Helen Catches a Train

7/26/2019 Helen Catches a Train

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HELEN CATCHES THE TRAIN

Helen packed a small suitcase, said goodbye to her mother and hurried out of

the house to catch the bus to the station. There was no one else waiting at the bus stop,

so it looked as if a bus had just left. Helen looked at her watch anxiously: it wasalready two oclock. Her train left at two-thirty, and since it would take at least twenty

minutes to reach the station, she did not have much time to spare, even if a bus came

along at once.

Just then a taxi came slowly down the road. Helen knew that the fare to the

station was at least five shillings, which was more than she could afford; but she

quickly made up her mind that it would be well worth the extra expense in order to be

sure of catching her train. So she stopped the taxi and got in. She told the driver that

she had to catch a train which left at half past two. The man nodded and said that he

would take a short cut to get her to the station in good time.

All went well until, just as they were coming out of a side-street into the mainroad that led to the station, the taxi ran into a car. There was a loud crash and Helen

was thrown forward so violently that she hit her head on the front seat. Both drivers

got out and began shouting at each other. Helen got out as well, to ask them to stop

quarrelling, but neither of them took any notice of her at all.

Helen was now quite sure that she was going to miss her train, although she

was not very far from the station. She was wondering what to do when a bus came

into sight, going in the direction of the station. The bus stop was not far off, so Helen

got her suitcase out of the taxi and ran towards the bus, which had stopped to let some

passengers get off. The bus conductor saw her running and did not ring the bell for thebus to start until she had got on. Helen reached the station just in time and managed to

catch her train after all. But if she had waited for the taxi driver to stop arguing, she

would probably have missed it.

(Donn Byrne: Intermediate Comprehension Passages, p. 20)

VOCABULARY:

to afford -priutiti

anxiously - zabrinuto

to argue - prepirati seat least - barem

to be worth - vrijediti

to ring the bell - dati znak za polazak, pozvoniti

bus - autobus

bus stop - autobusna stanica, (stajalite)

to catch, caught, caught; catching

- a bus - a train

- stii na ...

to come, came, come; coming

- along

-

down the road-

into sight

naii putem

pribliavati se (ulicom)pojaviti se


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- out of izai

conductor - kondukter (autobusa)

crash - sudar, tresak

shortcut -preac

driver - voza

taxi driver - voza taksijaextra

expense

- poseban

- poseban izdatak (troak)

fare - vozarina

front seat - prednje sjedalo

to get, got, got (ten); getting

- in

- off

- on

- out

- sbd. to a place

-

sth. out of

- ui

- stii

- ui

- izai

- dovesti

-

izvaditito go, went, gone; going

- well - dobro se odvijati

in good time - pravovremeno, na vrijeme

to hit, hit, hit; hitting

- ones head on sth. - udariti glavom o (to)

to let, let, let; letting - dozvolit, pustiti

main road - glavna cesta (ulica)

to make, made, made; making

- up ones mind - odluiti se

to miss -propustiti, ne stii

to nod (-dd-) - kimnuti

to take notice - primijetiti, obazirati se (na)

to pack - spakirati

passenger - putnik

to quarrel - svaati se

to reach the station - stii na stanicu

to run, ran, run; running

- into

- towards sth.

- zaletiti se u

-

trati prema

side-street - pokrajnja ulica

to start - krenutito spare time - dangubiti, nemati vremena

to take - trajati

to throw, threw, thrown; throwing

to be thrown forward -biti (od)baen prema naprijed

to wonder - pitati se

4.zadaa engleski I

QUESTIONS:

1.

What did Helen do that day?2.

Why did she hurry out of the house?


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3. When did her train leave?

4.

How long would it take her to reach the station?

5. Could she afford taking a taxi?

6.

What did she tell a driver?

7. What happened while they were driving?

8.

What did the two drivers do?9. Was the bus stop far off?

10.When did Helen reach the station?

INCREASE YOUR VOCABULARY.

GIVE THE SYNONYMS WORDS OF EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE

SAME AS:

(to) afford ... crash ...

shortcut ... extra ...

(to) make up ones mind ...(to) take ...

(in terms of time)

GIVE THE ANTONYMS WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE

OPPOSITE OF:

(to) go well ... (to) pack ...

(to) reach ... (to) catch ...

already ... slowly ...

in good time ... loud ...

(to) shout ...

RECONSTRUCT THE PASSAGE

TRANSLATE:

Taksi je skup, pa ga rijetko koristim. Obino se vozim autobusom ili tramvajem. Kada

idem na eljezniku stanicu, da stignem na vlak, obino kasnim pa se uvijek urim.

Tada si, ponekad, priutim vonju taksijem. Ako pak naie autobus (ili tramvaj), a

kondukter me vidi kako trim s tolikom prtljagom prema stajalitu, nikad ne daje znak

za polazak dok ja ne uem.

MAKE SENTENCES OF YOUR OWN:

main road - side street - shortcut - fare - (to) afford - (to) be worth - extra

expense - (to) get in - (to) get off - (to) miss - (to) make up ones mind - (to) run

into.

EXERCISES:

I.

STUDY THE FORMS OF THE WORDS GIVEN BELOW COMPLETE

THE TABLE.

NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB ADVERB


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anxiety anxious (to) be anxious

about sth.

anxiously

sure

violently

(to) approach

(to) hurry(to) catch

direction

loud

Choose a noun, an adjective, a verb or an adverb from the text and see if you can

provide the other three forms; consult your dictionary for any difference in meaning.

II. COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES FROM THE TEXT:

Helen looked at her watch ... (anxious, anxiously)

Just then a taxi came ... down the road. (slow, slowly)

She ... made up her mind. (quick, quickly)

There was a ... crash. (loud, loudly)

Helen was thrown forward ... (violent, violently)

Helen was now quite ... (sure, surely) that she was going to miss her train.

CONSULT YOUR GRAMMAR BOOKS AND REPEAT ADJECTIVES AND

ADVERBS IN DETAIL.

WORD STUDY: ADJECTIVES vs. ADVERBS

a small suitcase (to) enjoy to a degree

(a little)

much time (to) know much

the extra expense (to) discuss sth. extra

a side street (to) put sth. sideways

the main road (to) understand mainly

(in general)

a loud crash (to) shout loundly

the front seat (to) collide frontally

Practice ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS

Select the appropriate word (an adjective and/or an adverb) and complete the

following pairs of sentences.

friendly - cautious . cautiously . hard . hardly . terrible . terribly

1. That cheese has a ... smell. That cheese smells ...

2. Take a ... smell at it and see if you agree.

Smell it ... and see if you agree.

3. Those men are pretty ... workers on the whole.

Those men work pretty ... on the whole.4. One of them gave us a ... wave.


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One of them waved at us in a ... way/manner.

PRACTICE:

III. INSERT THE APPROPRIATE PREPOSITIONS:

Helen said goodbye ... her mother and hurried ... the house to catch the bus ... the

station. There was no one waiting ... the bus stop. Helen looked ... her watch

anxiously. Her train left ... two-thirty. Just then a taxi came slowly ... the road. It

would be well worth the extra expense in order to be sure ... catching her train. All

went well until, just as they were coming ... a side-street ... the main road that led ...

the station, the taxi run ... a car. Helen was thrown ... so violently that she hit her head

... the front seat. Later a bus came ... sight, going ... the direction ... the station. Helen

got ... the taxi and ran ... the bus. Helen reached the station just ... time and managed

to catch her train ... all.

IV.

(1) COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES USING THE CORRECT FROMOF THE VERB IN BRACKETS. THEN MAKE THEM

INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE.

WRITE SIMILAR SENTENCES OF YOUR OWN.

She never ... (pack) her suitcase the last moment. She usually ... (pack) her suitcase

one day before her trip. Right now she ... (pack) her suitcase. Last Friday she ... (pack)

her suitcase the last moment. I went out to buy some cigarettes and when I came back

she ... still ... (pack) her suitcase. She seldom ... (take) a short cut to get to the station.

Right now she ... (take) a short cut to the station because she is late. Yesterday she ...

(take) a short cut to the station because she did not have much time to spare. Last

evening while she ... (take) a short cut to the station she saw a terrible traffic accident.

(2) CHANGE THE SENTENCES TO THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS, MAKE ALL

OTHER NECESSARY CHANGES.

Helen packed a small suitcase that afternoon. She said goodbye to her mother and

hurried out of the house. There was no one else waiting at the bus stop. Helen looked

at her watch anxiously. Her train left at two-thirty. A taxi came slowly down the road.

Helen knew that the fare to the station was at least five shillings.

(3) PROVIDE THE CORRECT TENSE OF THE VERBS IN BRACKET. EXPLAINYOUR CHOICE:

Policemen (to direct) the traffic. The bus only (to stop) here to pick up passengers.

She usually (to fall) asleep on long journeys. She (not to go) out much. He (not to

agree) with the belief that there is life on other planets. He (to play) guitar. (Visit)

your frequently Dubrovnik in the summer? No, I never do. (Own) a lot of people

video recorders? She (not to find) it easy to express herself in English. The car (to

need) a complete overhaul (check-up). At weekends she (to go) out with her friends. I

(to do) physical training in order to keep fit. Robert (to have) a lot of confidence in

himself.

V. HOME STUDY: VERBS (CLASSIFICATION, PROPERTIES: NUMBERS,


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PERSONS, VOICES, MOODS, TENSES, ASPECTS)

FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN

BRACKETS:

1.

Every week-end Helen (pack) ... a small suitcase, (say) ... goodbye to her motherand (hurry) ... out of the house to catch the bus to the station.

2. On Fridays her train (leave) ... at two-thirty.

3. Usually it (take) ... her at least twenty minutes to reach the station. She (have not)

... much time to spare.

4. She seldom (take) ... a taxi to the station.

5. Sometimes it (be) ... well worth the extra expense.

* CONSTRUCT A DIALOGUE ON THE ACCIDENT (USE INTERROGATIVE

AND NEGATIVE STATEMENTS).

Taxi driver:

Car driver:

* RECONSTRUCT THE LAST PART OF THE STORY TAKING THE ROLE OF

(1) HELEN (2) THE BUS CONDUCTOR

Bus conductor: I can see a girl. She is getting her suitcase out of the taxi. She is

running towards the bus. etc.

Helen: The two drivers are shouting at each other. I am asking them to stop

quarrelling. etc. etc.

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Helen Catches a Train