Introduction. In this book there are 56 stories, each about 150 words long, which can be used for oral or written reproduction work

In this book there are 56 stories, each about 150 words long, which can be used for oral or written reproduction work. Here are some ways in which these stories can be used:

(i) Listening and Speaking

Only the teacher has the book. He reads one of the stories aloud to the students two or three times, and they have to retell the story orally, or to answer oral questions about it. This is best done in very small classes, of course.

(ii) Listening and Writing

Only the teacher has the book. He reads one of the stories aloud to the students two or three times, and they then write down as much of it as they can remember, or answer questions about it in writing (these questions can be written on the blackboard or dictated by the teacher). This can be done in a large class.

The listening tape (CD), which is available separately, can be used for both (i) and (ii), by the teacher in group leaching or by an individual student working on his own.

(iii) Reading and Writing

Each student has a copy of the book. He reads one of the stories for a certain number of minutes, then shuts the book and writes down as much of the story as he remembers, or answers questions about it in writing. The questions can be written on the blackboard or dictated by the teacher. With (i), (ii) and (iii), there can be an interval of time — even of several days — between the telling or reading of the story and the reproduction.

(iii) can be done by students who have not got a teacher. They can read, close their books, and then write down as much of the story as they can remember. When they have finished, they can open their books again and check what they have written by referring to the story in the book.

All the stories in this book are written within the 1, 000 word vocabulary of my Elementary Comprehension Pieces and Elementary Composition Pieces (both published by Oxford University Press). This vocabulary is given in the appendix to this book.

The grammatical structures used in this hook are also strictly limited. For example, no conditionals, passives, relative clauses, reported speech or modal auxiliaries are used; and the tenses are limited to the present simple, the present continuous, the present perfect, the simple future with will, the going to future, the past simple and the past continuous.

It was two weeks before Christmas, and Mrs Smith was very busy. She bought a lot of Christmas cards to send to her friends and to her husband's friends, and put them on the table in the living-room. Then, when her husband came home from work, she said to him, 'Here are the Christmas cards for our friends, and here are some stamps, a pen and our book of addresses. Will you please write the cards while I am cooking the dinner? '

Mr Smith did not say anything, but walked out of the living-room and went to his study. Mrs Smith was very angry with him, but did not say anything either.

Then a minute later he came back with a box full of Christmas cards. All of them had addresses and stamps on them.

'These are from last year, ' he said. 'I forgot to post them.'

Mrs Jones was waiting for an important telephone call, but she had no bread in the house, so she left the baby at home and said to his five-year-old brother, 'I am going to the shops, Jimmy, and I will be back in a few minutes.'

While she was out, the telephone rang, and Jimmy answered. 'Hullo, ' said a man, 'is your mother there? '

'No, ' answered Jimmy.

'Well, when she comes back, say to her, " Mr Baker tele­phoned".

'What? '

'Mr Baker. Write it down. B-A-K-E-R.'

'How do you make a B? '

'How do I make...? Listen, little boy, is there anybody else with you? Any brothers or sisters? '

'My 'brother Billy is here.'

'Good, I want to talk to him, please.'

'All-right.' Jimmy-took the telephone to the baby's bed and gave it to Billy. When their mother came back, she asked, 'Did anyone telephone? '

'Yes, ' said Jimmy, 'a man. But he only wanted to talk to Billy.'

Nasreddin had an old shed. It had no windows, so it was very dark, and it was full of old things.

One day Nasreddin went into this shed to get a ladder, but slipped on something and fell against a big garden fork. The fork hit him on the head and knocked him down. Then it fell on top of him and hit him hard on the left leg. The ends of the fork then went into his big beard. He fought with the fork fiercely, and at last threw it off him, jumped up and ran out of the shed. He was very angry. He had an old sword under his bed, and he now ran and got this. Then he ran back to the shed, opened the door suddenly and shouted in a terrible voice, 'All right, come out and fight, you and all the other forks in the world! I'm not afraid of you! '

A man always went to the same bar at the same time every day and asked for two glasses of beer. He drank them and then asked for two more.

One day the man behind the bar said to him, 'Why do you always ask for two glasses of beer? Why don't you get one big glass instead? '

The man answered, 'Because I do not like to drink alone, I drink with my friend.'

But a few days later the man came in and asked only for one beer.

'Oh, ' said the barman, 'has your friend died? '

'Oh, no, ' said the man. 'He is very well. This beer is for him. But I have stopped drinking beer. My doctor doesn't want me to drink any more because it is dangerous for me.'

Old Mr Black loved shooting bears, but his eyes were not good any more. Several times he nearly shot people instead of bears, so his friends were always very careful when they went out shooting with him.

One day a young friend of his wanted to have a joke, so he got a big piece of white paper and wrote on it in very big letters 'I AM NOT A BEAR'. Then he tied it to his back and went off. His friends saw it and laughed a lot.

But it did not save him. After a few minutes Mr Black shot at him and knocked his hat off.

The young man was frightened and angry. 'Didn't you see this piece of paper? ' he shouted to Mr Black. 'Yes, I did' said Mr Black. Then he went nearer, looked carefully at the paper and said, 'Oh, I am very sorry. I did not see the word 'NOT.'

Mrs Brown's old grandfather lived with her and her husband. Every morning he went for a walk in the park and came home at half past twelve for his lunch.

But one morning a police car stopped outside Mrs Brown's house at twelve o'clock and two policemen helped Mr Brown to get out. One of them said to Mrs Brown, 'The poor old gentleman lost his way in the park and telephoned us for help, so we sent a car to bring him home.' Mrs Brown was very surprised, but she thanked the policemen and they left.

'But Grandfather, ' she then said, 'you have been to that park nearly every day for twenty, years. How did you lose your way there? '

The old man smiled, closed one eye and said, 'I didn't quite lose my way. I just got tired and I didn't want to walk home! '

Helen's eyes were not very good, so she usually wore glasses. But when she was seventeen and she began to go out with a young man, she never wore her glasses when she was with him. When he came to the door to take her out, she took her glasses off, and when she came home again and he left, she put them on.

One day her mother said to her, 'But Helen, why do you never wear your glasses when you are with Jim? He takes you to beautiful places in his car, but you don't see anything.'

'Well, Mother, ' said Helen, 'I look prettier to Jim when I am not wearing my glasses — and he looks better to me too! '

A man was trying to build an electric motor-car. He worked in an office in the town during most of the week, but on Saturdays and Sundays he stayed at home in the country and worked on his electric car. Every Monday he told his friends at the office about his work on the car, but his news about it was never very good. Then at last one Monday morning he came to the office and said to his friends, 'I have done it! I have driven from my home to here by electricity! '

His friends were all very glad. 'How much did it cost to get here by electricity? ' they asked.

'Three hundred and two pounds, ' he answered. 'Two pounds for the electricity, and three hundred pounds for the electric wires from my house to the car.'

An artist went to a beautiful part of the country for a holiday, and stayed with a farmer. Every day he went out with his paints and his brushes and painted from morning to evening, and then when it got dark, he went back to the farm and had a good dinner before he went to bed.

At the end of his holiday he wanted to pay the farmer, but the farmer said, 'No, I do not want money — but give me one of your pictures. What is money? In a week it will all be finished, but your painting will still be here.'

The artist was very pleased and thanked the farmer for saying such kind things about his paintings.

The farmer smiled and answered, 'It is not that. I have a son in London. He wants to become an artist. When he comes here next month, I will show him your picture, and then be will not want to be an artist any more, I think.'

Mr Jones was very angry with his wife, and she was very angry with her husband. For several days they did not speak to each other at all. One evening Mr Jones was very tired when he came back from work, so he went to bed soon after dinner. Of course, he did not say anything to Mrs Jones before he went upstairs. Mrs Jones washed the dinner things and then did some sewing. When she went up to bed much later than her husband, she found a piece of paper on the small table near her bed. On it were the words, 'Mother. — Wake me up at 7 a.m. — Father, '

When Mr Jones woke up the next morning, it was nearly 8 a.m, — and on the small table near his bed he saw another piece of paper. He took it and read these words: 'Father. — Wake up. It is 7 a.m.—Mother.'

The lights were red, so the old man stopped his car and waited for them to change to green. While he was waiting, a police car came up behind him, hit his car hard in the back and stopped.

There were two policemen in the police car, and they were very surprised and glad when the old man got out of his car and walked towards them without any trouble after such an accident. He was over 70 years old.

The old man came to the door of the police car, smiled kindly, and said, 'Tell me, young man, how do you stop this car when the lights are red and I am not here? '

Mrs Williams loved flowers and had a small but beautiful garden. In the summer, her roses were always the best in her street. One summer afternoon her bell rang, and when she went to the front door, she saw a small boy outside. He was about seven years old, and was holding a big bunch of beautiful roses in his hand.

'I am selling roses, ' he said. 'Do you want any? They are quite cheap. Five pence for a big bunch. They are fresh. I picked them this afternoon.'

'My boy, ' Mrs, Williams answered, 'I pick roses whenever I want, and don't pay anything for them, because I have lots in my garden.'

'Oh, no, you haven't, ' said the small boy. 'There aren't any roses in your garden — because they are here in my hand! '

A woman was having some trouble with her heart, so she went to see the doctor, He was a new doctor, and did not know her, so he first asked some questions, and one of them was, 'How old are you? '

'Well she answered, 'I don't remember, doctor, but I will try to think.' She thought for a minute and then said, 'Yes, I remember now, doctor! When I married, I was eighteen years old, and my husband was thirty. Now my husband is sixty, I know; and that is twice thirty. So I am twice eighteen. That is thirty-six, isn't it? '

One day Mrs Jones went shopping. When her husband came home in the evening, she began to tell him about a beautiful cotton dress. 'I saw it in a shop this morning, ' she said, 'and...'

'And you want to buy it, ' said her husband. 'How much does it cost? '

'Fifteen pounds.'

'Fifteen pounds for a cotton dress? That is too much! '

But every evening, when Mr Jones came back from work, his wife continued to speak only about the dress, and at last, after a week, he said, 'Oh, buy the dress! Here is the money! ' She was very happy.

But the next evening, when Mr Jones came home and asked, 'Have you got the famous dress? ' she said, 'No.'

'Why not? ' he said.

'Well, it was still in the window of the shop after a week so I thought, " Nobody else wants this dress, so I don't want it either."

One day a lady walked into a hat shop. The shopkeeper smiled and said, 'Good afternoon, madam.'

'Good afternoon, ' the lady answered. 'There is a green hat with red flowers and blue leaves on it m your window. Will you please take it out of there.'

'Yes, madam, ' the shopkeeper said. 'I will be very pleased to do that for you.' Usually ladies looked at a lot of hats before they chose one, and the shopkeeper got very tired. 'Good', he thought, 'I will sell this hat very quickly — and it has been in my window for a very long time.'

'Do you want it in a box, madam, ' he asked, 'or will you wear it? '

'Oh, I don't want it, ' she answered. 'I only wanted you to take it out of your window. I pass your shop every day, and I hate to see the ugly thing there! '

Nasreddin had a shed behind his house. It had no lights in it. One night he went out to the shed to get his ladder, and lost his ring there. He left the ladder, went out into the street and began to look around.

One of his friends saw him in the street outside his house, and said to him, 'Hullo, Nasreddin. What are you looking for? '

'My ring, ' answered Nasreddin. 'It fell off my finger. It is a silver ring with a red stone in it.'

'Oh, yes, ' said his friend. 'I remember it. I will help you to look for it. Where did you lose it? '

'In my shed.'

'But why don't you look for it there? '

'Don't be stupid! It is quite dark in my shed, so how will I find my ring there? Here there is light from the lamps in the street.'

Mrs Andrews had a young cat, and it was the cat's first winter. One evening it was outside when it began to snow heavily. Mrs Andrews looked everywhere and shouted its name, but she did not find it, so she telephoned the police and said, 'I have lost a small black cat. Has anybody found one?

'No, madam, ' said the policeman at the other end. 'But cats are really very strong animals. They sometimes live for days in the snow, and when it melts or somebody finds them, they are quite all right.'

Mrs Andrews felt happier when she heard this. 'And', she said, 'our cat is very clever. She almost talks.'

The policeman was getting rather tired. 'Well then, ' he said, 'why don't you put your telephone down? Perhaps she is trying to telephone you now.'

One morning Nasreddin left his house with six donkeys to go to the market. After a time, he got tired and got on to one of them. He counted the donkeys, and there were only five, so he got off and went to look for the sixth. He looked and looked but did not find it, so he went back to the donkeys and counted them again. This time there were six, so he got on to one of them again and they all started.

After a few minutes he counted the donkeys again, and again there were only five! While he was counting again a friend of his passed, and Nasreddin said to him, 'I left my house with six donkeys; then I had five; then I had six again; and now I have only five! Look! One, two, three, four, five.'

'But, Nasreddin, ' said his friend, 'You are sitting on a donkey too! That is the sixth! And you are the seventh! '

One of Nasreddin's friends loved money very much, and never gave anything to anybody. Soon he became rich.

One day, he was walking near the river with his friends when he slipped and fell in. His friends ran to help him and one of them knelt on the ground, held out his hand and said, 'Give me your hand, and I will pull you out! ' The rich man's head went under the water and then came up again, but he did not give his friend his hand. Again another of his friends tried, but again the same thing happened.

Then Nasreddin said, 'Take my hand and I will pull you out! ' The rich man took his hand, and Nasreddin pulled him out of the water.

'You don't know our friend very well, ' he said to the others. 'When you say " Give" ' to him, he does nothing; but when you say " Take", he takes! '

One day Nasreddin bought a donkey in the market; but while he was taking it home, two thieves followed him. One of them took the rope from the donkey's neck and tied it round his friend's neck. Then he went away with the donkey. When Nasreddin got home, he turned and saw the young man. He was very surprised. 'Where is my donkey? ' he said angrily.

'I am very sorry, ' said the thief, 'but once I said some very bad things to my mother, and she changed me into a donkey. But because a good man bought me, I am now a man again! Thank you! '

Nasreddin untied the man and said, 'Go! And never say bad things to your mother again! '

The next day, Nasreddin saw the same donkey in the market again! The other thief was selling it.

Nasreddin went to it and said into its ear, 'Young man, some people will never learn! '

Nasreddin wanted to buy some new clothes, so he went to a shop. First he asked for some trousers and put them on, but then he took them off and gave them back to the shop­keeper and said, 'No, give me a coat instead of these.'

The man gave him a coat, and said, 'This one costs the same as the trousers.' Nasreddin took the coat and walked out of the shop with it. The shopkeeper ran after him and said, 'You have not paid for that coat! '

'But I gave you the trousers for the coat, ' said Nasreddin. 'They cost the same as the coat, didn't they? '

'Yes, ' said the shopkeeper, 'But you didn't pay for the trousers either! '

'Of course I didn't! ' answered Nasreddin. 'I did not take them. I am not stupid! Nobody gives things back and then pays for them! '

One day, the boys of Nasreddin's village said to him, 'You have a nice, fat sheep. Will you invite us to a party to eat it with you? '

Nasreddin did not want the boys to eat his sheep, so he said, 'It is not fat enough yet.'

'But have you not heard? ' they said. 'The world is going to end tomorrow, so the sheep will never get fat! '

Nasreddin was getting tired of this, so he said, 'All right, boys, we will have a picnic tomorrow, and eat the sheep.'

So the next morning they all went to the river, the boys took off their clothes and jumped into the water, and Nas­reddin killed the sheep.

When the boys came out, their clothes were not there.

'Where are our clothes, Nasreddin? ' they asked.

'Oh, ' he answered, 'I made the fire to cook the sheep with your clothes. You will not need them again. The world is going to end today, don't you remember? '

Whenever it rained, water came through Nasreddin's roof, so one day he got his ladder, climbed up on to the roof and began to mend it. It was quite difficult and dangerous work.

While he was up there, he suddenly saw an old man in the street. This man was waving to him. He wanted Nasreddin to come down. Nasreddin thought, 'What has happened? What news has this man got for me? ' So he climbed down the ladder quickly. Several times he slipped and nearly broke his neck. When he got to the bottom, the old man said, 'I am a poor man. Please give me some money.'

Nasreddin was very angry, but he said, 'Come up.' He helped the old man to climb up the ladder and on to the roof. Then he said to him, 'I am a poor man too. I have no money for you. And now go down alone. I will not help you.'

One day Mr Robinson saw a lady in the street with ten children. He was very surprised because all the children were wearing the same clothes — white caps, dark blue coats and grey trousers.

'Are all those children yours? ' he asked the mother.

'Yes, they are, ' she answered.

'Do you always dress them in the same clothes? ' asked Mr Robinson.

'Yes' answered the mother. 'When we had only four children, we dressed them in the same clothes because we did not want to lose any of them. It was easy to see our children when they were among other children, because they were all wearing the same clothes. And now, when we have ten, we dress them like this because we do not want to take other children home too by mistake. When there are other children among ours, it is easy to see them, because their clothes are different.'