Materiały przygotowawcze

 

 

MATERIAŁY PRZYGOTOWAWCZE DLA KL. IV

Edycja jesienna 2020

Snow White, Dwarfs and … English

A modern version of the popular fairy tale

 

It is  winter. A beautiful queen sits at the window in her palace and listens  to her favourite  English records.  She likes learning English very much so she spends a lot of time improving her English. The snowflakes are falling from the sky and the queen thinks :

‘I want to have a child as white as snow.’

Soon she has a little daughter, who is as white as snow, so they call her Snow  White.

Years and seasons pass.  Spring, summer, autumn, winter …

 

A few years later the queen dies and her husband marries another woman who is beautiful but very cruel. She is Snow White’s stepmother.

 The stepmother is very bad at English but she wants to be the best in the world.

The stepmother has a magic mirror.          

Stepmother:   ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall

                       Whose English is the best of all?’

Mirror: ‘Yours, my queen, is the best of all’ 

              and adds : ‘…in the castle, of course.’

Months and years pass.  January, February, March, April  …..

 

Snow White plays in the castle and sings in the big garden. ……., May, June, July, August  …

She also learns English . …. September, October, November,  December….

Snow White grows up and when she is 16 years old she likes English very much. She reads English books and listens to English songs.

But her stepmother still asks the magic mirror.

Stepmother: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall

                    Whose English is the best of all?’

Mirror: ‘Yours, my queen, is quite good’

The mirror laughs and adds: ‘but Snow White is better than you.’

Stepmother: ‘Oh, no! She is better than me! I must do something!’

She calls Snow White.

Stepmother: ‘Come here my little girl. You are not so bad at English. Sit down and teach me.’                  

Snow White: ‘With pleasure. So let’s start. What’s this?’ She points to the dictionary.

Stepmother: ‘A bok*.’

Snow White: ‘No, it’s a BOOK. But what kind of book is it?’

Stepmother: ‘I don’t know.’

Snow White: ‘A dictionary. Repeat, please.’

Stepmother: ‘Dikshary*’

Snow White:  ‘Dictionary”

Stepmother: ‘Dishnery*’

Snow White: ‘No, d i c t i o n a r y’

Stepmother: ‘Dish… Oh, no, you can’t teach! Go away! Leave the castle and don’t come back!  Never.  Can you hear  me? Never.’

Snow White is very sad. She leaves the castle. She walks through the big forest.

 

Hours pass ….. one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock ……, eight o’clock.

Snow White walks and walks. Suddenly she sees a little cottage.

Snow White: ‘What a nice little cottage! Who can live here?’

She knocks on the door.

Echo: ‘There is nobody here, nobody  here.’

Snow White comes in. She looks at little tables, little chairs and little plates. She is very tired and goes to bed.

In the evening seven small people come back to their cottage. They are nice dwarfs. They see the girl.

Dwarfs: ‘Shh… shh… she is sleeping. What a lovely girl’

Snow White wakes up.

Snow White: ‘Oh, I’m sorry…’

Dwarf 1: ‘Who are you, my dear?’

Dwarf 2: ‘Why are you here?’

And Snow White tells them her story.

Dwarf 3: ‘So you can stay with us…’

Dwarf 4: ‘… and clean our house…’

Dwarf 5: ‘… and cook’

Dwarf 6: ‘We come back home in the evening’

Dwarf 7: ‘In the day we are looking for a job’

Dwarf 1: ‘We haven’t got a job …..’

Dwarf 2: ‘.… because we can’t speak English very well. Boohoo ho …’

Snow White: ‘Please, stop crying. I can help you, I can teach you English.’

The dwarfs are very happy now.

Dwarfs: ‘Hooray, hooray, she can teach us English.’

Snow White lives with the dwarfs in the cottage. She is very happy too.

Days and weeks pass. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..

Snow White  cleans the cottage and cooks  …Thursday, Friday…..

In the evenings she teaches the dwarfs English.  …. Saturday, Sunday …

 

Now the dwarfs know English. Every day they leave the cottage and look for a job.

They walk through the forest and sing: ‘We are looking for a job. We are looking for a job.’

They meet a prince on a horse.

Prince: ‘Are you looking for a job? You can work for me. I need  some people … ups, or dwarfs who know English to translate my poems. Do you know English?’

Dwarfs: ‘ Yes, yes. Snow White teaches us English’

Prince: ‘Who is Snow White?’

Dwarf 3: ‘ She is a lovely girl….’

Dwarf 4: ‘… who lives in our cottage…’

Dwarf 5: ‘… and cleans our house and cooks…’

Dwarf 6: ‘… when we leave our cottage and look for a job …’

Dwarf 7: ‘… and teaches us English every day.’

Prince: ‘Oo?  Can I meet her?’

Dwarfs: ‘Yes, yes! Come with us.’     

There is a long way to go.   

 

At the same time, in the castle the stepmother asks her magic mirror.

Stepmother: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall

                      Whose English is the best of all?’

Mirror: ‘Yours, my queen, is quite good’

The mirror laughs and adds: ‘but Snow White who lives with dwarfs is better than you.’                  

Stepmother: ‘Whaat?! I must do something.’

Stepmother dresses up as an old woman and takes a poisoned apple. She walks and walks through the big forest.

Then, she knocks on the door of the cottage.

Snow White: ‘ Come in. Good morning.’

Stepmother: ‘Good morning my dear child. I have a nice red apple for you. Please, try it.’

Snow White: ‘No, thank you, I’m not hungry.’

Stepmother: ‘But please, try it. The apple is very good.’

Snow White: ‘Ok, I’ll try it later.’

Stepmother: ‘All right, all right. Good bye.’

And the stepmother leaves the cottage.

 

Snow White looks at the apple and sees a label on it. It is in English. She reads: poisoned.

Snow White: ‘Oh, so I won’t try the apple.’

And Snow White cleans  the cottage and cooks.

The dwarfs come back with the prince.

Dwarfs: ‘Look, look! He is a prince!’

Prince: ‘Nice to meet you.’

Snow White: ‘Nice to meet you too.’

Prince: ‘I think you are the girl of my dreams.’

 

And the moral of this story is …..

You guess the moral. 🙂   

                                     T H E    E N D

    (Materiał własny)

Objaśnienia:

Zaleca się posłuchać wymowy nowych słów np. korzystając ze słownika https://www.diki.pl/

Zauważ, że często kiedy mówimy o jednej osobie np. o królowej, Śnieżce lub macosze (3 os. l .poj.), wówczas przy nazwie czynności pojawia się literka –s

np.:

listen – słuchać      she listens – ona słucha           I want – chcę     she wants – ona chce

*- słowa oznaczone gwiazdką są wymawiane błędnie przez macochę

record  – płyta

spend – spędzać

she spends a lot of time –  ona spędza dużo czasu

improve –doskonalić, ulepszać

improving her English – doskonaląc swój angielski

snowflakes – płatki śniegu

fall –spadać;   are falling – spadają

think – myśleć  

want – chcieć

as white as – tak biała jak

soon – wkrótce

call – nazwać, wołać

seasons – pory roku

pass – mijać

a few – kilka

later – później

die – umrzeć

marry – poślubić;  he marries – on poślubia

another – inna

cruel – okrutna

stepmother – macocha

the best – najlepsza

in the world – na świecie

whose – czyj

of all – ze wszystkich

laugh – śmiać się

add – dodać

of course – oczywiście

grow up – dorastać

still – nadal

ask – pytać

better than – lepsza niż

must – musieć

I must do something – muszę coś zrobić

teach  – uczyć (kogoś)

with pleasure – z przyjemnością

dictionary – słownik

kind of book – rodzaj książki

leave – opuścić

hear – słyszeć

through  the forest – przez las

suddenly – nagle

cottage – chatka

knock – pukać

there is nobody here –tu nie ma nikogo

dwarfs – krasnoludki

tells them – opowiada im

stay – zostać

clean – sprzątać

look for – szukać

job – praca

know – znać, wiedzieć

need – potrzebować

translate – tłumaczyć

poem – wiersz

There is a long way to go – (przed nimi) długa droga do przebycia

At the same time – w tym samym czasie

dress up – przebrać się

poisoned – zatrute

try – spróbować

I’ll try – spróbuję

label – etykietka, naklejka

I won’t try – nie spróbuję

the girl of my dreams – dziewczyna moich marzeń

guess – zgadnij, domyśl się

 

SENTENCJE W J. ANGIELSKIM DLA KL.IV

Reading brings us unknown friends   –   Czytanie przynosi nam  nowych (dosł. nieznanych) przyjaciół.

Honoré de Balzac 

A room without books is  like a body without soul    –    Pokój bez książek jest jak ciało bez duszy.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Follow your heart, but take your brain with you  –  Idź za głosem serca, ale rozum zabieraj ze sobą.
Alfred Adler

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step   –   Podróż tysiąca mil zaczyna się od jednego kroku.

Lao Tzu

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere –  Wiedza jest skarbem, który podąża  za jego właścicielem wszędzie .
Chinese proverb (przysłowie chińskie)

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground   –   Trzymaj swój wzrok (utkwiony) w gwiazdach, a stopy na ziemi.

Theodore Roosevelt

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island – Jest więcej skarbów w książkach niż w łupach piratów na Wyspie Skarbów.

Walt Disney

 

 

PIOSENKI DLA KL. IV

Podane linki odsyłają do nagrań wraz ze słowami piosenek oraz do ich tłumaczenia. Proszę zwrócić uwagę na to, że tłumaczenie na portalu tekstowo.pl jest amatorskie, więc mogą zdarzyć się pewne niedociągnięcia.

1. 1. Hello Goodbye  – The Popstar Band (Hits of The Beatles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZ4e0NgRN8

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,the_beatles,hello_goodbye.html

 

2.  John Lennon – Oh My Love

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM47NRtjXdA

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,john_lennon,oh_my_love.html

3. Beautiful Sunday – Daniel Boone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=631PLQd7y5s

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,daniel_boone,beautiful_sunday.html

 

4. What a Wonderful World – Playing For Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM1UF3qvL9g

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,louis_armstrong,what_a_wonderful_world.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MATERIAŁY PRZYGOTOWAWCZE DLA KL. V i VI

 

Edycja jesienna 2020

I.  Two Stories out of this World

 

 ‘No, no! I won’t go to school tomorrow! I hate PE lessons,’ cried Mark.

‘But you have to go,’ said Mark’s mum quietly. ‘You are playing an important match at school tomorrow. Don’t you remember?’

‘That’s why I’m not going to go,’ explained Mark.

‘But why?’ asked mum patiently.’

‘Because… because …. my sports teacher says I am terrible at football. All boys laugh at me,’ muttered Mark.

‘Hm …, that’s terrible,’ answered mum. ’But please, don’t give up.’

She thought  for a moment and added: ‘That reminds me of one story. It is about a boy called Paul who is your age. I’ll tell you the story. Sit down Mark and listen carefully.

The title of the story is Out of this World.’

‘You’re terrible at football, Paul Johnson,’ shouted the sports teacher. ‘Where did you learn to play?’

Paul looked down and didn’t say anything. All the other boys laughed. After school, poor Paul walked home alone.

‘It’s very sad,’ shouted Mark. ‘And it reminds me of something’

Mum smiled and continued:

That night Paul woke up suddenly. There was a strange light outside so he went to the window. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There was a spaceship in the garden! He ran outside.

A thin man with very long arms came towards him:  ‘Hello, we are from the planet Pluto.’

‘H …h … hello,’ said Paul. ‘What do you want?’

‘We want your football and football boots.’

‘But why?’ asked Paul.

‘We have got everything on our planet: good jobs, wonderful food, beautiful people. But we don’t have any sport.’

‘That’s terrible,’ said Paul. ‘Here, take my football and football boots.’

The man disappeared into the spaceship. Paul watched as it took off.

‘He is lucky,’ said Mark. ‘He doesn’t have to play football anymore.’

‘Don’t interrupt me,please and listen.’

The next morning Paul got up late.

‘You look a bit tired,’ said his mother. ‘Did you sleep well last night?’

‘No, I didn’t, I met some men from another planet.’

‘Don’t be silly Paul,’ she said.

‘But they took my football and football boots!’

‘So why are they still in the garden?’

Paul looked. The ball and the boots were still there.

Paul went to school as usual. In the afternoon there was a football match. Paul was brilliant, he scored ten goals! Everyone said he was a different player.

‘Paul,’ said the sports teacher. ‘You were out of this world!’

Paul looked down at his boots and smiled.

Mum finished her story.

Suddenly Mark and his mum heard a noise and saw a light outside so they went to the window.

They couldn’t believe their eyes. There was a car in front of the house. They ran outside.

A tall man came towards them. ‘Hello, I am back earlier from my business trip’

‘H…h … hello dad!’ shouted Mark happily.

‘Look, I brought you a present,’ said dad.

‘What present?’

 ‘Here you are,’ said dad and gave Mark a football and football boots.

‘Wow, thanks!’

‘Please, try on the football boots,’ said dad.  ‘Now I have to drive to the city centre but I’ll be back soon.’

Dad disappeared into the car. Mark watched as it drove away.

‘Mum,’ shouted the boy. ‘I changed my mind. I will go to school tomorrow and I will play the match.’

Mark looked down at his boots and smiled.

                                                             ***     The end  ***

[Materiał własny; zawiera fragmenty  z New Hotline Starter Extra: Supplementary Readings – Janet Hardy-Gould, Tom Hutchinson -opowiadanie Out of this world (wytłuszczonym drukiem)]

Objaśnienia:

Zaleca się posłuchać wymowy nowych słów, korzystając np.  ze słownika https://www.diki.pl/

Wyrażenie : out of this world  można przetłumaczyć na dwa sposoby:

dosłownie: spoza tego świata,  nie z tej planety

oraz w przenośni jako: nieziemskie, niesamowite, wspaniałe

 I won’t go – nie pójdę

cried  – wykrzyknął   (cry – krzyczeć, płakać)

you have to  – musisz       (porównaj: have – mieć;    natomiast:  have to  – musieć)

don’t you remember? – czy nie pamiętasz?

that’s why – oto dlaczego

I’m not going to go – nie zamierzam pójść

patiently – cierpliwie

 he muttered – wymamrotał        (mutter – mamrotać)   

don’t give up – nie poddawaj się, nie rezygnuj

she thought – ona pomyślała    (think – myśleć)

who is your age – który jest w twoim wieku

I’ll tell you – opowiem ci

carefully –  uważnie

where did you learn? – gdzie się uczyłeś?

he didn’t say anything – nic nie powiedział

all the other boys –  wszyscy pozostali chłopcy

suddenly – nagle

he couldn’t believe his eyes – nie mógł uwierzyć własnym oczom

he came towards him – podszedł w jego kierunku

job – praca 

disappear – zniknąć

Paul watched as it took off – Paul patrzył jak startuje

interrupt  –  przerywać

a bit  – trochę

did you sleep well? – czy spałeś dobrze?

still – nadal

as usual – jak zwykle

score a goal – strzelić gola

they heard – usłyszeli       (hear – usłyszeć )

I am back earlier – jestem z powrotem wcześniej

I brought – przywiozłem     (bring – przywieźć, przynieść)

try on – przymierzyć

I’ll be back – będę z powrotem

I changed my mind – zmieniłem decyzję   (change – zmienić)

                               II.  Noises in the Night

 It was about two o’clock in the morning and …… suddenly I woke up. I heard a noise. I got out of  bed and went slowly downstairs.  There was a light on in the living room. I listened carefully. I could hear two men speaking very quietly.

‘Burglars,’ I thought. Immediately I ran back upstairs  and phoned the police. I was really frightened.

Fortunately the police arrived quickly. They opened the front door and went into the living room.

Then they came upstairs to see me. ‘It’s all right now, sir,’ they explained. ‘We turned the television off for you!’

                                          *** The end***

(Zaczerpnięte z  New Headway elementary – tapescript)

 

Objaśnienia:

I got out of bed – wstałem z łóżka     (get out of bed – wstać)

I went  – poszedłem       (go –pójść)

light on  – światło włączone

I could hear – usłyszałem      (can hear – słyszeć)

burglar – włamywacz

immediately – natychmiast

frightened – przerażony

fortunately – na szczęście

arrive – przybyć

explain – wyjaśnić

turn off – wyłączyć

 

SENTENCJE W J. ANGIELSKIM DLA KL. V i VI

A room without books is  like a body without soul    –    Pokój bez książek jest jak ciało bez duszy .

Marcus Tullius Cicero

 One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood  – Jedna z najpiękniejszych wartości prawdziwej przyjaźni to rozumieć i być rozumianym.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see   –   Życzliwość jest językiem, który niesłyszący może usłyszeć, a niewidomy może zobaczyć.

Mark Twain

Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own  –   Miłość jest wówczas, gdy szczęście drugiej osoby jest ważniejsze niż nasze własne.

Jackson Brown, Jr.

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later   –  Zawsze bardzo się staraj (rób co w Twojej mocy). Co zasadzisz teraz, zbierzesz później.

Og Mandino

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground   –   Trzymaj swój wzrok utkwiony w gwiazdach, a stopy na ziemi.

Theodore Roosevelt

 

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step   –   Podróż tysiąca mil zaczyna się od jednego kroku.

Lao Tzu

Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before. – Wygrywanie nie zawsze oznacza bycia pierwszym. Zwycięstwo oznacza, że radzisz sobie lepiej, niż radziłeś wcześniej.
Bonnie Blair

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way  –  Jeden język umieszcza cię w korytarzu na całe życie. Dwa języki otwierają wszystkie drzwi po drodze.
Frank Smith

 

 

PIOSENKI DLA KL. V i VI

Podane linki odsyłają do nagrań wraz ze słowami piosenek oraz do ich tłumaczenia.

1. Perfect – Ed Sheeran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDMYw_IZnE

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,ed_sheeran,perfect.html

2. Shakira – Try Everything (From “Zootopia”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6rP-YP4c5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjaPYWMjBVc

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,shakira,try_everything.html

3. Zayde Wolf – Heroes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Ry4qpMXqs

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,zayde_w_lf,heroes.html

4. Blue Cafe  – Chris Rea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Lb14kRRBc

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,chris_rea,the_blue_cafe.html

 

https://mlodziezowy.pl/tlumaczenie,piosenki/C,piosenka,chris_rea,the_blue_cafe.html

5. Lemon Tree –  Fools Garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFS43NKFag

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,sting,lemon_tree.html

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MATERIAŁY PRZYGOTOWAWCZE DLA KL. VII i VIII

Edycja jesienna 2020

Mr Right and Miss Right

‘Look Jane,’ said Sara ‘lots of handsome boys on Facebook, thousands LIKES, but nobody really to talk to’

‘Yeah,’ her best friend replied ‘they want to meet   but I find them boring. I sometimes ask them a question: What do you like doing? And guess what they answer.’

‘Playing computer games?’

‘Sure. How do you know?’ laughed Jane.  ‘And I ask them if they have read anything interesting recently.  Guess what they answer’

‘ I suspect  their  reply is : No. Nothing’

‘How do you know?’ teased  Jane.

Both girls burst into laughter. Then they fell silent

Suddenly Sara exclaimed: ‘I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t we announce a kind of competition?’ she continued ‘I will go on a date with  a boy if…, if he tells me a touching  story which makes me cry’

‘Brilliant!’ agreed Jane. ‘And for me …. someone who will tell me a story with a thrill.’

‘Like princesses in the old days, who were looking forwards to their dream knights,’ sighed Jane dreamily.

‘Deal. It’s well worth the effort.’                

*

‘Look Tom,’ said Paul. ‘Lots of pretty girls on Facebook, thousands of LIKES but nobody to talk seriously. All the girls just care about their look, make-up and they devote a lot of time to their flash nails.’

‘Hey, can you see this post?’ exclaimed Tom. ‘Two girls …. competition….  sounds intriguing….’

‘Something just for us.’

*

‘Look at this! Somebody has written!’ Sara was excited. ‘Let’s read.’

The Christmas Presents.

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Every day, when she went to the shops, she spent very little money. She bought the cheapest meat, the cheapest vegetables.(…) She saved every cent possible.

Della counted the money again. There was no mistake. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And the next day was Christmas. She couldn’t do anything about it… So she sat there, in the poor little room, and she cried.  Della lived in this poor little room, in New York, with her husband James Dillingham Young. (…)

Della tried to find work, but times were bad, and there was no work for her. But when James came home, she called him ‘Jim’ and put her arms round him. And that was good.

Della stopped crying and she washed her face. (…) Tomorrow was Christmas Day and she had only one dollar and eighty – seven cents to buy Jim a Christmas present. Her Jim. She wanted very much to buy him something really fine, something to show how much she loved him.(…)

Now, her husband had two very special things. One was Jim’s gold watch. It once belonged to his father, and, before that, to his grandfather. The other special thing was Della’s hair. Quickly, Della let down her beautiful long hair. It fell down her back, and  it was almost like a coat around her. Then she put her hair up again, quickly. (…)

Then she put on her old brown coat and her old brown hat, turned, and left the room. (…)

She walked along by the shops, and stopped when she came to a door with ‘Madame Eloise – Hair’ on it. (…)

‘Will  you buy my hair?’ Della asked the woman inside.

‘I buy hair,’ Madame replied. ‘Take your  hat off and show me your hair.’

The beautiful brown hair fell down.

‘Twenty dollars,’ Madame said, and she touched the hair with her hand.

‘Quick!’ Cut it off! (…)’ Della said.

The next two hours went quickly. Della was happy because she was looking round the shops for Jim’s present.

At last she found it. It was a gold chain for The Watch.  Jim loved his watch, but it had no chain. When Della saw this gold chain, she knew immediately that it was right for Jim. She must have it.

The shop took twenty–one dollars from her for it, and she hurried home with the eighty-seven cents.

When she arrived there, she looked at her very short hair in the glass. ‘What can I do with it?’ she thought. For the next half an hour she was very busy.(…)

Her hair was now in very small curls all over her head. ‘Oh, dear. I look like a schoolgirl!’ she said to herself. ‘What’s Jim going to say when he sees me?’

At seven o’clock the dinner was nearly ready and Della was waiting.(…)

The door opened and Jim came in. His eyes were on Della. She could not understand the look on his face, and she was afraid. He was not angry or surprised. He just watched her, with that strange look on his face.

Della ran to him.

‘Jim,’ she cried. ‘Don’t look at me like that. I sold my hair because I wanted to give you a present. It will soon be long again.’

‘You’ve cut off your hair?’ asked Jim.

‘Yes. I cut it off and sold it,’ Della said. ‘But don’t you love me any more, Jim? I’m still me.’

Suddenly Jim put his arms round his Della. Then he took something from his pocket and put it on the table.

‘I love you, Della,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter if your hair is short or long. But if you open that, you’ll see why I was unhappy at first.’

Excited, Della pulled off the paper. Then she gave a little scream of happiness. But a second later there were cries of unhappiness.

Because there were The Combs – the combs for her beautiful hair. When she first saw these combs in the shop window, she wanted them. They were beautiful combs, expensive combs, and now they were her combs. But she no longer had her hair!

Della picked them up and held them.  Her eyes were full of love.

‘But my hair will soon be long again, Jim.’

And then Della remembered. She jumped up and ran to get Jim’s beautiful present.

‘Isn’t it lovely, Jim? I looked everywhere for it. Now you’ll want to look at your watch a hundred times a day. Give me your watch, Jim! Let’s see it with its new chain.’

But Jim did not do this. He sat down, put his hands behind his head, and smiled.

‘Della,’ he said. ‘Let’s keep our presents for a time. They’re so nice. You see, I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now, let’s have dinner.’

And this was the story of two young people who were very much in love.

*

‘How romantic …’

‘And really touching… ’

‘And look!  There’s another story! I think, it’s for you’

‘Maybe,’  smiled Jane. ‘Let’s read then.’

*

It’s about difficult decisions, about danger and about bravery.

Skyjack!

When people use guns to take what they want, how can you stop them? If you give them what they want, they will be happy – and they will use their guns again, and again. If you don’t give them what they want, then they will be angry – and they will kill. It is a very difficult decision to make.

In this story, the person who has to decide is the Prime Minister, the head of the government. But the Prime Minister is also an ordinary person, just like the rest of us – a person with a family and children.

How can you think clearly, if someone points a gun at your family? What do you do? You take advice, you talk to the hijackers, you find out what they want, you keep everybody calm, you try to move slowly. But terrorists don’t like waiting, and sooner or later, you have to decide what to do…

 1.

The air hostess smiled: ‘Welcome aboard, sir. Would you like a newspaper?’

‘Yes, please.’ Carl took the newspaper and looked at the ticket. ‘I’m in seat 5F.Where’s that?’

‘It’s near the front of the plane, sir. On the left, there. By the window.’

‘I see. Thank you very much.’ Carl smiled back at the air hostess. She was young and pretty. Just like my daughter, he thought.

He put his bag under his seat and sat down. His friend Harald sat beside him. (…)

‘We’re on time.’

Carl agreed. ‘And in three hours we’ll be home,’ he said. ‘That’s good. We’ve been away for a long time. You’ll be pleased to see your family, won’t you, Harald?’

Harald smiled. ‘Yes, I will. (…)’

‘How old are your sons?’ Carl asked.

‘Five and almost seven. The older one has a birthday tomorrow.’ ‘He’ll be very excited tonight then.’

The plane took off. Carl watched the lights of the airport grow smaller below them. Then the plane flew above the clouds and he could see the moon and the stars in the night sky. He lay back in this seat and closed his eyes.

2.

Later, he woke up. Harald was asleep. Carl looked at his watch. It was midnight. He called the air hostess.

‘Excuse me. What time do we arrive?’

’11.30 p.m. local time, sir. That’s about half an hour from now.’ (…)

‘Could I have a cup of coffee, please?’ (…) She looks nervous, not sure what to do,’ he thought. And asked: ‘How long have you been an air hostess?’

She smiled. ‘Three months, sir,’ she said.

‘Do you like it?’

‘Yes, I love it. It’s very exciting.’ She smiled nervously(…). ‘Have a nice flight.’

He drank the coffee and started to read his newspaper. When Harald woke up, Carl showed him a page in the paper.

‘Look. There you are,’ he said. He pointed to a picture. In the middle of the picture stood Carl himself – a short thin man with grey hair, wearing a suit. Behind him, on the left, was Harald – a tall, strong young man, like a sportsman. Both men were smiling. ‘That’s you and me, outside the Embassy,’ said Carl. ‘We’re in the news again. You can show it to your sons. You’re a famous man, Harald!’

Harald laughed. ‘You’re the famous man, sir, not me,’ he said. ‘I’m just a police officer. It’s my job to take care of you. That’s photo of you, not me.’

‘Perhaps. But your children think that you’re a famous man, I’m sure. Here, take it, and show it to them.’

‘OK. Thanks.’ Harald smiled, and put the newspaper in his coat pocket. ‘I think I’ll have a cup of coffee too.’ He called for the air hostess, but she didn’t come. Harald looked surprised.

‘What’s the matter?’ Carl asked.(…)

Carl looked up and saw the young air hostess. She was sitting in a seat at the front of the plane with two young men. They looked worried and nervous. Suddenly, one of the young men picked up a bag and walked into the pilot’s cabin! The other man and the air hostess followed him.

‘That’s strange,’ said Carl. ‘What are they doing?’

‘I don’t know. It’s very strange,’ said Harald. ‘I don’t like it at all.’(…)

Then the pilot spoke.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking. Please do not be afraid. There is a change of plan. We have to land at another airport before we finish our journey. There’s no danger. We will land in fifteen minutes. Please stay in your seats and keep calm. Thank you.’

Then the air hostess came out of the cabin. She looked very different now because she had a machine gun in her hand. She stood at the front of the plane and watched the passengers carefully.

3

‘Here we are, madam.’ The big black car stopped and a police officer opened the black door.

‘Thank you.’ Helen Sandberg smiled at him as she got out. Another police officer opened the front door of her house.

Inside the house it was quiet. (…)

She was very tired, she closed her eyes and in three minutes she was asleep.

The phone rang at 12.15 a.m. Helen groaned, and picked it up.

‘Hello… What?… Who?… Do you know what time is it?’(…) I don’t believe it. Are you sure?’

The voice on the telephone explained carefully. Helen groaned again, and sat up. ‘I hope it is serious. If it isn’t, somebody is going to be in big trouble… yes… All right… Send the car in fifteen minutes, then. And bring me some coffee! Goodbye.’

She put the phone down and got out of bed. Outside the window she could hear a strong wind blowing.

Twenty minutes later she was sitting in the back of her big black car, drinking a cup of coffee and talking to the Chief of Airport Police on the car telephone. It was raining heavily.

4.

Carl looked out of the plane window. It was very dark and rainy. It was a small airport with only one or two other planes. But there were three police cars near the airport building.(…)

The young air hostess was still standing at the front of the plane with her machine gun. One of the young men, also with machine gun, was standing at the back of the plane. The other hijacker was in the Captain’s cabin. All the passengers sat very quietly in their seats.

A bell rang and man’s voice spoke.

‘Ladies and gentelmen, listen to me. This is the People’s Liberation Army. This plane is ours now, and  you are our prisoners. We do not want to hurt you, but as you can see, we have our guns and we know how to shoot. So please, sit quietly in your seats and do what we say. We will be here for one or two hours. The Government of this country has two of our brothers in a prison near this airport. We are asking the Government to bring  our two brothers to this plane. When our brothers are free, you will be free. (…). As you know, the Prime Minister of this country is only a woman. She will do what we say. So do not worry. Just sit very still and wait a little while. Goodnight.’

Carl looked at Harald. ‘Oh dear,’ he whispered. ‘I think we’re in trouble, my young friend. Big trouble.’

Harald agreed. ‘We certainly are. The Government won’t set those two men free. They tried to put a bomb on a plane last year, didn’t they, sir? They’re in prison for thirty years!’

‘I know,’ Carl whispered. ‘No one could set them free. So what about us?’

‘What about you, you mean,’ whispered Harald. ‘I’m not important. Look, sir, you’d better give me your passport.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Ssh!’ Harald put his hand on the older man’s arm and stopped talking. Carl looked up and saw the young air hostess staring at them. Her machine gun was pointing at them too. He stopped talking and looked out of the window.

After a few minutes she stopped watching them. ‘Give me the passport, sir!’ Harald whispered, very quietly. Very slowly and carefully, Carl took it out of his pocket and gave it to him.

There was still some coffee in Carl’s cup. Very carefully, Harald put the passport on his tray and poured the coffee onto it. When the passport was very wet, he tore it slowly into little pieces. (…) Then, one by one, he put the pieces of wet paper into his mouth and ate them. In ten minutes, the passport had disappeared.

‘I don’t understand,’ whispered Carl. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘You’ll see,’ whispered Harald. ‘But when they ask questions, let me answer, sir. OK? You say nothing.’

‘OK.’ Carl looked away, out of the window. A large black car was just driving up to the airport building.

5.

The black car stopped outside the airport building and a police officer opened the door. Helen Sandberg got out and went quickly inside. Upstairs, in the control room, the Chief of Airport Police, Inspector Holm, was waiting with a soldier. Helen’s secretary, Michael, was there too.

‘Good evening, Prime Minister,’ said Inspector Holm. ‘This is Colonel Carter, of the Special Commando Section.’

‘Good evening, Colonel.’ Helen shook hands with the soldier and looked at him. He was a thin, tough-looking man, about forty years old, with a brown face. His hand was hard and strong. ‘I hope you know your job,’ she thought. ‘I may need you.’

She looked out of the window. There was a large plane on the tarmac about two hundred meters away. All its lights were on. ‘Is that the plane?’ she asked. ‘

That’s it, Prime Minister.’

‘Right, give me the facts. How many people are on it?’

Inspector Holm answered. ‘One hundred and eight passengers, five crew.’

‘What nationalities are they?’

‘There are twenty-nine Americans, fifteen British, two Brazilians, two Indians and one Chinese. The others are from this country.’

‘I see. There are a lot of Americans and British, then,’ said Helen quietly. ‘That means trouble.’

‘Yes, Prime Minister,’ answered Michael. ‘I’m afraid their Ambassadors are on their way here now.’ (…)

She turned back to Inspector Holm. ‘Tell me about the hijackers. What do they want?’

‘We don’t know how many hijackers there are, Prime Minister. But they have guns, we know that. They say they are from the People’s Liberation Army. And they want three things.’ Inspector Holm paused and looked down at her. (…)

‘Yes, well. What three things?’ she asked quickly.

‘Firstly, they say we must set free their two brothers from prison. You remember, Prime Minister – two men tried to put a bomb on a plane last year. They are in prison near here.’

‘I remember,’ Helen answered softly. ‘They’re in prison for thirty years, aren’t   they?’

‘I think so. Something like that.’ The man paused. ‘Secondly, they say we must refuel the plane because they want to fly to another country. Thirdly, they say we must put this in all our newspapers. It says they are fighting for freedom for their people. They are freedom fighters. They want to liberate their people.’

He gave her a sheet of paper. Helen put it on the table. She did not read it. ‘And what about the passengers?’ she asked. ‘When will the hijackers set them free?’

‘They say they will set most of the passengers free when their brothers are on the plane. But they want ten passengers to fly away with them. They will set them free when they arrive.’

‘I see.’

‘There’s one other thing, Prime Minister,’ Colonel Carter spoke for the first time. His voice was very quiet, almost gentle. ‘They say we must bring the prisoners to the airport in two hours. If not, they will kill a passenger. They said this one hour ago.’

‘So we have one hour left?’

‘That’s right, Prime Minister. Just one hour. Then they will kill the first passenger.’

‘I see.’ Helen walked slowly to the window and stared out at the plane. It was still raining and a strong wind was blowing. She turned round(…) Tell the hijackers I will talk to them in five minutes. (…)

‘Have you got the passenger list, Michael?’ ‘Yes, Prime Minister. Here you are.’

She picked up the list of names and looked at it carefully. ‘Oh, my God!’ HIS name  was near the beginning. She dropped the list, sat down at the table, and ran her hands through the hair. For a long minute she said nothing. (…)

Helen stood up and walked to the window, thinking hard. Outside in the rain, the American Ambassador’s car stopped by the door.

6.

Carl looked through the window and watched the cars arrive at the airport building. There were a lot of cars now and a lot of lights in the building. Inside the plane it was hot and quiet. There was nothing to do. He remembered other times when he had been in a plane at night with his wife and daughter. That had been fun because they were excited and going on holiday. His daughter had always asked lots questions in the plane. Now no one said anything at all. Carl sat, and thought, and felt his face becoming wet with sweat.

‘Your passport, please!’

‘What?’ He turned suddenly. One of the hijackers, a young man in a black shirt, was just behind them. He had a bag in his hand and he was taking everyone’s passports and putting them in it.

‘Why…?’

‘Be quiet!’ Harald whispered. ‘Let me talk, sir. Remember?’

‘Your passport, please.’ The young man stood by their seats.

‘Here you are.’ Harald gave the man his passport.

‘Thank you. And his?’

‘He has no passport. I am a police officer and he is my prisoner. I am taking him to prison in my country.’

‘I see.’ The young man looked at them both in surprise. ‘Stand up, you!’

Carl stood up and the young man searched his pockets, but he found nothing. He told Carl to sit down, then he opened Harald’s passport and looked inside. ‘Police pig!’ he said. ‘Now you are our prisoner!’ Then he hit Harald in the face, looked at Carl, and laughed. ‘And perhaps we will set him free!’

Harald said nothing. The hijacker was about the same age as him, but not so big. The young hijacker laughed again and moved on to the next seat.

‘Thank you, Harald,’ Carl whispered, when the man was at the front of the plane. ‘That was very brave. But I won’t let you die for me, you know.’

‘Be quiet, sir! Carl whispered, when the man was standing in the door of the Captain’s cabin. He was talking to the other two. He was a strong man, with a black beard. He looked angry and waved his arms. Carl listened carefully. He could hear one or two words, but not many.

‘…nothing! Nothing at all!… stupid woman!… she needs time, she says…’

All the hijackers were angry now. They looked at the passport and then started to walk down the aisle, pointing their guns at the passengers. Harald sat very still in his seat.

‘Don’t look at them, Carl,’ he whispered. ‘Sit very still and don’t look at them.’

Suddenly the big hijacker pulled a passenger out of his seat. The passenger was a short fat man in a grey suit. He shouted angrily in a voice that sounded American, but the hijacker hit him and then pushed him to the front of the plane with his machine gun. ‘Turn towards the door!’ he shouted. ‘Put your hands on the door! Above your head !Higher! That’s it!’

The air hostess pointed her gun at the American’s back. The hijacker in the black shirt stood at the front of the plane and pointed his gun at the passengers.

‘Don’t move!’ he shouted. ‘Stay in your seats and don’t look back!’ Then the big bearded hijacker went back into the Captain’s cabin. The bell rang. The hijacker’s voice spoke.

‘Passengers! Listen to me! You know we are here to set our brothers free. I have spoken to the Prime Minister of this country. I told her she must bring our brothers here by two o’clock. That is plenty of time because the prison is only ten kilometres from here. She says she needs more time, but we know she is lying. We have no time. The passenger at the front of the plane is an American spy who lives in our country. All Americans who live in our country are spies. If our brothers are not at two o’clock, he will die. If you try to help him, you will die too.’

‘Jesus,’ Carl said quietly. He looked at his watch. The time was 1.50 a.m. He looked out of the window across the rainy tarmac to the airport building. In one of those rooms was the Prime Minister. What would she do? What COULD she do? ‘Come on, honey,’ he said softly. ‘Start thinking. Think fast, honey. And think hard!’

7

Helen Sandberg sat at radio in the control room. Michael, Inspector Holm,  and Colonel Carter sat behind her. They could all see the plane, two hundred meters away, and they could all hear the voice of the hijacker on the radio. It was loud, excited.

‘Our brothers have done nothing wrong. They are innocent! They are fighters for the freedom of our people! We need them with us on this plane, now!’

Helen kept her voice low and calm. ‘Look, I understand what you say. But those men are criminals; they’re in prison. I can’t bring them here. And remember. The passengers on the plane are innocent people too, with families and children. Please set them free. We will not hurt you. We…’ The voice on the radio interrupted her. ‘Mrs. Sandberg! I do not want to talk any more. It is now 1.59 a.m. Do you have our brothers here, at the airport?’

‘No. I told you …’

‘Then watch the front door of the plane. You can see it well, I hope?’

‘Yes.’ Helen’s voice was quiet now, almost a whisper.

‘Then watch. There is an American spy behind it. And remember, we have many American spies, and many important business people on this plane. In half an hour I will ask you again about my brothers.’

(…) Colonel Carter touched her arm.

‘Here are some binoculars, Prime Minister. You will be able to see clearly with these.’

She did not want to look, but she had to. She had decided not to free the prisoners, so now she had to see what happened to the passengers. She picked up the binoculars and stared at the front door of the plane.

The door opened slowly. There were no steps outside the door, so it was four meters above the ground. Standing in the door was a short fat man, his hands above his head.  His face was white and he looked very frightened. Then he jumped. But as he jumped, a girl came to the door and shot him. (…) The girl continued shooting him for ten, maybe fifteen seconds. Then someone pulled her back into the plane and door closed.

‘Prime Minister, let my men deal with this problem. They have killed a man now and they’ll kill another one in half an hour. We must attack that plane! We are commandos; we know how to do it!’

Helen was still watching the dead body of the man on the tarmac.(…). For a moment she did not hear the voices around her. In half an hour…

‘Prime Minister…?’

‘Yes.’ She turned towards them. ‘Yes. Colonel Carter, bring your men here, immediately. Meet me in ten minutes with your plan. But I warn you, it must be a good one. I don’t want any more dead passengers.’

‘Yes, Prime Minister. At once.’ The Colonel turned to go.

‘Inspector (…), I want those two prisoners brought here from the prison. At once. You have twenty- five minutes, no more. Do you understand?’

‘But Prime Minister! You can’t do that!’ The Inspector and the Colonel stared at her in surprise.

‘I can and I will.’

‘But these men are dangerous criminals – terrorist! They tried to put a bomb on a plane! They are in prison for…’

‘For thirty years, Colonel. I know. But they are only two men, and there are over a hundred innocent people on that plane. My job is to save their lives, and I need time to do it.’(…)

Prime Minister, I strongly advise you not to do this. You don’t understand…’

Helen interrupted him, her voice ice-cold and angry. ‘I understand very well indeed, Inspector. And I thank you for your advice. But I think I must make the decisions, and you must obey my orders. You now have only twenty-four minutes. Bring those prisoners here, please.’

‘Yes, madam.’ The Inspector and the Colonel left the room, looking very unhappy.

‘Prime Minister?’

‘Yes, Michael?’ She turned, and saw that Michael was smiling quietly.

‘The American and British Ambassadors are here. Do you want to see them?’

She groaned, and sat down suddenly. ‘Do I want to? Of course I don’t! But I must talk to them because that man was an American. Send them in. They can have five minutes with me (…).

8

When the girl came back into the cabin she was shaking. Her hands were shaking  and she was crying and smoke was coming out of her gun. One of the passengers, an American, stood up and shouted at her.

‘You’re a murderer!’ he shouted. ‘You’re a dirty, murdering, b…’

She turned and pointed the gun at him and fired. The man sat down in his seat and the bullets went above the seats, all along the plane, and out through the roof. After ten seconds the girl stopped firing and shouted.

‘You shut up! You shut up and sit down or I’ll kill you all! I am a soldier of the People’s Liberation Army and I’ll kill you, all of you!’ but she was crying too, and the young man in the black shirt put his arm around her and held her. She leaned against him, crying, and he whispered something in her ear.

It was then that Harald moved. He got out of his seat, bent low, and ran very fast along the aisle towards the front of the plane. The young man and the girl did not see him coming and he caught them both around their legs and knocked them onto the floor. Harald fell on top of them and he tried to take one of the guns, but girl pulled his hair and the young man held his arms. Then the bearded man came out of the Captain’s cabin and hit Harald hard on the head with his gun. Harald fell on the floor and lay still. The bearded man pointed his gun at the passengers and shouted ‘SIT STILL!’ very loud indeed.

None of the passengers had moved except Carl, and he was too slow. He stood very still in the middle of the aisle five metres away from the bearded man’s gun. The other two hijackers were still on the floor, and Carl saw the Captain move in the cabin behind the bearded man. But the young man in the black shirt saw him too, and stood up and pointed his gun at the Captain. Both Carl and the Captain were too late.

‘I am getting old,’ Carl thought. ‘When I was young, I could move as fast as Harald. But not now.’ Carl sat down in his seat, very slowly. The bearded man watched him all the time. He pushed Harald with his foot.

‘Search him,’ he said to the girl. ‘Then handcuff him to the door. He will be the next one.’

The girl pulled Harald to the door. She found some handcuffs in his pocket and handcuffed him to the door. Then she searched his other pockets. In one of his pockets she found a newspaper. She looked at it and saw the photo of Harald and Carl. She stood up slowly and showed it to the bearded man. He looked at the photo, and then he looked at Carl carefully and for a long time. Very slowly smiles appeared on the faces of the two hijackers and they began to laugh.

9.

Helen Sandberg stood up to welcome the American and British Ambassadors. (…)

‘So, gentlemen, what can I do for you?’

The American spoke first. ‘Well, ma’am, an American passenger is dead …’ ‘Yes, I know. I am very sorry about that. I hope no more will die.’

‘I hope so too, ma’am. There are twenty-eight US passengers on that plane and my Government wants them all alive,’ Helen answered quietly. But the Ambassador did not listen.

‘So the US Government is going to help you, ma’am. We have fifty US Marines at the US Embassy, and they can be here in one hour from now. Then they’ll just take that goddam plane apart.’

The Scotsman smiled. ‘Excuse me, Ambassador, but perhaps one hour from now will be too late. One man is already dead. But, er… perhaps you don’t know this. Prime Minister, but this week six SAS soldiers are visiting the British Embassy, and they’re waiting outside in my car now. These men know a lot about hijacks; much more than the US Marines or, probably, your own soldiers, Prime Minister. They know exactly what to do. So…’

‘Now just a moment!’ The American interrupted. ‘The US Marines are…’

‘Gentlemen!’ Helen’s clear, hard voice stopped them. ‘There’s no time to argue. Firstly, I didn’t know about SAS soldiers in the British Embassy, and I am very surprised about it. Very surprise indeed, Ambassador. Secondly, I do not think it is a good idea to attack a plane with a hundred and seven in it, and “take it apart” as you say. I want these people to live, not die. So I thank you for your ideas, but remember that this small country is ours, not yours. We will manage this problem in our own way, with our own people, thank you very much. Now you must excuse me. I am busy.’

At the door, the Scotsman turned back. ‘Prime Minister, I know you want to save lives,’ he said. ‘I understand that. But these hijackers must not go free. My Government does not want that. No Government in the world wants that.’

‘I know that, Ambassador,’ Helen answered quietly. ‘I know that very well.’

As they went out, the phone rang. Michael picked it up. Helen sat down at the table and watched him. His face was very serious. He wrote on a piece of paper and then put the phone down. For a moment, he did not look at her.

‘What is it, Michael? Tell me.’

‘It was a radio message from the plane, Prime Minister.’ ‘Well? What did they say? Didn’t they want to talk to me?’

‘No, Prime Minister. Just the message. It says: “We love our brothers. We hope the Prime Minister loves her husband. He is on the plane, just behind the door.” ’

For a long moment she stared at Michael, but she did not speak. A picture of the American passenger appeared in her head. She saw him jumping out of the door and the girl shooting him. Shooting him for ten, maybe fifteen seconds.

‘I’m sorry, Prime Minister,’ said Michael softly.

‘What? Yes, so am I. I thought perhaps… perhaps the hijackers didn’t know Carl was my husband. But now they know.’

She ran her hand through her hair and then looked at her watch. But her hand was shaking so much that she could not tell the time.

The phone rang again. Michael picked it up.

‘Colonel Carter is outside, Prime Minister.’ (…) ‘I’ll tell him to wait, shall I?’ (…)

‘Yes. Yes, Michael. Tell him to wait two minutes, that’s all.’ She walked to the window and stared out at the plane. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass and for two minutes she did not move. Then she turned round and smiled at Michael.

‘Let’s just hope Colonel Carter’s plan is a good one, shall we? Show him in.’

10

In the plane, Carl and Harald sat on the floor by the door. They were handcuffed together with Harald’s handcuffs. The girl hijacker stood watching them with her gun. The bearded man in the Captain’s cabin, and the young man in the black shirt was watching the other passengers.

Harald touched his head with his hand. There was blood in his hair.

‘How do you feel, my young friend?’ Carl asked.

‘It hurts,’ Harald answered. ‘And I can’t see well.’

‘This man needs a doctor,’ Carl said to the girl, angrily.

She laughed. ‘That is your wife’s problem, not mine,’ she said. ‘If our brothers come, he will get a doctor. If they don’t come, he won’t need one.’ She pointed her gun at Harald’s head and laughed again. She wasn’t at all nervous now.

Carl felt angry. He was angry with the hijackers and he was angry with himself because he had not moved fast enough to help Harald. It was good to be angry; when he was angry he did not feel so afraid.

‘How old are you?’ he asked the girl.(…) ‘Eighteen, nineteen? You’re not very old, really, are you? You’re just a child!’

The girl’s face went red. ‘I’m twenty,’ she said angrily. ‘I’m not a child!’

‘You look like a child,’ Carl said. ‘You’re only two years older than my daughter. Why are you doing this?’

The girl laughed. She didn’t look at his eyes. ‘Why? You wouldn’t understand.’

‘I don’t think you understand what you’re doing,’ Carl said. ‘None of the people in this plane has hurt you. We are all innocent. That man you killed – he wasn’t a spy, he was just an American businessman. You’ve never seen any of us before. Why do you want to kill us?’

The girl looked worried and angry. She pointed the gun straight at Carl’s head.

‘I don’t want to kill you. ‘I want your government – your wife – to set our brothers free.

‘Yes, I know,’ said Carl, carefully. He watched the gun and the girl’s face, but he was not really afraid because he was still angry. He argued with the girl as though he was arguing with his daughter. ‘But remember what your brothers did. They tried to put a bomb on a plane. They wanted to kill innocent people like us. Why?’

‘You are not innocent!’ said the girl. ‘No one is innocent! People like you, and your wife, and that American – you have money and power and you take it from my people, from us! Do you know now how I lived when I was a child? Ten people in one room, with no bath, no water, nothing! My parents had no jobs, no passports, no country, nothing! We lived in a town with ten thousand others. But ten kilometres away there were rich people like you, with big beautiful houses, fine cars, fine clothes – and they were all innocent people, like you! I tell you no one is innocent.’

She was shouting now, and nearly crying – there were tears in her eyes. Carl and Harald watched the gun carefully. ‘Poor girl,’ Carl thought. ‘Poor little murderess.’

The bearded man came out of the Captain’s cabin and put his hand on the girl’s arm. ‘Stop it, little flower,’ he said. ‘Don’t talk to them. That’s not your job.’ Then he hit Carl in the face. ‘Keep your mouth shut!’ he said. ‘Think about your wife instead. Do you see the time? I think she has forgotten you!’

Carl groaned and held his mouth with his hand. There was blood in his mouth and one of his teeth was broken. Then he looked at his watch. It was 2.23. Seven minutes left; then the half hour was over.

‘I’m sorry, my friend,’ he whispered to Harald. ‘You tried fighting, and I tried talking. But it didn’t work. I think this may be our last journey.’

11.

Helen Sandberg decided she liked Colonel Carter. (…) He did not try to be difficult because she was a woman. Best of all, they had made a plan together. A good plan, she thought; it could really work. Perhaps.

She looked at her watch: 2.23. ‘Right, Colonel, get your men ready. I’ll send the first prisoner down to you when they arrive. But where are they? Michael, have they arrived yet?’

‘No, Prime Minister. Not yet.’

‘Then where the hell are they? Can you get Inspector Holm on the car radio?’

‘They’re trying, Prime Minister.’ Michael spoke into the telephone. Colonel Carter left the room and Helen walked up and down slowly, watching the clock. 2.24.  2.25.  2.26.

‘They’ve got him, Prime Minister! He says… he says one of the cars has had an accident in the rain. He thinks he can be here in ten minutes.’ Michael looked up. There was no smile on his face at all now.

‘Ten minutes! What’s he driving – a police car, or a bicycle?’ Helen banged her fist on the table. ‘We’ve got four minutes left. OK. I want to talk to the hijackers. Get them on the radio.’

She sat down at the table while Michael called the plane. Colonel Carter came in and stood behind her. A voice came on the radio.

‘Well, Mrs Sandberg. Where are our brothers?’

‘They’re coming,’ said Helen. ‘They’ll be here in ten minutes.’

‘That is too late. I gave you half an hour. Your husband will die in four minutes.’

Helen pressed her hands flat on the table, so hard that the ends of her fingers went white. ‘Please don’t to that,’ she said.

‘I am sorry, Mrs Sandberg. But if my brothers are not here in four minutes, your husband will die.’

‘Don’t you want to see your brothers?’ she asked quickly. ‘I promise you, if you kill my husband, you’ll never see them again.’

There was a pause while no one spoke. Then the radio answered. ‘Four minutes, Mrs Sandberg.’

Helen spoke clearly, slowly, and loudly. She filled her voice with all the anger she had in her body. ‘Listen, you murderer. I need just ten minutes to get your brothers to this airport. Then I will send them to the plane. But if you kill my husband, or anyone else, then I promise you that your brothers will die, on the tarmac in front of that plane. Is that what you want? Or will you wait ten minutes?’

                                                          *

‘Oh, let’s read more! Where is the rest? Will they wait ten minutes? I’m curious.’

‘ There’s no ending,’ remarked Jane. But there is a note:

I’ll finish the story when we meet face to face 🙂

                                                                  ***  The end ***

 

(Materiał własny. Wykorzystano fragmenty: The Christmas Presents z New Yorkers  short stories  O. Henry  OUP  oraz Skyjack  Tim Vicary OUP)

  Objaśnienia:

Zaleca się posłuchać wymowy nowych słów np. korzystając ze słownika https://www.diki.pl/

Mr Right – ten jedyny, idealny partner, królewicz z bajki 

Miss Right – ta jedyna, idealna partnerka, wymarzona dziewczyna

reply – odpowiedzieć

I find them boring – uważam, że są nudni

how do you know? – skąd wiesz?

burst into laughter – wybuchnąć śmiechem

fall silent – zamilknąć

tease – droczyć się

exclaim – wykrzyknąć

announce – ogłosić

touching – wzruszająca

which makes me cry – która skłoni mnie do płaczu

like princesses – jak księżniczki

look forward to – oczekiwać czegoś z niecierpliwością

sigh – westchnąć

well worth the effort – warte wysiłku

devote – poświęcać

flash nails – jaskrawe paznokcie

let down hair – rozpuścić włosy

chain – łańcuszek

immediately – natychmiast

She could not understand the look on his face – nie mogła zrozumieć wyrazu jego twarzy

combs – tu: ozdobne grzebyki do włosów

bravery – odwaga

government – rząd

hijacker – porywacz samolotu

aboard – na pokładzie

We’ve been away for a long time – jesteśmy poza domem od długiego czasu

take off – startować

busy day – zajęty, pracowity dzień

groan – jęknąć

Liberation Army – armia wyzwoleńcza

whisper – szeptać

tarmac  – asfalt

crew – załoga

Prime Minister – premier

stare out the window – wpatrywać się za okno

suddenly – nagle

set free – uwolnić

innocent – niewinny

deal with – poradzić sobie z czymś, zająć się

make a decision – podjąć decyzję 

bend – schylić się  (bend- bent- bent)

handcuff – zakuć w kajdanki

interrupt – przerwać

she has forgotten you – zapomniała o tobie  (forget – forgot –forgotten)

instead – w zamian

accident – wypadek

curious – zaciekawiona

face to face – twarzą w twarz, ‘ na żywo’

 

SENTENCJE W J. ANGIELSKIM DLA KL. VII i VIII

A room without books is  like a body without soul    –    Pokój bez książek jest jak ciało bez duszy.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Friendship is like money: easier made than kept    –   Przyjaźń jest jak pieniądze: łatwiej ją  zdobyć niż zatrzymać                                                                                 

Samuel Butler

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light  –   Spacer w ciemnościach z przyjacielem jest lepszy niż samotny spacer przy świetle.

Helen Keller

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood  – Jedna z najpiękniejszych wartości prawdziwej przyjaźni to rozumieć i być rozumianym.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see   –   Życzliwość jest językiem, który niesłyszący może usłyszeć, a niewidomy może zobaczyć.

Mark Twain

Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own  –   Miłość jest wówczas, gdy szczęście drugiej osoby jest ważniejsze niż nasze własne.

Jackson Brown, Jr.

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later   –  Zawsze bardzo się staraj (rób co w Twojej mocy). Co zasadzisz teraz, zbierzesz później.

Og Mandino

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground   –   Trzymaj swój wzrok utkwiony w gwiazdach, a stopy na ziemi.

Theodore Roosevelt

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step   –   Podróż tysiąca mil zaczyna się od jednego kroku.

Lao Tzu

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile   –   Kiedy życie daje ci sto powodów do płaczu, pokaż mu, że masz tysiąc powodów do uśmiechu.

Unknown – autor nieznany 

Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before. – Wygrywanie nie zawsze oznacza bycia pierwszym. Zwycięstwo oznacza, że radzisz sobie lepiej, niż radziłeś wcześniej.
Bonnie Blair

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way  –  Jeden język umieszcza cię w korytarzu na całe życie. Dwa języki otwierają wszystkie drzwi po drodze.
Frank Smith

If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book  – Jeśli nie lubisz czytać, (to oznacza, że) nie znalazłeś właściwej książki.

J.K. Rowling

Follow your heart, but take your brain with you –  Idź za głosem serca, ale rozum zabieraj ze sobą.
Alfred Adler

Actions speak louder than words  –  Czyny przemawiają głośniej niż słowa.

Abraham Lincoln

 

PIOSENKI DLA KL. VII i VIII

Podane linki odsyłają do nagrań wraz ze słowami piosenek oraz do ich tłumaczenia.

 

1. Darkside  –  Alan Walker

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgZWjm8qBws

       https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,alan_walker,darkside.html

2. Perfect – Ed Sheeran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDMYw_IZnE

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,ed_sheeran,perfect.html

3.  Something Just Like This  – The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7MFYoylVs

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,the_chainsmokers,something_just_like_this_ft__coldplay_1.html

4.  Diamond Heart – Alan Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9R9VsK54ZQ

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJXZ9Dok7u8

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,alan_walker,diamond_heart.html

5. Be Happy – Dixie D’Amelio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U26Qj0ex-4A

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,dixie_d_amelio,be_happy.html

6. Blue Cafe  – Chris Rea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Lb14kRRBc

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,chris_rea,the_blue_cafe.html

 

https://mlodziezowy.pl/tlumaczenie,piosenki/C,piosenka,chris_rea,the_blue_cafe.html

 

 

                              MATERIAŁY PRZYGOTOWAWCZE DLA SZKOŁY BRANŻOWEJ I STOPNIA

 Edycja jesienna 2020

   MEET A BOOKWORM

‘Hooray! … At last holiday! No more school rings, no alarm clock, no uniform, no maths.  Wonderful! Just lying in the garden full of forget-me-nots, in the nice shade of an apple tree. With an interesting book in hand, of course.’

It was a beautiful, sunny day, the last day of school. Jane was walking slowly and lazily along a narrow street. She was looking down at the ground, lost in her pleasant thoughts. Suddenly, when the girl got to the corner of the street, she walked into somebody.

‘Sorry,’ she said, looking up. ‘Ooh! Annie?’

Jane was glad to see the girl with long red hair and green eyes. She had been her old friend since kindergarten.

‘I haven’t seen you for ages,’ Jane said happily.

‘Yes, we haven’t seen each other since I moved house,’ answered Annie.

‘But … you look really miserable,’ noticed  Jane. ‘What happened?’

‘You know … we are going on holiday to Italy and …,’ started Annie

‘That’s fantastic!’ Jane interrupted her.

‘Yes, I don’t mind going to Italy, but there’s one problem …’

‘Look, there’s a nice café nearby. Why don’t we go there and chat?’ Jane interrupted again.

‘I’d love to,’ answered Annie eagerly.

So the girls ran there.

‘Do you fancy drinking hot chocolate?’ asked Jane, when they arrived at the café. She remembered that her friend had a sweet tooth.

‘Sure. And some ice cream,’ answered Annie and smiled for a moment.

‘I’ll take the same,’ said Jane and ordered the treats.

She looked at her friend’s sad face and added, ‘Cheer up! Summer holidays have just started!’

‘Yes, holidays have just started,’ repeated Annie. ‘But imagine the holidays with an English teacher!’

‘With an English teacher? What do you mean?’ Jane asked with surprise.

‘Yes, the teacher – Mrs Novel is my mum’s friend and she is going to Italy with us. To make matters worse, she is a great fan of reading and she thinks I should read more!’

‘And what?’ Jane asked, amused.

‘So she and my mum decided to make me read ten pages of a book a day! Can you imagine that?! And they are going to see to it!’ Annie continued with grief.

‘It’s difficult for me to feel your grief  because  I really like reading.’

But Annie seemed not to hear her friend. She suddenly stood up and started to imitate Mrs Novel. ‘Everyone should read books. Reading is very important. It broadens your vocabulary, inspires you, improves your skills, memory and concentration,  helps you solve problems. Reading is good for your brain like exercise is good for your body.’

When she finished, loud clapping sounded in the corner of the café.

‘Clear and to the point!’ shouted somebody.

The girls turned around. It was a tall boy with a nice smile. Then he came up to the girls’ table.

‘I like your speech,’ he said. ‘I also enjoy reading.’

Jane laughed and Annie felt embarrassed.

‘May I join you for a moment?’ he asked.

‘Sure, go ahead’ both girls answered.

The boy sat down at their table and they started talking. His name was David and he arrived in the town to visit his grandparents.

‘As I said I am really keen on reading,’ he said.

‘Me too,’ Jane answered eagerly.

Annie didn’t know what to say. After a short while she added, ‘Some people don’t like reading.’

‘Yes, that’s true,’ agreed David. ‘But my mum says: If you don’t like reading, you haven’t found the right book  In fact, it was said by J.K. Rowling.’

‘Who is J.K. Rowling?’ asked Annie. ‘Is she your teacher?’

‘No, she is a British writer,’ explained David with a smile. ‘She’s the author of Harry Potter novels.’

Annie said nothing. She felt embarrassed again.  

They sat in silence for a while.

Then David asked, ‘Have you read anything interesting recently?’

‘Yeah,’ answered Jane. ‘I’ve just finished  Dead Man’s Island. It’s a really gripping book.’

‘Sounds good,’  said the boy. ‘And I’ve just read A Tidy Ghost’.

‘Sounds funny,’ noticed Annie. ‘Is it a scary book?’

‘No, not really,’ answered David. ‘Do you want me to tell you the plot?’

‘Sure,’ said Annie,

‘We’re all ears,’ added Jane.

‘So listen ….

A young married couple: Marilyn and Rick live in a small rented flat and they want to buy a house. So they are looking for a right advert.  They have been looking for something interesting for a long time. Finally, they find the advert for a suitable house on the new housing estate. It’s a modern detached house with gas central heating; with two bedrooms, a large living room, an excellent kitchen, and a small garden.

In fact, there are two adverts for the same house, but they are put by two different estate agents (from Norman &Naylor and Burchill & Bradley). So Marilyn calls one of the agents  –  Mrs Adams from Norman &Naylor to make an appointment to see the house.

‘Ah, yes,’ said Mrs Adams. ‘The owners of the house are both out at work all day. They’ve given us a set of keys. I can take you round the house at any time. Today, if you like.’ (…) at one o’clock. Will that be all right?’

‘That’s all right. We’ll see you then.’

Marilyn felt very excited. They had seen a lot of houses in the last few weeks, but she felt really interested in this one. She phoned Rick at work, and told him about the appointment. They agreed to meet outside Rick’s office at twenty to one.

Rick was waiting when Marilyn arrived at the office. He jumped into the car, and they drove to

Balmoral Avenue. They parked behind the blue Ford Mondeo. Mrs Adams got out, and came to meet them.

‘You know, it’s much nicer when the owners aren’t at home,’ she said. ‘Yоu can ask as many questions as you want.’

‘Yes,’ said Rick, ‘and you don’t have to agree when they tell you how nice the green and orange paint is.’

Mrs Adams laughed. ‘That’s true … now let me find the right keys. I’ve got so many sets of keys in my bag.’

Mrs Adams found the keys, and opened the door.(…)

‘It was built just over two years ago,’ said Mrs Adams, ‘and it has everything you’ll need… central heating, a modern kitchen, and it’s been decorated very well. The carpets were put in two years ago, and the cooker and fridge are included in the price.’ (…)

That evening Mrs Adams took them to see Mr and Mrs Barclay, the owners of the house. They were very nice people.

They were moving to a bigger house. Marilyn and Rick agreed to buy the house. Two months later it was theirs! They moved in during September. They spent a lot of time painting and decorating. The house didn’t really need decorating but they enjoyed doing it. The weekends were wonderful. (…)

The first of the little surprises came early in January.

Marilyn and Rick arrived home, as usual, just after six o’clock one Tuesday evening.

‘Rick,’ said Marilyn, ‘did you pick up the letters in the hall?’

‘No,’ he said, ‘you know I didn’t. You were just behind me.’

‘Well, that’s funny. Look, the post arrived after we’d left for work. It always does at this house. So, usually it’s lying on the doormat when we get home. Right?’

‘Yes,’ said Rick. ‘Why?’

‘The post isn’t on the floor now. It’s in a neat pile on the table, next to the telephone.’

Rick followed her into the hall. There were four or five letters in a pile on the hall table.

‘Maybe … maybe the post arrived earlier than usual today. Perhaps it arrived before we left for work. Maybe we picked it up, put it there, and forgot,’ he said.(…)

The next surprise was two weeks later. They had been out to dinner with friends on Wednesday evening, and they hadn’t woken up when the alarm clock rang. Rick woke up at twenty to nine. They both got dressed quickly and left home without breakfast.

They didn’t make the bed, and they left their nightclothes on the floor. They were usually very tidy people, but there wasn’t enough time. When they got home, Rick went upstairs first.

‘Marilyn,’ he said, ‘come up here.’

Marilyn walked into the bedroom. The bed was made.

Everything looked neat and tidy. She pulled back the bed covers. Rick’s pyjamas and her nightdress were folded neatly on the pillows.

‘I’m sure we didn’t make the bed,’ she said.

‘Did you come home at lunchtime?’ asked Rick.

‘No, of course not. I never do. There isn’t enough time.’

‘I didn’t come home either,’ he said. (…)                                                    

There were a few more surprises in the next few weeks. Once they found the letters on the hall table again. Another time the bathroom light was on. Rick was annoyed. He always worried about the electricity bills.

‘Did you leave the bathroom light on?’ he said angrily.

‘No,’ said Marilyn. (…)

Another time they were late for work, and they left their coffee cups on the table. When they got home, the coffee cups had been washed up, and were standing on the table.

Rick laughed. ‘Maybe there’s a ghost in the house,’ he said. ‘A very tidy ghost.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, ‘it’s a new house, not an old castle. There’s no ghost.’

 ‘I wish I had such a hardworking ghost,’ interrupted Annie.

‘Suddenly there was a flash of lightning, and the noise of thunder,’ continued David. ‘It started raining. Marilyn looked out of the window.

‘Rick,’ she said, ‘there isn’t a ghost, is there?’

They both laughed then.

They didn’t laugh at the next surprise. They had been out to dinner, and they got home late. They were both tired. They went into the living room.

‘I’ll make some tea, Rick,’ said Marilyn. “You look in the newspaper and see what’s on television.’

She went into the kitchen.

‘Marilyn,’ called Rick, ‘where’s the newspaper? I can’t find it.’

She came back into the living room. ‘It was on the coffee table. I put it there this morning.’

‘It isn’t here now,’ said Rick.

They looked everywhere for the newspaper, but they couldn’t find it anywhere.

‘I’m tired of this,’ said Rick. ‘Let’s have a drink.’ (…)

Rick opened the cupboard, and there was the newspaper! It was folded neatly, and it was lying next to the bottle.

‘Why did you put it in here?’ he said.

‘I didn’t. I was reading it before we left for work, and I put it on the coffee table,’ said Marilyn.

‘I haven’t opened this cupboard for weeks,’ said Rick. ‘Anyway, neither of us would put the newspaper in here. What’s happening?’

Marilyn sat down. ‘Rick,’ she said, ‘you don’t think there is a ghost here, do you?’

‘What? A tidy ghost? I’ve never heard of a tidy ghost.’

‘Why not?’

Rick sat down too. ‘But it’s a new house.’

‘Maybe someone died here. Maybe one of the Barclays’ parents lived with them. Maybe they died here,’ said Marilyn.

‘Or maybe there were houses here before . . . before the High Trees Estate was built.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Marilyn. ‘Maybe we should ask Mr and Mrs Barclay. We’ve got their new address.’

‘We can’t,’ said Rick, ‘it sounds so silly. “Excuse me, Mr Barclay. Did you leave a ghost here? Did you forget to take it with your furniture?” I can’t ask them.’

 

‘Ha ha,’ laughed Jane and Annie. ‘Did you leave a ghost here with your furniture. That’s funny.’

David smiled and continued the story…

‘Well,’ said Marilyn, ‘I’m going to the library tomorrow lunchtime. I’m going to discover what was here before this house was built.’

The next day, at twelve thirty, Marilyn hurried to the Sandbourne Central Library. She went over to the man at the desk.

‘Excuse me,’ she said, ‘have you got any books about the history of Sandbourne … old maps, anything like that?’

‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘I’m interested in the High Trees Estate area. I live there, and I’ve always been interested in history.’

‘Well, come over here, we’ll have a look.’

Marilyn followed the man to a shelf of books about the history of the area.

‘I’m very interested in old stories … ghost stories … things like that,’ she said.

‘Ghost stories?’ he said. ‘There won’t be many ghost stories about that area. It’s all new.’

‘Er … what was there before the housing estate?’ asked Marilyn.

‘Well, it used to be High Trees Farm. They knocked down the farm five, maybe six years ago.’

‘Have you got an old map?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I’ll find it for you,’ said the man.

When Rick came out of the office, Marilyn was waiting in the car. She opened the door.

‘Rick,’ she said, ‘I went to the library today.’

‘Why?’ he said. You don’t believe there really is a ghost, do you?’

‘I found an old map of the area,’ she said. There used to be a farm. The estate is built on an old farm.’

‘So?’ said Rick.

‘I looked at the map. (…) ‘Well, our house, number thirty-five, is right in the middle of the Avenue. Perhaps our house is just where the farmhouse used to be. I looked in another book. The farmhouse was built about two hundred years ago.’

‘That doesn’t mean there’s a ghost! There are thousands of old houses with no ghost stories. Anyway, I don’t believe in ghosts. And neither do you.’

‘Until today,’ said Marilyn. ‘Can you explain about the newspaper in the cupboard? The letters? The bed that was made? The clean coffee cups? The light in the bathroom?’

‘We’ve been very busy,’ said Rick. We’ve been busy at work, and we’ve been working hard in our free time on the house. We’re forgetting things, that’s all.’ (…)

They arrived home. Marilyn opened the door and turned on the light. There, on the hall table, was a neat pile of letters. 

A week later there was another surprise, and this time they had a row. It was the worst row since they had got married. They got home, as usual, at six o’clock. Rick went into the living room. ‘Marilyn,’ he said, ‘what’s this?’

The ashtray, which was usually on the shelf near the radio, was on the coffee table. A cigarette end was in the ashtray.

‘Who’s been here?’ said Rick.

Marilyn picked up the ashtray. ‘Look, Rick,’ she said, ‘you told me that you had stopped smoking. You know that I don’t like smoking.’

‘It’s not mine,’ he said. ‘I haven’t had a cigarette for more than two years. Have you been home today?’

‘No, I haven’t,’ she said. ‘But somebody has. I’ve never smoked. You know that.’ (…)

‘I’m going out for a walk. Don’t come with me. I want to think.’

Marilyn walked along Balmoral Avenue. All the houses were the same. They had all been built two years before. She walked round the corner into Osborne Way. There was one older house at the end of Osborne Way. It had been there before the estate was built. An old man was working in the garden.

‘Good evening,’ said Marilyn. ‘Er … have you lived here for a long time?’

‘Oh, yes, my dear,’ he said. ‘I’ve been living here for thirty years.’

‘Do you remember the old farm … the one that used to be here before the estate was built?’

‘High Trees Farm? Of course I do. I used to work there.’

‘Who lived there?’ said Marilyn.

‘Why are you interested in High Trees Farm?’ he said. You’re from one of the new houses, aren’t you?’

‘Er, yes,’ said Marilyn. ‘I’m very interested in history … the history of this area.’

‘Well, the farm belonged to old Giles Varley. He lived there by himself – since his wife died, that is. He was a strange man. Nobody liked him very much. I didn’t. He used to be a very difficult boss, you see. Everything had to be in the right place. “Don’t put that on the shelf!” he used to say to me. “Put it in the cupboard!” And the house . . . I’ve never seen a place as clean and tidy as that house. His wife had always been a very tidy woman, and he wanted to keep the house the same. Yes, poor old Varley.’

‘What happened to him?’ said Marilyn. (…)

‘It was sad,’ he said, ‘very sad. They never found the murderer, either.’

‘The murderer?’ said Marilyn.

‘That’s right. He was murdered in the old farmhouse. A robber, that’s what the police thought. I found the body, you know.’

Marilyn felt suddenly cold. ‘Well, thank you. It’s been very interesting.’

‘Good night, then,’ said the old man.

Marilyn turned round and walked home very slowly.

When she got home, Rick was in the garden. They had bought a small tree at the weekend, and Rick was putting it in the front garden. He called to her.

‘Marilyn! Come here. Look at this!’

She walked over to him. There was a hole in the ground for the tree. There were a lot of old bricks in the hole.

‘So,’ he said, ‘there was a building here before they built this house. Do you think it was the old farmhouse?’

Marilyn felt cold. (…)

And Annie felt cold when David had stopped telling the story for a while and said, ‘Look at the table.’ She looked and saw that her empty ice cream cup wasn’t there. It disappeared.

‘Anything else?’ asked the waitress behind her. She held the empty cup in her hand.

 

A few days later, both Marilyn and Rick caught flu – continued David.

They felt terrible all weekend. On Monday neither of them felt well enough to go to work. They telephoned their offices, and decided to spend the day at home. It was a boring day. They both had headaches, and they spent the day in the living room. Rick watched videos, Marilyn read a book from the library, Ghosts of Sandbourne and East Wessex. At half past two Marilyn suddenly looked up.

‘What’s that?’ she said.

They heard voices outside the front door. Then they heard the sound of a key in the lock. Rick jumped up. ‘What …?’

They heard footsteps in the hall.

‘It’s a very nice hall.’ It was a man’s voice. Rick and Marilyn looked at each other. Then the living room door began to open. Marilyn took Rick’s hand. Two men and a woman walked into the room. They stopped in surprise.

‘What are you doing here?’ said Rick angrily.

‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry,’ said one of the men. ‘I thought you were out.’

He turned to the man and woman behind him. ‘Oh, this is Mr and Mrs Patterson.

They’re very interested in your house.’

‘And who are you?’ said Marilyn.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Of course we haven’t met. I’m Michael Webb. From Burchill and Bradley. I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs Barclay.’

‘I’m not Mrs Barclay’ said Marilyn. The Barclays moved months ago. Last September.’

Rick was laughing. ‘Ah! I understand! You’re the tidy ghost.’

Mr Webb looked worried. ‘The tidy ghost? I don’t understand …’

‘Yes, the tidy ghost,’ said Rick. He turned to Marilyn. The letters, the nightclothes, the newspaper …

 Marilyn was laughing too. ‘… the cigarette, the coffee cups, the bathroom light,’ she said.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Mr Webb, ‘I really don’t understand.’

 

And I don’t understand – said Ann

‘Do you remember; the advert for the house was put by two agents’ explained David.

‘So keep listening….’

 

‘We bought the house from the Barclays. We bought it through Norman and Naylor … and you’re from Burchill and Bradley, the other estate agents!’ said Marilyn.

‘Oh, I see!’ said Mr Webb. The Barclays never told us that the house had been sold. I’ve been showing the house to people for six months. I am sorry. The Barclays gave us a set of keys, and told us to show people the house when they were at work.’

Marilyn smiled. ‘And you’ve been tidying the house for us, haven’t you?’ she said.

Mr Webb looked uncomfortable and embarrassed.

‘Er, yes,’ he said. ‘You see, I usually arrive before the people that want to see the house. So … I’ve been coming in and … er, tidying things.’

‘And the cigarette?’ said Marilyn.

‘Yes, I’m sorry about that. I brought a lady to see the house, Mrs Green. She wanted a cigarette while we were talking about the house. I forgot to throw it away. I remembered later in the evening. Didn’t you know that it was someone looking at the house?’

‘Well, no … we didn’t,’ said Marilyn.

‘Oh, dear,’ said Mr Webb. ‘I hope there wasn’t any trouble about it.’

‘I thought my husband had started smoking again,’ she said.(…)

‘I’m very, very sorry,’ he said.

Marilyn smiled. She looked at Mr and Mrs Patterson, who were looking embarrassed too.

‘It’s a pity,’ said Mrs Patterson. ‘It’s a lovely house, and it’s a lovely area.’

‘Yes, well, it’s my fault. I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time,’ said Mr Webb.

‘It isn’t your fault,’ Marilyn said. The Barclays didn’t tell you they had moved. Look, can I get you all a cup of tea?’

‘Yes, please take a seat,’ said Rick. ‘I know that Mr and Mrs Collins at number twenty-nine are trying to sell their house. It’s just the same as this one. Perhaps we’re going to be neighbours!’

Mr and Mrs Patterson sat down. Mr Patterson picked up Marilyn’s book which was lying on the coffee table.

‘Hmm,’ he said, ‘Ghosts of Sandbourne and East Wessex. I hope there aren’t any ghosts round here.’

‘Oh, no,’ said Marilyn, ‘there aren’t any ghosts round here. They’re all new houses.’

She went into the kitchen to make the tea. They had had a cup of tea and a sandwich an hour earlier, and she hadn’t washed up. There, on the kitchen table was the teapot, and a neat pile of plates and cups. She opened the teapot. It was clean!

‘But…’ she said. Then she heard a laugh behind her. It was Rick. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘it was me. I came out and washed up half an hour ago. Don’t you remember?’

 

‘Very funny,’ said Jane when David finished telling the story. ‘And you remember a lot of details.’

‘Yeah. As Annie said before: reading improves memory,’ he said. ‘And I read a lot.’

‘How many pages a day do you read?’ asked Annie.

‘Pages a day?’ David was surprised. ‘I don’t count pages. If a book is gripping I sometimes read the book for two or three days.’

‘Incredible,’ said Annie. She was really amazed.

 ‘Anyway, what about your book, Jane?’ asked David. ‘Could you tell us the plot?’

‘Sure, in short…. So listen…..

One of the main characters is a girl called Carol. At the beginning of the story, she is an ordinary teenager growing up happily in Hong Kong. She lives with her parents, goes to school, has lots of friends an likes pop music. Her favourite singer is Jake Rosso. Carol listens to his records all the time and she has hundreds of his photos on her bedroom wall.

One day Jake Rosso dies in a car accident. Then, even worse things happen: her beloved dad dies in a plane crash. Carol is very unhappy and starts getting into trouble so her mother takes her back to England. There, they find a job advert in a newspaper. It is for a temporary job as a secretary on a Scottish island. They go to the private island and Carol’s mum gets the job. She starts to work for James Ross, a rich businessman, and Carol helps in the garden. The mysterious businessman  is a sad-looking young man with short hair, moustache and glasses. He never leaves the island and he doesn’t like visitors. Nobody can take a photo of him. Carol guesses that he hides something. James Ross reminds her of somebody, but she doesn’t know who.  One day the girl discovers a half-hidden door in the house. Two nights later, Carol sees Mr Ross, he comes out of the locked room and hides the key. In the morning she takes the key and goes into the room. It is full of memorabilia. Carol realises who the businessman really is. She also finds out why he is on the island.’

 

Jane stopped telling the story.

‘Go on,’ said David. ‘Who is the man? Why is he on the island?’

‘Is he Carol’s dad?’ asked Annie.

‘No, he is a young man,’ answered Jane. ‘But I won’t tell you who he is. You can read the book and find out yourself.’

After a while, Jane stood up and added, ‘I must go now, before they close the library.’

‘I’ll go with you,’ said Annie.

‘Can we meet here tomorrow at the same time?’ asked David.

‘Great,’ answered the girls. ‘See you then.’

‘Maybe I’ll read something for tomorrow and tell you,’ said Annie.

‘At least ten pages,’ added Jane. And she smiled knowingly at Annie.

*** The end ***

[Materiał własny; zawiera cytaty z A Tidy Ghost,  Peter Viney. Wyd. Oxford University Press

Objaśnienia:

Zaleca się posłuchać wymowy nowych słów, korzystając np.  ze słownika https://www.diki.pl/

full of forget-me-nots  – pełen niezapominajek

lost in thoughts – pogrążona w myślach

kindergarten – przedszkole

move house – przeprowadzić się

interrupt – przerwać

nearby – w pobliżu

I’d love to – z miłą chęcią, z przyjemnością

Do you fancy … – czy masz ochotę ….

arrive  – przybyć  (arrive at – przybyć do budynku, na dworzec   arrive in – przybyć do państwa, miasta)

have a sweet tooth (idiom) – lubić słodycze

order – zamówić

treats – smakołyki

Cheer up – rozchmurz się

What do you mean? – co masz na myśli?

To make matters worse … – co gorsza …

amused – rozbawiona

make me read – skłonić / zmusić mnie do czytania

see to it – dopilnować tego

grief – żal, rozpacz  

seem – wydawać się, sprawiać wrażenie

she seemed not to hear her  – sprawiała wrażenie, że jej  nie słyszy

imitate – naśladować

broaden – poszerzać, rozszerzać

improve – poprawiać, udoskonalać

clear and to the point – jasne i do rzeczy

turn around – odwrócić się

embarrassed – zakłopotana

join – dołączyć, przyłączyć się

go ahead – śmiało (jako zachęta do zrobienia czegoś)

As I said … – jak powiedziałem …

be keen on – przepadać za czymś, lubić coś

eagerly – z zapałem, z przejęciem, ochoczo

gripping – wciągająca, porywająca

sound –  brzmieć, wydawać się

Do you want me to tell you … – czy chcesz / chcecie żebym opowiedział ci /wam …

plot – fabuła

We’re all ears – ‘zamieniamy się w słuch’

married couple  –  para małżeńska

rented flat – wynajęte mieszkanie

advert – ogłoszenie, reklama

suitable – odpowiednie

housing estate – osiedle mieszkaniowe

detached house – dom jednorodzinny, wolnostojący

in fact – właściwie, w rzeczywistości

which are put by – które są umieszczone przez

estate agent – pośrednik nieruchomości

appointment – umówione spotkanie (“appointment” to umówione spotkanie służbowe lub     z urzędnikiem/ lekarzem, a nie spotkanie ze znajomym)

make an appointment – umówić spotkanie

owner – właściciel

take somebody round (around) – oprowadzać kogoś

as many… as – tak dużo jak

included – włączony, uwzględniony

pick up – podnosić

doormat – wycieraczka

neat – uporządkowany

pile – stos

make the bed – pościelić łóżko

bed cover – narzuta na łóżko

either – też nie

bills  – rachunki

I wish I had – chciałabym mieć (żałuję, że nie mam)

flash of lightning – błyskawica

thunder – grzmot

folded – złożony

it used to be – kiedyś było (a teraz już nie)

knock down – zburzyć

neither – też nie

row – kłótnia

ashtray – popielniczka

belong to – należeć do

hole – dół, dziura

ground – ziemia, grunt

brick – cegła

disappear  – zniknąć

catch flu – ‘złapać’ grypę  (catch – caught)

hear – usłyszeć

keep listening – słuchaj dalej

bring – (tutaj) przyprowadzić  (bring –brought)

a pity – szkoda

fault  – wina

incredible – niewiarygodne

amazed – zdumiona

ordinary – zwykła

grow up – dorastać

beloved –  ukochany

plane crash – katastrofa lotnicza

get into trouble  – wpaść w tarapaty

temporary job – praca tymczasowa

remind of somebody – przypominać kogoś

memorabilia – pamiątki

realise – zdać sobie sprawę

find out – dowiedzieć się

 

SENTENCJE W J. ANGIELSKIM DLA SZKOŁY BRANŻOWEJ I STOPNIA

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground   –   Trzymaj swój wzrok utkwiony w gwiazdach, a stopy na ziemi

Theodore Roosevelt

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step   –   Podróż tysiąca mil zaczyna się od jednego kroku

Lao Tzu

Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own  –   Miłość jest wówczas, gdy szczęście drugiej osoby jest ważniejsze niż nasze własne

Jackson Brown, Jr.

Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before.  –  Wygrywanie nie zawsze oznacza bycie pierwszym. Zwycięstwo oznacza, że radzisz sobie lepiej, niż radziłeś wcześniej
Bonnie Blair

A room without books is  like a body without soul    –   Pokój bez książek jest jak ciało bez duszy

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Follow your heart, but take your brain with you – Idź za głosem serca, ale rozum zabieraj ze sobą.
Alfred Adler

If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book  – Jeśli nie lubisz czytać, (to oznacza, że) nie znalazłeś właściwej książki.

J.K. Rowling

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see   –   Życzliwość jest językiem, który niesłyszący może usłyszeć, a niewidomy może zobaczyć.

Mark Twain

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile   –   Kiedy życie daje ci sto powodów do płaczu, pokaż mu, że masz tysiąc powodów do uśmiechu.

Unknown – autor nieznany 

Actions speak louder than words  –  Czyny przemawiają głośniej niż słowa.

Abraham Lincoln

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world – Dla świata możesz być tylko jedną osobą, ale dla jednej osoby możesz być (całym) światem

   Snyder

There is something beautiful in everyday. You just have to find it –  Jest coś pięknego w codzienności, tylko musisz to odnaleźć.

Unknown

You will never win if you never begin – Nigdy nie wygrasz, jeśli nigdy nie zaczniesz. 

Helen Rowland

 

PIOSENKI  DLA  SZKOŁY  BRANŻOWEJ I STOPNIA

        Podane linki odsyłają do nagrań wraz ze słowami piosenek oraz do ich tłumaczenia.

1. Perfect – Ed Sheeran

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDMYw_IZnE

  https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,ed_sheeran,perfect.html

2. If I were sorry – Frans

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Jek-r2G-Q

   https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,frans,if_i_were_sorry.html

3. My life is going on – Cecilia Krull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehZFyxRbyd0

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,cecilia_krull,my_life_is_going_on.html

4. Zayde Wolf – Heroes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Ry4qpMXqs

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,zayde_w_lf,heroes.html

5. Shallow – Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPot3IZuJq8

https://www.groove.pl/lady-gaga-bradley-cooper/shallow/piosenka/940045

6. Diamond Heart – Alan Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9R9VsK54ZQ

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJXZ9Dok7u8

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,alan_walker,diamond_heart.html

7. Be Happy – Dixie D’Amelio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U26Qj0ex-4A

https://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,dixie_d_amelio,be_happy.html