Unit 8 Story Time
Part A Micro-listening
Exercise 1
Tom Smith is a writer. He writes detective stories for magazines. One evening he could not find an end to his story. He sat with his computer in front of him, but no idea came to his head. So he decided to go and see a crime movie to get some inspiration.
When he came back, he was surprised to find that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his flat. The intruder had had a drink, smoked several of Tom’s cigarettes – and had read his story. The visitor left Tom a note:
I have read your story and I don’t think much of it. Please read my suggestions and then you can finish your story. By the way, I’m a burglar. I’m not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return. Tom read the burglar’s suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote an ending to his story.
Tom has not yet become a successful writer, and he is still having difficulties finding a good ending to his stories. Hoping that his burglar might return, he
always leaves a half-finished story near his computer before he goes out in the evening.
Questions:
1. What can be concluded about Tom Smith?
2. What can be said about the night visitor?
DC
Exercise 2
Bob went to a Christmas party with a friend. The friend warned him that he might meet a very boring, talkative old man there. At the party, he was with his friend and a girl whom he had just been introduced to. They were talking merrily. Just at that time a man entered the room.
“Is that the old bore who you warned me about?” Bob asked his friend.
“That,” said the girl, “is my father.”
Questions:
How did Bob feel when he heard what the girl said?
C
Part B Macro-listening
Story 1 An Embarrassing Experience
Every Friday morning Mrs. Bell goes to the supermarket and gets the groceries for the week. Last Friday, as usual, she drove to the supermarket. She was able to find a parking space outside the supermarket. She parked the car and locked the door.
She went into the supermarket and got a trolley. She went to the fruit section first, and there she got some apples and oranges. Then she went to the meat counter and got some steak. She wanted some wine because she was giving a dinner party that evening. She started walking towards the wine section.
At the wine section she met her neighbor, Mrs. Young. Mrs. Young’s three-year-old daughter Lily, was with her. As the little girl was too heavy to carry, Mrs. Young let her sit in the trolley. The two women started talking. Mrs. Bell told Mrs. Young about the dinner party.
Lily wasn’t interested in their conversation. So she began to examine the bottles on the shelves. They were much more interesting. She picked up a bottle of whisky. Neither of the women noticed.
After Lily looked at the bottle for a few seconds, she got bored. She couldn’t open the bottle, so she put it in Mrs. Bell’s shopping bag which was hanging from the handle of the trolley.
Mrs. Bell found a nice bottle of red wine and put it in her trolley. She went to the checkout and joined the queue. The store detective was standing near the checkout. He saw the bottle of whisky in Mrs. Bell’s bag. Mrs. Bell paid all the things in her trolley and walked towards the exit.
She was just going out when the shop detective stopped her and asked why she hadn’t paid for the whisky. Mrs. Bell was astonished. She explained that she didn’t know anything about the bottle of whisky. The store detective didn’t believe her and asked Mrs. Bell to go with him to the manager’s office.
Exercise 1
Questions:
1. What does Mrs. Bell do every Friday?
2. Which section of the supermarket did Mrs. Bell visit last Friday?
3. Why did Mrs. Young put her daughter Lily in the trolley?
4. What did Lily do while her mother was talking with Mrs. Bell?
5. What can you infer from the story?
CDBAD
Exercise 2:
1. Near the wine section.
2. On the handle of the trolley.
3. She wanted to open it but she couldn’t and she got bored
playing with it.
4. At the exit of the supermarket.
5. Go and talk to the manager of the supermarket.
Story 2 An Art Lesson
Sheila entered the art center reluctantly. Her best friend, Lisa had a painting on display, otherwise she would never have come. But Lisa talked constantly about her summer art class and urged Sheila to attend the first show. Sheila had almost refused to come when she learned what would be shown.
“Do you mean to tell me that everyone in your class painted the same thing?” she had asked.
“Yes,” Lisa had said. “Is it a still life of an orange and some grapes.”
“How boring! I don’t see how you could stand to paint the same thing as everyone else did. Art should be individual.”
“It is individual,” Lisa had answered. “You’ll see.”
So Sheila had come to the show. As she walked into the gallery, she saw her friend waiting. “Hi, Lisa!” Sheila called, “Here I am. Bring on the fruit!”
Lisa laughed and led Sheila into a large room. The first thing to catch Sheila’s eye was not a painting, but a huge color photograph of the orange and grapes that the art students had painted. It was hanging high on a wall above the paintings.
The first painting that Sheila examined was a complete surprise to her. The artist had painted a shapeless mass of color for the fruit but had mixed the colors very well, making them quite pleasing to the eye. The next artist had given the orange and grapes such perfect roundness that they looked artificial. Another artist had painted the fruit in strange shapes, while still another had made it look so real that Sheila felt she could almost taste it. Lisa’s painting showed the surface of the orange in every detail, making Sheila want to touch it.
By the time Sheila finished viewing all the paintings, she was thoroughly fascinated. She realized that every painting was as individual as the student who
had painted it. All has seen the fruit differently and had tried to put their impression on canvas. Sheila had begun to learn what art was all about.
Exercise 1
1. Why did Sheila come to the art show?
2. What did Sheila think art should be?
3. What did Sheila ask Lisa to do when she entered the gallery?
4. What did Sheila think of the art show after she finished viewing it?
5. What can you infer from the story?
DBCAB
Exercise 2
1. An orange and some grapes.
2. She gave the surface of the orange in minute detail. 3. One of them painted it as a shapeless yet pleasing mass of colors, another had presented it with perfect roundness. Some painted it in strange shapes and some made it look very real.
4. The artist had seen the fruit from different perspectives.
Part D:
1. The life of her boyfriend;
The end of the First World War
Polish
Had gone to fight in the war
October, 1918
Alone in a dark place
Some rocks or stones Trying to remove these
1919
Had fallen down
Stones lying about the ground
The voice of her boyfriend
They were too heavy for her
Go away sadly
Her mother
Many other people in the town
Cared very much
Real
Find
On foot 2. BCDB
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