Lesson 36

              Text A

      Three Wishes
    Once upon a time , there lived a woodman and his wife. They were very poor, and they lived in a cottage on the edge of a forest. Every day, the woodman would set out early in the, morning to chop down trees. .

    As the woodman was travelling through the forest one day, he saw a fine old oak tree. "That will make plenty of planks," he thought, as he felt the blade of his axe to make sure it was sharp. He was about to strike the tree with the axe , when he heard someone crying out: "Please don't hurt this tree. "

    The woodman looked around him and saw a tiny fairy. "If you do not hurt this tree , " she said , "I will grant you and yotar wife three wishes. "
    "I won't hurt the tree," said the woodman kindly. Then the fairy vanished !
    That evening, the woodman walked slowly home. He was feeling very hungry and could not wait for his supper.

    "Is my supper ready?" the woodman asked his wife.
    "Not for at least two hours, replied his wife. So the woodman sat in a chair by the fire.
    "I wish I had a big black sausage to eat right now," he said
    out loud. And suddenly, a delicious sausage appeared on the table before himt "Why has that black sausage suddenly appeared?" the woodman's wife asked.

    So the woodman told his wife the story about the fairy. But his wife was very angry. "You have wasted the first of our wishes," she said crossly. "I wish that sausage were on your nose !"
    And with that, the sausage jumped up and stuck fast on the woodman's nose. His wife could not pull it off and nor could he, so the only thing to do was to w.ish it on the table again, which the woodman did.
What a waste of three wishes! The only thing the woodman had was a good supper of black sausage.

　
 
             Text B

  They Threatened Me With a Knife POLICE INSPECTOR:   Good evening , sir. I understand that you have been robbed.
MR LEE:   I certainly have.
P. L:   When did this happen?
MR LEE:   About two hours ago.
P. L:   Why didn't you report it before?
MR LEE:   I couldn't. I was bound and gagged.
P. L:   Please tell me exactly what happened
MR LEE:   I was sitting in this room watching television when someone knocked on the
   door. Without thinking, I opened it.
P. L:   That wasn't very wise , sir.
MR LEE:   I know. I was expecting my wife, you see, and thought it was her.
P.L:   You should never open a door without looking to see who it is.
MR LEE:   Yes , I know. I regret it very much.
P.L:   What happened?
MR LEE:   Two men pushed into the flat. One of them threatened me with a knife while the
   other bound and gagged me.
P.L:   Did you get a good look at them?
MR LEE:   I'm afraid not. They were both wearing stockings over their faces.
P.L:   What did they take?
MR LEE:   My wallet, with $200 in it, my wristwatch. some of my wife's jewellery from
   our bedroom, and a silver photoframe.
P. L:   They don't seem to have done much damage to the flat.
MR LEE:   No. They had just begun to search when the dogs next door began to bark. They 
   ran off then leaving me bound and gagged. It was some time before my wife
   returned and released me. I phoned the police at once.
P.L:   My men began searching the area as soon as we received your call. I can't promise you
   that we'll recover your property but we'll certainly do our best.

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