reading material 4

Three young men were playings^ith a gun in a street in a quiet area of the town after dark wherWjne of them fired it by mis­take without aiming it at anything^ The bullet broke a window in an old lady's house.

The young men made off at once when they saw the damage they had done, but the old lady looked out of a window when she heard the explosion, and she recognized one of them as the son of a man and woman who lived not far from her.

The old lady complained to the poISEr, *nd a detective came to her house. The old lady gave him a detailed account of everything that had happened, and then the detective asked her if she knew where the young man lived. The old lady told him that too, so the detective went to the young man's house. He and his companions tried to hide, but the detective found them and the gun and took them to the police station^

There his chief officer questioned the young men to find out which of them owned the gun, but none of them was willing to say. The young man who owned the gun did not date to admit that he did, because he did not have a licence for it.

At last the chief officer decided to put an end to the conver­sation, so he turned to the detective and demanded to know whether he had got an officer's permission to take the gun away from the young man who owned it.

The detective felt anxious when he heard this question. "No, sir," he answered nervously, "1 didn't get it."

"In that case," the officer declared angrily, "you were quite wrong to take it away from him. You'd better return it im­mediately, or there'll be trouble!"

This made the young men smile happily at each other, and as soon as the detective held the gun out and said, "Here you are," one of them put his hand out in order to get it back.

That is how the officer finally discovered whom the gun be­longed to.

Look at these questions. Find the right answers. Then write the questions and the answers:

1 What broke the old lady's window?

a) A bullet, b) A gun. c) Some fire.

2 Where did the young man live?

a) Near the old lady, b) Near the police station.

3 Where did the detective take the young men?

a) To the next street, b) To the old lady's house, c) To the police station.

4. 
   Who asked the young men questions at the police station? a) An officer, b) The old lady, c) The detective.
   
5. 
   Did the young men say who owned the gun?
   

6 Did the young man who owned the gun have a licence for

a) No, he didn't, b) Yes, he did.

7 What did the officer ask the detective?

a) "Did you get an officer's permission to take the gun away?" b) "Have you got a licence for this gun?"

8 What did the officer tell the detective to do?

a) To get a licence, b) To give the gun back.

9 Why did he tell the detective to do this?

a) Because he did not like him. b) Because he wanted to find the young man who owned the gun. 10 How did one of the young men show that he owned the gun?

a) By holding the gun out. b) By putting out his hand to take it. c) By smiling happily.

Exercise 2

Write this story. Choose the right words each time:

A young man broke an old lady's window (by mistake/on purpose). He was (not trying/trying) to hit her house. He and his (friend/friends) ran away when they saw the (broken window/damaged bullet), but the (shot/shout) had made the old

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UNIT1

Exercise 3

When you report a question, you have to look at what the original speaker or writer of the question said from your point of view, not from his or hers. For example, if Mrs Jones said to me, "Can you help me?" I would report it like this: Mrs Jones asked me whether I could help her.

If the direct question has no question word, we use )/ or whether to introduce the reported question.

If the direct question already has a question word (who(m), what, when, why etc), we keep this in the report.

Notice too that in a reported question we use the same word order as in a statement, and that we do not use the question mark.

1. 
   The detective said to the old lady, "Where does the young man live?"
   
2. 
   The officer said to the young men, "Who owns the gun?"
   
3. 
   The officer said to the detective, "Did you get an officer's permission to take the gun away from the young man?"
   
4. 
   The officer said to the young man, "Did you fire the gun?"
   

Mr Gray travelled a lot on business. He sold machines of various kinds to farmers. It was not really a very exciting job, but Mr Gray had always been interested in farming, and he was quite satisfied with his life.

He had a big car, and usually enjoyed driving it long dis­tances, but he was quite satisfied to go by train sometimes too, especially when the weather was bad. He was a little frightened of driving in rain or snow, and it was less tiring to sit com­fortably in a train and look out of the window without being worried about how one was going to get to the next place.

One of Mr Gray's problems was often where to stay when he reached some small place in the country. He did not expect great comfort and wonderful food, but he found it annoying when he was given a cold room, and there was no hot water or good food after a long and tiring day.

Late one winter evening, Mr Gray arrived at a small railway station. The journey by train that day had not been at all in­teresting, and Mr Gray was cold and tired and hungry. He was looking forward to a simple but satisfying meal by a brightly burning fire, and then a hot bath and comfortable bed.

While he was walking to the taxi rank, he said to a local man who was also walking there, "As this is my first visit to this part of the country and I was in too much of a hurry to find out about hotels before I left home, I would very much like to know how many you have here."

The local man answered, "We have two."

"And which of the two would you advise me to go to?" Mr Gray asked then.

The local man scratched his head for a few moments and then answered, "Well, it's like this: whichever one you go to, you'll be sorry you didn't go to the other."

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UNIT 2

Exercise 1

Look at these questions. Find the right answers. Then write the questions and the answers:

1 Why did Mr Gray travel a lot?

a) Because of his work, b) For pleasure.

2 What was his business?

a) He was a farmer, b) He sold machines.

3 Did he enjoy his work?

a) No, he did not. b) Yes, he did.

4 How did he travel?

a) Always by train, b) Always in his car. c) Sometimes in his car, and sometimes by train.

5 Did he usually like driving?

1. 
   No, he did not, because he was a little frightened.
   
2. 
   Yes, he always did. c) Yes, he did, except when the weather was bad.
   

6. 
   Did he always stay in expensive hotels? a) No, he did not. b) Yes, he did.
   
7. 
   Why did he speak to a local man one winter evening?
   

8. 
   How many hotels were there near there? a) Too many, b) Two.
   
9. 
   Did the local man tell Mr Gray which one to go to?
   

10 Why? a) Because both of them were equally bad.

Exercise 2

Write this story. Choose the right words each time:

Mr Gray (always travelled to big cities/often travelled to very small places), because he (bought things from/sold things to) farmers, and