Lesson 17 Text A The Coustry Schoollhouse
The country schooihouse was three miles from my uncles farm. It stood in a
clearing in the woods and would hold about twenty-five boys and girls. We
attended the school° with more or less regularity once or twice a week in
summer. We walked to it in the cool of the morning by the forest paths, and
back in the dusk at the end of the day. All the pupils brought their dinners in
baskets-corn dodger, buttermilk, and other good things. We sat in the shade of
the trees at noon and ate them. It is the part of my education which I look
back upon with the most satisfaction. My first visit to the school was when I
was seven. A strapping girl of fifteen, in the customary sunbonnet and calico
dress, asked me if I used tobacco -meaning did I chew it. I said no. It roused
her scorn. She reported me to all the crowd , and said :
Here is a boy seven years old who can't chew tobacco.
I learned to smoke fairly well , but that did not win over anybody. I remained
a poor thing, and characterless. I longed to be respected, but I never was able
to rise. Children have but little charity for one anothers defect.
Text B On a Camping Holiday
Jimmy Booth and Donald Black are on a camping holiday. They have brought only a
little food with them. Jimmy is hungry and he is looking at some rice in a tin.
There is only a little rice in the tin. JIMMY: There isnt much rice, is there
DoNALD: No, there isnt, but there are some vegetables.
JIMMY: Are there any potatoes
DONALD: No, there arent. I'm sorry.
JIMMY: I'm very hungry, Donald. What can I eat
DONALD: Theres a little bread and there are a few biscuits.
JIMMY: But I want some rice and some meat.
DONALD: All right, IIL walk to the village and I'll get some meat.
JiMMY: Good. By the way, whos going to cook the meat
DoNALD: Youll cook it of course!
Question on Text B 7. Read the foilowing dialogue once. Underline the key words
while reading and retell to your partner the dialogue in your own words.
Peter: Hello, Jim. What was the film like
Jim: Awful. It was a complete waste of time.
Peter: Why What was it about
Jim: It was about a married couple. They had to live with the wifes mother,
because they
didn't have enough money to buy a house of their own.
Peter: A lot of young people have to do that.
Jim: Yes. but the husband had to work overtime three times a week, so he was
always tired.
Peter: lt sounds like the story of my life.
jim: Yes, it does, doesnt it But this man was always over-tired, and he
couldn't sleep.
So he used to take two sleeping pitla every night.
Peter: I take sleeping pills sometimes.
Jim: Yes, but not two every night. Anyway, the strain was too much for him. He
had a
nervous breakdown and had to go to hoapital.
Peter: It sounds a very depressing film.
Jim: Not really. His wife was able to find a good job as an interpreter,
because she rnuld
speak French and German fluently. After a few months work, she had a better
job
than y weher huaband. So in the end, there able to buy a house, and he didtst
have
to work any more. Stupid, wasn't it
Peter: I don't know. My wife used to speak French. I must tell her to brush it
up.
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