Tom: John Blake was trying to find out more about a pendant. The pendant had been stolen from a museum. At 7 o’clock at night he and his friend, Mary Green, went to the shop of Mr. Egg, the bookseller. They had an appointment with him, but when they knocked at the door, there was no answer. The door wasn’t locked. They went in. The shop was dark and empty, but there was a light upstairs. They heard a noise from above, and went up the stairs. At first, they couldn’t see anybody. But then they saw Mr. Egg, lying on the floor. He tried to say something, then he died. Suddenly, Mary saw a book near Mr. Egg’s body. She picked it up. There was a drawing of the pendant in the book. “Look, there are two compartments,” John told Mary, when they saw the drawing of the pendant in the book.
Cathy: Compartments? That sounds strange. I thought a compartment was part of a railway carriage.
Tom: Yes, you’re right. It does mean part of a railway carriage.
Woman: Whatever is that smell?
Man: What smell? Oh, it’s my cigar. I always smoke a cigar after lunch.
Woman: But you can’t smoke a cigar in a non-smoker compartment, it’s against the regulations.
Man: Done the regulations!
Woman: Oh!
Man: I beg your pardon.
Cathy: Oh, I see. So, there were two compartments in the pendant – a smoker and a non-smoker compartment.
Tom: Oh, Cathy, don’t be so silly.
Cathy: Well then, make it clear. What is the other meaning of “compartment”?
Tom: There are two compartments in the pendant, that is, there are two separate parts. “Look, there are two compartments,” John told Mary, when they saw the drawing of the pendant in the book. There is a compartment at the front, and one at the back. Mary said, “We’d better tell the police, and quickly. There’s that policeman in the street – the one we talked to.”
Cathy: I think we ought to talk about this sentence.
Tom: Which one?
Cathy: The one about the “one”.
Tom: Oh, I see. All right. Then listen.
Man: Look! There’s Roberta Robertson with those girls. Isn’t she super? She is so beautiful.
Woman: Which one is Roberta Robertson?
Man: Can’t you see? Over there, the one in the green dress.
Woman: Oh, that one. The one in the green dress you mean? She’s a conceited little monkey.
Tom: You use the “one” for stylistic reasons, when you don’t want to repeat the actual word. Which are your favourite biscuits, by the way?
Cathy: The biscuits with chocolate on them.
Tom: Good. But it sounds better like this: “Which are your favourite biscuits? The ones with chocolate on them.” Well, which packet of cigarettes shall I give you?
Cathy: The one with a camel on it.
Tom: Which car have you bought?
Cathy: The one with a green hood.
Tom: Which is the most interesting part of today’s story?
Cathy: The one about Miss Haverel’s diary. Let’s listen to it now, please.
Tom: Very well.
Mary: It says E. L. Haverel.
John: This diary belonged to Miss Haverel!
Mary: But it wasn’t written by Miss Haverel. It was written in Italian.
John: This diary was written by an Italian jeweller, over a hundred years ago.
Mary: And he lived in London. It says “London” here and here.
John: And he made the pendant.
Mary: Did he?
John: I’m sure he did. Here’s a drawing of the pendant.
Mary: The stolen pendant?
John: Yes. I saw it in the museum. Hm. I remember it. This drawing shows how it was made.
Mary: Oh, yes.
John: But look! There are two compartments. There’s a compartment at the front, and one at the back.
Mary: Oh!
John: I only saw the compartment on the front.
Mary: This book is important.
John: You’re right. This book is very important.
Mary: We’d better tell the police, and quickly.
John: There’s that policeman in the street – the one we talked to. Let’s go down to the street.
Mary: No. We’d better phone the police. We’d better look for a telephone.
John: There’s a telephone downstairs in the shop. I saw it. It’s behind the door. Come on.
Tom: The diary was Miss Haverel’s , but it wasn’t written by her. It was written by an Italian jeweller who had made the pendant. There was a drawing of the pendant in the book. Mary said, “We’d better tell the police. We’d better look for a telephone.” They found one in the shop behind the door.
John: Hello, operator. Please give me the police. My telephone number? But this is urgent. There’s a dead man upstairs and… I don’t know the telephone number… Yes, I know the number is written on the telephone, but I can’t read… I mean, it’s dark in here. Listen. A man has been murdered, and… Oh, very well. I think the number is 8, double 8, 4, 2, 7. Now, will you please give me the police? Thank you.
Mary: That operator’s very slow.
John: She wanted the telephone number. It’s the regulations. Hello, is that the police station? There’s a dead man here… He’s on the floor, upstairs… Oh. I’m in the bookshop in Elgin Crescent. It’s Mr. Egg’s bookshop. Mr. Egg is the dead man. Yes, I’m sure he’s dead. He’s been stabbed. I found him. Oh. My name is Blake. Yes. John Blake. Yes, I’ll wait here. But please come quickly.
Tom: The telephone operator, that is, the person in the telephone exchange, put John thorough to the police station. John told the police that Mr. Egg had been murdered – stabbed with a knife. He said, “Please come quickly.” Then he put down the receiver and turned to Mary: “They want us to wait.” Suddenly, Mary heard something from upstairs – the sound of a floorboard creaking when someone steps on it. “I heard a creak,” she said. “I heard the floorboard creak.”
Cathy: The floorboard creak? Can you give me some more examples of that construction, please?
Tom: Yes. Listen.
Man: Help! Help!
Woman: I heard a shout. I heard a man shout.
Man: Help.
Woman: What’s the matter? Was it you who shouted?
Man: Yes. I saw a man. I saw him pick up a gun.
Woman: What are you doing?
Man: Watching the boys playing ping-pong.
Woman: You always watch the boys playing ping-pong.
Man: You will stay here!
Woman: Oh, no! Let me go! Please, let me go.
Cathy: Is there any rule when to use that form of infinitive?
Tom: Yes. The infinitive without
“to” is used with the verb “see”, “feel”, “hear”, “touch” and “smell”, as well
as “watch”, “make” and “let”.
“I saw her climb a tree.”
“He made me drink his cola.”
Cathy: But John used it with the word ”to”. He said, “They want us to wait.”
Tom: That’s right. After “want”, “ask”, “order”, “like” and “tell”, to mention a few, the infinitive takes “to”. Listen.
Woman: Go to the piano.
Man: What do you want me to do?
Woman: I want you to play the piano.
Woman: May I ask you to stop making a noise?
Worker: You asked me to stop making a noise?
Woman: Yes, I did.
Worker: Then may I ask you not to ask me to stop making a noise?
Cathy: Tom, may I ask you not to go on with these explanations?
Tom: Then what do you want me to do?
Cathy: Want? That’s a bit strong. I’d like to listen to the end of the story. I’m terribly curious about the creaking floorboard.
Tom: All right. Then let’s listen. Let’s hear the floorboard creak.
John: The police are coming. They want us to wait.
Mary: Had we better go upstairs again?
John: Let’s stay here.
Mary: Oh, it’s dark here. And it smells dusty.
John: But Mr. Egg’s upstairs, and he’s dead.
Mary: (mysterious music) I heard a creak.
John: A creak?
Mary: Upstairs. I heard a floorboard creak. Didn’t you hear it?
John: No.
Mary: Listen. Did you hear that?
John: It was a footstep.
Mary: There’s somebody upstairs.
John: There’s only Mr. Egg upstairs, and he’s dead.
Mary: Perhaps he is not dead. Perhaps he needs help.
John: Let’s go up and see. Come on.
Mary: You go first.
John: Well?
Mary: There’s Mr. Egg.
John: He hasn’t moved.
Mary: He’s still dead.
John: But somebody was walking about upstairs.
Tom: Mary said she heard a creak. She said, “There’s somebody upstairs. Perhaps Mr. Egg is not dead.” They went upstairs, but Mr. Egg’s body was still lying on the floor. John said, “But somebody was walking about upstairs.”
Cathy: Was there someone walking about upstairs?
Tom: They couldn’t see anyone. But you’ll hear more of the story later. Now I want you to exercise your English.
EXERCISE YOUR ENGLISH.
Exercise 1
Listen to the example:
A: Where was the pendant made?
B: Italy
C: It was made in Italy.
Listen, speak, listen.
A: Where was the pendant made?
B: Italy
[Your response]
C: It was made in Italy.
A: Who was the diary written by?
B: Italian jeweller
[Your response]
C: It was written by an Italian jeweller.
A: When was the diary written?
B: a hundred years
[Your response]
C: It was written a hundred years ago.
A: Where was this parcel posted?
B: France
[Your response]
C: It was posted in France.
Exercise 2
Listen to the example:
A: Let’s read the diary.
B: Read the diary?
A: Yes, we’d better read the diary.
Listen, speak, listen.
A: Let’s read the diary.
B: Read the diary?
[Your response]
A: Yes, we’d better read the diary.
A: Let’s call the police.
B: Call the police?
[Your response]
A: Yes, we’d better call the police.
A: Let’s phone the police station.
B: Phone the police station?
[Your response]
A: Yes, we’d better phone the police station.
Tom: And now, we’d like to ask you to listen to our story once again. John and Mary found a diary beside Mr. Egg’s body.
Mary: It says E. L. Haverel.
John: This diary belonged to Miss Haverel!
Mary: But it wasn’t written by Miss Haverel. It was written in Italian.
John: This diary was written by an Italian jeweller, over a hundred years ago.
Mary: And he lived in London. It says “London” here and here.
John: And he made the pendant.
Mary: Did he?
John: I’m sure he did. Here’s a drawing of the pendant.
Mary: The stolen pendant?
John: Yes. I saw it in the museum. Hm. I remember it. This drawing shows how it was made.
Mary: Oh, yes.
John: But look! There are two compartments. There’s a compartment at the front, and one at the back.
Mary: Oh!
John: I only saw the compartment on the front.
Mary: This book is important.
John: You’re right. This book is very important.
Mary: We’d better tell the police, and quickly.
John: There’s that policeman in the street – the one we talked to. Let’s go down to the street.
Mary: No. We’d better phone the police. We’d better look for a telephone.
John: There’s a telephone downstairs in the shop. I saw it. It’s behind the door. Come on.
John: Hello, operator. Please give me the police. My telephone number? But this is urgent. There’s a dead man upstairs and… I don’t know the telephone number… Yes, I know the number is written on the telephone, but I can’t read… I mean, it’s dark in here. Listen. A man has been murdered, and… Oh, very well. I think the number is 8, double 8, 4, 2, 7. Now, will you please give me the police? Thank you.
Mary: That operator’s very slow.
John: She wanted the telephone number. It’s the regulations. Hello, is that the police station? There’s a dead man here… He’s on the floor, upstairs… Oh. I’m in the bookshop in Elgin Crescent. It’s Mr. Egg’s bookshop. Mr. Egg is the dead man. Yes, I’m sure he’s dead. He’s been stabbed. I found him. Oh. My name is Blake. Yes. John Blake. Yes, I’ll wait here. But please come quickly.
John: The police are coming. They want us to wait.
Mary: Had we better go upstairs again?
John: Let’s stay here.
Mary: Oh, it’s dark here. And it smells dusty.
John: But Mr. Egg’s upstairs, and he’s dead.
Mary: (mysterious music) I heard a creak.
John: A creak?
Mary: Upstairs. I heard a floorboard creak. Didn’t you hear it?
John: No.
Mary: Listen. Did you hear that?
John: It was a footstep.
Mary: There’s somebody upstairs.
John: There’s only Mr. Egg upstairs, and he’s dead.
Mary: Perhaps he is not dead. Perhaps he needs help.
John: Let’s go up and see. Come on.
Mary: You go first.
John: Well?
Mary: There’s Mr. Egg.
John: He hasn’t moved.
Mary: He’s still dead.
John: But somebody was walking about upstairs.
Mary: John, you put the diary on the table, didn’t you?
John: Yes, I did. I put it here.
Mary: Then where is it?