Чтение в 4 классе
книга по иностранному языку (4 класс) по теме

ALAN'S   NEW  SCHOOL

Read Alan's letter and say if he likes his new school and why.

New words:

Headmaster  — директор школы

private  — частный

term  — четверть, семестр

navy blue— темно-синий цвет

a tie  — галстук

a rule  — правило

to smoke  — курить

a bicycle  — велосипед

to be sure  — быть уверенным

primary  — начальный

to hand in — сдавать

to keep smth in (good) repair —содержать что-то в порядке

we must behave at all times with courtesy, consideration  and common sense — мы всегда должны быть обходительными, предупредительными, соблюдать правила вежливости и здравого смысла

           Dear David,

I'm writing to you to tell you how much I like my new school, I like everything: the teachers, my new friends and the food there, everybody is very nice and I feel quite at home now. I like our classrooms too. They are nice with large windows, comfortable desks and carpets on the floors.

I  think our  school  has  got a  wonderful  name.   It's called Halliford School. Our Headmaster's name is John Crook. He is a very nice man and he is also our Maths teacher. Halliford School is a private school. Classes begin at 8.50. School is over at 3.55. Myfriends and I usually meet at half past eight. I join them in the school yard before classes and we talk, play, sing and laugh a lot.

Our lunch time is from 12.40 till 1.50. We study on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and   Friday. We never have classes on Saturday and Sunday.

There are many subjects on our timetable. They are: English, Maths, History, Geography, Handicrafts, P. E., Music, Arts, Computing. I think they all are very interesting and very important. We have three terms: Autumn term, Spring term and Summer term.

We usually wear uniforms at our school. It is a navy blue blazer with the school badge on it, grey trousers, a grey or a white shirt, grey socks, black shoes and a tie. When it is cold we wear pullovers and coats. I have a special uniform for my football and P. E. classes. I'm sending my school rules to you. We don't have many, but those which we have I think are very important.

We must wear uniforms and not be late for school and classes. We must have pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, exercise-books, our diaries and all the necessary books for our class. We must hand in our homework on time. We mustn't smoke at school, and if we have bicycles, we must keep them in a good state of repair and we must behave at all times with courtesy, consideration and common sense, which is not always easy you understand.

But I'm sure my life here will be more interesting than it was in my primary school. I am older too. I am twelve now. We spend much time outdoors. Sometimes our teachers take us to famous museums and other interesting places in London. Our teachers often say that pupils at school are not only to learn the lessons and work (usually in the classrooms, practical rooms or laboratories, on the sports grounds) but to learn how to get on with other pupils and other members of the school who look after us and the school. We learn how to live together with people of different ages.

That's all for the moment. Write to me as soon you can.

Hope to see you at Christmas.

Love,

                                                                Alan

1. Find in the text and read the answers to the questions.

1. What does Alan like about his school?
2. Why does he like the classrooms in Halliford School?
3. Who is the Headmaster? What subject does he teach? What kind of person is he?
4. When do the classes begin and when are they over?
5. When do pupils have lunch?
6. Pupils have classes every day, don't they?
7. What subjects do they have on the timetable?
8. What's their uniform?
9. What are the school rules?

10. What places do teachers and pupils visit when they go to London?

2. Discuss the school rules. Do you like them?

1. Pupils must wear uniforms.
2. Pupils must not be late for school and for lessons.
3. Pupils must always have with them a pen, pencil, ruler, diary and all the necessary books.
4. Homework must be done and handed in on time.
5. Smoking is forbidden.
6. Pupils who go to school by bicycles must keep them in a good state of repair.
7. Pupils must behave at all times with courtesy, consideration and common sense.

AT THE ROYAL BALLET SCHOOL

Read the text and prove that Judy is a real friend.

New words:

royal  —королевский

ballet— 1) балет; 2) балетный

French  — французский

a quarter— четверть

'prep' — зд. время для подготовки к занятиям

either— тоже

a can  — консервная банка

to continue— продолжать

real  — настоящий, действительный

to remain — оставаться

Judy is a pupil at the Royal Ballet School. She is in the second year class where all the pupils are twelve years old. There are about 120 boys and girls at the Ballet School. Their ages are from eleven to sixteen. Judy's school life is not easy at all. She has man subjects on her timetable. She learns the English language and Literature, French, History, Geography, Mathematics, Biology, Music and Art. Judy and her friends also have a special subject the History of ballet. It is very important. Every day the pupils learn to dance and have a one hour ballet class on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. After the second year, dance classes are longer. The pupils dance for one hour and a quarter every day. In the fourth and fifth years they have an hour and a half of ballet lessons. Judy spends a lot of time with her schoolmates and gets on well with all of them. But her best friend is called Penny. They sit at the same desk, meet each other before and after classes and often do lessons together.

Penny and Judy like dancing very much. They are never late for the ballet class which begins at half past ten in the morning and finishes at 11.30, but the girls get up early in the morning — usually at 7 o'clock, because school starts at half past eight. The girls learn a lot, fast and easily in their ballet classes and they often remain at school after classes to learn the different positions for arms and feet. There are five basic positions. These are three hundred years old. The girls have 'prep' after supper and have only half an hour free before bedtime. Sometimes Judy and Penny feel tired after their busy day, but they are happy too. Ballet is certainly hard work, but they love it. They also like to sing songs.

Judy doesn't have any problems with the other subjects either, but Penny is poor at reading. When she joined the school last year, she thought she could read very well. She was sure that fast reading was the best kind of reading, so she always tried to read as fast as she could. Sometimes Penny read so quickly that one letter looked just like another. Sometimes she even left out letters. One day Penny's teacher said, "Today we'll read a story. It's about eight cats. Who would like to read first?" "I would!" cried Penny. "I can read fast." "All right, Penny," said her teacher. "Read the story, please, but remember fast reading is not always the best reading." Penny started all right, but soon she began to read faster. This is what she suddenly said:

"One day eight cats saw a lady jump out of a can." The children began to laugh, because the story read:

"One day eight cats saw a lady jump out of a car."

Penny looked at the text again and reread it: "Now I have it right," she said smiling and then continued to read.

There were many funny things like that in Penny's life. One day she ran home from school and looked in the shop window. This is what she saw:

"Children's Clothes. Best Buy of the Year."

But that was what she read:

"Chicken's Clothes. Best Buy of the Year."

She laughed, "I never heard of clothes for chickens before!"

On the door of the pet shop she read:

"Buy a pet monkey today"

But Penny said:

"Buy a pig money today."

Penny laughed, "Who would want to buy a pig some money and why?"

Judy was a real friend so she always helped Penny with her reading, now Penny's reading is becoming a bit slower, but it is still difficult for her to read slowly.

1. Divide the story into logical parts and give a name to each of them.

From Tom Sawyer

by Mark Twain

The novel Tom Sawyer describes the life of an American boy who had a lot of interesting adventures in a small town on the Mississippi. In the following passage Tom Sawyer Whitewashes the fence

Read the text and answer the following question:

What method did Tom Sawyer use to whitewash the fence?

It was Saturday morning, and all the summer world was bright and fresh. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music was also at the lips. There was optimism in every face and a spring in every step. Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long brush. He looked at the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down in his heart. Tom dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the small whitewashed part with the big continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down depressed.

Jim came out of the gate with a bucket. Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom's eyes before, but now he didn't think so. He remembered that there was a company at the pump. White, mulatto and negro boys and girls were always there waiting, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling and fighting. And he remembered that although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards away, Jim never got back with a bucket of water within an hour and even then somebody usually had to go after him. Tom said: "Say, Jim, I'll bring the water if you whitewash some." But Jim didn't like the idea. "I don't think aunt Polly will be pleased" - he said and in another moment he was running down the street with his bucket.

Tom continued working but the fence was too long. Suddenly he had an idea. There were many important things in his pockets: bits of toys, old coins, marbles... He could buy other boys' work for these.

Ben Rogers was the first boy who appeared. He stopped eating an apple and watched Tom and then said:

"Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?"

Tom turned suddenly around and said:

"Why, it's you, Ben! I haven't noticed you."

"I want to go swimming, I do. Don't you wish to go? Of course you do. But you must do the work first."

"What do you call work?" - replied Tom Sawyer.

"Why, isn't that work?" - answered Ben.

Tom stopped whitewashing, and answered carelessly:

"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.

All I know is that it suits Tom Sawyer."

"Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it?"

The brush continued to move.

"Like it? Well, I don't see why I can't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"

That put the thing in a new light9. Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, looked at the work critically, added a touch here and there. Ben got more and more interested, and presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little." Tom wanted to agree but then changed his mind:

"No, I can't give it to you. It is the fence in the street. Aunt Polly thinks it's really important. If it were the back fence I wouldn't mind and she wouldn't."

"Is that so? Oh come, now let me just try. Only just a little. I would let you, if you were me, Tom."

"Ben, I'd like to, but Aunt Polly... Well, Jim wanted to do it, but she didn't let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she didn't let Sid."

"I'll give you all of it!" - Ben showed an apple.

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance10 in his face, but happy in his heart.

And while Ben worked in the sun, Tom sat in the shade, eating his apple, and planned how to catch other boys.

There was no lack of material; boys happened along one after another; they came to laugh at Tom, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite, in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller took his place for a dead rat and a string to swing it with and so on, and so on, hour after hour. When the middle of the afternoon came, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had twelve marbles, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a toy soldier, six firecrackers, a kitten with only one eye, a dog collar but no dog, the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel.

Tom had a nice, good, free time all the while: a big company and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he had more whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village. Tom said to himself that it was not such a sad world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it namely, that to make a person do a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have understood that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.

Tom thought about it for some time and then went to the boss to report.

Words for Memorizing

to compare - сравнивать

to wait - ожидать

to rest - отдыхать

to trade - торговать, обменивать

to quarrel - ссориться

to remember - помнить

to be pleased - быть довольным

to turn around - повернуться

to notice - заметить

suddenly - вдруг

to suit somebody - подходить кому-либо

to change one's mind - передумать, изменить решение

to let somebody do something - позволить кому-либо что-то

to run out of - иссякать, закончиться

to be obliged to - быть вынужденным

within an hour / in an hour - в течении часа / через час

HEIDI

(After Johanna Spyri)

Do you want to know something about two little cousins — Heidi and Clara, two little girls who lived in Switzerland? Then read the first part of the story "Heidi" and say why Heidi loved mountains so much.

Part I

Once upon a time there lived a sweet little girl — Heidi was her name. She lived in the Swiss Alps with her grandfather. Heidi led a quiet life in the mountains. She loved to hear the sound of the winds, which almost spoke to her and helped her to get home. She loved to speak with the sweet flowers which grew in her garden. Every day in summer she went up the mountains to see her friend Peter. Peter looked after a lot of goats and Heidi helped him. She was friends with all Peter's goats and never forgot their names. They played different games; Heidi danced in the fields and sang beautiful songs. In winter she stayed at home with her grandfather. Sometimes Peter visited her and they went on foot down the mountains to see Peter's granny who was nearly 80, and Heidi read to her.

One day Heidi's aunt from Frankfurt came to see them. She explained to Heidi that it was time for her to go to school. Heidi became sad. She didn't want to make the long journey, she didn’t want to live in a big city but she had to go. So, Heidi went off to Frankfurt, far away.

It was really a very long journey. They travelled by bus and by car, they flew by plane and soon they arrived at the railway station where they bought tickets to Frankfurt. Over the plains, over the rivers, the train took them to the city.

When they arrived in Frankfurt they went straight to Heidi's aunt's home.

Heidi's aunt had a daughter. Her name was Clara. Clara was very ill. She always spoke with a kind weak voice. Clara couldn't walk or stand. She ate from a silver plate and drank from a silver cup. Heidi loved Clara very much and often told her about the mountains, about her grandfather, about Peter, and about the goats. She often looked at Clara and said: "I want to take you to the mountains. Our journey won't be very difficult. We'll take a train, we will take little luggage with us and you won't be tired. You'll love it in the mountains and I'm sure you'll feel strong very soon." Perhaps we'll go some day," answered Clara. The days went by. The doctor who came to see Clara every week spoke to Heidi's aunt. "Heidi is becoming ill. She hasn't sung songs for a long time. She hasn't danced any dances. She is always very sad. I think she has to go back to her mountains. She is very homesick. You must send her home. She has to go home, or else she will be very ill."

The next day Heidi was ready to go back to the mountains she loved. Heidi and Clara cried when they had to leave each other. But Heidi said: "You'll come to visit us soon, and then you'll see how beautiful it is in the mountains. You will get well and strong there. Don't go to the seaside, come and see me. I can't live without the mountains. You'll find them fantastic too. I'll take some pictures of them and I will send them to you. Bye-bye, Clara, dear. Don't forget me!"

Arrange the sentences in a logical order according to the text.  

Then use them as a plan and retell Part I.

1. Clara's doctor decided to send Heidi to the mountains.
2. Heidi became friends with Clara.
3. Heidi lived in the Swiss Alps.
4. Heidi had a long journey to Frankfurt.
5. Heidi became homesick.
6. Heidi's aunt took her niece to Frankfurt.
7. Heidi often talked with Clara about the mountains.
8. Heidi spent much time in the mountains in summer.

ONE DARK NIGHT

Do you want to know what happened to Frank and Caroline? Then read the story.

New words:

to stay  — 1) оставаться; 2) останавливаться (в гостинице, отеле)

petrol — бензин

to find — находить

to go round the corner — завернуть за угол

double — комната в гостинице с двумя кроватями

however — тем не менее

noise — шум

horribly —жутко, отвратительно

a ghost — привидение

a fancy dress — карнавальный костюм

to be sure —

to join —

to believe —

It was a cold Thursday night. Frank and Caroline Brown were driving in their car. They were going to Brighton to spend two weeks at the sea in Mrs Harris's small house. Frank and Caroline usually stayed there during their summer holidays.

The house was small but very comfortable, with a lovely garden behind it. Mrs Harris liked her quiet place but when the Browns came she often left for London and visited her friends who lived there. Mrs Harris always left the house keys with Frank and Caroline and they looked after all the rooms in the house and all the flowers in the garden.

The largest place in the house was the kitchen. It was the most comfortable room too. There was not much furniture in it: a cooker, a fridge, a cupboard, a table, some chairs and Mrs Harris's armchair. The furniture was old, but very nice. It made the kitchen look very special.

So that autumn night, the 31st of October, Frank and Caroline left for Brighton in their car and were thinking about their quiet, autumn holiday in Mrs Harris's house. All was well, when suddenly the car stopped. Something was wrong with it. Frank was sure there was a lot of petrol in the car. "What are we going to do?" Caroline asked. "I'm going to find a telephone," said Frank. "Frank, I would like to join you. You know, I'm afraid. It is so dark. It is so late." But Frank answered: "No, dear, you stay in the car. It is very cold outdoors. I'll lock the car. Here are the keys. No one will come to you. But if something happens, just shout!"

Half an hour later Caroline was sleeping in the car. Frank opened the door.

"Caroline! It's me. Wake up. It's time to go. You won't believe me. There is a hotel near here. I went round that corner and saw it. They've got a room for us tonight. It's on the second floor and it is not too expensive."

"Did you find a telephone?"

"No, I didn't. But we can find one and phone the garage in the morning."

(In the hotel, in their double room.)

"How do you like the room, Caroline? I think I like it a lot." "I'm not sure, Frank. There is too much furniture here: a wardrobe, a standard-lamp, a sofa, a cupboard. Look, there is even a fridge in the room next to the bookcase. However the room isn't that comfortable. There is no carpet on the floor, there aren't any curtains on the windows, there is no fireplace in the room and it's rather cold too."

"OK, OK. I'll go downstairs and tell them. I'll also ask them to set the table and bring us something to eat. There is a fridge and a cupboard in the room, but there isn't any food in them."

Frank went downstairs and suddenly he heard some terrible noise. Somebody was laughing, he turned and then he couldn't believe his own eyes. He saw a man in a long dark coat. The man was smiling horribly. He had very big front teeth. Frank was very much afraid of the man. He couldn't  tell  if  it was a real man or a ghost. Frank ran upstairs to his room and said, "Caroline, we are leaving the hotel now. I saw a man and he was horrible and he made some horrible noises too. Come on! I'm not staying here." Caroline and Frank ran downstairs very quickly, but they stopped in the hall.

1.        And now think and explain:

• Why did they stop in the hall?

• What did they see there?

• What do you think the end of the story is?

2. How do you think did the story end?

 Now read the real end of the story "One dark Night".

Caroline and Frank ran downstairs very quickly but they stopped in the hall. There were very many people wearing fancy dresses there. They were wearing hats and special costumes for a party. They all were smiling and laughing. It was the 31st of October, Hallowe'en and the people in the hotel were celebrating that famous English holiday.

3.  Find and read the sentences to illustrate the picture.

SHOES FOR GINGER

Read the text and say why Ginger wrote a letter

to her granny

for occasions – на выход, на праздник

to get the news – узнать новость

enough – довольно, достаточно

to hurt – болеть, причинять боль

to decide - решить

Ginger liked shoes. But she only had two pairs. She had a brown pair for school and a black pair for occasions but didn't think that two pairs were enough.

So one day Ginger said to her mother, "I have only two pairs of shoes. I need more." "You are still growing," said her mother. "Two pairs of shoes are enough."

Then Ginger got an idea. "Maybe grandmother will help me," she thought. So Ginger sat down and started this letter:

Dear Grandmother,

You asked what I wanted for my birthday this year. I would like some new shoes. I wear size two. Please tell all my aunts and uncles. I  can wear  any kind of shoes.  I  like all colours.

Please come for a visit soon,

Ginger

Ginger had many, many aunts and many uncles too. When they got the news, all her aunts and uncles ran out to buy shoes for Ginger and her grandmother bought her a pair of shoes too.

On Ginger's birthday many boxes arrived at her house. Ginger smiled as she opened the first box. But as she opened the other boxes, she laughed. In every one of the boxes was a pair of shoes!

There were shoes to match all her clothes! There were red shoes, white shoes, blue shoes and black shoes. She had party shoes, sport shoes, work shoes and play shoes. She even had boots for cold and rainy weather.

Now Ginger had so many shoes she had to look for places to them. Soon she began leaving shoes and shoe boxes all over the house. She left shoes on the TV set and under the chairs and she even left a pair of shoes out in the rain.

Ginger liked her shoes, but they needed a lot of work. She had so many shoes to put on and to take off and she had to clean every pair. Some days Ginger didn't even have time to play.

One fine morning Ginger put on her blue shoes. “Oh-h!” cried Ginger, “I can’t keep these shoes on because they hurt!” She put on red shoes. “Oh! Oh!” she cried, this pair hurts too!”

Ginger's mother looked at the shoes and said, "I'm afraid the shoes are too little. Size two isn't right for you any more. I'll have to go and buy you some bigger shoes."        

At the shoe shop, Ginger got a pair of brown shoes for school and a pair of black shoes for occasions. This time her shoes were  size three.

"What will we do with all of my size two shoes?" asked Ginger and her mother said, "You can take them to school when they ask for old clothes."

Ginger was so glad to give the shoes away. Now she had only two pairs of shoes to clean. "No growing girl needs more than two pairs of shoes," thought Ginger. "Next birthday, I think, I'll ask for hats."

Answer the questions. (Write the answers down)

1. What did Ginger like very much?

2. What shoes did she have before her birthday?

3. Why did Ginger’s mother think two pairs of shoes

     were enough for her daughter?

4. What did all Ginger's  aunts and uncles give her

      as presents for her birthday?

5. Why did Ginger's mother to buy her daughter new shoes?

6. What shoes did they buy for Ginger?

7. She was glad to have only two pairs of shoes, wasn’t she?

THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE

Why didn't the  country  mouse  stay in  town with his  cousin?

New words:

a town  — 1)  город; 2) городской

a cottage —коттедж

even  —даже

fresh  —свежий

smart  — щеголеватый, нарядный, модный

to whisper  — шептать

to feel (be) afraid —бояться

a hole —дыра, зд. норка

safe — безопасный

Once upon a time there was a little brown mouse. He lived in a small cottage in the country. He was very happy there. His cottage was very warm and comfortable, with lots of flowers in front of it and a few apple trees behind. He even had a bathroom and a toilet in the cottage, and there was a fire downstairs. In his living room the brown country mouse ate good fresh food.

One day his cousin from town came to visit him. He was a smart, grey mouse, who lived in a rather large town house. The country mouse was very glad to see his cousin. "It is so nice to see you," he said. "Come in. Sit down. Let's have supper." The grey town mouse went into the living room and the brown country mouse to the kitchen to cook supper. Soon he brought in some bread, bacon and corn for supper and they drank fresh clean water. After supper they sat and talked.

"My friend," said the town mouse. "How can you live here? The country is so quiet. Your life is not interesting at all. And I'm sorry but I don't like the food very much either. Come and stay with me!"

So the next morning the mice went to town, by car.

The town mouse's house was beautiful. But he didn't use the key to open the front door. They got into the house by carefully going under the back door. They were very hungry, so the town mouse took his cousin to the dining-room. There was a lot of food on the table. "Look at that!" said the town mouse. The mice jumped onto the armchair and then onto the table. They began to eat some fine French cheese, some very tasty cakes and cookies. They drank lemonade and milk.

Suddenly they heard something in the hall of the flat. The door opened and a man walked in. He came to the table to get some fruit. "Be quiet!" whispered the town mouse.

The man took an apple and went out of the room. The town mouse began to eat again, but the country mouse could not eat a thing, because he felt so afraid. Suddenly he saw a big cat near the sofa in the corner of the room. The cat was large. It was sleeping, but then it heard something. It opened its eyes and saw the mice. The country mouse began to cry: "Help! Help! A cat!" The cat looked up and jumped onto the table. It tried to catch the mice. The mice ran into a hole in the floor. The cat couldn't get in.

"Oh dear," said the country mouse. "Your food is good, but your life is not. I feel afraid in this beautiful house; I feel afraid upstairs and downstairs. I feel afraid in the sitting-room and in the bedroom. I feel afraid on the sofa and on the floor."

The country mouse did not like the town at all. The next morning he said to his cousin: "Goodbye. I'm going back to the country. Life is quieter there, but it's safe."

Correct the statements if they are wrong.

1. The country mouse lived in a beautiful big house.
2. The country mouse was brown.
3. His cottage was cold and not very comfortable.
4. The country mouse didn't eat in the dining-room.
5. Nobody visited the country mouse.
6. The grey town mouse lived alone in the house.
7. The mice drank fresh clean water in town.
8. The mice got into the town house by opening the door with the key.
9. The country mouse couldn't eat in town because he wasn't hungry.
10. The country mouse liked life in town very much.

                                                       THE SPY NEXT DOOR 

Read the text to find out what the man was and why

he came to the house next door only at night.

New words:

a spy  — шпион

next door— зд. соседний (дом) 

light — свет  

a burglar — грабитель

maybe  — может быть,

to catch  (caught, caught) — схватить, поймать

to seem —казаться

a log — бревно

a neighbour  — сосед

Ron Lake lived in a rather small house in a wide street, leading to the river. It was their city's main street and Ron's house wasn't far from the bridge. If the windows were open at night, when everything was dark and quiet, he could hear many different sounds from the river.

One dark night Ron couldn't sleep and he couldn't understand why. He heard noises but they were not usual. He woke up his two brothers, Sid and Alan, because he was afraid. "What has happened?" asked Sid. "It's night and everybody is in bed." "Look over there," said Ron. The boys came to the windows. "Look at the house near the church," said Ron. The boys looked at the house and couldn't believe their eyes. There was light in it. "Oh, dear!" said Sid. "Nobody has lived in this house for a long time!" "I have never seen anyone there either," said Alan. "Who could it be?" asked Sid. "There is a burglar there!" said Ron.

Suddenly the house became dark. "Watch the doors!" said Sid. A man came out the back door. "Look! Here he is. He must be a burglar or maybe a spy!" said Alan. The man came to the traffic lights, turned left and then the boys couldn't see him any more. "We can't catch him now," said Ron. "Let's go to the house tomorrow."

The next day the boys went to the house. Both the front door and the back door were locked. Everything seemed all right. They couldn't hear a thing. They looked through the window. There was nobody in. The boys watched the house for some time and then went home.

At night when it got dark the boys saw a. tall man in the street. He walked up to the house and went in. "I don't think he is a burglar," Sid said. "He has got a key to the house." "Maybe he is a spy," said Ron. "Let's go and see what he is doing." The boys walked up to the house. They could see that the fire was already burning in one of the rooms, and that there was a big box on the square table. But the boys couldn't see the man. "What shall we do?" asked Alan.

Suddenly they saw a log next to the road. The boys put it up against the wall, below the window, but when Alan began to climb he fell down and there was a loud noise. The door opened and they saw the man, and the man saw the boys. "Who are you?" he asked. "Do you live near here?" "Yes, we do," answered Sid. "And what about you?" The man smiled. "I think that I'm your neighbour. My name is Mr Collins. I am an architect. I have bought this house. My family is going to live here after their trip to Scotland. But I want to finish some things in the house and build some things in the garden, so I come here after work."

"That sounds great," said the boys. "We hope we'll see a lot of you. Well, goodbye."

"I'm sure you will. Goodbye, boys," said Mr Collins and he closed the door.

The children started laughing as they walked back to their house. "A burglar!" said Ron. "A spy!" smiled Sid. "I wonder if he has a son of my age," said Ron. "We could become friends."

1. Say:   True', 'False' or   Don't know'.

1. Ron Lake and his three brothers lived in a small House.
2. The boys lived in London.
3. Ron's house was not far from the bridge.
4. One dark night everything was quiet, but Ron couldn't sleep.
5. Ron could hear the noise of cars in the street and couldn't sleep.
6. The boys saw light in the house next door.
7. When it became dark in the house, a tall young woman came out into the street.
8. The man was a burglar.