Lesson 46 Expensive and uncomfortable
What did the man in this story do?
When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number
of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that
one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to
open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on
top of a pile of woolen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not
even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before
the plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined
to the wooden box for over eighteen hours. The man was ordered to pay $3,500 for the cost
of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is $2,000.
Lesson 47 A thirsty ghost
What evidence is there of a ghost?
A public house which was recently bought by Mr.Ian Thompson is up for sale.
Mr.Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not
go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar.
The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture
had been moved. Though Mr.Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed,
they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles
which the ghost must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers
must have come in for a free drink, Mr. Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told
him that they will not accept the pub even if he gives it away.
Lesson 48 Did you want to tell me something?
Why did the writer become very worried?
Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had
just pulled out one of my teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried to say some
thing, but my mouth was full of cotton wool. He knew I collected match boxes and asked
me whether my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether
I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or made strange
noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been.
I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the dentist at last removed
the cotton wool from my mouth,
I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth.