A Cold Welcome

On Wednesday evening, we went to the town hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the town hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes’ time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big minutes hand did not move. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted, “it’s two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!” I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the new year. At the moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.

Do the English Speak English?

I arrived in London at last. The railway station was big, black and dark. I did not know the way to my hotel, so I asked a porter. I not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well. The porter, however, could not understand me. I repeated my question several times and at last he understood. He answered me, but he spoke neither slowly not clearly. “I am a foreigner”, I said. Then he spoke slowly, but I could not understand him. My teacher never spoke English like that! The porter and I looked at each other and smiled. Then he said something and I understood it. “you’ll soon learn English!”he said. I wonder. In England, each man speaks a different language. The English understand each other, but I don’t understand them! Do they speak English?

A Wet Night

Late in the afternoon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fire. They were all hungry and the food smelt good. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the camp fire. But sometime later it began to rain. The boys felt tired so they put out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleeping-bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly. In the middle of the night, two boys woke up and began shouting. The tent was full of water! They all leapt out of their sleeping-bags and hurried outside. It was raining heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field. The stream wound it’s way across the field and then flowed right under their tent!

Taxi!

Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an unusual taxi and has begun a new service. The “taxi” is a small swiss aeroplane called a “pilatus porter”. This wonderful plane can carry seven passengers. The most surprising thing about it, however, is that it can land anywhere : on snow, water , or even on a ploughed field. Captain fawcett’s first passenger was a doctor who flew from Birmingham to a lonely village in the welsh mountains. Since then, captain Fawcett has flown passengers to many unusual places. Once he landed on the roof of a block of flats and on another occasion, he landed in a deserted car park. Captain Fawcett has just refused a strange request from a businessman. The man wanted to fly to Rockall, a lonely island in the Atlantic Ocean, but captain Fawcett did not take him because the trip was too dangerous.

(New Concept English by LG. Alexander)