Listening Linda Goes to Liverpool
Linda found a seat in a compartment that was full of middle-aged businessmen. One of them offered to put her case on the rack for her. She politely told him she could do it herself. The man started talking to her after she had sat down. She tried to avoid getting into a conversation but it was impossible. He was one of those
boring types that go on talking even if nobody is interested.
When she casually mentioned that she was going to Liverpool in order to do a report on the city, he began telling her all about the place. Several hours went by. He talked and talked. Linda hardly said anything. Finally, the train got into Liverpool. The man kept on talking until the very last minute. Linda got up to go. Just then he invited her to a party. He said he would introduce her to all his friends so that she could learn more about Liverpool Linda politely refused and hurried out of the compartment She could still hear the man's voice. He was talking to someone else in the compartment and she happened to catch a few words.
"Nice girl", he was saying. "But you know, she talked so much that I could hardly put in a word."
Questions: Who else was in the compartment? What did the man do when Linda came in? What did Linda try to avoid? Why? Why was she going to Liverpool? What happened when she mentioned this? What happened during the journey? What happened just after the train got into Liverpool?
Mark Twain in France
Mark Twain, the famous American writer, was travelling in France. Once he was going by train to Dijon. That afternoon he was very tired and wanted to sleep. So he asked the conductor to wake him up and put him off the train when they reached Dijon.
"I shall probably protest," he said to the conductor, "because I am a heavy sleeper, but do not pay any attention to that. Put me off the train anyway."
A few minutes later Mark Twain went to sleep. Later, when he woke up, it was night and the train was already in Paris. He understood that the conductor had forgotten to wake him up in Dijon. He was very angry. He ran up to the conductor and began to shout at him. "I have never been so angry in my life", he said. The conductor looked at him calmly. "You are not half so angry as the American whom I put off the train in Dijon."
Questions: Where was Mark Twain travelling once? What did he ask the conductor to do? What did he warn the conductor about? When did Mark Twain wake up? He was very angry, wasn't he? Why didn't the conductor put him off the train in Dijon?
A Vacant Seat
It was Sunday. The trains were crowded A man was looking for a seat in a carriage. Suddenly he saw a vacant seat. But a small suitcase lay on that seat and a well-dressed gentleman was
sitting next to it. "Is this seat vacant?" asked the man. "No, it isn't. It's my friend's seat. He will soon come. He has gone out to buy some cigarettes," the gentleman said.
"Well", said the man. "I'll sit here till he comes." Ten minutes later the train started but nobody came. "Your friend is late", said the man. "He has missed his train but he mustn't lose his suitcase." With these words he took the suitcase and threw it out of the window. The well-dressed gentleman got up and tried to catch the suitcase. But it was too late. It was his suitcase and he had taken a second seat for his own comfort.
Questions: What was the man looking for? Did he find a vacant seat? What did the well-dressed gentleman say? What did the man decide to do? What happened when the train started?
At the Station
Steve: I was waiting on the platform for the Bristol train when a lady asked me if I knew the time of the next train to Oxford. I often have to go to Oxford myself, so I knew. A few minutes later a man wanted to know whether the train for Bristol had already left. I knew that it hadn't so of course I told him. The man inquired why the train from Birmingham was late. I didn't know but I told him it was usually because of the line repairs. I couldn't understand why all these people were asking me questions. Then I noticed that I was standing next to a big sign that said: "Information." Questions: What train was Steve waiting for? What questions was he asked? What did he answer? Why did people keep asking him questions?
Seeing off
One evening three men came onto the platform and asked the porter: "What time is the next train to Liverpool?" The porter said: "You have just missed one. But they go every hour. The next one is at 10 o'clock." "That's all right," they said, "we'll go and have a drink."
They went to the refreshment room. A minute or two after 10 o'clock they came running and said to the porter: "Has the train gone^" "Yes", he said, "it went at ten o'clock as I told you. The next is at eleven o'clock." "That's all right." they said, "we'll go and have another drink." So they went back to the refreshment room.
They missed the eleven o'clock train in the same way, and the porter said: "Now the next train is the last one; if you miss that, you won't get to Liverpool tonight."
Twelve o'clock came, and the last train was just starting out when the three of them came out of the refreshment room running as fast as they could. Two of them got in a carriage just as the train was leaving, but the third one didn't run fast enough and the train went out leaving him behind. He stood there looking at the train and laughing, as if to miss a train was the best joke in the world. The porter went up to him and said: "I told you that this was the last train Why didn't you come earlier?"
The man couldn't answer because he was laughing. Then he said to the porter: "Did you see those two men get into the train and leave me here?" "Yes, I saw them." "Well, I was the one who was going to Liverpool; they only came here to see me off!"
Questions: Why did the three men come to the station? How often did the trains to Liverpool go? Where did the three men go to kill the time before the journey? Did they catch the 10 o'clock train? What happened a few minutes after 11 o'clock? What time was the last train to Liverpool? Did the men catch it? Why was the third man laughing?
My Uncle Tom
My uncle Tom worked on the railway. It wasn't a big station, it was a little place called Lowton Cross. Only about two trains a day stopped there, and Tom was station-master, chief porter all in one. In fact Tom did any work that came along. Lowton Cross was the pride of his heart; the waiting-room was cleaned every day by the chief cleaner (Tom); the chairs were polished by the chief polisher (Tom); and the tickets were sold and collected by the chief ticket-collector (Tom) — sometimes there were as many as four tickets a day — and the money was counted every evening by the chief clerk (Tom)
That station was run well. Tom was very strict about rules. He knew what a passenger was allowed to do and was not allowed to do. He was there for 50 years and then he had to retire. There is no doubt that Tom did his job well, in all the 50 years he never missed a single day. So the railway company wanted to thank him for hib job. A man from the head office was asked to go to Lowton Cross to do it.
Tom was thanked and was given a small cheque as a present He was very pleased, of course, but he said to the man: "1 don't need the money. But can 1 have something that will remind me of the happy days 1 have spent in Lowton Cross?" The man asked him what he wanted. "Well, sir, could the Company let me have a part of an old railway carriage? It doesn't matter how old or broken it is I want to put it in my garden, and every day I can go and sit in it."
About a week later a carriage was sent and was taken into Tom's garden. Tom worked at it, and it was cleaned and painted and polished. Soon we went to see Tom. It was a bad day for a visit. It began to rain as we got off the train, and by the time we got to Tom's house it was raining hard. We knocked but there was no answer. Tom wasn't in the house. We thought he was in his carriage. Sure enough, he was there, but he was not sitting in his carriage, he was outside, on the step of the carriage smoking his pipe. His head was covered with a sack. We asked him why he did not go inside the carriage. "Can't you see," said Tom, "the carriage they sent me was a non-smoker."
Questions: Where did uncle Tom work? How many trains a day stopped at the station? What kind of work did uncle Tom do? What did the Company do to thank Tom? What present did uncle Tom want to receive? What present was uncle Tom given? Who came to see uncle Tom once? What was the weather like that day? Where did Tom's relatives find him? What were they surprised at? Why didn't Tom go inside the carriage?