Sold out
'The play may begin at any moment,' I said.
'It may have begun already,' Susan answered.
I hurried to the ticket office. 'May I have two tickets please?' I asked.
'I'm sorry, we've sold out,' the girl said.　
'What a pity!' Susan exclaimed. Just then, a man hurried to the ticket office.

One man in a boat
Fishing is my favourite sport. I often fish for hours without catching anything. But this does not worry me. Some fishermen are unlucky. Instead of catching fish, they catch old boots and rubbish. I am even less lucky. I never catch anything—not even old boots. After having spent whole mornings on the river, I always g

Mad or not?
Airplanes are slowly driving me mad. I live near an airport and passing planes can be heard night and day. The airport was built during the war, but for some reason it could not be used then. Last year, however, it came into use. Over a hundred people must have been driven away from their homes by the noise. I am one of the

A glass envelope
My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland. Last year, we were traveling across the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her name and address on it into a bottle. She threw the bottle into the sea. She never thought of it again, but ten months later, she received a

A new house
　　I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter, she said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a surprise. We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. Work on it had begun before my sister left. The house was completed five months ago. In my letter,

It could be worse
I entered the hotel manager's office and sat down. I had just lost &50 and I felt very upset.' I left the money in my room,' I said, 'and it's not there now.' The manager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing. 'Everyone's losing money these days,' he said. He started to complain about this wicked world but was i

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.

The best art critics
I am an art student and I paint a lot of pictures. Many people pretend that they understand modern art. They always tell you what a picture is 'about'. Of course, many pictures arc not 'about' anything. They are just pretty patterns. We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material. I think that you

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 campfire. But some time later it began to rain. The boys felt tired so they

No parking
Jasper White is one of those rare people who believe in ancient myths. He has just bought a new house in the city, but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with motorists. when he returns home at night, he always finds that someone has parked a car outside his gate. Because of this, he has not been able to get his own c

Taxi
Captain Ben Fawcett has bought an unusual taxi and has begun a new service. The 'taxi' is a small Swiss airplane 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

Football or polo?
The Wayle is a small river that cuts across the park near my home. I like sitting by the Wayle on fine afternoons. It was warm last Sunday, so I went and sat on the riverbank as usual. Some children were playing games on the bank and there were some people rowing on the river. Suddenly, one of the children kicked a bal

Success story
Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man. Frank is now the head of a very large business company, but as a boy he used to work in a small shop. It was his job to repair bicycles and at that time he used to work fourteen hours a day. He saved money for years and in 1938 he bought

Shopping made easy
People are not so honest as they once were. The temptation to steal is greater than ever before especially in large shops. A detective recently watched a well dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday mornings. One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the woman came in, so it wa

Out of the darkness
Nearly a week passed before the girl was able to explain what had happened to her. One afternoon she set out from the coast in a small boat and was caught in a storm. Towards evening, the boat struck a rock and the girl jumped into the sea. Then she swam to the shore after spending the whole night in the water.During