Intermediate
English
THE TRAP - A short
story in two parts Part
2
by Andrew Rossiter
Like
many teenagers, Martin needed a bit of money; and the offer of a job clearing out an old
house seemed to be just what he needed. But why did McAlister really want everything to be packed up in boxes?.
Return to Part 1.
Note: words in
red italics
are the subject of a vocabulary exercise below.
He led them into the sitting room.
"O.K., you know what to do.
Sort out
all the
junk
in this house, empty all the drawers and cupboards and wardrobes, and
pack the whole lot into boxes. Wrap up everything fragile in newspaper
first, of course, and don't break anything! Number the boxes, and make
a detailed list of the contents of each one. O.K.? And no mistakes!
McAlister'll
be
back on Friday at 3.30. It's all got to be done by then.
Got it?"
Martin
nodded.
"And by the way, there's no electricity
in the house, so you'll have to stop at
dusk.
Here's the key! Don't lose it!"
Then, with a rapid goodbye, the young
man
went
off, leaving them alone in the house.
"What a strange guy!" said Emily, once
they were alone.
"Yes; he's not the bloke I met the other
day."
"Are you sure we're meant to be doing
this?"
"Why not? I expect they're getting it
all
cleared
out, because the owner's died."
The house was like Ali Baba's cave. Whoever had lived there seemed to
have travelled all over the world, bringing back bric-à-brac
and
ornaments from every country he visited. By Wednesday afternoon, the
dining room contained 73 carefully packed boxes, each with a detailed
list of contents; yet there were still three bedrooms to finish.
At 3.15 on Thursday, Emily and Martin
were upstairs, when there was a knock on the front door.
"Who's that?" asked Emily.
"Don't ask me! Let's go down and see."
"Be careful Mart; don't go letting
any old person in.
I'm getting rather suspicious about this whole
business!"
Before opening the door, Martin
put
on the
burglar
chain; then he opened the door just enough to see through.
There was a man in
overalls
the other side.
" G'd afternoon," said the man. "Are you
Martin".
"Yes. What is it?"
"I've come to pick up the first boxes
for Mr. McAlister."
"What? Today? He said he'd come back on
Friday."
"Did 'e? Well I've got an order to pick
'em up this afternoon!" And he
shoved
a printed form through the crack in the door.
Martin looked at the piece of yellow
paper. Blagdon Removals and Storage Service, it said at the top.
Once Martin had undone the burglar
chain, the man came in. When he saw the boxes, he whistled.
"
Blimey! All them?"
"Yes, and we haven't
got
round to the top floor yet."
"Well then, you'd better give me a hand
gettin' all this into the van."
Emily appeared on the
landing. The man
looked up at her.
"Afternoon Miss. You workin' here too?
Come and give us a hand with these boxes!"
Emily hesitated.
"Come on Emmy," said Martin. "
Lend
a hand."
"Thanks kids!" said the man, as he
climbed back into his cab. "They'll pick the rest up tomorrow."
The van drove off.
"I don't like this at all," said Emily all of a sudden. "The whole
thing's extremely fishy. That man wasn't up to any good, I could see it
in his face! I'm
packing
it in. You can finish the job yourself if you want, but
I'm
clearing
off!"
"Oh come on Emmy," answered Martin.
"I'll never get the last rooms finished by myself."
"Too bad; I don't like it. I'm off. I reckon we've been helping steal
the whole contents of someone's house. And that McAlister guy; I bet he
doesn't turn up tomorrow to pay you. We've just been done. I'm going to
the police!"
Martin's heart sank into his boots. Of
course, Emily was right; suddenly it all
fitted in.
After lunch next day, Martin and Emily
returned to the house; but with them were four policemen.
Since no one really expected McAlister
to
turn
up
again, they were more than surprised when, at exactly the hour
arranged, the man with the beard came to the front door, and let
himself in.
"Martin!" he called.
"Up here," Martin answered from the top floor of the house; but before
McAlister got to the bottom of the stairs, he was challenged by two big
men. "Don't move!" shouted one of the local police
constables.
McAlister stood still, then announced.
"It's O.K..
C.I.D."
"Check 'is pockets!" shouted one of the
policemen.
They checked, and they found an unexpected collection of things. A
two-way radio, and a card identifying the holder as Detective Inspector
Peter Swanning.
"I'm very sorry, Sir!" said one of the
policemen.
"That's O.K., constable. You were only
doing your job!"
"And what are you doing, Sir?"
"Me? Well, I'm just running a little
undercover
operation to help trace stolen antiques!" And he turned to Martin and
Emily. "Good work, you two! You've been a great help! You see, 200 of
the objects you packed up have got electronic tracking chips hidden in
them, and we can follow their movements all over London and the south!
We've already learned a lot of interesting things!"
"So the guy yesterday....." began Martin.
"Ah!.... Now he fell right into it,
didn't he! He thinks he's been very clever
lifting half the
boxes before I took them! Little does he know....."
"I told you
he
was up to no good!" said Emily.
End
WORD
GUIDE
Junk : bric-a-brac,
nod: make a movement of one's head:
any old person : anyone at all
(whatever their age!) -
business : operation -
overalls : work clothes -
Blimey ! : Oh! -
landing : space at the top of stairs -
fit in : become clear -
constables : policemen -
CID : the Criminal Investigation Department, a service of the police -
undercover - secret -
lift : steal, take away
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The Trap - part 2. Student worksheet
Vocabulary
exercises:
1. Select the best equivalent:
- sort out :
throw away / organise / take out
-
shoved :
wrote out / pushed /
took
-
burglar chain :
a hi-fi system / an opening system / a security
system
-
dusk:
the end of the day / midnight / the start of the
day
Phrasal verbs
In
list a there are ten
phrasal or prepositional verbs used in the text: in list b there are
synonyms which are appropriate in the context of this page. Match each word in list a with its synonym. (All words are
given in the infinitive)..
List a
a. be back
b. go
off
c. clear
something out
d. put
something on
e. get
round to
f. give
(or lend) a hand
g. pack
something in
h. clear
off
i. turn
up
j. be up
to |
List b
1. to finally begin 2. to
empty something 3. to go away
4. to be doing
5. to return 6. to stop doing something 7. to appear
8. to depart
9. to help
10. to attach |
When
Martin returned to school, his friends asked him lots of questions
about his unusual "job". Here are some of his answers. What questions
could his friends have asked?
1. Exactly
107, I know, 'cos we had to number each one.
2. No, of
course not! .... but I was a bit worried at the end!
3. Oh,
just like an ordinary removals man. Quite strong, you know.
4. Emmy
did.
5. Of
course not, British cops don't carry guns, do they!
6. Four
hundred quid, between me and Emmy!
7. I've
used it already! I got a new phone.
8. I don't
know! I don't suppose they'll tell me, even if they do!
For teachers:
using this story in class :
Language points
Idiomatic Phrases and expressions:
See the exercises on the Student worksheet above.
- Answer to
best equivalents exercise : sort out = organise, shove = push, burglar chain = security system, dusk = the end of the day
- Answer to
phrasal/prepositional verb exercise
a5, b3, c2, d10, e1, f9, g6, h8, i7, j4. - More idiomatic expressions .
There
is a lot of idiomatic language in this story. Sometimes it will be
necessary, or at least easiest, to explain words or expressions in
students' native language. For example - Martin's heart sank
into his boots - Get, let be and do
As in Part 1 of this story, pay attention to the phrasal
verbs once again, and also to uses of get/got. For example the simple question Got it ?, meaning "Do you understand?" Note
idiomatic uses of be, let
and do. To be up to (to be
involved in), to be off
(to depart),
to let someone in (to let them enter) to be done,
meaning to be duped,
to be taken in.
Written expression: Students
should imagine that either Martin or Emily is their pen-friend: they
have just received a letter from one or the other, telling the story in
about 200-250 words. Get each student to imagine, and write down, the
letter they have received. To get them going, here is the start of the
letter.
Dear .......
How are you? I hope you're well. I am! But I'm writing to you to tell
you all about an amazing adventure I had with my friend Emily / Martin.
During half term,.....
Other ideas?
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materials or exercises.
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Revised 2015 . Originally published in Freeway, the Intermediate level
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