Nobody came

Barry fell dead in the street.

A crowd of inquisitive people gathered around him.

The traffic stopped.

The police picked him up

and deposited him at the morgue.

Three days in succession they waited for a relative,

a friend, an acquaintance to come.

Nobody came.

Then Barry was placed in a special refrigerator.

What a symbol.

A refrigerator for people who are forgotten.

They waited another two weeks.

Still nobody came.

Then one afternoon

he was put in a hearse

and taken to the cemetery-

buried like a lost object.

Barry

was a human being,

a man

alone in the city,

buried long ago

by other people.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR TENSES (1)

Q1 ….. any one object if I turn the heating down?

(a) Do                               (b) Does                        (c) Did                            (d) Doing

Q2 I ….. come to the conclusion that nowadays nobody cares about anything.

(a) will                               (b) had                        (c) do                         (d) have

Q3 No matter what happens next I ….. help you.

(a) am                          (b) have                      (c) will                         (d) would

Q4 They ….. for 3 hours when the storm suddenly broke.

(a) had been running                       (b) have been running     (c) are running            (d) will be running

Q5 I assumed you ….. paying for the repairs until the end of last year.

(a) have been               (b) was been               (c) are being                      (d) had been

Q6 ….. get tired of answering the same questions every day?

(a) Have you ever                    (b) Had you ever                 (c) Do you ever        (d) Are you ever

Q7 She ….. working on that manuscript for 2 years now.

(a) will be                      (b) has been               (c) had been                          (d) is

Q8 I ……. there once a long time ago and haven’t been back since.

(a) went                            (b) go                       (c) have gone                      (d) was going

Q9 She …….. trying to pass her driving test but fails every time.

(a) kept                           (b) is keeping                        (c) had kept                           (d) keeps

Q10 I …….. complete silence now while I try this experiment.

(a) am wanting                          (b) want                       (c) did want                       (d) have wanted

 The fox and the Crow
  

One morning a plain black crow sat on a branch holding in his beak a delicious piece of cheese. Along came a fox, who had smelled the delicious cheese. The fox came and stood under the tree, and bowed politely to the crow. Good morning, my friend ;said the fox. 

How well you are looking today! 

The crow was very pleasant at this, but of course could not reply because of the cheese he held in his mouth. 

Your eyes are the most beautiful I have seen, the fox went on. And, as for your feathers, how black and glossy they are! The crow was even more pleasant, but still said nothing. He just sat on his branch and swelled with pride. But the fox went on. 

I have been told, he continued, how beautifully you sing, and I should like so much to hear you!  

Your voice could not possibly be so lovely as your feathers , but if it were, why, you would be the most wonderful bird  of the whole forest. 

Do sing just a few notes for me, won’t you? This was too much for the crow. He opened his beak wide, cawed loudly, and dropped the cheese right into the mouth of the waiting fox. 

Thank you so much, said the fox, gobbling up the cheese. Your song was very ugly, but your cheese was so delicious. Another time, perhaps you won’t be so ready to believe all the good things you hear about yourself. And, with a wave of his tail, he trotted gaily off into the woods.

The city

High rise after high rise.

Full of people.

So many name-plates,

nicely shining name –plates.

A lot of people,

well cared –for people,

people who don’t know each other.

They see each other.

They stand together in the elevator.

They look straight ahead.

Each one knows that the other person is there,

just as they know that a pole exists,

which must not be bumped into.

People in the city.

People alone in the city

The city is no longer

a likeable, cozy home

for people.

ENGLISH ADVANCED VOCABULARY TEST (2)

Q1 You can have whichever one you went as I’ll let you…… from these examples here.

(a) consider                     (b) deliberate                        (c) choose                           (d) enable

Q2 I think you can clearly see now what I mean as that incident …… that I am obviously right.

(a) decides                            (b) demonstrates                       (c) protests                   (d) highlights

Q3 For the first time in his life …… of going straight home, he called in at a pub on the way back.

(a) instead                          (b) inside                             (c) including                          (d) into

Q4 You can tell me that this piece of furniture is….. to America because of the strong colonial style.

(a) born                          (b) inherent                        (c) special                         (d) native  

Q5 ……. for his age and he is after all only 12, I think his achievement is remarkable.

(a) Permitting                      (b) Discerning                     (c) Allowing                            (d) Regarding

Q6 If you ….. to take that step in your career, you have only yourself to blame if it all goes wrong.

(a) have                            (b) believe                           (c) experiment                    (d) choose

Q7 I’ve always thought of her as the kind of person you can trust, you know the sort you can….. on.

(a) depend                        (b) deter                         (c) defend                           (d) defeat

Q8 It was a totally new experience for us visiting that factory abroad as we were …… to all sorts of new 

techniques.

(a) involved                      (d) intended                        (c) invested                   (d) introduced

Q9 No one had a clue what had actually happened neither the police …… the public.

(a) or                          (b) either                          (c) nor                              (d) never

Q10 All cyclists must now wear some kind of helmet in order to ……. their heads against injury in the event of an accident.

(a) proffer                                (b) protect                   (c) produce                         (d) prevent

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

Albert Einstein

Wolf! wolf!

A long time ago there was a boy who watched his father’s sheep. Each day he took them to a pasture on the hillside above the village, and there he sat and watched them all day long. In the afternoon, as the sun began to go down, he drove the sheep home again. Often he would become quite lonely, because he had no one to play with. How he longed for just a little bit of company. One day, when he was feeling very lonely indeed, he remembered what his father had told him when he first began to care for the sheep. You must always beware of the wolf, his father has said. And if you should see one, be sure to call for help. Now the boy had never seen a wolf. But he thought that it would be so pleasant to have some company that he decided to make-believe. Wolf, wolf. Far below, the villagers heard him. They all dropped their work, seized their axes, and rushed up to the pasture. But, when they got there , they saw only the sheep and the boy. There was no wolf at all. He was so glad to see them that they were not very angry at him for having fooled them.But they told him that he must not do it again. And for a long time he did not. One day, though, he was feeling lonelier than ever. He knew that he should not , but he cried out, as loudly as he could. Wolf! wolf! And again the villagers came rushing to help him. But , when they got there , they saw only the sheep and the boy, and no wolf at all. He was very glad to see them, but some of them were quite angry, this time at having been fooled. They told him that he must not do it again. And he did not. One day as he sat quietly watching his sheep, he saw a big gray wolf come slinking out of the forest. Wolf! wolf! He called with all his might. Wolf!wolf! The villagers , far below , heard his cries, but  went on with their work. They did not want to be fooled again. Wolf! wolf! Cried the boy. Wolf! wolf!  Cried the boy. Wolf, wolf. At this the villagers were startled. Perhaps  he did need help. And they dropped their work, seized their axes and rushed to the pasture. But they were  too late. When they got there the wolf had gone, and all they ever found of the little boy was his pointed shepherd’s hat.

                                        

“ Silence is not always valued for what it actually is. Some people like to  sit silently and watch the world around. A lot others can't do that. It seems that only the old people should stay calm and say nothing.  

I always carry  a question with me:" Can people sit together without talking?" We often hear the saying that "Silence is gold", but who should know  such a saying?

Following there should be an answer. Enjoy reading it.

fm

A time for silence

The next time you have five minutes to spare, do you

know what you should do?  Just think!

Make sure that for once you are surrounded by silence.

Switch off your radio and your hi-fi. Turn off the

TV –and the lights. Shut your books, put down your

papers and magazines. Flick the switches. Turn off the

taps. Free yourself from the tentacles of our consumer

society. Like a frightening octopus, it sucks away what

remains of your freedom and spirit with its debasing

commercials.

Make everything silent around you. Make it silent

within you. And take  your pulse. You must find out

whether you’re already dead-buried in goods, in

that tight corset of money making, achieving.

At a thousand meetings you talk, you protest. The

poor of the third world,the poor at home- they will

get nothing out of your talk, your arguing, your

protests your resolutions.

They loathe them because they know you yourself are

drowing in the very things they must go without.

They will take you seriously only when your

consumption –fever cools off. I do know something to

take for this consumption-fever: it is restraint, 
self denial, sacrifice!