Some stories:
1) Two Mexicans
Two Mexicans had accused each other of cheating, and both of them were getting angrier and angrier. “I will kill you,” shouted Jose. Miguel laughed rudely and answered, “You could never kill me, but I could you.” “Just try,” Jose shouted back. “We’ll fight a duel in the park at five o’clock tomorrow morning.” “No, not in the park,” Miguel answered, “the police might see or hear us there. Let’s go out to a quiet place in the country.” “Alright,” said Jose, “I accept. Let’s go to San Antonio by the first train tomorrow morning. That’s where I usually fight my duels.” “I do too”, answered Miguel. The next morning, they went to the railway station together, and Jose bought a return ticket but Miguel bought a single one. “Hoho,” said Jose, “so you don’t expect to return. I always get a return ticket.” “I never do,” answered Miguel calmly. “I always use my opponents other half.”
Why were the two Mexicans so angry? Why didn’t Miguel want to fight the duel in the park? Where did they fight it? Why did Jose buy a return ticket? Why did Miguel buy a single one?
2) Ice-cream
Mrs Evans went to a large local cinema one summer afternoon. Half way through the wonderful film, there was the usual interval so that people could buy sweets, chocolates and ice-cream. Mrs Evans rarely bought anything in the cinema but this time she was feeling hot. So she thought, “I’ll have an ice-cream to cool me, I certainly need it.” Quite a lot of the audience were waiting to buy ice-cream from the girl who was selling them, so Mrs Evans waited for her turn. There was a small boy in front of her. When it was his turn, he offered the girl ten pence, and asked for an ice-cream. But they cost twenty pence. So the girl said, “I want another ten pence, please.” The small boy put the coin back in his pocket, put his hand in another pocket, took out another ten pence coin, and offered that to the girl. Mrs Evans was so amused, that she paid the other ten pence herself.
Why did Mrs Evans decide to have an ice-cream in the cinema? Why did she have to wait before she could buy it? Why did the girl ask the small boy for more money? What did the boy do then? Why did Mrs Evans Giúp him?
3) Copies
A clerk, who worked in small office in a factory, discovered that there were so many files in his room that there was not room for any more. Also, each file was so full that is was impossible to add any more papers to it. “Well”, he thought, “Every week, I have to find room for several hundred letters. So something will have to be done about this.” He thought and thought, and then decided to send a note to his manager, explaining what had happened and asking him for his permission to go through the old files and to take out and destroy all letters which were no longer of any use. The next day, he received a message from his manager in answer to his. It said, “Alright, you have permission to do as you suggest, but you must make copies of all letters before destroying them.
Why did the clerk want to destroy some of the papers in his office? Which ones did he want to destroy? What did he do before he started to destroy them? What did the manager say he could do?
4) Twenty dollars
Len and Jim worked for the same company. One day, Len lent Jim twenty dollars, but then Jim left his job and went to work in another town without paying Len back his twenty dollars. Len did not see Jim for a year, and then he heard from another friend that Jim was in town and staying at the central hotel. So he went to see him there late in the evening. He found out the number of Jim’s room from the clerk at the desk downstairs and went up to find him. When he got to the room he saw Jim’s shoes outside the door waiting to be cleaned. “Well, he must be in,” he thought and knocked at the door. There was no answer. He knocked again. Then he said, “I know you’re in Jim, your shoes are out here.” “I went out in my slippers,” answered a voice from inside the room.
Why couldn’t Len ask Jim to pay him back sooner? How did Len find out that Jim was at the central hotel? How did he find out which Jim’s room was? Why had Jim put his shoes outside the door? How did Len know that Jim hadn’t really left his room?
5) Timothy was not a very good pupil
Timothy was ten years old. He was not a very good pupil, and he did not like having to do homework because he preferred to do other things in his free time. Frequently, he did not do his homework, and when he did do it, he always made a lot of mistakes. Then one day, his mathematics teacher looked at Timothy’s homework, and saw that he had got all his sums right. He was very pleased and rather surprised. He called Timothy to his desk and said to him, “You got all your homework right this time, Timothy. What happened? Did your father Giúp you?” Usually Timothy’s father did Giúp him with his homework but the evening before this, he had not been able to because he had not been at home, so Timothy answered, “No, sir, he was busy last night, so I had to do it all myself.”
What kind of homework did Timothy’s teacher expect to see from him? Why was one of his teachers surprised one day? What did he think had happened? Did Timothy usually do his homework alone? When Timothy’s father helped him with his homework, did he get all of right?
6) Two sailors and the donkey
Two sailors, who had just finished a long voyage, went home to their village and decided to have few drinks in the bar there. When they had had enough they came out into the street to look for something amusing to do but it was a very quiet place and nothing interesting ever happened there. So they could not find anything. But at last, while they were standing in the marketplace outside the bar, they saw a village boy coming slowly towards them. He was leading a donkey by a rope. So the sailors decided that they would have a joke with him. “Hello,” one of the sailors said to the boy, “why does your brother have to have a rope round his neck when he goes for a walk with you?” “To stop him joining the navy,” the boy answered at once.
Where was the bar which the sailors had some drinks in? Why couldn’t they find anything amusing to do at first? What was the boy, who appeared at last, doing? Who had a rope round his neck? Why did the boy say “To stop him joining the navy” and not “The army” or “The air force”?
7) The large fat woman and her small thin husband
There was once a large fat woman who had a small thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in the office every day. One day, the small man came home and was very excited, he hurried into the living room. His wife was listening to the radio, and eating chocolates there. “You’ll never guess what happened to me today dear,” he said. He waited for a few seconds and then added, “I won ten thousand pounds on the lottery.” “That’s wonderful,” said his wife delightedly. But then she thought for a few seconds, and added angrily, “But wait a moment! How could you afford to buy the ticket?”
How much money was the small man allowed to keep every day? Why was he excited when he came home one day? How did his wife greet his news at first? How did she feel about it a little later? Why did she feel like that?
8) In your free time
Bill Jenkins worked in a big office in the city, and generally he used to go to the barbers’ during working hours to have his hair cut although this was against the rules. Clerks had to have their hair cut in their own time. While Bill was at the barbers’ one day, the manager of the office came in by chance to have his own hair cut. Bill saw him and tried to hide his face, but the manager came and sat beside him, so he soon recognized him. “Hello, Jenkins,” the manager said, “I see that you are having your hair cut in office time.” “Yes sir, I’m,” admitted Bill calmly, “you see, sir, it grows in office time.” “Not all of it,” said the manager of the office at once, “some of it grows in your own time.” “Yes sir, that’s quite true,” answered Bill politely, “but I’m not having it all cut off.”
What were the office rules about going to the barbers’? Why did Bill try to hide his face while he was having his hair cut? What was Bill’s excuse for breaking the office rule? How did the manager argue against this excuse? How did Bill answer that?
9) Usually very punctual
A clerk, who worked very hard and was usually very punctual, arrived at his office very late one morning. He had bruises on his face, a scratch on one of his lips, sticking plaster on his left wrist and thumb and a bandage on his right shoulder. He had also hurt his knees, ankles and some of his toes. The manager of the office was not a patient man and he had been waiting for the clerk because he had some work to give him. When he saw him come in at last he said angrily, “You’re an hour late, Tompkins.” “I know, sir,” answered the clerk politely, “I’m very sorry. My flat is on the eighth floor and just before I left home this morning, while I was closing one of the windows, I slipped and fell out.” “Well,” the manager answered coldly, “did that take you an hour?”
Why was the clerk very late one morning? In what ways did he hurt himself when he fell? Why was the manager angry? Did falling out of the window take the clerk an hour? What took him an hour?
10) A very pretty girl
Elisabeth was a very pretty girl and her parents were rich. Quite a lot of the young men in the town wanted to marry her, but she was not satisfied with any of them. One evening, one of the handsomest, who wanted to marry Elisabeth, came to visit her in her parents’ house and ask her to become his wife. She answered, “No, William! I won’t marry you. I want to marry a man, who is famous, who can play music, sing and dance very well, who can tell really interesting stories, who does not smoke or drink, who stays at home in the evenings, and who stops talking when I’m tired of listening.” The young man got up, took his coat and went to the door. But before he left the house he turned and said to Elisabeth, “It isn’t a man you are looking for, it’s a television set.”
Did Elisabeth want to marry? What kind of husband did she want? Why wasn’t she satisfied with any of the man who wanted to marry her? What did the young man, who came to visit her, think?
11) Alone in a small flat
Mrs Grey lived alone in a small flat. She was old and did not like noise at all. So she was very pleased when the noisy young man and woman, who lived in the flat above her, moved out. A new young man moved in and Mrs Grey thought, “Well, he looks quiet.” But at three o’clock the next morning, Mrs Grey was woken by the barking of a dog. She thought, “I’ve never heard a dog here before. It must belong to the new man in the flat above.” So she telephoned the young man, said some nasty things to him about the dog and then hung the telephone up, before he could answer. Nothing more happened until three o’clock the next morning. Then Mrs Grey’s telephone rang. And when she answered, a voice said, “I’m the man upstairs. I’ve rung you up to say that I haven’t got a dog.”
Why was Mrs Grey very pleased? What did she think about the new young man? What woke her during the night? Who did she think the dog belonged to? Why did the young man wait till three o’clock in the morning to telephone Mrs Grey?
12) A small son
Mrs Robinson had one small son. His name was Billy. Mrs Robinson loved Billy very much, and as he was not a strong child she was always afraid that he might get ill. So she used to take him to the best doctor in the town four times a year to be examined. During one of these visits, the doctor gave Billy various tests and said to him, “Have you had any trouble with your nose and ears recently.” Billy thought for a second and then answered, “Yes, I have.” Mrs Robinson was very worried. “But I’m sure you have never told me that, Billy,” she said anxiously. “Oh really,” said the doctor seriously, “and what trouble have you had with your nose and ears, my boy.” “Well,” answered Billy, “I always have trouble with them when I’m taking my jersey off because the neck is very tight.”
Why did Mrs Robinson take her son to a doctor regularly? What kind of trouble did Billy say he had? Why was his mother worried when he said this? How did the doctor treat Billy’s answer? Why did Billy have trouble with his nose and ears?
13) The seaside
Some friends hired a bus to go to seaside for the day. When they returned to the bus late at night to go home someone was lying on the ground beside it. They looked at him and discovered that he was a man from their town whom, they were sure, had not come on their bus. He was very drunk. “I suppose he came in another bus,” one of the men said, “and missed it when it left for home because he was drunk. Now he’s come to our bus to go back in that.” Two men put him into the bus. He did not wake up during the drive back and when the bus arrived they took him to his home, still very drunk. They knocked at the door for several minutes and then a neighbour opened a window and said, “It’s no use knocking there, they’ve gone to the seaside for two weeks.”
How much time did the friends spend at the seaside? Why was the man from their town lying on the ground? What did they think when they saw him? Why did nobody open the door when the friends knocked at it? What mistake had the friends made?
14) A real friend
A man met a friend in the street and asked him to lend him five pounds. The friend did so willingly. A week later they met again. “You’ve lent me five pounds. Lend me another five pounds and then I’ll owe you ten pounds!” the friend said. The man did so. A few days later, they met again and the friend said, “You’ve lent me ten pounds. Lend me another ten pounds and then I’ll owe you twenty pounds!” The man did this although he was rather doubtful about doing it. Two weeks later, the friend asked for more money. “You’ve already lent me twenty pounds. Can you make it fifty pounds?” he said. The man did not answer for a few seconds but he was unable to refuse. A month later, the two men met again. “You’ve lent me fifty pounds,” began the friend. “Who me,” answered the man anxiously, “I disagree I’ve never lent you any money.”
How did the man feel when his friend asked him for the first five pounds? How did he feel when the friend asked him for the second ten pounds? Why did he lend him thirty more pounds? Why did he say finally that he had never lent his friend any money? How many times did the man lend his friend money and how much did he lend him each time?
15) Too fast
A man was driving along a road in his motorcar when a policeman on a motorcycle stopped him and said, “You were doing more than eighty kilometres an hour, you are only allowed to do eighty along this road.” The man had to go to court. And there he told the judge that he was not driving at more than eighty kilometres an hour and that he never drove at more than sixty-five. The man’s wife had been in the car too when the policeman had stopped it. And she said to the judge, “My husband was driving at only fifty kilometres an hour when the policeman stopped him.” Her sister Ann had been in the car too and she said to the judge,” We were hardly moving at all when the policeman came up behind us.” By this time, the judge had had quite enough. “Stop now,” he said, “or you will finish by hitting something behind your car.”
Why did the man in this story have to go to court? What did he say to the judge? What did his wife tell the judge? How did the wife’s sister know about this? Why didn’t the judge want to hear any more?
16) The potato farmer
A potato farmer was sent to prison just at the time when he should have been digging the ground for planting the new crop of potatoes. He knew that his wife would not be strong enough to do the digging by herself but that she could manage to do the planting. And he also knew that he did not have any friends or neighbours who would be willing to do the digging for him. So he wrote a letter to his wife which said, “Please, do not dig the potato field! I hid the money and the gun there.” Ten days later, he got a letter from his wife. It said, “I think somebody is reading your letters before they go out of the prison. Some policemen arrived here two days ago and dug up the whole potato field. What shall I do now?” The prisoner wrote back at once, “Plant the potatoes of course!”
Why was it a very bad time for the potato farmer to go to prison? Why couldn’t he ask his wife or his neighbours to dig the ground? Why did he write, “Please, do not dig the potato field! I hid the money and gun there.” in his letter? Did he know that somebody would read the letter before it got out of the prison? Why did the policemen dig the potato field up?
17) The fisherman
Joe was going into his usual bar before lunch when he saw a poorly dressed man fishing in a small pool of rainwater about five centimetres deep outside it. Joe stopped and watched the man for a few minutes. He saw that most of the people, who passed by him, believed “he must be rather mad”. Joe pitied the man. So after a few minutes, he went up to him and said kindly: “Hello! Would you like to come into the bar and have a drink with me?” The fisherman was delighted to accept his offer, and the two men went into the bar together. Joe bought the fisherman a few drinks and finally said to him: ”You have been fishing outside here, haven’t you? How many did you manage to catch this morning? If I may ask.” “You are the eighth.” The fisherman answered merrily.
Why did people think that the fisherman was rather mad? Why did Joe speak kindly to him? What was the fisherman really trying to do? How many had he caught that morning?
18) The hitchhiker
Mr Robinson was driving to Oxford one cloudy day when he saw a hitchhiker holding a sign above his head which said ‘Cambridge’. Mr Robinson thought it unwise to take hitchhikers because he had read frightening stories of what some of them did to drivers. But he was a kind man so he stopped and said: “You are going to get wet. You are on the wrong road to Cambridge. This road goes to Oxford.” “Yes, I know,” answered the hitchhiker gaily as he got into Mr Robinsons car, “that’s where I want to go. I only started to wait here a minute ago and I knew someone would be likely to stop to tell me I was on the wrong road. If I held up a sign with ‘Oxford’ on it I might have had to wait for an hour for someone to stop.”
Why did Mr Robinson stop to talk to the hitchhiker? Did he usually Giúp hitchhikers? Why didn’t he usually stop for them? Why did he think the hitchhiker was going to get wet? Why had the hitchhiker held the wrong sign above his head?
19) The thief
Mr Grey had a nice shop in the main street of a small town. He sold jewellery, watches, clocks and other things like those. All went well for some years and then Mr Grey’s shop was broken into at night twice in one month and a lot of jewellery was stolen each time. The police had still not managed to catch the thief three weeks later, so Mr Grey decided that he would try to do something about it. He therefore bought a camera, fixed it up in his shop so that it would photograph anyone who broke in at night and put some very cheap jewellery in front of it for the thief. A few nights later, the thief did come again. But he did not touch any of the cheap jewellery that Mr Grey had put out for him. He took the camera. It was worth a hundred and fifty pounds.
How did the thief manage to steal Mr Grey’s jewellery? Why did Mr Grey decide that he would try to catch the thief? Why did Mr Grey want to photograph the thief? Why did the thief take the camera? Why didn’t he take the jewellery that Mr Grey had put out for him?
20) The orange
Mrs Williams had two sons. One morning during the holidays, when she was doing the washing for the family her younger son came and asked her for some money for sweets. “Sweets are bad for your teeth.” Mrs Williams said, “Take these two oranges instead, and give one to your older brother!” One of the oranges was quite a lot bigger than the other and as the small boy liked oranges he kept that one for himself and gave his brother the smaller one. When the older boy saw that his brother had a much larger orange that his own he said to him, “It’s selfish to take the bigger one for yourself. If mother had given me the oranges, I’d had given you the bigger one.” I know, you would,” answered his brother. That’s why I took it.”
What did Mrs Williams younger son want to do with the money he asked her for? Why didn’t Mrs Williams give him any money? How did the small boy divide the oranges? What did his brother say he ought to have done? Why ought he to have done this?
21) Marbles
A busy mother asked her young son to take his baby sister out into the garden and look after her for half an hour while she was doing some work in the house. The boy took the baby out and they seemed to be playing quite happily when suddenly the mother heard the baby begin to cry. So she shouted to her son, “Billy, what’s the matter with Susan? Why is she crying?” “Because she wants my marbled,” answered Billy. “Well, let her play with a few of them if it will stop her crying!” said the mother patiently. “I must finish this work and she’d be in my way in here.” “But she wants to keep them,” answered Billy. “No, she doesn’t,” the mother said. “She is only a baby. She is too young to understand anything like that.” “But I know that she wants to keep them,” answered Billy. “She has already swallowed two of them.”
Why did Billy’s mother want him to look after Susan for half an hour? Why did Susan begin to cry? What did Billy’s mother want him to do then? Why did she think that Susan didn’t really want to keep Billy’s marbles? Why was Billy sure that she did want to keep them?
22) The left leg or the right leg
Dick was a waiter in a small restaurant. One day, a man came in and sat down at one of the tables. Dick greeted him and went to find out what he wanted to eat. The man said he would like some chicken with potatoes and other vegetables. “Roast-chicken,” as Dick was leaving. “Very well, sir,” Dick answered and disappeared into the kitchen. But the man called him back saying, “just a moment waiter, please try to have it cooked just right. Not too little and not too much and with as little fat as possible.” “Very well, sir,” answered Dick obediently. “I’ll tell the cook.” Once more he began to go towards the kitchen. But again the man stopped him with the words, “Oh, and I forgot to explain that I’m fond of the leg.” “Very well, sir,” answered Dick. “Do you prefer the left leg or the right?”
What did the man in this story say to Dick first? Why did the man call Dick back the first time? How did he want his chicken roasted? Why did he call Dick back the last time? Do the two legs of a chicken taste differently from each other?
23) The old professor
When David Williams left the university he went to Australia. When he returned to England for a visit twenty years later, he decided to go back to his old university. David was delighted when he discovered that his old professor was still teaching there. He went to visit the old man and after they had had an interesting talk the professor went out to get something. While he was away David saw an examination paper on the desk. He looked at the date on it and saw that it had been given to the students the week before. David picked the paper up and read it threw. When the professor came back David said to him: “Professor, I’m certain that these are exactly the same questions that you asked us in our examinations twenty years ago. How is that possible?” “Yes, that’s right,” agreed the professor calmly. “The questions are the same but the answers have changed.”
For how long was David away from England? Why did he feel very happy when he went back to his old university? What did he do when the professor went out of the room? What did he find strange about the examination paper that he saw? What was the professor’s explanation?
24) A good job
When George finished his studies at the university he began to look around for a job. He did not know what he would like to do but one of his uncles had worked for the government for thirty years and he advised George to try to get a job of the same kind. So he went for an examination one day. He was successful and his first job was in a large government office in London. When George had been working there for a few weeks his uncle came to visit the family one Saturday evening. He was delighted that his nephew had managed to get a job working for the government and he asked him a lot of question about it. One of the questions he asked was: “And how many people work in your department, George?” The young man thought for a few seconds and then answered, “About half of them, Uncle Jim.”
What kind of job did George’s uncle advise him to try to get? Why did his uncle know a lot about such jobs? How did George manage to get the job? Why was his uncle so pleased when he came to visit the family? When he said: “How many people work in your department?” what kind of answer did he expect?
25) Waste food
A young mother believed that it was very wrong to waste any food when there were so many hungry people in the world. One evening, she was giving her small daughter her tea before putting her to bed. First she gave her a slice of fresh, brown bread and butter but the child said that she did not want it like that. She asked for some jam on her bread as well. Her mother looked at her for a few seconds and then said, “When I was a small girl like you, Lucy, I was always given either bread and butter or bread and jam but never bread and butter and jam.” Lucy looked at her mother for a few moments with pity in her eyes and then said to her kindly, “Aren’t you pleased that you have come to live with us now?”
Why did Lucy’s mother think it wrong to waste food? What did Lucy want to eat? What did her mother used to eat when she was young? How did Lucy feel about this? Why did she think her mother ought to feel happy now?
26) No, sir!
A very young new officer was at a railway station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of his train so that she could meet him at the station in her car. He looked in all his pockets and found that he did not have the right money to telephone. So he went outside and looked around for someone to Giúp him. At last an old soldier came by and the young officer stopped him and said, “Have you got change for ten pence?” “Wait a moment!” the old soldier answered beginning to put his hand in his pocket. “I’ll see whether I can Giúp you.” “Don’t you know how to speak to an officer”, the young man said angrily. “Now, let’s start again! Have you got change for ten pence?” “No, sir,” the old soldier answered quickly.
Why did the young officer want to telephone? Why did he look around for someone to Giúp him? Was the old soldier ready to Giúp him at first? Was he still willing after the officer had asked him the second time? Why did the old soldier change like that?
27) Run along rails
An old porter had been working for the railway for a very long time. He was standing in one of the big railway stations in London one morning waiting for travellers to ask him to Giúp them with their luggage when he saw a small man running towards the trains carrying a bag. The porter watched the man for a few seconds and then the man saw the porter. At once he went up to him and said, “Can I catch the ten thirty-five train to New Castle on time, porter?” He was breathing very fast and he sounded worried. The old porter looked at him for a moment and said politely, “Well sir, I’d like to Giúp you but I can’t answer your question because I don’t know how fast you can run along rails. You see,” he explained, “the ten thirty-five train to New Castle on time left five minutes ago.”
What was the old porter’s job that morning? What was the small man trying to do? Why was he breathing very fast? Why was he worried? Was the porter serious or was he having a joke with the small man?
28) The old librarian
A young man hurried into his town library. He went up to one of the old librarians and said to her eagerly, “Do you remember that you persuaded me to borrow a book about Greek history a week ago?” “Yes, that’s right,” answered the librarian. “Do you remember the name of the book?” the young man asked. The librarian felt very proud because she was always trying to get young people to take out books about Greek history and she rarely found one who was willing to accept her suggestions. “Yes,” she answered, “Do you want to take it out again? Did you think that it was so interesting?” “No, of course not,” said the young man, “but when I was taking it home I met a girl on the bus and I wrote her telephone number in the book. I want to telephone her. So please, may I look at the book again?”
What had the old librarian done a week before this story? Who were rarely willing to read the books she suggested? Why did she feel proud now? Why did she think the young man wanted the book again? Why did he really want it?
29) So far back already
A big battle was going on during the First World War. Guns were firing, and shells and bullets were flying about everywhere. After an hour of this, one of the soldiers decided that the fighting was getting to dangerous for him. So he left the front line and began to go away from the battle. After he had walked for an hour, he saw an officer coming towards him. The officer stopped him and said, “Where are you going?” “I’m trying to get as far away as possible from the battle that’s going on behind us, sir,” the soldier answered. “Do you know who I am?” the officer said to him angrily, “I’m your commanding officer.” The soldier was very surprised when he heard this and said, “My God, I didn’t realize I was so far back already.”
Why did the soldier leave the front line? What was making things dangerous there? Whom did the soldier meet as he was going away from the battle? Why was the officer angry? Why was the soldier surprised?
30) The prove
A young lady, who was on holiday in Brighton, went into a bank to collect some money which had been sent there for her from the town in which she lived. The clerk in the Brighton bank did not know her, so he said, “What prove have you got that you are really the lady who should collect this money?” The young lady looked worried for a few moments and said, “I don’t think I’ve brought any prove with me.” But then she suddenly looked happy again. She opened her bag, took a photograph of herself out of it and showed it to the clerk. “Here is something,” she said. The clerk looked at the photograph carefully and then looked at the young lady. “Yes, that’s you,” he said and paid the money to her without any more trouble.
Where did the young lady have to collect her money from? Why did the bank clerk want her to show prove that she was the one the money was for? What prove did she show? Did it really prove that she should have the money?
31) The barrel
Some villagers were going to celebrate an important wine festival in few days’ time. So they borrowed a huge barrel from the nearest town, put it in the village square and determined that each of them should empty a bottle of the best wine he had into it so that there should be plenty at the feast. One of the villagers thought he would be very clever, “If I pour a bottle of water in instead of wine, no one will notice it,” he said to himself, “because there will be so much excellent wine in the barrel that the water will be lost in it.” The night of the feast arrived. Everybody gathered in the village square with their jugs and their glasses for the wine. The tap on the barrel was opened but what came out was pure water. Everyone in the village had had the same idea.
Why did the villagers borrow the barrel? How did they plan to fill it? What did the villager, who put the water in, expect the others to do? What did they do in fact?
32) And
Can you think of a sentence in which the word ‘and’ appears five times without any words in between? There is one at the end of this story. There was once an inn which was called ‘The horse and cart’. It had a sign outside it which had a picture of a horse and cart on it. But the sign was getting very old. So the owner of the inn decided to have a new one made. He went to a painter and asked him to paint one and to write ‘The horse and cart’ on it in large letters. A few days later he went to see how the painter was getting on. He liked the picture of the horse and the cart very much but he did not like the writing at all. He said to the painter, “No, no, there is too much space between ‘horse’ and ‘and’ and ‘and’ and ‘cart’.
What is strange about the last sentence in this story? Why did the inn-sign have a horse and a cart on it? Why did the owner of the inn want a new sign? What didn’t he like about the writing on the new sign?
33) Medically examined
A young man was called up for army service and had to go to be medically examined. The doctor was sitting at a desk when he went in. He said to the man, “Take your coat and shirt off, loosen your belt and sit on that chair!” The young man did so. The doctor looked at him for a moment without getting up from his chair and then said, “Alright, put your clothes on again!” “But haven’t examined me at all,” the young man said in a troubled voice. “It isn’t necessary,” the doctor said gently. “When I told you to take your coat and shirt off, you heard me alright. So you aren’t deaf. You saw the chair I pointed to, so your eyesight is good enough for the army. You managed to take your clothes off and to sit on the chair, so your body must be healthy and you understood what I told you to do and did it without a mistake, so you must possess enough intelligence for the army.”
What was the young man being medically examined for? What worried him? How did the doctor know that the young man was not deaf? How did he know that the young man could see alright? How did he know that the young man’s body was alright, too? How did he know that the young man was intelligent enough for the army?
34) A dozen bottles of good wine
A man had to go to court and he asked his lawyer which judge would be hearing his case. His lawyer told him and then said, “Do you know him?” The man answered, “No, but I wanted to know his name so that I could send him a dozen bottles of good wine.” The lawyer was terribly shocked. “You can’t do that,” he said. “You would be breaking the law very seriously and you would be sure to lose the case.” Some weeks later the case was heard and the man won it. As he was leaving the court he said to his lawyer, “My present to the judge was quite successful, wasn’t it?” The lawyer was even more shocked than before and said, “What, did you really send him that wine, after what I told you?” “Yes, certainly,” answered the man, “but I put my opponent’s name on the card which I sent with the wine.”
Why did the man ask his lawyer the name of the judge who would hear his case? Why was the lawyer shocked? What shocked the lawyer even more after the case had been heard? What had the man done to windows his case?
35) The secret of a contented, married life
A man was telling one of his friends the secret of his contented, married life. “My wife makes all the small decisions,” he explained, “and I make all the big ones. So we never interfere in each other’s business and never get annoyed with each other. We have no complaints and no arguments.” “That sounds reasonable,” answered his friend sympathetically. “And what sort of decisions does your wife make?” “Well,” answered the man, “she decides what jobs I apply for, what sort of house we live in, what furniture we have, where we go for our holidays and things like that.” His friend was surprised. “Oh,” he said, “and what do you consider important decisions, then?” “Well,” answered the man,” I decide who should be prime minister, whether we should increase our Giúp to poor countries, what we should do about the atom bomb and things like that.”
What was the secret of the man’s happy marriage? What sort of decisions did the wife make? What sort of decisions did the husband make? Which of the two was able to carry out his or her decisions?
36) Go to school by taxi
John was the only son of a wealthy American businessman. Usually he was taken to school by the chauffeur in his father’s beautiful car before the chauffeur took John’s father to his office. One evening, his father told him that he had to go to the airport early the next day so he would need the car at the time that John had to go to school. He said that John’s mother who possessed another car would still be in bed at the time he had to leave the house. “Well, how will I get to school if you need your car and mummy is still in bed?” John asked. His father thought this was a good opportunity to teach him a lesson about how hard life was for the less fortunate people of the world. So he answered, “You’ll go in the same way as every other child in the world goes. In a taxi!”
Why was John able to go to school in a beautiful car driven by a chauffeur? Why couldn’t the chauffeur take John to school one day? Why couldn’t his mother do so? What was the lesson that John’s father wanted to teach him? Do most children in the world go to school by taxi?
37) Ditto
At the entrance to a big office in London there was a book which all employees had to sign when they arrived each morning. At nine o’clock, the manager’s secretary, who lived in a small flat above the office, had to draw a red line under the last name in the book and anyone, who came after that, had to explain why he was late. Whenever there was a thick fog in the city, the first person to arrive late usually wrote “Delayed by fog!” under the red line in the book and then everybody else, who came after that, just put: “Ditto!” underneath. But one foggy morning, the first man to arrive late wrote “My wife had a baby this morning!” instead of “Delayed by fog!” under the red line in the book. Twenty or thirty people, who came after him, put “Ditto!” underneath this as usual.
Why did the employees have to sign the book? What was a common reason for being late? What was the first man’s reason on the day this story deals with? What meaning did the rest of the employees really intend when they wrote “Ditto!” that morning? What did their “Ditto!” seem to mean?
38) How to write names
A policeman returned to his police station one evening and reported to the sergeant, that he had found an old car with no number plates. “Where was it?” asked the sergeant. “In Ecclesiasty Street beyond the bridge,” answered the policeman. The sergeant opened the report book and began to write. When he reached the name of the street, he began to spell aloud “E-C-L”. He looked at this for a few seconds, then crossed it out and wrote “E-C-K”. Then he became annoyed, decided that he was already too busy with other jobs and said to the policeman, “Write the report yourself!” The policeman had a try, too. But after a minute, he put his helmet on and began to go out slowly. “Where are you going,” the sergeant asked. “Back to Ecclesiasty Street,” answered the policeman. “I’m going to push the car round the corner into Green Street.”
What kind of report did the sergeant want to write in the book? Why did he become annoyed? Why did the policeman give up, too? Why did he want to push the car into Green Street?
39) Hard working and faithful
The leader of a band was finding it extremely difficult to prepare for an important performance because the members of the band were never all present at any one of the rehearsals. Then the last rehearsal before the show came and again some of the members were not there. At the end of the rehearsal, the leader said to all the members of the band who were present, “I have been making a note of those who have been absent from our various rehearsals. Here it is.” He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and looked at it. “I see that the only man, who has been hard working and faithful enough to be present every time, is the drummer.” The drummer went very red, stood up and answered, “Well, I thought it was the only right thing to do as I won’t be able to come to show tomorrow.”
What made it difficult for the leader of the band to do his work properly? How did he know who had been at previous rehearsals? Who had never missed a rehearsal? Why had he been so hard working and faithful?
40) House of my dreams
A man was tired of living in his old house in the country and wanted to sell it and buy a better one. He had tempted to sell it for a long time but was not successful. So at last, he decided to solve the problem by using an estate agent. The agent promptly advertised the house and a few days later, the owner saw a very attractive photograph of it with a wonderful description of its gardens in an expansive magazine. After the house owner had read the advertisement through he hastened to telephone the estate agent and said to him, “I’m sorry, Mr Jones, but I’ve decided not to sell my house after all. After reading your advertisement in that magazine, I can see that it’s just the kind of house I’ve wanted to live in all my live.”
Why did the man want to sell his house? Why did he finally have to go to an estate agent? What did the estate agent do about selling the house? How did he lose a sale by being too good at his job?
41) Not as long as I’m here
In 1861 a civil war started in the United States between the northern and the southern states. The war continued with great bitterness until 1865 when the northerners were victorious. However even today, many southerners have not forgotten their defeat or forgiven the northerners. A few years ago, a party of American tourists were going round on of the battle fields of the civil war with a guide who came from one of the southern states. At each place the guide told the tourists stirring stories about how a few southern soldiers had conquered powerful forces of northerners there. At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from the north, stopped the guide and said to him, “But surely the northern army must have won at least one victory in the civil war?” “Not as long as I’m the guide here, Madam!” answered the southern guide.
Who won the American civil war? How do southerners feel about this today? Why did the guide tell tourists only about southern victories? Why did one of the tourists object to this? What was the guide determined not to do?
42) Without cream or without milk
Jean was a very beautiful young girl. So she was quite used to some men showing their admiration for her and to others being confused and shy when they saw her. One summer, when Jean was travelling abroad she went into a café in a small town, sat down and waited to be served. The young waiter was talking to someone at the bar when she came in, and at first he did not pay any attention to her because he had not looked at her properly. Then he turned round and saw how beautiful she was. His face went bright red and he hurried over to take her order. “I’d like coffee without cream, please!” Jean said. The waiter hurried out and came back a few minutes later without the coffee. “I’m very sorry”, he said, “but we haven’t got any cream. Would you like your coffee without milk?”
How did Jeans beauty affect some man? How did it affect other men? How did it affect the young waiter in this story? What did he do that showed that he was confused?
43) A very big baby
Carol and Susan were great friends. They were at the same class at school and they often visited each other’s homes at weekends. When they were both eight years old, Carol’s mother had a baby. Carol was overjoyed to have a little sister and was always talking about her to Susan who had no brothers or sisters. At first, Susan was very interested in the new baby, but after some time, she began to get rather discontented with Carol’s continual talking about it. She also felt a little jealous. One morning, when the two girls were in the school playground, Carol said to Susan cheerfully, “Do you know, Susan? My baby sister gained nearly two hundred grams in weight this week.” “That’s not very much,” answered Susan. “I know a baby that gains five kilograms a day.” “Oh, that can’t be true,” answered Carol scornfully. “Whose baby is it?” “An elephant’s”, said Susan.
How many children did Susan’s parents have? Why did Susan get tired of hearing about Carol’s sister? What did Carol boast to Susan about one morning? What did Susan do to try to make Carol boast less?
44) For you all
A priest, who was walking through a small town, saw a blackboard outside the front door of a school. It had been washed and put out to dry in the open air. There was a piece of chalk at the foot of the blackboard. So the priest took it and wrote in large letters, “I am a priest and I pray for you all.” A lawyer happened to pass next and when he saw what the priest had written he added under it, “I am a lawyer and I defend you all.” Then a doctor came by, took the piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard, “I am a doctor and I cure you all.” Finally, an ordinary citizen stopped, looked at what the others had written, thought for a few seconds and then added, ”I am an ordinary citizen and I pay for you all.”
What did the priest claim? What was the lawyer’s claim? What did the doctor claim that he did? What did the ordinary citizen remind them of?
45) The stars below
George was a quiet, serious, young man. He had been studying particularly hard one year and when he passed his examinations his friend Jim went to give him his congratulations and then had an earnest conversation with him. “You have never been to a dance George,” he said. “It’s boring, always studying and never enjoying oneself. Come out with me this evening!” “Perhaps you’re right, Jim,” replied George after a moment’s hesitation. So they went to a dance and an enjoyable time. But George drank more than he was used to and by midnight, Jim had become worried about him. So he said, “Now, we will walk home in the cool air.” On their way home, they came to a bridge and George looked down at the river below attentively. The stars were reflected in its smooth surface. “What are those lights down there?” George inquired. “They’re the stars, George”, Jim replied. “The stars?” George said, “Well then! How did get up here?”
Why did Jim think that George needed a change? What sort of change did he want him to have? Why did Jim feel worried? Why did the stars seem to be below George? Why was George puzzled?
46) Mushrooms and umbrella
One year, Mrs Wyard decided to have a holiday in Italy. She did not speak much Italian but wherever she went she was fortunate enough to find people who knew enough English to be able to understand what she wanted. Until one day, she decided to have lunch in a charming little restaurant in a village in the south of Italy. She had seen some nice mushrooms in the market of another village near there and thought they would taste very good. So when the waiter came to take her order for lunch she inquired whether she could have some mushrooms for her meal. But she had great difficulty in explaining to him because she did not know the Italian word for mushrooms. At last, she took out a pencil and drew a picture of a mushroom. The waiter’s face brightened at once and he hastened out to the kitchen. A minute later, he returned carrying an umbrella.
Why did the poorness of Mrs Wyard’s knowledge of Italian not interfere with her enjoyment of her holiday most of the time? Where did she have trouble in making herself understood? Why did she think she would like some mushrooms? How did she try to show the waiter what she wanted? Why did he bring her an umbrella?
47) Girls on bicycles
Tom saw an advertisement in a newspaper for a beautiful modern bicycle which cost fifty-four pounds ninety-nine. So he went to the shop which had put the advertisement in and asked to see one their wonderful bicycles. The shopkeeper was very happy to show one to Tom, who examined it carefully and then turned to the shopkeeper saying, “There isn’t a lamp on this bicycle but there was one on the bicycle in your advertisement.” “Yes, sir,” answered the shopkeeper, “but the lamp isn’t included in the price of the bicycle. It’s an extra.” “Not included in the price of the bicycle,” Tom said angrily, “but that’s not honest. If the lamp’s in the advertisement, it should have been included in the price you gave there.” “Well, sir,” answered the shopkeeper calmly, “there is also a girl on the bicycle in our advertisement, but we don’t supply one of them with the bicycle either.”
How did Tom find out about the bicycle which cost fifty-four pounds ninety-nine? What did he object to about the bicycle in the shop? Why was there no lamp on that bicycle? What did Tom think about this? What was the shopkeeper’s explanation?
48) Gifts to a charity
In the United States, gifts by a company or a person to a charity which is approved by the government can be used to reduce the company’s or the person’s tax. This is, of course, to encourage people to give money to charities. One day, the secretary of a world famous charity had a telephone call from a tax officer who said, “a certain gentleman, who says that his name is Howard Wine, claims to have given your society fifteen thousand Dollars in gifts last year. I’m telephoning to find out whether he did in fact do so.” “Howard Wine did you say,” answered the secretary of the charity cautiously. “Wait a moment, please! I’ll have a look in our records.” After half a minute, the tax officer heard the secretary’s voice again, “Mr Howard Wine hasn’t given us fifteen thousand Dollars yet,” the secretary said delightedly, but he’s going to now.”
How can people in the United States reduce their tax? Why does the government allow this? What had Mr Wine done? Why was the secretary of charity so happy?
