The Letter 4 page

9.As I_____ with the other guests, friends and relatives mostly from London, Alistair _____ , _____each group of people.

10.” Patrick, _____we _____? _____ the clearing up for now.”

Keys: Ex. V. 1.organised 2. threw, tapped, sounded 3. closed, hoped, would leave 4.had never been 5. glanced, leant 6. had been 7.had never given,

8.could 9. mingled, followed, joining 10. can, talk, Leave

Ex.VI. Translate the following sentences and speak on their message.

1.“I’ve had enough of being nagged,” came the defiant reply.

2.Her eye shadow, an interesting shade of green, matched her nail vanish.

3.“But I’ve got my own life to lead. I’m a person in my own right.”

4.These words had a familiar ring to them.

5.“You’ve got a right to steal a bit of happiness for yourself.”

6.The strain of looking after them had brought my mother up to stay with us.

7.Each time Alistair had a different girl with him, hanging on to his arm, looking up at him adoringly.

8. “Alistair likes to play the field. I think it boosts his ego.”

9.”Let’s get this lot washed up. I don’t fancy coming down to it in the morning.”

10. All parents have to take a strong line with their children.

Ex.VII. Brainstorm everything you think when you hear the word “ bosom ” .

Ex.VIII. Role- play the situations:

1. A dialogue between Mary and her husband

2. A dialogue between Mary and her children

3. A dialogue between Keeley and her mother

Ex.IX. Write an essay disclosing the problems of Mary and Keeley.

Ex.X. Imagine the end of the story

Beth’s Story

The snow beat at the windows as if trying to force its way into the house. I stopped stoking the fire and crossed the large living room and drew the long heavy curtains. Although it was only three o’clock that December afternoon, it was already dark outside.

The snowstorm had gathered momentum and echoed round the large farmhouse. I went through the connecting door into the kitchen and put on the kettle. Derek opened the back door and shot into the kitchen along with a blast of cold air. He was covered from head to foot in snow.

“You look like a snowman,” I laughed.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Derek. He took off his wet clothes and wiped his face.

“Are the animals all right?” I asked.

He nodded. “They’re fine. All tucked up warm and cosy, but we had an awful job coaxing Blossom and Buttercup into the barn. I hope Nigel gets home in one piece. The show’s deeper all the time.”

We sat in front of the large log fire in the living room, sipped our hot chocolate and watched the flames chase each other up the chimney.

“There must be easier ways of making a living,” said Derek.

I sat up and looked at him in alarm. “You’re not thinking of giving up before we start, are you?” I demanded.

Derek grinned at me. “Of course not. I’m not going to waste all those years at agricultural college. Still, in this economic climate, it’s not the cleverest time to start up a new venture. I’m sure I’m going to make an excellent farmer and,” he continued giving me a wink, “you are going to make an excellent farmer’s wife”.

“I’m not going to be called ‘the farmer’s wife”, I retorted indignantly. Derek threw back his head and laughed. “Darling Jenny, it’s so easy to make you cross. You mustn’t rise to the bait like that. You’re going to have to develop a much more unflappable exterior when we open for business”.

I settled back in my chair. We had been married nearly a year but there were still things I was learning about Derek. His sense of humor was one. Well, he wouldn’t catch me out again. He was right though, I would need a more sophisticated attitude when we opened the farmhouse as a guest house. I was still terribly childish in lots of ways. A sudden ringing of the front door bell made us both sit up.

“Who on earth could that be, out in weather like this?” I said, dragging myself away from the fire.

“I’ll come with you,” said Derek. “It’s probably Nigel, got snowbound and had to come back.”

The figures on the doorstep were huddled up against the blizzard and covered from head to foot in snow. The taller of the two said something, but his words got carried away by the driving snow. Derek indicated by a large sweep of his arm for them to come in. They stamped their feet on the hall mat, scattering snow everywhere.

“Sorry to be such a nuisance,” said the man apologetically. “My wife and I have had to abandon our car on the main road. The windscreen’s completely covered with snow and our view’s been obliterated. I’m afraid the wipers have given up the battle.”

“Do take your things off and come through,” I said.

They sat down in front of the fire and rubber their hands to get the circulation going. The man was tall and thin, probably in his thirties; his wife small and delicate looking. She was about twenty-five. They were grateful for the steaming hot chocolate and sandwiches and sat back in their chairs looking more relaxed.

“We’re Jennifer and Derek Stanley,” said Derek.

“How do you do,” replied the man. “Thomas and Jane Yates. It’s most kind of you to take us in. It’s freezing cold outside but I must say it’s nice and warm in here.”

“It’s centrally heated throughout,” I said proudly. “We are going to open up soon as a guest house and we’re going to sell home-made bread, farmhouse eggs and butter.”

“It’s a Victorian built house, isn’t it?” said Thomas.

“That’s right,” replied Derek. He got up and stocked the fire. “Built about 1850. What brings you out in weather like this?”

“House-hunting,” said Thomas. “We were on our way to look over Langley Farm, heard it was going cheap. But we got stranded and thank goodness saw the lights of your house.”

I frowned. I had never heard of Langley Farm. “Where’s that?” I asked, racking my brains. “the houses are very far flung in this part of Derbyshire, but, even so, I’ve heard of most of the other farms around here, but I’ve never heard of that one.”

“Well,” said Thomas, “I think we must have veered off the road leading to it. Have you been here long?

“About eight months,” said Derek. He and Thomas chatted on and I suddenly realized that Jane Yates didn’t attempt to join in the conversation; indeed she hadn’t said one word except for thanking me for the snack. For most of the time she sat looking down at her small pale hands, folded in her lap.

“Do you have a farm, at the moment?” I enquired.

Slowly Jane raised her head and looked at me with large solemn eyes. “Yes. But Thomas wants to buy a larger one.” Her voice was hardly above a whisper. She didn’t volunteer any further information and went back to studying her hands.

Two hours later the snow was falling thicker and faster than ever. Our two strangers were going to have to stay the night.

“Of course, I’ll pay for our room and board”, Thomas offered.

Derek smiled and shook his head. “Thank you, but we wouldn’t dream of it. Besides we’re not open for business yet. I’m sure we’d be breaking some law by taking money”.

“There is something I think you should know,” I announced.

“Darling!” Derek glared at me. “Don’t start that again. I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Yates aren’t interested in such nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense!”

Thomas and Jane looked at me, their enquiring eyes big as saucers.

“Well,” I ploughed on, ignoring Derek’s angry stare, “we’ve got a ghost. The house is haunted.” Derek and I exchanged furious frowns.

“Don’t worry about us,” said Thomas. “Jane and I are both tired, we’ll probably sleep so soundly we wouldn’t notice if the roof fell in.”

“Look, I didn’t mean to alarm you,” I said to Jane after dinner when she and I were making up the bed in one of the guest rooms.

“Oh, I’m not worried,” replied Jane as she tucked in the bed clothes. “In fact I’m rather interested. I take it you’ve seen the ghost?”

“Well,” I said, “I haven’t actually seen it. But I’ve heard it.” Jane stared at me . “I didn’t know ghosts spoke.”

“Neither did I.” I picked up a pillow, thrust it into a pillow case and tossed it onto the bed.

“Is it a man or a woman?” asked Jane, gently easing another pillow into a pillow case and placing it on the bed.

“Neither, it’s a child. A little girl. Her name’s Beth”

Jane came and sat next to me on the bed. “Tell me Beth’s story.” “Well,” I said, “you know we bought this house about eight months ago. Just after we moved in I was woken one night by a voice calling ‘Mamma, Mamma’. At first I thought it was the wind whistling round the house but I got out of bed and opened the bedroom door. The voice of a child.”

“And you didn’t see anyone,” said Jane.

“That’s right. I went all over the house.”

Jane looked thoughtful. “What about your husband?”

“Derek sleeps like a log, he never heard a thing. Besides he takes a very dim view of ghosts. You saw his reaction earlier.”

Jane frowned. “How do you know her name’s Beth?”

“The previous owners were the Bensons. I phoned Mrs. Benson after I heard Beth and she told me the history of this house – that it really is haunted. She too heard Beth only once, just after they moved in, but her husband never heard a thing.”

I told Jane that, apparently, in Victorian times, the house was a charity boarding school run by the Church. It was for the daughters of distressed gentlefolk.

“Beth’s parents put her here,” I said, “because her mother was too ill t look after her. Beth was seven. That Christmas holiday she and about ten other little girls didn’t go home because their parents couldn’t care for them and there was an outbreak of diphtheria and…”

“And Beth died,” said Jane quietly.

I nodded. Jane and I sat side by side on the bed, lost in our own thoughts. I could well imagine this house over a hundred years ago, freezing cold that December.

Jane looked round the room and shivered. “ I suppose this could have been part of one of the dormitories.”

As we spread the eiderdown over the bed I told Jane about one mother who came to collect daughter. She heard Beth murmuring something from her bed. Beth already had a high fever but over and over again, in her small hoarse voice, repeated, ‘Mamma’s coming for me , Mamma’s coming for me.’ But Beth died and her mother never came.

Lying beside Derek in the bed that night I slept on and off, the snow keeping up its relentless pounding on the windows.

Suddenly I heard a voice. It was Beth’s voice. Startled I lay still and listened. Yes, there it was again-a small, thin voice, ‘Mamma, Mamma’.

Rigid with fright I could barely breath. Derek was sound asleep, an arm flung across my body. Managing to lift it I wriggled out of bed. I slid into my slippers I could hear Beth calling for her mother. In spite of the howling blizzard I could tell the voice was now coming from downstairs.

Beth was downstairs!

I crept silently down the stairs and saw a light under the living room door. I held by breath and pushed the door open.

Something, a vision, on its way through the door that led to the kitchen, flashed before my eyes. My heart thumped as I raced across the room and hurled open the kitchen door.

I started at the figure in the kitchen. It was Jane.

“Jane, where is she? Did you see her?”

“Who?”

“Who!” I almost yelled. “Why, Beth of course!”

Jane wrapped the blue dressing gown I had lent her round her slight frame. “I haven’t seen anyone,” she stammered. “I couldn’t sleep. I thought I’d come down and make myself a cup of tea. I hope you don’t mind.”

I went up to her and took her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that. Of course I don’t mind. In fact I think I’ll join you in that cup of tea. It’s just that I heard Beth calling and I actually saw her. For the first time I saw her.”

After breakfast Thomas and Jane decided to try to make for their car. The blizzard had stopped and the air was still.

“if I can clear the windscreen and the road’s not impassable then we’ve got a good chance of making it,” said Thomas, shaking Derek and me vigorously by the hand. “Thank you so much for putting us up for the night.”

Jane kissed me. “Thank you so much for everything,” she said softly, giving me a spontaneous hug.

Derek opened the front door. It was a bright clear morning. Blanket of snow stretched as far the eye could see. We watched Thomas and Jane trudge through the snow until they were out of sight.

Derek started to close the front door, then stopped. “Look, Jenny, look!” “What is it?” something in his voice terrified me. I turned back and looked outside. “I don’t see anything.”

“Don’t you see, in the snow,” Derek gasped, “the footprints.”

I started at the snow. There weren’t two sets of footprints leading from our front door, but there! Two adult size and one smaller set, the footprints of a child!

“Derek. Oh Derek. It’s Beth. Her mother’s come for her after all!”

( Sandra Golding is identified as the author of this Work)

Assignments:

Assignments:

Ex.I. Answer the questions:

1. What was the weather look like that day?

2. What were Derek and Jenny talking about that blizzard evening?

3. Whose car was abandoned on the main road and why?

4. Was house-hunting got strand by Thomas and Jane and why?

5. Did Langley Farm exist in their Derbyshire?

6. Money were not taken from those two strangers because of what?

7. Why did Jane ask Jennifer to tell a story about Beth?

8. What didn’t Jane give to sleep that night?

9. Something in Derek’s voice terrified Jane, what was it?

10. Do you believe in ghosts?

Ex.II. Match the two halves of the sentences:

Ex.III. Use the required tense instead of the infinitives in brackets:

1. The windscreen’s completely_____ with snow and our view _____ .( cover, obliterate)

2. He and Thomas _____ on and I suddenly _____ that Jane Yates _____ not attempt to _____ in the conversation; indeed she not _____ one word except for _____ me for the snack. ( chat, realize, attempt, join, say, thank)

3. She not _____ any further information and_____ back to studying her hands. (volunteer, go)

4. Two hours later the snow _____ thicker and faster than ever.(fall)

5. Thomas and Jane_____ at me, their_____ eyes big as saucers.( look, enquire)

6. I_____ up the bed in one of the guest rooms.(make)

7. Beth already_____ a high fever but over and over again, in her small voice,_____ ,

‘Mamma’s _____ for me, Mamma’s _____ for me’. But Berth _____ and her mother never_____ .( have, repeat, come(3),die)

8. “I _____not _____ anyone,” she _____ . “I _____ not _____ . I _____ I _____ down and_____ myself a cup of tea. I _____ you _____ not mind ”

(have, see, stammer, can, sleep, think, come, make, hope, do )

9. “ Of course I _____ not mind. In fact I _____ I_____ you in that cup of tea.( do, think, join)

10. “ Derek. Oh Derek. It’s Beth. Her mother_____ for her after all!” ( come)

Ex.IV. Fill the gaps with appropriate words given below. Choose the right word among four options:

1.The snow_____ at the windows as if trying to force its way into the house.

a. hit b. beat c. blow d. pound

2. We sat in front of the large log fire in the living room, sipped our hot chocolate and watched the_____ chase each other up the chimney.

a. blazes b. burn c. flames d. brightness

3. Still, in this economic climate, it’s not the cleverest time to start up a new ____.

a. chance b. stake c. venture d. adventure

4. The windscreen’s completely covered with snow and our view’s been____ .

a. built b. constructed c. created d. obliterated

5. My wife and I have had to_____ our car on the main road.

a. defend b. abandon c. keep d. control

6. Slowly Jane raised her head and looked at me with large_____ eyes.

a. solemn b. bright c. cheerful d. comical

7. That_____ holiday she and about ten other little girls didn’t go home because

their parents couldn’t care for them.

a. New Year b. Banking c. Naurys d. Christmas

8. _____I lay still and listened.

a. Amazed b. Startled c. Happy d. Bored

9. In spite of the howling _____I could tell the voice was now coming from downstairs.

a. rain b. sunny day c. evening d. blizzard

10. “ Who!” I almost _____ .

a. yelled b. sounded c. murmured d. whisper

Ex.V.Translate the following sentences:

1. I hope Nigel gets home in one piece.

2. His sense of humour was one.

3. Well, he wouldn’t catch me out again.

4. I was still terribly childish in lots of ways.

5. I’m afraid the wipers have given up the battle.

6. The houses are very far flung in this part of Derbyshire.

7. I slept on and off, the snow keeping up its relentless pounding on the windows.

8. Rigid with fright I could barely breath.

9. After breakfast Thomas and Jane decided to try to make for their car.

10.Her mother’s come for her after all!

Ex.VI. Give synonyms to the word ‘’ blizzard’’

Ex.VII. Role-Play:

1. Derek and Jane are talking about easier ways of making a living.

2. A talk between Derek and Thomas in a Victorian house, built about 1850.

3. A talk between Beth other girls who didn’t go home.

Ex.VIII. Write a story about a ghost, you may take one of the stories

from the books that you have read or saw in films.

Ex.IX. Imagine the end of the story.

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 846