New+Concept+English+Book+II (十)

Lesson 46 | Expensive and uncomfortable
     When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a
number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact
that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to
open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top
of a pile of woolen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try
to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane
left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the
wooden box for over eighteen hours. The man was ordered to pay $3,500 for the cost of
the trip. The normal price of a ticket is $2,000!

Lesson 47 | A thirsty ghost
   A public house which was recently bought by Mr. Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr.
Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to
sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning,
he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved.
Though Mr. Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in
the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost
must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come
in for a free drink, Mr. Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they
will not accept the pub even if he gives it away.

Lesson 48 | Did you want to tell me something?
   Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had
just pulled out one of my teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried to say
something, but my mouth was full of cotton wool. He knew I collected match boxes and
asked me whether my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and

whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or
made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the
tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the
dentist at last removed the cotton wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had
pulled out the wrong tooth.

Lesson 49 | The end of a dream
   Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real
bed. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs
and a mattress. Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his
house. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up.
A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below.
The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed
was smashed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt. When he woke up, he was still
on the mattress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man
sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house. After he had put it on the floor,
he promptly went to sleep again.

Lesson 50 | Taken for a ride
I love travelling in the country, but I don't like losing my way.
I went on an excursion recently, but my trip took me longer than I expected.
'I'm going to Woodford Green,' I said to the conductor as I got on the bus, 'but I don't
know where it is.'
'I'll tell you where to get off.' answered the conductor.
I sat in the front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside. After some time, the
bus stopped. Looking round, I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on
the bus.
'You'll have to get off here,' the conductor said. 'This is as far as we go.'
'Is this Woodford Green?' I asked.
'Oh dear,' said the conductor suddenly. 'I forgot to put you off.'
'It doesn't matter,' I said. 'I'll get off here.'
'We're going back now,' said the conductor.
'Well, in that case, I prefer to stay on the bus,' I answered.