Tom: John was accused of stealing a pendant from a museum. He and his friend, Mary Green, decided to find the pendant and its thief. But how? A reporter advised them to go to Anthony Forset, a collector of old things. On the way, a red sports car nearly killed them. At Forset’s house, they saw the sports car and met Anthony Forset who had a gun. He lived alone in the house with his unusual pets: a wild cat and a snake. He said he was the only man in the house. “But I heard footsteps,” John said.
John: I’m sure I heard footsteps.
Forset: Then you’re wrong.
John: Am I?
Forset: Yes, you’re wrong. You heard no footsteps. There are no other people in this house.
(noise of a banging door)
John: Then what was that? A door banged upstairs.
Forset: Yes, a door banged. I heard it, too. It was the wind.
John: There’s someone else in the house.
Forset: There’s no one else in the house.
John: Are you sure?
Forset: Of course I’m sure. This is my house. There’s no one else in the house.
John: I heard footsteps.
Forset: You heard a pet.
John: A pet?
Forset: My cat. Yes, you heard my cat. Upstairs.
Mary: But your cat is outside. I saw it outside.
Forset: But you came inside, didn’t you? My cat came inside as well.
John: I’m sure I heard—
Forset: A cat, Mr. Blake, you heard a cat. I keep some unusual pets.
Mary: You’re an unusual man, Mr. Forset.
Forset: Yes, Miss Green. Unusual. Please excuse me.
Mary: Are you leaving us?
Forset: Only for a moment. I’ll have to leave you for a moment. Oh, and please! Don’t leave this room. Some of my pets are dangerous.
Mary: Do you keep dangerous pets?
Forset: Some of my pets are very dangerous. Excuse me.
Tom: So John did hear a noise in the house. He heard footsteps. Then a door banged upstairs. They were on the ground floor. A door banged on the first floor. It banged upstairs. First Forset said that it was the wind. Then he said that it was his wild cat. “But your cat is outside,” said Mary. “The cat is outside,” that is, out of the house, not in the house. Outside. “My cat came inside,” Forset replied. “Came inside”, that is, came into the house. “The cat is inside,” the cat is in the house. Then Anthony Forset left them. He went out of the room. John and Mary were alone. John noticed that Forset had on a blue tie with red circles. He was wearing a blue tie with red circles. It was an unusual tie.
Cathy: A tie with red circles?
Tom: Yes, a tie.
Child: Mummy, I want a tie.
Woman: But Johnny, you’re still a little boy. Little boys don’t wear ties.
Child: But I want a tie.
Woman: You can’t have a tie. I’m going to buy you a suit, a pair of shoes, and a shirt.
Child: I want a tie, too. I want to wear it round my neck over my shirt.
Woman: Or where else could you wear a tie? Men wear their ties round their necks over their shirts.
Child: And so will I.
Woman: All right, all right. Only stop nagging. You can have your tie.
Cathy: And why was John surprised at Forset’s tie?
John: Did you notice his tie?
Mary: His tie?
John: Then you didn’t notice it. He’s wearing a blue tie.
Mary: So, he’s wearing a blue tie. Well?
John: He’s wearing a blue tie with red circles. Don’t you remember? A blue tie with red circles—
Mary: Well…
John: I told you about the man with the scar.
Mary: The man with the scar?
John: The man in the museum. He was wearing a blue tie with red circles, and Mr. Forset’s wearing one as well.
Mary: It’s an unusual tie.
John: He’s an unusual man. Snakes… wild cats… guns…
Mary: He’s hiding something.
John: Is he?
Mary: You heard footsteps, didn’t you?
John: I’m sure I heard footsteps. Upstairs.
Mary: I heard footsteps, too.
John: He said it was a cat.
Mary: It wasn’t a cat.
Tom: Mary felt that he was hiding something. Suddenly the door opened, and back came Anthony Forset.
Mary: I was noticing your tie, Mr. Forset. It’s an unusual tie.
Forset: Yes, it is an unusual tie. I belong to a club. I wear this tie because I belong to a club.
Mary: I see. It’s a club tie.
Forset: Yes. Members of my club wear this tie.
Mary: But only members of your club.
Forset: That’s right. Only members of my club wear this tie.
John: I saw another man wearing that tie. A big man with a scar.
Forset: A big man?
John: With a scar. And he has a stiff arm. Do you know him?
Forset: Do I know a big man with a scar and a stiff arm?
John: He wears a blue tie with red circles.
Forset: I don’t know him.
John: He belongs to your club.
Forset: I don’t know a man with a scar and a stiff arm.
Tom: Well, Forset came back. They asked him about the unusual tie. He said it was a club tie. Only members of the club wear this tie. Only people who belong to the same club wear this tie.
Man1: Hey, Bobby, this is a nice hotel, isn’t it?
Man2: Very nice, and elegant, too. Look at the shoes in front of the doors.
Man1: Do you know, what? Let’s have a good joke. Let’s mix the shoes up.
Man2: Wonderful idea. Imagine! What will happen in the morning.
(in the morning)
Man3: Goodness. A lady’s silver sandals in front of my door. Who can they belong to?
Woman1: My dear? How did these enormous boots get here?
Woman2: Where’re my shoes?
Man4: Where’re my boots?
Woman2: Manager, I want my shoes back.
Manager: Hm, hm. Ladies and gentlemen! It seems someone has played a bad joke. Someone has mixed your shoes up. But we’ll sort them out in a minute. Whose are these silver sandals?
Woman4: Oh, they’re mine. They belong to me.
Manager: Whose are these boots?
Man4: They belong to me. They’re my boots.
Manager: Who do these ski boots belong to?
Woman3: Me. They belong to me.
Woman2: Manager, do you know who played this extremely bad joke?
Manager: Sorry, madam, we don’t know. But I can assure you that it was no one who belongs to the hotel. No one who is a member of our staff.
Man1: Mum, don’t tell anybody, promise?
Woman2: I promise. What is it?
Man1: It was him.
Woman2: Who? The manager?
Man1: Yes. The manager.
Woman2: Oh, dear.
Tom: Anthony Forset said that his unusual tie was a club tie. People who belong to his club wear this tie.
Cathy: By the way, I’d like to ask about a certain club. There’s a blue and white card that you can see on the windows of restaurants, hotels, and shops. It says “Diners Club”. I’ve seen that card very often, but I have no idea what the “Diners Club” is. I know that there’re “Writers’ Clubs”, where poets, playwrights, and novelists go, then there are “Artists’ Clubs”, where painters and sculptors are the members. And there are “Sailors’ Clubs”, “Merchants’ Clubs”, and so on, according to the profession of the members. But “diner”? That’s someone who dines, who has dinner. This membership can’t be according to profession.
Tom: Ha-ha-ha, what logic! But you know I can answer any question of yours.
Cathy: However silly they are?
Tom: Well… But this is not a silly question at all. The “Diners Club” is an organization that’s started in America, but it has spread all over the world. If you are a member of the “Diners Club”, you get a metal card with your name and a number on it. Wherever you go, in any country of the world, you’ll find a blue-and-white card saying “Diners Club”. At those places, restaurants, hotels, petrol stations, shops, you can eat, sleep, fill your car, and do your shopping without paying a penny. You just show your membership card, sign the bill, and that’s all. And the shops and hotels will send the bills to your club. There the bills are added up and sent to your home address. You pay monthly.
Cathy: Fantastic! That means if I am a member of the Diners Club, I can travel all over the world without a penny in my pocket.
Tom: Well, almost. Only don’t forget that at home you have to pay all that you’ve spent.
Cathy: What a pity. But tell me: what club did Anthony Forset belong to?
Tom: Well, that’s not important. Not to the Diners Club, that’s certain. The important thing is that he had an unusual tie. John remembered the man in the museum. He had a scar and a stiff arm. He was also wearing a blue tie with red circles. So the man with the scar must also be the member of the same club. John asked Anthony Forset about him, but Forset replied, “I don’t know a man with a scar and a stiff arm.”
Cathy: Was Forset speaking the truth? What was he hiding?
Tom: You’ll hear more of the story later. But now,
EXERCISE YOUR ENGLISH.
Exercise 1
Listen to the example:
A: He keeps dangerous pets.
B: Some of his pets are really dangerous.
Listen, speak, listen.
A: He keeps dangerous pets.
[Your response]
B: Some of his pets are really dangerous.
A: He has valuable pictures.
[Your response]
B: Some of his pictures are really valuable.
A: He takes excellent photos.
[Your response]
B: Some of his photos are really excellent.
A: He grows beautiful flowers.
[Your response]
B: Some of his flowers are really beautiful.
A: He plays terrible jokes.
[Your response]
B: Some of his jokes are really terrible.
A: He writes dull novels.
[Your response]
B: Some of his novels are really dull.
A: He gives interesting lectures.
[Your response]
B: Some of his lectures are really interesting.
A: He wears unusual ties.
[Your response]
B: Some of his ties are really unusual.
Exercise 2
Use “no”, “no one”, “nobody”, “nothing” in your answers. Listen to the example:
A: Is there anyone in the house?
B: No, there’s no one in the house.
Listen, speak, listen.
A: Is there anyone in the house?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s no one in the house.
A: Is there any lunch for him?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s no lunch for him.
A: Is there anybody in the living room?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s nobody in the living room.
A: Was there anything in the post?
[Your response]
B: No, there was nothing in the post.
A: Is there any coffee left?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s no coffee left.
A: Is there anyone outside?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s no one outside.
A: Is there anything else to be said?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s nothing else to be said.
A: Is there any chance?
[Your response]
B: No, there’s no chance.
Exercise 3
Listen to the example:
A: Your bag is upstairs.
B: see
C: I saw it upstairs.
Listen, speak, listen.
A: Your bag is upstairs.
B: see
[Your response]
C: I saw it upstairs.
A: Cathy is upstairs.
B: send
[Your response]
C: I sent her upstairs.
A: The children are outside.
B: meet
[Your response]
C: I met them outside.
A: John is outside.
B: send
[Your response]
C: I sent him outside.
A: Mother’s downstairs.
B: speak to
[Your response]
C: I spoke to her downstairs.
A: The radio is downstairs.
B: take
[Your response]
C: I took it downstairs.
A: Charles is abroad.
B: meet
[Your response]
C: I met him abroad.
A: My son is abroad.
B: send
[Your response]
C: I sent him abroad.
A: The cat is inside.
B: leave
[Your response]
C: I left it inside.
A: The table is inside.
B: bring
[Your response]
C: I brought it inside.
Tom: And now let’s go back to our story again. Anthony Forset said there were no other people in his house. But John heard footsteps.
John: I’m sure I heard footsteps.
Forset: Then you’re wrong.
John: Am I?
Forset: Yes, you’re wrong. You heard no footsteps. There are no other people in this house.
(noise of a banging door)
John: Then what was that? A door banged upstairs.
Forset: Yes, a door banged. I heard it, too. It was the wind.
John: There’s someone else in the house.
Forset: There’s no one else in the house.
John: Are you sure?
Forset: Of course I’m sure. This is my house. There’s no one else in the house.
John: I heard footsteps.
Forset: You heard a pet.
John: A pet?
Forset: My cat. Yes, you heard my cat. Upstairs.
Mary: But your cat is outside. I saw it outside.
Forset: But you came inside, didn’t you? My cat came inside as well.
John: I’m sure I heard—
Forset: A cat, Mr. Blake, you heard a cat. I keep some unusual pets.
Mary: You’re an unusual man, Mr. Forset.
Forset: Yes, Miss Green. Unusual. Please excuse me.
Mary: Are you leaving us?
Forset: Only for a moment. I’ll have to leave you for a moment. Oh, and please! Don’t leave this room. Some of my pets are dangerous.
Mary: Do you keep dangerous pets?
Forset: Some of my pets are very dangerous. Excuse me.
John: Did you notice his tie?
Mary: His tie?
John: Then you didn’t notice it. He’s wearing a blue tie.
Mary: So, he’s wearing a blue tie. Well?
John: He’s wearing a blue tie with red circles. Don’t you remember? A blue tie with red circles—
Mary: Well…
John: I told you about the man with the scar.
Mary: The man with the scar?
John: The man in the museum. He was wearing a blue tie with red circles, and Mr. Forset’s wearing one as well.
Mary: It’s an unusual tie.
John: He’s an unusual man. Snakes… wild cats… guns…
Mary: He’s hiding something.
John: Is he?
Mary: You heard footsteps, didn’t you?
John: I’m sure I heard footsteps. Upstairs.
Mary: I heard footsteps, too.
John: He said it was a cat.
Mary: It wasn’t a cat.
(Forset returns)
Mary: I was noticing your tie, Mr. Forset. It’s an unusual tie.
Forset: Yes, it is an unusual tie. I belong to a club. I wear this tie because I belong to a club.
Mary: I see. It’s a club tie.
Forset: Yes. Members of my club wear this tie.
Mary: But only members of your club.
Forset: That’s right. Only members of my club wear this tie.
John: I saw another man wearing that tie. A big man with a scar.
Forset: A big man?
John: With a scar. And he has a stiff arm. Do you know him?
Forset: Do I know a big man with a scar and a stiff arm?
John: He wears a blue tie with red circles.
Forset: I don’t know him.
John: He belongs to your club.
Forset: I don’t know a man with a scar and a stiff arm.
Mary: Look! Look at the window.
Forset: What’s the matter?
Mary: A face. I saw a face.
(theme music)