

'I don't know!' Nasreddin shouted back. 'This stupid

animal hasn't told me!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What was the matter with Nasreddin's donkey one day?

2.What did he do ?

3.What was the horse like?

4.Who usually rode it?

5.What did it try to do?

6.What did Nasreddin do?

7.What did the horse do then?

8.What did Nasreddin do?

9.What did the horse do ?

10.Who saw Nasreddin ?

11.What was this person doing?

12.What did he think?

13.How did he feel?

14.What did he shout?

15.What did Nasreddin shout back?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. out
2. small
3. weak
4. have a rest
5. finish
6. stay
7. good
8. take
9. clever
10. backwards

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. The donkey was happy one day.
2. He borrowed the animal from the neighbour.
3. The animal was small and weak.
4. The animal was a lion.
5. Nasreddin tried to turn toward to market.
6. One of Nadreddin's friends worked in the zoo.
7. Nasrreddin rode very slowly.
8. Nasreddin rode to the cinema.
9. Nasreddin was happy.
10. The horse talked with Nasreddin.

Text 129

Every Saturday, Nasreddin went to the market to buy food and other things. He put them in a big basket, but he was old and weak, so he always paid another man to carry the basket home for him. But one Saturday, while he was walking home in front of the man with the basket, the man ran away with it.

The next Saturday, when Nasreddin went to the market again, a friend of his said, 'Look, there he is! That man stole your things last week!'

Nasreddin at once hid behind a shop, and stayed there until the man left the market. His friend was very surprised. 'Why did you do that?' he

asked.

'Well,' said Nasreddin, 'that man was carrying my basket when he left me a week ago. He will want me to pay him for seven days' work, and that will cost me more than a basket full of things!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin do every Saturday?

2.Why did he do this?

3.What did he do with the things ?

4.What did he do then?

5.Why did he do this ?

6.What happened one Saturday ?

7.What was Nasreddin doing when this happened?

8.What did Nasreddin do the next Saturday?

9.What did a friend of his say?

10.What did Nasreddin do?

11.When did he come out ?

12.How did his friend feel about this?

13.What did he say?

14.What was Nasreddin's answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. small
2. young
3. without
4. right
5. night
6. laze
7. strong
8. answered
9. never
10. back

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1.Nasreddin went to caffee every Sunday .
2. He bought a new telephone.
3. Nasreddin put food and another things in his car's truck.
4. The man carried a pocket instead of Nasreddin.
5. Nasreddin's father ran away with a basket.
6. The next Saturday, Nasreddin went to the shop and saw a new telephone.
7. Nasreddin's friend was very angry.
8. Nasreddin said that the man stole bag.
9. The man ignored Nasreddin.
10. The father ran away with a basket.

Text 130

Once, when Nasreddin was a boy, his mother went out for a picnic. Before she went, she said to him, 'Nasreddin, while I am away, stay near the door, and watch it all the time.' She said this because there were a lot of thieves in their town.

Nasreddin sat down beside the door. After an hour one of his uncles came. He said to Nasreddin, 'Where is your mother?'

'At a picnic,' he answered.

'Well,' said the uncle, 'we are going to visit your house this evening. Go and tell her!'

His uncle then went away, and Nasreddin began to think. 'Mother said, "Watch the door all the time!" and Uncle said, "Go and tell her"!'

He thought and thought, then at last, he pulled the door down, put it on his back and went to his mother with it!

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.When did this story happen?

2.What did Nasreddin's mother do ?

3.What did she say to him?

4.When did she say it?

5.Why did she say this ?

6.What did Nasreddin do?

7.What happened after an hour?

8.What did Nasreddin's uncle say?

9.What did Nasreddin answer?

10.What did his uncle say then ?

11.What did Nasreddin do then ?

12.What did he think?

13.What did he do at last?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. after
2. asked
3. morning
4. up
5. without
6. finish
7. first
8. far
9. front
10. bad

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. This stoty happened when Nasreddin was an old man.
2. Nasreddin's mother went to the zoo.
3. He said to him that he watched TV.
4. She said this before it rained.
5. He watched TV because it rained outside.
6. One of his aunt came after an hour.
7. The auncle asked - Where is his father?
8. Nasreddin said that his mother went to the zoo.
9. The uncle and his family are going to visit them tomorrow.
10.He went and said about uncle's visit.

Text 131

Nasreddin was sitting by a window in his house one day in the middle of winter, when he heard women outside crying. He put his head out of the window, and saw a lot of people coming towards his house. They were carrying a dead man, and the women were crying, 'Oh, why are you leaving us to go to a place without light and without a fire and without food? It will be dark there, and you will be cold and hungry. Nobody will look after you, nobody will be kind to you, and nobody will love you there!'

' My God!' said Nasreddin to his wife. 'They are talking

about our house. They are bringing the dead man here! Quick,

lock the door! Don't let him in!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What was Nasreddin doing at the beginning of this story?

2.When was this?

3.What did he hear?

4.What did he do then ?

5.What did he see?

6.What were the people doing?

7.What were the women doing?

8.What were they saying?

9.What did Nasreddin say?

10.Whom did he say this to ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. night
2. summer
3. few(little)
4. alive
5. dark
6. hot
7. full
8. love
9. with
10. (be) silent

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin was sitting in a garden when the story began. ___
The story takes place during spring. _
Nasreddin heard children playing outside. _
The people were carrying bags of food. _
The women were singing happily. _
The women said the dead man was going to a bright and comfortable place. _
Nasreddin believed the women were talking about a palace. _
Nasreddin welcomed the dead man into his house. _
Nasreddin told his wife to leave the door open. _
Nasreddin thought the dead man was being brought to his house. ___

Text 132

One day when Nasreddin was travelling, he came to a village. The people there said to him, 'We have had no rain for three months, and we have no water. Our corn is dying. Please help us! Pray for rain!'

Nasreddin wanted to help these poor people, so he asked for a bucket of water. There was very little water in the village, but each family gave a little, and they filled a bucket and gave it to Nasreddin.

Then Nasreddin took off his shirt and began to wash it. The people were surprised and angry. 'That water was for our children to drink, and you are washing your shirt in it!'

But Nasreddin said, 'Wait!' He hung the shirt up to dry, and at once it began to rain.

'I have only one shirt,' he said to the surprised people, 'and when I wash it and hang it up to dry, it always rains.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Where did Nasreddin arrive while he was travelling?
What problem did the villagers have?
How long had the village been without rain?
What did the villagers ask Nasreddin to do?
What did Nasreddin request from the villagers?
How did the villagers manage to fill the bucket?
Why were the villagers surprised and angry?
What did Nasreddin do after washing his shirt?
What happened immediately after he hung up the shirt?
What explanation did Nasreddin give for the rain?

B) Which words in the story mean the
opposite of :

Arrive →
Poor →
Little →
Full →
Dry →
Surprised →
Angry →
Begin →
Help →
Give →

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin came to a large city during his travels. ___
The villagers had plenty of water. _
It had rained heavily the week before. _
The villagers asked Nasreddin to repair their houses. _
Nasreddin asked for a bucket of milk. _
The villagers refused to give Nasreddin any water. _
Nasreddin washed his trousers in the water. _
The villagers were pleased when Nasreddin used the water to wash his shirt. _
After washing the shirt, the weather stayed dry. _
Nasreddin said that it always rains when he washes his only shirt and hangs it up to dry. ___

Text 133

Three people were walking along a street, first a big man, then a pretty woman, and then an old gentleman. The first two went round a corner. Suddenly the gentleman saw a piece of paper on the ground. He picked it up. It was five pounds. A few seconds later, the young woman came back. She was crying. 'I have dropped five pounds,' she said.

'Don't cry', said the gentleman. 'Here it is.' The young woman thanked him and went away. After a few seconds, the big man came back. He was looking for something. Suddenly a window opened and a small man looked out. 'I saw five pounds fall from your pocket,' he said, 'but that man gave it to a young woman.' The big man was very angry. The

gentleman was frightened and gave him another five pounds. When he had gone, the young woman came back to get her one pound sixty-seven pence, and the small man came out to get his.

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Who were the three people walking along the street?
What did the old gentleman find on the ground?
Why did the young woman come back?
What did the gentleman do when the woman said she had lost money?
How did the young woman react after receiving the money?
Why did the big man return?
What did the small man tell the big man?
Why did the gentleman give the big man another five pounds?
What happened after the big man left?
What does the ending of the story reveal about the young woman and the small man?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. small
2. down
3. young
4. front
5. earlier
6. near
7. close
8. out
9. kind
10. befor

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The three people were walking through a park. ___
The gentleman found ten pounds on the ground. _
The young woman said she had lost a purse. _
The gentleman refused to help the young woman. _
The young woman became angry after receiving the money. _
The big man saw the five pounds fall to the ground. _
The small man told the big man to ignore the lost money. _
The gentleman laughed when the big man became angry. _
The gentleman gave the big man ten pounds. _
The young woman and the small man were part of a trick to get money from the gentleman. ___

Text 134

Nasreddin liked fish very much, and when he had enough money, he bought some for his dinner when he went to the market, and took it home. But when his wife saw the fish, she always said to herself, 'Good! Now I will invite my friends to lunch and we will eat this fish. They like fish very much.'

So when Nasreddin came home in the evening after his work, the fish was never there, and his wife always said, 'Oh, your cat ate it! She is a very bad animal!' And she gave Nasreddin soup and rice for his dinner.

But one evening when this happened, Nasreddin became

very angry. He took the cat and his wife to the shop near his house and weighed the cat carefully. Then he turned to his wife and said, 'My fish weighed two kilos. This cat weighs two kilos too. My fish is here, you say. Then where is my cat?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Nasreddin like very much ?

2.When did he buy some of this ?

3.What did he buy it for?

4.What did he do with it then?

5.What did his wife say to herself when she saw it?

6.What happened when Nasreddin came home?

7.What did his wife always say?

8.What did she give Nasreddin for his dinner?

9.How did Nasreddin feel one evening when this happened?

10.What did he do ?

12.What did he say to his wife then ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. bad
2. kind
3. always
4. sold
5. enemy
6. give
7. little
8. morning
9. there
10. far

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Nasreddin liked beef very much.
2. He bought beef when he did not have any money
3. He bought fish for breakfast
4. The wife said that she invites her mother to eat fish.
5. Her friends did not like fish very much.
6. One evening, the fish was not there `.
7. The wife said that the dog ate the fish.
8. He weigned a dog.
9. One evenin, Nasreddin was angry.
10. He took his cat and wife to the cinema.

Text 135

One day when Nasreddin was having a bath, he began to sing. The bathroom was small and had a stone floor, so his song was very beautiful, he thought.

'Oh,' he said, 'I sing very well. I will sing to other people too, and perhaps I will become a famous singer, and everybody in the world will want to hear me."

So after his bath Nasreddin went up on to the flat roof of the house and began to sing his song very loudly. But he did not like it very much when he sang it there.

A man was walking across the square in front of the house,

and when he heard Nasreddin, he said, 'What are you doing? You are making a terrible noise. Nobody wants to hear it.'

'Oh, you think so, do you?' answered Nasreddin. 'Well, I really sing very beautifully. Come to my bathroom and you will hear me.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.When did Nasreddin begin to sing?

2.What was the bathroom like?

3.How did the song seem to Nasreddin ?

4.What did he say?

5.What did Nasreddin do after his bath?

6.What did he think of his song now ?

7.Who spoke to Nasreddin?

8.What was this person doing?

9.What did he say to Nasreddin ?

10.What did Nasreddin answer?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. Finish
2. Big
3. Terrible
4. Badly
5. Quietly
6. Hate
7. Back
8. Asked
9.Unknown
10. Little

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Nasreddin began to sing while cooking dinner. ___
The bathroom had a wooden floor. _
Nasreddin thought he sang badly in the bathroom. _
Nasreddin wanted to become a famous painter. _
After his bath, Nasreddin went to the market. _
Nasreddin sang very quietly on the roof. _
The man in the square said that everyone loved Nasreddin's singing. _
Nasreddin agreed that his singing was terrible. _
The man asked Nasreddin to sing even louder. _
Nasreddin believed that his bathroom made his voice sound beautiful. ___

Text 136

The police in the big city were looking for a thief. At last they caught him. But while they were taking photographs of him from the front, from the left, from the right, with a hat, without a hat-he suddenly attacked the policemen and ran off. They tried to catch him, but he got away.

Then a week later the telephone rang in the police-station, and somebody said, 'You are looking for Bill Cross, aren't you?'

'Yes.'

'Well, he left here for Waterbridge an hour ago.' Waterbridge was a small town 150 kilometres from the city. The city police at once sent four different photographs of the thief to the police in Waterbridge.

Less than twelve hours later they got a telephone call from the police in Waterbridge. 'We have caught three of the men,' they said happily, 'and we will catch the fourth this evening, we think'.

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Where were the police ?

2.What were they doing?

3.What happened at last?

4.What did the man do?

5.When did he do this ?

6.What did the police do?

7.What happened?

8.What happened a week later ?

9.What did someone say over the telephone ?

10.What did the police answer?

11.What did the man say then ?

12.Where and what was Waterbridge?

13.What did the city police do ?

14.What happened less than twelve hours later?

15.What did the police in Waterbridge say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Big →
Catch →
Front →
Left →
Suddenly →
Attack →
Run away →
Different →
Small →
Before →

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The police were looking for a thief in a big city. ___
The police never caught the thief. _
The thief escaped while the police were taking his photographs. _
The thief attacked the policemen before running away. _
The police received a telephone call one month later. _
The caller said Bill Cross had gone to Waterbridge. _
Waterbridge was 150 kilometres away from the city. _
The city police sent only one photograph to Waterbridge. _
The police in Waterbridge caught three men. _
The police in Waterbridge understood that all the photographs were of the same thief. ___

Text 137

Mrs Jones was still cleaning the house when her husband came back from work. She was wearing dirty, old clothes and no stockings, her hair was not tidy, she had dust on her face, and she looked dirty and tired. Her husband looked at her and said, 'Is this what I come home to after a hard day's work?'

Mrs Jones's neighbour, Mrs Smith, was there. When she heard Mr Jones's words, she quickly said goodbye and ran back to her house. Then she washed, brushed and combed her hair carefully, put on her best dress and her prettiest stockings, painted her face, and waited for her husband to come home.

When he arrived, he was hot and tired. He walked slowly into the house, saw his wife and stopped. Then he shouted angrily, 'And where are you going this evening?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What was Mrs Jones doing?

2.What happened while she was doing this ?

3.What was Mrs Jones wearing ?

4.What did her hair look like?

5.What did her face look like?

6.What did Mrs Jones look like?

7.What did her husband say ?

8.Who was there too?

9.What did Mrs Smith do when she heard Mr Jones's words?

10.How was her husband when he arrived ?

11.What did he do ?

12.What did he shout ?

13.How did he shout this ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. soil
2. front
3. clean
4. new
5. chipper
6. slowly
7. greet
8. kind
9.
10.

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mrs Jones was resting on the sofa when her husband came home.
Mrs Jones was cleaning the house when her husband arrived.
Mrs Jones was wearing her best dress and beautiful stockings.
Mrs Smith stayed at Mrs Jones’s house after hearing Mr Jones speak.
Mrs Smith quickly went home and made herself look very nice.
Mr Jones thanked his wife for cleaning the house.
Mrs Smith did not wash or comb her hair before her husband came home.
Mrs Smith’s husband asked happily where she wanted to go for dinner.
Mrs Smith painted the house before her husband arrived.
Mrs Jones’s husband arrived early in the morning.

Text 138

Billy was four years old, and he was a very bad boy. Everyday after lunch his mother took him to his bedroom and put him on his bed to rest for an hour, but Billy never slept and usually he made a lot of noise and got off his bed every few minutes.

One afternoon, Billy's mother put him on his bed and then went to her bedroom to do some sewing. After ten minutes, she heard a noise so she went to Billy's room. He was not there, but his trousers were lying on his bed.

She looked in the other rooms upstairs, but he was not there either, so she went to the top of the stairs and shouted down angrily, 'Are you running about down there without your trousers?'

'No, madam,' answered a man's voice. 'I have brought

your vegetables and I am wearing my trousers.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.How old was Billy?

2.What kind of boy was he?

3.What happened every day?

4.When did it happen?

5.Why did Billy's mother put him on his bed ?

6.What did Billy do then ?

6.What happened one afternoon?

7.Why did Billy's mother go to her bedroom?

8.What happened after ten minutes ?

9.What did Billy's mother do then ?

10.What did she see in Billy'sroom?

11.What did she do then?

12.What did she see?

13.What did she do after that?

14.What did she shout?

15.How did she shout this ?

16.Who answered ?

17.What did he say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. young
2. good
3. quiet
4. put
5. always
6. asked
7. take off
8. buy
9. angrily
10. whispered

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. Billy was fourteen years old.
2. He was a very obedient boy.
3. Billy's mother took him to the bathroom every day .
4. Billy danced in the bathroom.
5. Billy usually slept and never made much noise
6. When Billy’s mother put him to his bed she went to her kitchen to cook delicious lunch one afternoon
7. She heard a noise and she went to Billy’s room after thirty minutes
8 . Billy was in the bedroom, but his socks and t-shirt were lying on his bed
9. She said kindly , 'if he ran about down without his trousers
10. The man's voice answered that he ran without his trousers

Text 139

An old lady in an aeroplane had a blanket over her head and she did not want to take it off. The air hostess spoke to her, but the old lady said, 'I have never been in an aeroplane before, and I am frightened. I am going to keep this blanket over my head until we are back on the ground again!'

Then the captain came. He said 'Madam, I am the captain of this aeroplane. The weather is fine, there are no clouds in the sky, and everything is going very well.' But she continued to hide.

So the captain turned and started to go back. Then the old lady looked out from under the" blanket with one eye and said, 'I am sorry, young man, but I don't like aeroplanes and I am never going to fly again. But I'll say one thing,' she continued kindly, 'you and your wife keep your aeroplane very clean!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Where was the old lady?

2.What was she doing at the beginning of this story?

3.Who spoke to her ?

4.What did the old lady say?

5.Who came then ?

6.What did this person say?

7.What did the old lady do ?

8.What did the captain do?

9.What did the old lady do then ?

10.What did she say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. young
2. new
3. front
4. angrily
5. dirty
6. finish
7. badly
8.shout
9. seek
10. always

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The old lady was travelling by train. ___
The old lady had a blanket over her head. _
She was afraid because she had never flown before. _
The air hostess became angry with the old lady. _
The captain told the old lady that the weather was bad. _
The sky was clear and the flight was going well. _
The old lady removed the blanket immediately after talking to the captain. _
The old lady decided to fly again many times. _
The old lady thought the captain and his wife cleaned the aeroplane. _
The old lady did not realize that she was inside an aeroplane's toilet. ___

Text 140

A young air force officer had a very beautiful wife. Early each morning he left his house and went to the airport, and an hour later his wife always left the house too, with a big white towel, and went for a walk on the beach.

Her husband always flew over every morning, and when she saw his aeroplane, she held the white towel high above her head. When her husband saw it, he made either the left wing or the right wing of his aeroplane go down. The left wing meant, 'I will be busy tonight and won't be home.'The right wing meant, 'In eight hours I will be holding you

in my arms.'

One morning he flew over with eight other aeroplanes, and his left wing went down. Before his wife had time to feel sad about this, all the other aeroplanes flew over, and each of them turned its right wing down.

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Who are the two people at the beginning of this story?

2.When did the man in this story leave his house?

3.Where did he go?

4.When did his wife leave the house?

5.What did she take with her ?

6.Where did she go?

7.What happened every morning after that?

8.What did the officer's wife do ?

9.When did she do it?

10.What did her husband do then ?

11.When did he do this?

12.What did the left wing mean?

13.What did the right wing mean?

14.What happened one morning ?

15.Which wing went down ?

16.What did the other aeroplanes do ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. old
2. after
3. right
4. never
5. up
6. happy
7. small
8. evening
9. late
10. scary

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The young man was a doctor. ___
The officer's wife was very beautiful. _
The husband left home every morning to go to the airport. _
The wife carried a black towel to the beach. _
The husband flew over the beach every morning. _
The left wing meant that he would be home early. _
The right wing meant that he would hold his wife in eight hours. _
One morning the husband flew over with eight other aeroplanes. _
The other aeroplanes turned their left wings down. _
The wife understood that the other pilots were sending her a friendly message. ___

Text 141

An artist had a small daughter. Sometimes he painted women without any clothes on, and he and his wife always tried to keep the small girl out when he was doing this. 'She is too young to understand,' they said.

But one day, when the artist was painting a woman with no clothes on, he forgot to lock the door, and the little girl suddenly ran into the room. Her mother ran up the stairs after her, but when she got to the top, the little girl was already in the room and looking at the woman. Both her parents waited for her to speak.

For a few seconds the little girl said nothing, but then she ran to her mother and said angrily, 'Why do you let her go about without shoes and socks on when you don't let me?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What was the small girl's father?

2.What did he sometimes do ?

3.What did he and his wife do then ?

4.What did they say?

5.What happened one day ?

6.When did it happen?

7.What did the small girl's mother do?

8.What was the girl doing when her mother got to the top of the stairs ?

9.What did her parents do?

10.What did the little girl do?

11.What did she say?

12.How did she feel about this ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

hot
big
happy
fast
light
open
strong
early
hard
full

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The artist painted only landscapes and never painted people.
The little girl understood immediately that the painting was a work of art.
The mother allowed the child to stay in the room while the artist worked.
The artist always locked the door when he painted.
The little girl started crying when she saw the painting.
The woman in the painting was wearing a long dress.
The little girl quietly left the room without saying anything.
The parents were not present in the house at the time.
The little girl said she wanted to become a painter immediately.
The little girl said angrily that the woman was not wearing shoes and socks while she had to.

Text 142

It was a small factory, and there was nowhere to eat near it, so the workmen took food from their homes and ate it in the factory at midday.

One of the workmen always had fish sandwiches. Every day he took one of them out of his bag, bit it, and then threw all the sandwiches angrily away.

At last, one day one of the workmen said to him, 'But, Bill, don't you like fish sandwiches?'

'No,' said Bill, 'I hate them.'

'Then why does your wife make them for you every day? There are lots of other nice things for sandwiches. Tell your wife, and she will make other sandwiches.'

'It isn't as easy as that,' answered Bill. 'I haven't got a wife. I make the sandwiches myself.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Where did the workmen in the story work ?

2.What did they take to the factory?

3Why did they do this?

4.When and where did they eat their food?

5.What did one of the workmen always have?

6.What did he do every day?

7.How did he feel?

8.What did another workman say to him one day?

9.What did Bill answer?

10.What did the other workman say then?

11.What was Bill's answer to this?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. Tall
2. never
3. in
4. hate
5. answered
6. hard
7. threw
8.caught
9. happily
10. far

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The factory was very large and had many restaurants nearby. ___
The workmen brought their own food to the factory. _
Bill always brought cheese sandwiches. _
Bill ate all his sandwiches happily every day. _
Bill disliked fish sandwiches. _
A workman suggested that Bill ask his wife to make different sandwiches. _
Bill had a wife who made his sandwiches. _
Bill made the sandwiches himself. _
Bill could easily change the sandwiches by talking to his wife. _
The joke is that Bill was making food he did not like himself. ___

Text 143

Mrs Brown had a small garden behind her house, and in the spring she planted some vegetables in it. She looked after them very carefully, and when the summer came, they looked very nice.

One evening Mrs Brown looked at her vegetables and said, 'Tomorrow I am going to pick them, and then we can eat them.'

But early the next morning, her son ran into the kitchen and shouted, 'Mother, Mother! Come quickly! Our neighbour's ducks are in the garden and they are eating our vegetables!'

Mrs Brown ran out, but it was too late! All the vegetables were finished! Mrs Brown cried, and her neighbour was very sorry, but that was the end of the vegetables.

Then a few days before Christmas, the neighbour brought Mrs Brown a parcel. In it was a beautiful, fat duck, and on it was a piece of paper with the words, 'Enjoy your vegetables!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.What did Mrs Brown have?

2.Where did she have it?

3.What did she do there?

4.When did she do it?

5.What did she do then ?

6.What happened in the summer?

7.What did Mrs Brown do one evening ?

8.What did she say?

9.What happened early the next morning?

10.What did Mrs Brown's son shout?

11.What did Mrs Brown do ?

12.What happened to the vegetables ?

13.How did Mrs Brown's neighbour feel?

14.What happened a few days before Christmas ?

15.What was in the parcel?

16.What were the words on the piece of paper ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. tall
2. winter
3. drop
4. early
5. last
6. After
7. begin
8. ugly
9. carry away
10. Slowly

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mrs Brown had a large farm behind her house. ___
She planted vegetables in her garden in spring. _
Mrs Brown did not take care of her vegetables. _
She planned to pick the vegetables the next day. _
Mrs Brown’s son found the ducks in the garden. _
The ducks ate all the vegetables. _
Mrs Brown was happy when she saw the empty garden. _
The neighbour felt sorry about what happened. _
The neighbour gave Mrs Brown a duck before Christmas. _
The note on the parcel said, “Enjoy your vegetables!” ___

Text 144

The ladies' club always had a meeting every Friday afternoon and someone came to talk to them about important things. After that, they had tea and asked questions.

One Friday, a gentleman came and talked to the club about food. 'There is not enough food in the world for everybody,' he said. 'More than half the people in the world are hungry. And when they get more food, they have more babies, so they never stop being hungry. Somewhere in the world, a woman is having a baby every minute, day and night. What

are we going to do about it?' He waited for a few seconds before he continued, but before he began to speak again, one of the ladies said, 'Well, why don't we find that woman and stop her?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

When did the ladies' club have their meetings?
Who came to talk to the ladies?
What did they usually do after the talk?
What was the gentleman's topic?
What problem did the gentleman talk about?
How many people in the world did he say were hungry?
Why did he say people continued to be hungry?
What example did the gentleman give about babies?
What question did the gentleman ask the ladies?
Why was the lady’s answer funny?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1.never
2.left
3.answered
4.less
5.full
6.befor
7.many
8.after
9.lose
10.answers

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The ladies' club met every Friday afternoon. ___
The club members never listened to speakers. _
After the talk, the ladies had tea and asked questions. _
The gentleman talked about sports. _
He said there was too much food in the world. _
He said more than half of the people in the world were hungry. _
The gentleman said people had more babies when they got more food. _
A lady suggested finding the woman who was having a baby and stopping her. _
The gentleman immediately answered the lady’s question. _
The joke is that the lady misunderstood the gentleman’s meaning. ___

Text 145

A man had some work to do in Switzerland, so he said goodbye to his wife at the airport, got into an aeroplane and left. After ten days, his work in Switzerland was finished, so he bought a ticket for his journey back home, and then went to the post-office to send a telegram to his wife. He wrote the telegram, gave it to the clerk and said, 'How much will this cost?'

She told him, and he counted his Swiss money. He had not got quite enough.

'Take the word "love" off my telegram,' he said, 'and then I will have enough money to pay for it.'

'No,' the girl said. She opened her handbag, took the money for the word 'love' out of it and said, 'For the word "love", I will pay the money. Wives need that word from their husbands.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.Why did the man in this story go to Switzerland ?

2.What did he do at the airport ?

3.What happened after ten days?

4.What did he do then ?

5.Why did he go to the post- office ?

6.What did he do there?

7.What did he say?

8.What did clerk answer?

9.What did the man say then ?

10.How did the clerfeel?

11.What did she do ?

12.What did she say?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. hate
2. play
3. greet
4. began
5.came
6. sold
7. front
8. took
9. little
10. into

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. A man had some work in Ukraine.
2. He went to Switzerland by car.
3. He finished his work in seven days.
4. After ten days of work, he went to the market.
5. He wanted to send flowers to his wife
6. He asked the clerk "What flowers are the best? "
7. A man had enough money
8. The clerk paid for the telegram.
9. She took money out of her pocket.
10. Man's wife was happy to get the telegram.

Text 146

Mrs Jones's telephone number was 3463, and the number of the cinema in her town was 3464, so people often made a mistake and telephoned her when they wanted the cinema.

One evening the telephone bell rang and Mrs Jones answered it. A tired man said, 'At what time does your last film begin?'

'I am sorry,' said Mrs Jones, 'but you have the wrong

number. This is not the cinema.'

'Oh, it began twenty minutes ago?' said the man. 'I am

sorry about that. Goodbye.'

Mrs Jones was very surprised, so she told her husband. He laughed and said, 'The man's wife wanted to go to the cinema, but he was feeling tired, so he telephoned the cinema. His wife heard him, but she didn't hear you. Now they will stay at home this evening, and the husband will be happy!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What was Mrs Jones’s telephone number?
What was the cinema’s telephone number?
Why did people often call Mrs Jones by mistake?
Who called Mrs Jones one evening?
What did the tired man want to know?
What did Mrs Jones tell the man?
How did the man misunderstand Mrs Jones’s answer?
Why was Mrs Jones surprised after the phone call?
What did Mrs Jones’s husband think had happened?
Why was the husband in the story happy?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. seldom
2. asked
3. right
4. finished
5. greet
6.energetic
7.next
8. rare
9.cried
10.morning

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mrs Jones’s telephone number was 3463. ___
The cinema’s number was exactly the same as Mrs Jones’s number. _
People sometimes called Mrs Jones when they wanted the cinema. _
A woman called Mrs Jones to ask about a film. _
The man wanted to know when the last film started. _
Mrs Jones told the man that she worked at the cinema. _
The man thought the film had already started. _
Mrs Jones’s husband laughed when he heard the story. _
The man’s wife wanted to go to the cinema. _
The husband was happy because he did not want to go to the cinema. ___

Text 147

It was a few days before Christmas, so when the office closed at half past five, most of the young men and typists stayed and had a party. They ate and drank, danced and sang songs, and nobody wanted to go home. But Joe had a wife at home, and lived quite a long way from the city. Every few minutes he looked at his watch, and at last, when it was very late, he began to leave.

'Joe!' shouted his friends. 'Are you leaving? Why don't you stay and enjoy the party?'

'I am not leaving,' said Joe. 'I am only going down to the station to miss the last train back home. I will be back here in a few minutes.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Why did the office workers have a party?
What time did the office close?
Who stayed at the office after it closed?
What activities did the people do at the party?
Why did Joe keep looking at his watch?
Why did Joe want to leave the party early?
Where did Joe live?
What did Joe’s friends ask him when he started leaving?
Where did Joe say he was going?
Why was Joe’s answer funny?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Few → ______
Before →
Young →
Closed →
Stayed →
Late →
Long →
Leave →
Last →
Back → _

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The story happened a few days before Christmas. ___
The office closed at half past six. _
The workers left immediately after the office closed. _
The people at the party ate, drank, danced, and sang. _
Joe did not have a family. _
Joe lived far from the city. _
Joe often checked the time on his watch. _
Joe’s friends wanted him to stay at the party. _
Joe planned to take the last train home. _
Joe wanted to miss the last train so he could return to the party. ___

Text 148

Mr Jones and Mr Brown worked in the same office. One day Mr Jones said to Mr Brown, 'We are going to have a small party at our house next Wednesday evening. Will you and your wife come?'

Mr Brown said, 'Thank you very much. That is very kind of you. We are free that evening, I think, but I will telephone my wife and ask her. Perhaps she wants to go somewhere that evening.' So Mr Brown went to the other room and telephoned. When he came back, he looked very surprised. 'What is the matter?' said Mr Jones. 'Did you speak to

your wife?'

'No,' answered Mr Brown. 'She wasn't there. My small son answered the telephone. I said to him, "Is your mother there, David?" and he answered, "No, she is not in the house". "Where is she then?" I asked. "She is somewhere outside". "What is she doing?" "She is looking for me".'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Where did Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown work?
Who invited Mr. Brown to a party?
When was the party going to take place?
Where was the party going to be held?
Why did Mr. Brown want to telephone his wife?
Who answered the telephone when Mr. Brown called home?
What was the name of Mr. Brown's son?
What did David say about his mother?
Where did David say his mother was?
Why was Mr. Brown surprised after the telephone call?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. morning
2. different
3. tall
4. little
5. front
6. asked
7. hid
8. left
9. last
10. played

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown worked in different offices.
The party was going to be held on Monday evening.
Mr. Brown immediately accepted the invitation without asking his wife.
Mr. Brown sent a message to his wife instead of telephoning her.
Mr. Brown's daughter answered the telephone.
David said that his mother was in the kitchen.
David said that he was playing in the park.
Mr. Brown looked angry when he returned.
Mr. Jones was the person who answered the telephone.
David said that his mother was outside looking for him.

Text 149

When you have a post-office box, the postman does not bring letters to you, but you go to the post-office and get your letters and parcels from your box. The box is locked, and you have the key, so the letters are quite safe.

One day, the headmaster of a school wrote to the post-office and asked for a post-office box for his school. He soon got an answer. It said, 'We will give you a post-box in one month.'

Three months later, the headmaster wrote to the post-office again and said, 'Why haven't we got a post-office box yet?'

This was the answer from the post-office:

'Dear Sir,

We gave you a post-office box two months ago and wrote to you then to tell you. Here is the key to your box. You will find our letter to you in it.'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What does a person do when they have a post-office box?
Why are the letters in a post-office box safe?
Who asked for a post-office box?
Why did the headmaster want a post-office box?
What did the post office promise in its first reply?
How long did the headmaster wait before writing again?
What question did the headmaster ask in his second letter?
When did the post office say they had already given him a box?
What did the post office send with its second reply?
Where was the first letter from the post office?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

safe ×
locked ×
give ×
wrote ×
soon ×
answer ×
later ×
find ×
get ×
open ×

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

The postman brings letters directly to people who have a post-office box.
The post-office box was unlocked.
The headmaster asked for a post-office box for his house.
The post office promised a box in one week.
The headmaster wrote again after six months.
The post office had never given the school a box.
The post office forgot to write to the headmaster.
The key was already with the headmaster from the beginning.
The first letter was found in the headmaster's office.
The post office said that their earlier letter was inside the post-office box.

Text 150

One night there was a heavy snowstorm, and in the morning Mr Smith's garden was full of deep snow. Mr Smith wanted to take his car out, so he paid a man to clean the path from his garage to his gate. He said to this man, 'Don't throw any snow on that side, because it will damage the bushes in my garden; and don't throw any on the other side, because it will break my fence. And don't throw any into the street, or the police will be angry.' Then Mr Smith went out.

When he came back, the path was clean and the snow from it was not on the bushes, or the fence, or the street. Mr Smith was very pleased until he opened the garage to get his car

out! The garage was full to the top with all the snow from the

path, and his car was somewhere under it all!

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

What was the weather like during the night?
What was Mr. Smith's garden full of in the morning?
Why did Mr. Smith want to clean the path?
Who did Mr. Smith pay to clean the path?
Where did the path lead from and to?
Why did Mr. Smith not want snow thrown onto the bushes?
Why did Mr. Smith not want snow thrown against the fence?
Why did he not want the snow thrown into the street?
What did Mr. Smith see when he returned home?
Where had the man put all the snow from the path?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. give
2. shallow
3. dirty
4. happily
5. Build
6. caught
7. shut
8. bottom
9. without
10. about

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

There was a heavy rainstorm during the night.
Mr. Smith's garden was full of leaves in the morning.
Mr. Smith wanted to take his bicycle out.
Mr. Smith cleaned the path himself.
The path led from the house to the street.
Mr. Smith told the man to throw snow onto the bushes.
Mr. Smith wanted the snow thrown into the street.
The police helped clean the path.
The snow was left on top of the fence.
The garage was full of snow from the path.

Text 151

At the beginning of the First World War, John Robinson was a soldier in the army. He went to France with a lot of other soldiers, and lived in a cold, wet, muddy camp. The rain came into his tent, there was mud and water on the floor, and the food was not good.

Then he became an officer and went to work in the army in Paris. He lived very pleasantly there in a warm house, had very good food, and enjoyed himself.

After some months, he met one of his old friends from the camp.

'You made a big mistake when you left our camp,' said this friend.

'Oh?' said John Robinson. 'Why?'

'Well,' said the soldier, 'the week after you left, they put wood floors in our tents!'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

1.When did this story happen?

2.What was John Robinson ?

3.Where did he go?

4.Whom did he go with ?

5.Where did he live?

6.What was the camp like?

7.What was John's tent like ?

8.How was the food at the camp ?

9What happened then ?

10.Where did he go?

11.How did he live there?

12.Where did he live?

13.How did he like it?

14.What happened after some months ?

15.What did his friend say?

16.What did John Robinson answer?

17.What did his friend say then ?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. Without
2. warm
3. dry
4. left
5.hate
6.bad
7. young
8. badly
9. out of
10. before

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

1. The story happened at the Second World War.
2. John Robinson was a general in the army.
3.He went to Germany with a lot of other soldiers.
4. He lived in the fancy hotel .
5. Then John Robinson became an admiral .
6. He went to live to Berlin.
7. After some months, he met one of his girl-friends .
8. John Robinson and his friend had a nice conversation.
9.John Robinson did a huge mistake
10. John Robinson came back to his previous conversation

Text 152

Mr Andrews had a new telephone number. Before he got it, it was the number of a shop. The shop now had a new number, but a lot of women did not know this, so they still telephoned the old one.

At first, Mr and Mrs Andrews always said, 'We are sorry. You have the wrong number. The shop has a new one now.'

But women still continued to telephone them to ask for things, so after some time, Mr and Mrs Andrews began to answer them like this:

'Good morning, madam. What do you want us to send you today?' They thought, 'Perhaps they will stop telephoning us when they don't get their things. But this did not help Mr and Mrs Andrews, because now women began to telephone them more and more, and say angrily, 'Where are my things? They have not come yet! Why haven't you sent them yet?'

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Who had a new telephone number?
What had the telephone number belonged to before?
Why did many women continue to telephone the old number?
What did Mr. and Mrs. Andrews say at first when they answered the calls?
What information did they give the callers?
Why did the women keep telephoning?
How did Mr. and Mrs. Andrews begin to answer the calls later?
What did they hope would happen?
Did their plan work as they expected?
Why did the women become angry?

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. old
2. never
3. bad
4.finish
5.hurt
6.happily
7.got
8.leave
9.before
10. ask

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Mr. Andrews got a new house instead of a new telephone number.
The telephone number had belonged to a school before.
The shop continued to use the old telephone number.
The callers knew that the shop had a new number.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrews never answered the telephone.
They told the callers that the shop was closed forever.
The women stopped telephoning after a short time.
The callers received all the things they ordered.
The women thanked Mr. and Mrs. Andrews for their service.
The women later complained because their things had not arrived.

Book 5

Text 98

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 99

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 100

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 101

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 102

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 103

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 104

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 105

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 106

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

Text 107

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 108

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 109

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 110

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 111

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 112

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions :

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of :1. сried 2. asked 3.buy4.like5. beautiful6. before7. slowly8. stayed9. to be silent10. good

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 113

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:

Behind × __________Night × __________Dark × __________Lost × __________Friend × __________Outside × __________Remember × __________Stupid × __________Light × __________Here × __________

C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?

Text 114

Exercises:

A) Answer these questions:

B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of :

1. сried
2. asked
3.buy
4.like
5. beautiful
6. before
7. slowly
8. stayed
9. to be silent
10. good

Behind ×
Night ×
Dark ×
Lost ×
Friend ×
Outside ×
Remember ×
Stupid ×
Light ×
Here ×