attend balance citizen agency worry fix load propose lock ahead approve destroy regular wage perform title secret solid weapon pure escape avoid news unless dinner signal shelter weak wine duty perfect battle expense kitchen dust bottle admit tear tear tire belong struggle narrow theater
And here is another Lesson N story...But first, remember the grammar review...
Peter, Mary, Susan, Michael, Barbara, John, are riding the train to the big
city. They do not know each other. The train stops at a small town. It waits
there for a long time.
Peter: The train is very quiet.
Susan: What is happening?
John: It hasn't got any power.
Barbara: Can't the men fix their train?
Michael: We'll sit on this train past dinner.
Mary: What will we eat?
Susan: Let's eat station food!
John: Is there good food there?
Barbara: Find any food and I'll eat it!
Michael: I ate here 2 years ago.
Mary: I have eaten at this station before.
Peter: Well, they are still alive. Let's go eat!
And now the rest of the story! .Sound....mp3?
6 TRAVELERS SEARCH FOR A MEAL
Susan, John, Peter, Barbara, Michael, and Mary got off the still train. They needed food now, so they went inside the station to get dinner. But there was a large crowd from the train who had the same idea already. The kitchen at the station was very small. People were in line around the station.
“You’ll have to admit,” said Peter. “The secret was to get here quickly.”
“I feel weak, “said Barbara. This situation destroyed her hopes for food.
“Don’t worry,” said Michael “We’ll just get some food and a few bottles of wine. We can take them back on the train and avoid the station meal.”
“Perfect,” said Susan. “Where do you propose we get the food?
“There has to be a market in town there,” John pointed to the street that ended at the station. “Unless the people in this town don’t eat.”
"Don’t say that,” said Barbara, as they walked down the dusty street to town. “And really, If we can find food I don’t care about the expense.”
But there were locks on the doors of all the town’s markets. There was a news stand open, however.
“I can’t eat news,’ said Barbara. "Oh...I'm losing my balance."
“Is there a market open?” Susan asked a citizen at the news stand.
“No,” said the citizen. “This is the special day when they began this town.”
“Do you know where we could find some food?” said Peter.
“Only at the homeless persons’ shelter down there,” said the citizen, pointing down the street. “And only if that agency will give it to you. It’s in that old theater. They are tearing it down next month.”
The 6 people with a problem went down the narrow street to the theater. Inside, they found a woman with the title of chief.
“I can’t give you food,” said the chief. “It is my duty to feed these poor homeless people. They have no wages. Life is a pure struggle for them. We help them in their battle to stay alive. They cannot escape being poor. They can’t ride around on trains like you. You do not belong here.” The chief had a tear in her eye.
“But there is no one here…” observed Michael “Do you have any food at all?”
“Only bread now,” said the chief. “The train station kitchen has attended to all our poor people with a free dinner on this special day. That is why the kitchen was very busy.”
Just then, they heard signal bell from the train. All the 6 looked at each other.
“They fixed the train,” Mary said.
“Can we buy some of your bread today?” said Susan.
“Well, I don’t know,” said the chief. “I’ll need bread in the morning.”
“I need solid food!” said Barbara. "I don't care about the expense."
“What if we pay you 2 times the price of new bread?” said John.
“I must have regular food for them. Money is the only weapon I have to perform for them.” the chief was shaking her head.
They heard the signal bell ringing at the station again.
“3 times the price of new bread!” said John.
The chief smiled. Everyone held out money to her. “You will have to take the day-old bread,” she said, pointing and then taking their money. “In that box…Take all you can carry.”
They quickly loaded up their arms with bread and were running down the street when the signal bell rang again, for the last time.
The train was moving slowing away when they got to the station. “Wait for me…I’m so tired” said Barbara, eating a piece of bread.” The others were ahead of her. They climbed on the train and pulled her up by her arms.
When the 6 came into their train car, all the crowd from the station was looking at their bread with big eyes.
“We had to leave before the kitchen cooked our food,” said one.
“We had no dinner. Do you have more bread? ” said a young man from the First Class section, seeing that they did.
“Sure,” said Peter, breaking off a piece of his bread. “Take a piece of mine.”
Soon all the 6 shared their bread with the rest of the passengers. Even Barbara shared hers. Every one was happy with the food except the young man from First Class. He put his bread down on the seat.
“I can’t eat this,” said the young man in the suit. “I’m traveling First Class on this train. Who do you think I am? This bread is not fresh. I don’t approve of it….It’s day old bread.”
SayIt tells you about "down beats" and "up beats" in pronunciation.
a.
worry:
worry about
something
b. ahead: ahead of time "He is always ready ahead of time, so he is never late."
c.
secret:
keep the secret
d.
dinner:
have dinner (also
have breakfast, have lunch)
e.
belong: belong
to
f.
struggle: struggle with something