New+Concept+English+Book+II (四)
Lesson 16 | A polite request
If you park your car in the wrong place, a traffic policeman will soon find it. You will
be very lucky if he lets you go without a ticket. However, this does not always happen.
Traffic police are sometimes very polite. During a holiday in Sweden, I found this note on
my car: 'sir, we welcome you to our city. This is a "No Parking" area. You will enjoy your
stay here if you pay attention to our street signs. This note is only a reminder.' If you
receive a request like this, you cannot fail to obey it!
Lesson 17 | Always young
My aunt Jennifer is an actress. She must be at least thirty-five years old. In spite of this,
she often appears on the stage as a young girl. Jennifer will have to take part in a new play
soon. This time, she will be a girl of seventeen. In the play, she must appear in a bright
red dress and long black stockings. Last year in another play, she had to wear short socks
and a bright, orange-coloured dress. If anyone ever asks her how old she is, she always
answers, 'Darling, it must be terrible to be grown up!'
Lesson 18 | He often does this!
After I had had lunch at a village pub, I looked for my bag. I had left it on a chair
beside the door and now it wasn't there! As I was looking for it, the landlord came in.
'Did you have a good meal?" he asked.
'Yes, thank you,' I answered, 'but I can't pay the bill. I haven't got my bag.'
The landlord smiled and immediately went out. In a few minutes he returned with my
bag and gave it back to me.
'I'm very sorry,' he said. 'My dog had taken it into the garden. He often does this!'
Lesson 19 | 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.
'Can I return these two tickets?' he asked.
'Certainly,' the girl said.
I went back to the ticket office at once.
'Could I have those two tickets please?' I asked.
'Certainly,' the girl said, 'but they're for next Wednesday's performance. Do you still want
them?'
'I might as well have them,' I said sadly.
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New Concept English, Book II
Lesson 20 | 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 go home with an empty bag. 'You
must give up fishing!' my friends say. 'It's a waste of time.' But they don't realize one
important thing. I'm not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a
boat and doing nothing at all!