CHAPTER ONE I'm Right! NARRATOR We are on a train, and here comes the ticket inspector. INSPECTOR Tickets, please. Your tickets, please. MAN Here you are. INSPECTOR Thank you, sir. (To the woman) Your ticket, please, madam. WOMAN Oh, yes. Here you are. INSPECTOR Thank you, madam. Tickets, please. NORMA Colin! The tickets! COLIN You've got them, Norma. They're in your bag. NORMA No they're not. You've got them. COLIN No, my love. I'm sorry, but you're wrong. NORMA Colin, I am never wrong. I have not got the tickets. Look - they're not in my bag. (To the ticket inspector) I'm sorry, Inspector. INSPECTOR Have you got the tickets, sir? NORMA Yes, he has. Look in your coat, Colin. (He looks.) No, not there. You're looking in the wrong place. COLIN Here, then. Oh! What are these? COLIN No, Norma, you're wrong. These are old tickets. They're for the wrong day. NORMA Oh! But Colin, you have got our train tickets. Look again. COLIN Why? I haven't got the tick... Oh! NORMA What are they? COLIN The train tickets. NORMA Ah! You see? COLIN I'm sorry, my love. You're right and I'm wrong. NORMA (She smiles.) I'm always right, Colin. COLIN Yes, Norma. Here you are, Inspector. INSPECTOR Thank you, sir. NORMA We're going to a wedding, Inspector. We're going to my sister's wedding, in Winchester. Those are two tickets to Winchester. INSPECTOR Yes, that's right, madam. These are two tickets to Winchester. COLIN She's always right, Inspector. INSPECTOR (He smiles.) Not always, sir. NORMA What? INSPECTOR This train doesn't go to Winchester, madam. They're the right tickets, but you're on the wrong train. CHAPTER TWO A Good Story NARRATOR We are in Mrs Price's house. She is with Mrs Roberts, and the two women are drinking coffee. Mrs Price's three children come into the room. MRS PRICE Ah, these are my children, Mrs Roberts. That's John. He's a quiet boy. JOHN Hello, Mrs Roberts. MRS ROBERTS (She smiles.) Hello, John. MRS PRICE And this is my daughter Tracy. TRACY Hello. MRS ROBERTS Hello, Tracy. MRS PRICE And that's my son Michael. (She smiles.) He's not quiet. MICHAEL Hello, Mrs Roberts. MRS ROBERTS Hello, Michael. MICHAEL Excuse me, Mrs Roberts - can you tell stories? MRS ROBERTS Stories? MICHAEL Yes. Good stories. MRS ROBERTS No. No, I can't. MICHAEL I can tell good stories. MRS ROBERTS Can you? And you, John - what can you do? JOHN I can paint. Look - this is my picture. MRS ROBERTS Ah, yes. A town, with houses and buildings. JOHN That's a bank, and there's a cinema. MRS ROBERTS That's right. I can see the bank and the cinema. Yes, I like your picture, John. You paint well. Can you paint, Tracy? TRACY Yes. This is my picture. Look. MRS ROBERTS Yes, I see. A train in a station. That's very good, too. MICHAEL This is my picture, Mrs Roberts. Do you like it? Is it good? MRS ROBERTS Oh! MRS PRICE What is your picture, Michael? I'm sorry, but I don't understand it. MRS ROBERTS And I don't understand it, Michael. MICHAEL It's an animal - a thing. MRS ROBERTS A thing? MICHAEL Yes. MRS ROBERTS But Michael, it's got seven blue legs and three yellow eyes! MICHAEL Yes, and it's walking across your foot now. Look! MRS ROBERTS What? NARRATOR Mrs Roberts stands up quickly. Her face is white. MICHAEL Ha, ha! I can't paint, Mrs Roberts, but I can tell a good story. CHAPTER THREE Cheese! NARRATOR We are in Mr Smith's shop. Mr Smith is talking to a woman. MRS ARCHER Six eggs please, Mr Smith. Brown eggs. MR SMITH Six brown eggs. Here you are, Mrs Archer. NARRATOR Mrs Archer gives Mr Smith the money for the eggs. MR SMITH Thank you. Goodbye. MRS ARCHER Goodbye. MRS CLARK Hello, Mr Smith. MR SMITH Hello, Mrs Clark. What can I do for you today? MRS CLARK I want some coffee, please. Good coffee. I like strong coffee. MR SMITH Good coffee. Have I got good, strong coffee? Ah, yes. This is very strong coffee. MRS CLARK Oh, good. MR SMITH Here you are. And it's not expensive. MRS CLARK Good! NARRATOR Mrs Clark goes, and a man comes into the shop. MR SMITH Oh, hello, sir. Your cheese, sir? You want your cheese? MAN Yes, please. MR SMITH You always buy cheese. MAN Yes. MR SMITH You like cheese? MAN No, I don't like it. MR SMITH No? But I don't understand, sir. You buy cheese from me every day. MAN Yes. I buy it, but I don't like it. I don't eat it. NARRATOR Mr Smith puts the cheese in a bag. He gives the bag to the man and looks at him. The man smiles. MAN I'm a photographer. MR SMITH Oh, yes? MAN Yes. Every day I take photographs of men, women and children. People like my photographs. They're good. The people in them are always happy and smiling. MR SMITH That's good, sir. MAN But the people aren't smiling. They're saying 'Cheese!' MR SMITH Oh? MAN Yes. People come to me for their photographs, and they're nervous. MR SMITH Yes, I can understand that. I'm always nervous too. MAN And nervous people don't smile. But I put some cheese on a table and I say, 'What's that?' And what do they say? They say, 'Cheese!' They say 'cheese' and smile. They can't say 'cheese' and not smile. You can't say 'cheese' and not smile. MR SMITH Cheese. MAN I'm right. You're smiling. MR SMITH Oh, yes! MAN Be happy, Mr Smith. Smile at the people in your shop. People always like a smile. Say 'cheese' to them. MR SMITH Yes, sir. Thank you. MAN Goodbye. MR SMITH Goodbye, sir. And thanks again. MRS DAVIS Good morning, Mr Smith. MR SMITH Cheese, Mrs Davis. MRS DAVIS No, thank you. Six white eggs, please. MR SMITH Yes, Mrs Davis. Cheese. MRS DAVIS No, Mr Smith. Six white eggs... CHAPTER FOUR A Good Match NARRATOR The Green family are watching television. Mr and Mrs Green are in the room with their son, Peter. Their daughter, Susan, comes in. She is with her boyfriend, David. SUSAN Hello, Mother, Father. This is David, David Jones. MRS GREEN Hello, David. DAVID Hello. SUSAN And that's Peter, my brother. PETER Hello. Is David your new boyfriend, Susan? SUSAN Be quiet, Peter! PETER Are you a football supporter, David? DAVID Yes, I am. PETER We're going to watch the match. Rovers are playing United. MR GREEN Sit down, David. Watch the match with us. DAVID Thanks. PETER We support Rovers. Do you support them, David? DAVID Er - no. I support United. SUSAN Oh! PETER You support United! A United supporter - here in this house! MRS GREEN Be quiet, Peter! Watch the television. Listen to the commentator. COMMENTATOR Hello. This is Brian Hunter. I'm your commentator this afternoon. This is going to be a good match - yes, a very good match! Listen. You can hear the Rovers supporters. R SUPPORTERS Ro - vers! COMMENTATOR And the United supporters are here too... R SUPPORTERS U - ni - ted! U - ni - ted! NARRATOR The Green family and David watch the match and listen to the commentator. COMMENTATOR Smith has the ball. Now Brown has it. Brown shoots. It's a goal! R SUPPORTERS Goal! COMMENTATOR Rovers one - United nil. PETER One-nil to Rovers, David. What do you think of your boys now? NARRATOR And later the commentator says... COMMENTATOR Johnson gives the ball to Roberts. Roberts is going to shoot. No - the ball goes to Miller. Miller shoots, and yes! Goal! R SUPPORTERS Goal! COMMENTATOR Rovers two, United nil. PETER Two-nil! Two-nil to Rovers, David. NARRATOR Susan and her brother are happy. David isn't very happy. But Rovers and United are playing again, and now United score. u SUPPORTERS Goal! PETER Oh, no! DAVID Two-one. That's good, United. NARRATOR And later United score again. DAVID Rovers two, United two! COMMENTATOR This is a very good match! NARRATOR It is a good match, but Rovers and United don't score again. MR GREEN Two-two. The Rovers and United matches are always two-two or one-one. PETER But they're always good matches. SUSAN OK, we're going now, Mother. David and I are going to the cinema. PETER But Susan, your boyfriend supports United. You can't go to the cinema with him. MRS GREEN Be quiet, Peter! DAVID But Peter, that's good. PETER What is? DAVID Susan is a Rovers supporter, I'm a United supporter. Rovers and United - that's a good match. (Mr and Mrs Green smile.) NARRATOR It is a year later. Susan and David are very nervous. Today is their wedding day. Susan Green is going to be Mrs Jones. And what do their friends say? ALL This is a good match! CHAPTER FIVE Wedding Day NARRATOR David and his friends are football supporters, but they are not going to a football match today. Today is David's wedding day. In the morning, his friends come to his house. MARY Hello, David. DAVID Hello. JOHN Today's the day! DAVID Yes. PAUL Your wedding day! DAVID Yes. MARY You can't watch the football match today, David. DAVID No. JOHN United are going to score four goals. PAUL No - it's going to be four-nil to Rovers. DAVID Four-nil? They can't score goals! PAUL Oh yes, they can! Rovers always play well. MARY I don't support United or Rovers. JOHN And we're not football supporters today. We're supporting David. PAUL That's right. We're David supporters. Today's his wedding day, and he's nervous. DAVID Nervous? Me? I'm not nervous. I'm never nervous. MARY (To John and Paul) His wedding day, and he's not nervous. That's good. DAVID You can smile, you three, but I am not nervous. PAUL OK, David, we're wrong. MARY We understand. You're not nervous. JOHN (He smiles.) We like your new things, David. DAVID New things? PAUL Yes. You've got a new coat. DAVID Oh - yes. MARY And an expensive new shirt. DAVID Yes. JOHN And we like your new shoes, David. MARY The new black shoe on your left foot... PAUL And the new brown shoe on your right foot. DAVID What? JOHN Very interesting! One black shoe and one brown shoe! DAVID Oh, no! MARY But we understand. JOHN Yes. PAUL Today's your wedding day... DAVID (He smiles.) And I'm nervous! CHAPTER SIX The English Teacher NARRATOR Mr Brown is an English teacher. He teaches English every day. Listen to him. MR BROWN Now, Michel, say an English sentence, please. MICHEL The ticket inspector is looking at the tickets. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Rita? RITA Yes, sir. MR BROWN Can you say a new sentence, please? RITA My father is a television commentator. MR BROWN Yes, good. Do you understand that, Anika ANIKA Yes, sir. MR BROWN A new sentence, please, Anika. ANIKA I like football. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Istvan ISTVAN Yes, sir. MR BROWN Say a new sentence, please. ISTVAN The woman in the shop is buying eggs. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Paolo PAOLO Yes, sir. MR BROWN Can you say a new sentence, please? PAOLO I can tell good stories. MR BROWN Yes, good. Do you understand that, Hans HANS Yes, sir. MR BROWN A new sentence, please, Hans. HANS The students are nervous. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Yuki? YUKI Yes, sir. MR BROWN Say a new sentence, please, Yuki. YUKI Smoke is coming under the door. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Helena HELENA Yes, sir. MR BROWN Give me a new sentence, please, Helena. HELENA The school is on fire. MR BROWN Good. Do you understand that, Maria? MARIA Yes, sir. MR BROWN Say a sentence, please. MARIA The school is on fire. MR BROWN No, a new sentence, please. MARIA But sir, you don't understand. The school is on fire. MR BROWN I understand, Maria. Smoke is coming under the door. The school is... What? Fire! Go to the door now. Quickly! But don't run! It's a fire! MARIA Oh, good, sir. Now you understand! - THE END - Hope you have enjoyed the reading! Come back to https://english-e-reader.net/ to find more fascinating and exciting stories!