Lesson 52 A pretty carpet
What is the writer's carpet made of?
We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning.
I have been trying to get my new room in order. This has not been easy because
I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small,
so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. At the moment, they cover every inch
of floor space and I actually have to walk on them to get in or out of the room. A short
while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs.
She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the floor.
This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen, she said. She gazed at it for some time
then added, You don't need bookcases at all.
You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet.
Lesson 53 Hot snake
What caused the fire? At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.
Since then, they have been trying to find out how the fire began.
Forest fires are often caused by broken glass or by cigarette ends which people
carelessly throw away. Yesterday the firemen examined the ground carefully, but were
not able to find any broken glass. They were also quite sure that a cigarette end did not
start the fire. This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause.
He noticed the remains of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of
a 16,000-volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery.
The explanation was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake
from the ground and then dropped it on to the wires. The snake then wound itself
round the wires. When it did so, it sent sparks down to the ground and these immediately
started a fire.
Lesson 54 Sticky fingers
What two interruptions did the writer have?
After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to the shops. It was still
early when I returned home. The children were at school, my hus band was at work and
the house was quiet. So I decided to make some meat pies. In a short time I was busy
mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry.
At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could have been more annoying.
I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I recognized
the voice of Helen Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later.
At last I hung up the receiver. What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers,
on the telephone, and on the doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than
the doorbell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman
and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter.