Book 10
Text 294
Jim walked into a store which had a sign outside: "Second-hand
clothes bought and sold." He was carrying an old pair of pants and asked the owner of the store, "How much will you give me for these?" The man looked at them and then said rudely, "Two
dollars."
"What!" said Jim. "I had guessed they were worth at least
five."
"No," said the man, "they aren't worth a penny more than
two dollars."
"Are you sure?" asked Jim.
"Very sure," said the man.
"Well," said Jim, taking two dollars out of his pocket, "here's
your money. These pants were hanging outside your store with a price tag that said $6.50, but I thought that was too much money, so I wanted to make sure how much they were really worth."
Then he walked out of the store with the pair of pants and
disappeared before the surprised store owner could think of
anything to say.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What was bought and sold in the store where Jim went into?
2. What did Jim take into the store with him?
3. How much did the owner of the store offer Jim for them?
4. Where did Jim find the pants?
5. How much was the owner asking for them?
6. How much did Jim pay for them?
7. What did the Jim do after he paid?
8. What do you think about Jim action at the end of the story?
9.
10. Was the Jim's action a crime?
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. new
2. appeared
3. little
4. not certain
5. politely
6. bought
7. give
8. worthless
9. inside
10. without
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.Jim was owner of shop.
2. Jim walked around his house.
3. Jim was a volunteer.
4. Jim wrote goods prices on the tags.
5. He asked for discount.
6. The pants belonged to the famous singer.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 295
Mrs. Green was the manager of a large company, and she frequently had to have meetings with other business people in a
room in her building. She did not smoke at all, but many of the other people at the meetings did, so she often found the air during the meetings terrible. One day, after an hour, her throat and eyes were sore and she was coughing a lot, so she called a big air-conditioning company and asked them to work out how much it would cost to keep the air of the meeting room in her building really clean.
After a few days the air-conditioning company sent in two
estimates for Mrs. Green to choose from. One estimate was for
$5,000 to put in new air-conditioning, and the other was for
$5.00 for a sign which said, NO SMOKING.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did Mrs. Green have to have meetings with business people?
2. Why did she often find the air in the meetings terrible?
3. What did it do to her?
4. What did she do about it?
5. What did the air-conditioning company do?
6. What did Mrs. Green have to choose between?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 296
A lot of boys and girls in Western countries are wearing the same kinds of clothes, and many of them have long hair, so it is often difficult to tell whether they are boys or girls.
One day, an old gentleman went for a walk in a park in Washington, and when he was tired he sat down on a bench. A
young person was standing on the other side of the pond.
"My goodness!" the old man said to the person who was sitting next to him on the bench. "Do you see that person with the loose pants and long hair? Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," said his neighbor. "She's my daughter."
"Oh!" the old gentleman said quickly. "Please forgive me, I
didn't know that you were her mother."
"I'm not," said the other person, "I'm her father."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did the old gentleman see on the other side of the pond?
2. Why didn't the old gentleman know if it was a boy or a girl?
3. Who did he ask?
4. What did this person answer?
5. What did the old gentleman say then?
6. And what did the person answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 297
A young boy was playing with a ball in the street. He kicked it too hard, and it broke the window of a house and fell inside. A lady came to the window with the ball and shouted at the young boy, so he ran away, but he still wanted his ball back. A few minutes later he returned and knocked at the door of the house, and when the lady answered it, he said, "My father's going to come and fix your window very soon."
After a few more minutes a man came to the door with tools
in his hand, so the lady let the boy take his ball away.
When the man finished fixing the window, he said to the lady,
"That will cost you exactly ten dollars."
"But aren't you the father of that young boy?" the woman
asked, looking surprised. "No," he answered, equally surprised. "Aren't you his mother?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. How did the young boy lose his ball?
2. Why did he run away?
3. And why did he come back?
4. Why did the lady let him take his ball away?
5. Who did the lady think the man was who came to fix the window?
6. Who did he think the lady was?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. The young boy broke the window of his own house.
2. The young boy broke the window of someone else's house.
3. The ball went through the window.
4. The ball hit the window and fell into the lady's garden.
5. The young boy ran away because he wanted his ball back.
6. The young boy ran away because he was afraid of the lady.
7. The young boy went to find his father.
8. The young boy went to find a man who fixed windows.
9. The man who fixed the lady's window was not the boy's father.
10. The man who fixed the lady's window was the boy's father.
11. The man thought that the lady was the boy's mother.
12. The man knew that the lady wasn't the boy's mother.
Text 298
Mr. and Mrs. Scott moved to a small town, and they made arrangements at the local bank to open an account in both their
names. But Mr. Scott was a businessman and always worked during the times that the bank was open, so his wife was the one who usually went there when they needed money.
Then one day Mr. Scott had a vacation, so he went to the
bank, but the bank teller didn't know him, and wasn't willing to give him any money until she was sure that he was really Mr. Scott. She said politely, "I know Mrs. Scott, but I don't know you yet. Could you please show me something to prove that you are Mr. Scott?"
Mr. Scott looked in his wallet and found some photographs of his wife. He showed them to the teller, and she was satisfied and gave him his money.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What kind of account did Mr. and Mrs. Scott open at the bank?
2. Who usually went to the bank to get money?
3. Who went there one day?
4. What did the teller say to Mr. Scott?
5. What did Mr. Scott show the teller to prove who he was?
6. What did the teller do then?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 299
Johnny was nine years old, and he was a very bad boy, but his mother always hoped that he would behave better. Then one day, after he had come home from school, Johnny's teacher
called his mother on the phone and said, "Did you know, Mrs. Perkins, that Johnny saved another boy when he fell into the river while we were out for a walk this morning?"
Mrs. Perkins was very happy when she heard this. She thought, "Johnny's becoming a good boy." Then she turned to him and said, "That was your teacher. Why didn't you tell me
you had been such a brave boy and saved one of your friends when he fell into the river this morning?"
But Johnny did not look very happy when he heard this. His face became very red, and he said, "Well, I really had to pull him out, because I pushed him in."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What kind of boy was Johnny?
2. What did Mrs. Perkins hope?
3. What did Johnny's teacher tell his mother?
4. What did his mother think then?
5. What did she say to Johnny?
6. What did he answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 300
A young boy did not live too far from school, so he used to walk
there and back everyday. On his way to school he passed a play-ground which used to get very wet when it rained. One day the
boy came home very wet. His mother became angry and said,
"Don't play in the water on your way home from school."
The next day he came home very wet again, and his mother
became even angrier. "I'll tell your father if you come home wet
again," she said, "and then he'll punish you."
The next day the young boy was dry when he came home from
school. "You were a good boy today," his mother said. "You didn't
play in the water." "No," he answered sadly, "there were so many
older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon that there
wasn't any room for me at all."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. How did the young boy go to and from school?
2. How did he get wet?
3. How did his mother feel about this?
4. What did she threaten to do if he got wet again?
5. Why was she happy one day?
6. Why wasn't her son wet that day?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. work
3. pleased
4. dry
2. happily
5. younger
6. unless
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 301
Mr. Jones moved to another town, and soon he needed a new
doctor, so he went to see one. He sat down in the waiting room and looked around. The doctor's degrees were on the wall. Suddenly Mr. Jones remembered: there had been a student with the same name in his class at school, and he had become a doctor!
He went in to see the doctor, remembering a young, handsome student, and was sad to see how old and heavy and grey this man looked. However, he said to him, "Good morning, Doctor. Did you go to Middletown High School?"
The doctor answered, "Yes, I did."
"Were you there from 1942 to 1946?" Mr. Jones asked.
"Yes, I was," the doctor answered. "How did you know?"
Mr. Jones laughed and said, "You were in my class!"
"Oh?" the doctor said, looking at him carefully for a few
moments. "What were you teaching?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did Mr. Jones go to a new doctor?
2. What did he see on the walls of the waiting room?
3. What did Mr. Jones remember?
4. What were the two questions that Mr. Jones asked the doctor?
5. How did Mr. Jones know that the doctor had been at that school
during those years?
6. What did the doctor think?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 302
The college had a very good football team, and its best player was
a student who always had trouble in school. Then one year the dean of the college said that the player would have to leave because he had cheated on an exam. The football coach immediately went to the dean to try to persuade him to let the student stay in school. The dean showed him two answer papers. "This one is Susan's paper. She's the best student in the class," he said. "And this one's your football player's. They're exactly the same. The football player sat at the next desk, and just copied from her."
"But maybe she copied from him," the coach said. "You can't
prove it was the other way."
"Look at this," the dean said. "Susan didn't know the answer to this question, so she wrote, 'I don't know.' And your football player wrote, 'Neither do I.""
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did the dean want the student to leave the college?
2. Why did the coach want him to stay?
3. What did the dean show the coach?
4. And what did the dean say to him?
5. What did the coach suggest then?
6. And what did the dean answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 303
Mr. Young owned his own business and worked very hard. His wife was afraid that he would get sick if he continued like that, so she often tried to get him to take a vacation. At last she
managed to persuade him to do this, but she was afraid that he might not be able to enjoy his vacation quietly, so before they left, Mrs. Young went to see her husband's secretary. She said
to her, "My husband needs a vacation very much, so whatever happens, please don't bother him with telegrams and letters about business problems while we're away. Just wait till we get
back."
After Mr. and Mrs. Young had been away about a week, Mr. Young received a letter from his secretary which said, "Something terrible has happened to your business, but I'm not going
to bother you with it now while you're enjoying your vacation."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Who did Mr. Young work for?
2. What was his wife afraid of?
3. What did she want her husband to do?
4. What did she ask his secretary to do?
5. What did the secretary write in her letter to Mr. Young?
6. Do you think he enjoyed his vacation after that?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. Mr. Young worked hard for another person.
2. Mr. Young worked for himself.
3. His wife didn't want him to take a vacation.
4. His wife wanted him to take a vacation.
5. She didn't want his secretary to write to him about business
problems.
6. She wanted his secretary to send telegrams and letters if there
were any business problems.
7. The secretary wrote to Mr. Young soon after he left.
8. The secretary did not write to Mr. Young, because she didn't want
to bother him.
9. Mr. Young didn't know that anything was wrong until he got back.
10. Mr. Young knew that there was something wrong, but he didn't
know what it was until he got back.
Text 304
A small town had a city dump where people could leave their own garbage. A lot of people used to load their garbage cans into the backs of their cars and take them to the dump to get rid of them, instead of waiting for them to be collected from their homes or offices.
One evening the owner of a store in this town put his garbage
cans in his van and drove to the dump. He had just left his garbage there, when a young man arrived in a very old, beat-up car,
turned around, drove backwards down the hill where the gar-
bage was piled and unloaded his.
While he was doing this, the engine of his car died. He tried to
start it again several times, but he wasn't successful, so he
finally said to the driver of the van, "Could you please give my
car a push?"
"Which way?" the man answered.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did a lot of people do with their garbage cans?
2. What was the young man's car like?
3. What did he do when he came to the garbage dump?
4. Why couldn't he drive away again?
5. What did the young man ask the driver of the van to do?
6. What did the driver answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 305
Mr. Harris had never married, and he lived in a small house by himself. He was always very careful about what he ate and drank, and he never went out when the weather was cold. He was always afraid that he was getting some terrible disease, so he often went to see his doctor, and the doctor was getting very tired of his patient's imagined illnesses, because he had more important work to do.
Then one day Mr. Harris hurried into the doctor's office and told him he was sure he had a certain terrible disease which he had read about in the newspaper. He showed the doctor the article. The doctor read it carefully and then said, "But, Mr. Harris, people don't know when they have this disease! There are no symptoms, and they feel very good."
"Oh, my goodness!" said Mr. Harris. "I thought so. That's just
how I feel!"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did Mr. Harris often go to see his doctor?
2. How did the doctor feel about this?
3. What did Mr. Harris show the doctor one day?
4. What did the doctor do with this?
5. What did the doctor say to Mr. Harris?
6. What did Mr. Harris answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 306
Fred had just become the captain of a small ship which carried things from one port to another along the coast. One day he had to take the ship up a river into a small port. He knew that the river had plenty of channels, and that some of them were very shallow and dangerous, so he decided to wait until he saw a local boat going up the river and then follow it. After half an hour he saw a boat start to go up the river, so he began to follow it. He followed it through various channels until both of the boats hit sand under the water and stopped.
Then the captain of the local boat came to the side and shouted to the captain of the boat that had followed him, "We came here to get a load of sand. What did you come to get?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What kind of boat was Fred the captain of?
2. Why didn't he want to go up the river alone?
3. What did he wait for?
4. Did the local boat lead him to the port?
5. Where did it lead him?
6. What had the local boat come to collect?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 307
A small store sold a lot of nice jewelry, and the owner was always very careful to prevent people from stealing it.
One day a thief came and tried to steal a beautiful necklace, but the owner of the store caught him immediately and went to the telephone to call the police to come and arrest him.
"Please don't do that!" the thief said. "I have a wife and three
children at home. And I'll pay for the necklace."
The owner of the store felt sorry for the man and he didn't
want to have a lot of trouble with the police, so he accepted the man's offer to pay for the necklace and went to prepare a bill for it.
But when he gave it to the thief, the man looked disturbed and
said, "I wasn't intending to get anything as expensive as that. Do
you have something cheaper?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did the store owner catch a man doing?
2. What did the store owner do?
3. What did the thief say?
4. Why did the store owner accept the man's offer?
5. What did the store owner do?
6. What did the thief say then?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 308
Mr. Smith left his car outside his apartment one night, as usual,
but when he came down the next morning to go to his office, he
discovered that the car wasn't there. He called the police and
told them what had happened, and they said that they would try
to find the car.
When Mr. Smith came home from his office that evening, the
car was back again in its usual place in front of his house. He
examined it carefully to see whether it had been damaged, and
found two theater tickets on one of the seats and a letter which
said, "We're very sorry. We took your car because of an emer-
gency."
Mr. and Mrs. Smith went to the theater with the two tickets
the next night and enjoyed themselves very much.
When they got home, they found that thieves had taken almost everything they had had in their apartment.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did Mr. Smith discover when he left his apartment one morn-
ing?
2. What did he do about this?
3. What did he see when he got back home that evening?
4. What did he find on one of the seats?
5. What did Mr. and Mrs. Smith do with the tickets?
6. What happened when they got home?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 309
Jimmy was seven years old. He got an allowance from his parents every week, but he wasted a lot of it on things which he saw in the stores and suddenly wanted to buy, although he didn't need them. One day his mother gave him a notebook and said, "Now, Jimmy, whenever you buy anything, I want you to write it down in this book, and write down the price, too. Then you can look at it again when your money's all gone, and you won't waste so much money next time."
After a week, Jimmy said to his mother, "Do you know, Mommy, before I spend any money now, I really stop and think?"
His mother was very pleased and thought, "Well, he's learned the value of money now." But she wasn't so happy when he added, "Yes, before I buy anything, I always ask myself, 'Am I going to be able to spell that in my notebook?""
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What happened to Jimmy's allowance every week?
2. What did his mother give him then?
3. Why did she give it to him?
4. What did Jimmy say to his mother after a week?
5. What did she think?
6. What did Jimmy say then?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. Jimmy's parents gave him money regularly.
2. Jimmy's parents wasted his allowance every week.
3. Before he got his notebook, Jimmy often wanted to buy things
because he needed them.
4. Before he got his notebook, Jimmy often bought things he didn't
need.
5. Jimmy's mother bought him the notebook to prevent him from
saving money.
6. Jimmy's mother bought him the notebook to prevent him from
wasting money.
7. After getting his notebook, Jimmy no longer spent money without
thinking first.
8. After getting his notebook, Jimmy began to spend money without
thinking first.
9. Jimmy's words did not really show that he had learned the value of
money.
10. Jimmy's words showed that he really had learned the value of
money.
Text 310
Tom had retired and lived by himself a long way from town. He hardly ever left his home, but one day he went into town to buy some things in the market, and after he had bought them, he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table by himself. When he looked around, he saw several old people put eyeglasses on before reading their newspapers, so after lunch he decided to go to a store to buy himself some glasses too. He walked along the road, and soon found a store.
The man in the store made him try on a lot of glasses, but Tom always said, "No, I can't read with these."
The man became more and more puzzled, until finally he said,"Excuse me, but can you read at all?"
"No, of course I can't!" Tom said angrily. "If I was already able
to read, do you think I would have come here to buy glasses?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did Tom see in a restaurant?
2. What did he decide to do?
3. What did the man in the store do?
4. What did Tom say each time?
5. What did the man finally ask Tom?
6. What did Tom answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 311
John had a new car, but it was in the garage for repairs, so he borrowed his wife's old car one evening. He found that it didn't have much gas in the tank, so he drove to a service station and filled it up. But then the car wouldn't start.
He thought there was probably something loose in the battery, so he took a small wrench out of his pocket and hit the battery with it. The car started at once.
Then John saw that one of the lights was not working either.
"There's something loose there too," he thought. He hit it on the side with his wrench, and it lit up right away.
The garage man was watching, and then he ran over to John and said, "If you ever want to sell your car, I don't want it, but I'd be very happy to make you an offer for that wrench."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did John take his wife's car to a service station?
2. What did John think, and then do, when his wife's car wouldn't
start?
3. What did John see after that?
4. What did he think, and then do, about it?
5. Who was watching John?
6. What did the garage man say to him?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
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Text 312
A math teacher had been teaching his class all about fractions for the past week, and now he wanted to find out how much they had been able to remember, so he asked one of the boys in the class, "If I cut a piece of meat into two pieces, what would I get?"
"Halves," answered the student at once.
"Good," said the teacher. "And if I cut each piece in half again?"
"Fourths," answered the next student.
"And if I cut it again, Robert?" the teacher went on.
"Eighths," answered Robert.
"Yes," said the teacher, nodding to the next boy. "And again?"
"Sixteenths, sir," was the answer.
"Good," said the teacher. "And once more, Lisa?"
"Thirty-seconds," answered Lisa after thinking for a few seconds.
"Yes, that's right. And again?" the teacher continued.
"Hamburger meat," answered the last student, who thought that all of these questions were becoming a little silly.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What had the math teacher been teaching?
2. What was his first question?
3. What was the first student's answer?
4. What was the last fraction they reached?
5. What did the last student say?
6. Why did he answer like that?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 313
George worked in San Francisco. He wasn't married, and he usually had his lunch, and occasionally his dinner, in small restaurants.
One evening he decided to go to an expensive restaurant, and when he got in, he saw a large, heavy man who he had not seen for several years sitting by himself at a table. He thought for a few moments and then remembered the man's name, so he went up to him and said politely, "Hello, Mr. Grey. How's business?"
"Oh, it's not good at all," the large man answered. George looked at the expensive food and wine on Mr. Grey's table and was surprised. "It certainly doesn't look as if your business is bad," he said.
"Well," Mr. Grey answered sadly, "I'm afraid you're wrong. A few years ago I was doing very well, and I could afford to bring my wife to this place for dinner too."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Where did George usually eat?
2. Where did he go one evening?
3. Who did he see there?
4. How was Mr. Grey's business doing?
5. Why was George surprised?
6. What did Mr. Grey say to him then?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. cheap
2. forgot
3. frequently
4. rudely
5. smal
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 314
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their children were going to begin their vacation one day, and they had to be at the airport at eleven- forty A.M. "It'll take us half an hour to get there in the taxi," Mr. Wilson said, "so we all have to be ready by eleven o'clock. Nobody should be late."
At ten minutes to eleven they were still all running around doing things, except Mrs. Wilson, who was sitting quietly on a chair in the garden enjoying the sun.
Her husband and children were very surprised that she wasn't in a hurry too, until the taxi arrived and Mrs. Wilson said to them, "Well, I knew that this was going to happen, so before I went to bed last night, I moved all our clocks and watches ahead twenty minutes. So now we can go to the airport quietly without worrying about being late."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Why did Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their children have to be ready by
eleven o'clock?
2. What were Mr. Wilson and the children doing at ten-fifty?
3. What was Mrs. Wilson doing?
4. How did her husband and children feel about this?
5. What had Mrs. Wilson done the night before?
6. Why had she done this?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 315
Miss Rogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she was explaining to one of her classes about sound, and she I decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, "Now, I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone, and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from the across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?"
The smartest student at once answered, "Your brother, Miss Rogers, because electricity travels faster than sound waves.
"That's very good," Miss Rogers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Rogers said, "Yes, Debbie?" "I disagree," Debbie said. "Your brother would hear you earlier because when it's eleven o'clock here, it's only eight o'clock in Los Angeles."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What was the class in this story studying?
2. What question did Miss Rogers ask her class?
3. What did the smartest student answer?
4. What did Miss Rogers answer?
5. What happened then?
6. What did Debbie say?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. Miss Rogers was teaching her class to hear sounds.
2. Miss Rogers was teaching her class about sound.
3. She wanted to know which were faster, sound waves or electricity.
4. She wanted to know whether her students could hear her from 75
feet away.
5. She wanted to know whether it was possible to telephone Los
Angeles.
6. The smartest student thought that sound waves were slower than
electricity.
7. The smartest student thought that electricity was slower than
sound waves.
8. Miss Rogers agreed with the smartest student.
9. Miss Rogers disagreed with the smartest student.
10. Debbie thought the smartest student was wrong, because electri-
city was slower than sound waves.
11. Debbie thought the smartest student was wrong, because clocks in
Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York.
12. Debbie thought that the smartest student's answer was correct.
Text 316
Mr. Martin went into his usual coffee shop one morning, and sat on one of the seats at the counter. Many other people came in also, but most of them did not stay long.
After fifteen minutes, a young man and a young woman came in. There were only two empty seats at the counter, one on Mr. Martin's left, and the other on his right. The woman sat on one, and the young man on the other, but Mr. Martin immediately offered to change places with the man so that he and the young woman could be together.
"Oh, that isn't necessary," the young man said, but Mr. Martin insisted. When the young man and the woman were side by side, the young man said to her, "Well, this kind gentleman wanted us to sit together, so may I introduce myself? My name's Tom. What's yours?"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Where did Mr. Martin sit in the coffee shop?
2. Who came into the coffee shop after fifteen minutes?
3. What did Mr. Martin do when he saw them?
4. Why did he do this?
5. Why did the young man say it wasn't necessary for him to sit beside
the woman?
6. What did he say to the young woman?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. Where were the empty seats when the young man and the young
woman came in?
a. On one side of Mr. Martin.
b. On both sides of Mr. Martin.
2. What did Mr. Martin think when the young man and the young
woman came in?
a. He thought that he would like to introduce them to each other.
b. He thought that they already knew each other.
3. What did Mr. Martin insist on doing?
a. He insisted on changing places with the young man.
b. He insisted on introducing the young man and the young woman.
Text 317
Peter was a ventriloquist. He worked in theaters and night clubs, but he wasn't very good, and one month he was out of work and hungry. Then he found a dog on the street and took it into a restaurant with him. They sat down at a table, and the dog seemed to order food and talk about it, so the owner of the restaurant, the waiters, and the other guests were very surprised.
The owner thought that a lot of people would come to his restaurant to listen to the dog speak if it was his, so he offered to buy it, and finally the ventriloquist agreed to sell the dog for a high price.
When the owner of the restaurant had paid, the dog appeared to say to the ventriloquist, "Well, you sold me, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," answered the ventriloquist.
"Then I refuse to speak ever again."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did the dog seem to do in the restaurant?
2. Why did the owner of the restaurant want to buy the dog?
3. What did the ventriloquist finally do?
4. What did the dog "ask" then?
5. What did the ventriloquist answer?
6. And what did the dog "say" then?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 318
Eddie liked music very much when he was at school, but when he went to the university he decided to study medicine, instead of music. When he passed his examinations and became a doctor, he had to work in a hospital for some time. There he discovered that a lot of the patients were happier and caused less trouble if pleasant music was played to them. When Eddie got an office and began to work for himself, he decided to keep his patients happy by having a tape recorder in his waiting room
play beautiful music for them.
But soon after the tape recorder had been put in, Eddie's nurse heard a woman, who was sitting in the crowded waiting room one morning, complain, "Here we're all waiting to see the doctor, and he's just playing the violin in his office instead of doing his work!"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What did Eddie like when he was at school?
2. What did he study at the university?
3. Where did Eddie work after he passed his examinations?
4. What did pleasant music do to a lot of the patients in the hospital?
5. Why did Eddie put a tape recorder in his waiting room?
6. What did Eddie's nurse hear a patient say one morning?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 319
Mr. Marsh was a Senator in the government. One day he was driving to a town to make an important speech when he stopped at a small restaurant to have some coffee. When he saw that the restaurant had some nice fresh rolls, he asked the waitress for one, and she brought it. Then he asked for some butter and jam, and she brought a very small serving of butter and a very small jar of jam.
"I'd like some more jam, please." Mr. Marsh said.
"I'm sorry," she answered, "but we only give one serving of butter and one jar of jam with each roll."
Mr. Marsh began to get annoyed. "Do you know who I am, young lady?" he said. "I'm the state Senator."
"And do you know who I am?" the waitress asked.
Mr. Marsh was surprised and said, "No."
"Well," she answered, "I'm the person who gives out the jars
of jam."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. Who was Mr. Marsh?
2. Why did he stop at a small restaurant?
3. What did Mr. Marsh ask the waitress to bring more of?
4. What did the waitress answer?
5. What did Mr. Marsh say about himself?
6. What did the waitress say about herself?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. amused
2. dislike
3. take
4. large
5. stale
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 320
Mr. Lewis was a dance teacher. He was a nice man and always had a lot of students who used to come to his classes every week. One year he moved to a new town, and was soon teaching a lot of students in the dance school there, but then he decided to move again to a big city where he would have more work.
When one of the ladies who regularly came to his classes heard that he was going to leave, she said to him, "The teacher who takes your place won't be as good as you are."
Mr. Lewis was happy when he heard this, but he said, "Oh, no! I'm sure he'll be as good as I am-or even better."
The lady said, "No. Five teachers have come and gone while I've been here, and each new one was worse than the last."
1. What did Mr. Lewis teach?
2. Why did he want to move to a big city?
3. What did one of his students say when she heard this?
4. How did Mr. Lewis feel about this?
5. What did he say to the student?
6. What did she answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1. Mr. Lewis liked dancing very much, but he didn't teach it.
2. Mr. Lewis taught dancing.
3. He had students who came to his classes regularly.
4. His students came to his classes once a month.
5. He taught in the same school all his life.
6. He taught in various schools, one after another.
7. One of his students thought that he would be better than the next
teacher.
8. One of his students thought that he wouldn't be as good as the
next teacher.
9. She thought he wasn't as good as the teacher they had had before.
10. She thought he was better than the teacher they had had before.
Text 321
Six people were traveling in a compartment on a train. Five of them were quiet and well behaved, but the sixth was a rude young man who was causing a lot of trouble to the other passengers.
At last this young man got out at a station with his two heavy bags. None of the other passengers helped him, but one of them waited until the rude young man was very far away, and then opened the window and shouted to him, "You left something behind in the compartment!" Then he closed the window again.
The young man turned around and hurried back with his two bags. He was very tired when he arrived, but he shouted through the window, "What did I leave behind?"
As the train began to move again, the passenger who had called him back opened the window and said, "A very bad impression!"
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. How was the sixth passenger in the compartment different from
the other five?
2. What did he take with him when he got out?
3. What did a passenger shout to him when he was very far away?
4. What did the rude young man do then?
5. What did he ask when he got back to the compartment window?
6. What did the passenger in the compartment answer?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1. noisy
2. polite
3. shut
4. light
5. close to
6. whispered
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 322
Joe had a vacation, so he decided to go to the seashore for a few days. He got on a train one morning, and an hour later he was in a small town by the sea. A few minutes after he left the station, he saw a small hotel and went in. He asked the owner how much it would cost for one night there.
"Fifteen dollars," the owner answered.
"That's more than I can really afford to pay," Joe said sadly.
"All right," the owner answered. "If you make your bed yourself, you can have the room for ten dollars."
Joe was very happy because he always made his own bed at home. "Okay," he said, "I'll do that."
The owner went into a room at the back, opened a closet, took some things out and came back to Joe.
"Here you are," he said, and gave him a hammer and some
nails.
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. How much did the owner of the small hotel want Joe to pay for one
night there?
2. What did Joe say about this?
3. What did the owner of the small hotel
say then?
4. Why was Joe happy about this?
5. What did the owner take out of a closet?
6. What did he want Joe to do?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Text 323
A teacher was asking a student a lot of questions, but the student couldn't answer any of them. The teacher then decided to ask him some very easy questions so that he could get a few right.
" What was Bunker Hill?" she said.
The student thought for some time and then answered, "An airport?"
"No, it was a battle," the teacher said. She was getting a little angry now, but she was trying not to show it. Then she asked, "Who was the first President of the United States?"
The student thought for a long time, but didn't say anything. Then the teacher got very angry and shouted, "George Washington!" The student got up and began to walk towards his seat.
"Come back!" the teacher said. "I didn't tell you to go."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the student said. "I thought you called the next student."
Exercises:
A) Answer these questions:
1. What was the teacher's first question?
2. What was her second question?
3. What did she say when the student couldn't answer the second
question?
4. What did the student do?
5. What did the teacher say then?
6. Why did the student walk back towards his seat?
7.
8.
9.
10.
B) Which words in the story mean the opposite of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
C) Which of these sentences are true (T) and which are false (F)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.