英语初级口语_短文18篇

英语初级口语_短文18篇 英语初级口语 短文18篇 But the Chinese Did ! One day Tom said to one of his friends, "I'm going to have a holiday in Peking. But I don't speak Chinese, so I'll go to evening classes and have Chinese lessons for a month before I go." He studied very hard for a month, and then his holidays began and he went to China. When he came back a few weeks later, his friend said to him, "Did you have any trouble with your Chinese when you were in Peking , Tom?" "No, I didn't have any trouble with it," answered Tom. "But the Chinese did !" Self-service If you are in a hurry and you want to have a quick meal there is no better place than a self-service restaurant. You go into the restaurant, pick up a tray, knife, fork, and spoon and queue at a counter where the food is on display. You pick out what you want and put it on your tray, which you have to push along a special rack till you reach the cashier. The cashier will give you your bill. After paying, you take your tray to any table you like. You can sit alone or with another customer. You can have a good meal in ten minutes. And-as there is no waiter you don't have to give a tip. How Did You lose Your Way? Mrs Brown's old grandfather lived with her and her husband. Every morning he went for a walk in the park and came home at half past twelve for his lunch. But one morning a police car stopped outside Mrs Brown's house at twelve o'clock, and two policemen helped Mr Brown to get out. One of them said to Mrs Brown, "The poor old gentleman lost his way in the park and telephoned to us for help, so we sent a car to bring him home. " Mrs Brown was very surprised, but she thanked the policemen and they left. "But, Grandfather, " she then said , "you have been to that park nearly every day for twenty years. How did you lose your way there?" The old man smiled ,closed one eye and said, "I didn't quite lose my way. I just got tired and I didn't want to walk home ! " What Would You Like to Do Tonight? Mary's cousins, Fay and Rosemary, are still at her house. The girls want to go to the movies. They look in the newspaper to see what time the movie starts. After seeing the movie, they go to an ice cream parlor and order their favorite desserts. MARY: Girls , what would you like to do tonight? ROSEMARY: Do you ever go to the movies? MARY: Of course. I often go to the movies. ROSEMARY: Well, let's go to the movies. MARY: There's a good movie near here: "Summer in Maine" FAY: Fine. I heard it's a very good movie. ROSEMARY: Let's find out what time it starts. MARY: Let's look at the newspaper. Movie programs are usually on page nine. FAY: Here it is. "Summer in Maine " starts at 8 o'clock. A Beautiful Dress One day Mrs Jones went shopping. When her husband came home in the evening, she began to tell him about a beautiful cotton dress. "I saw it in a shop this morning," she said, "and..." "And you want to buy it," said her husband. "How much does it cost? " "Forty pounds. " "Forty pounds for a cotton dress? That is too much!" But every evening, when Mr Jones came back from work, his wife continued to speak only about the dress, and at last, after a week, he said, "Oh, buy the dress! Here is the money!" She was very happy. But the next evening, when Mr Jones came home and asked, "Have you got the famous dress?" she said, "No. " "Why not?" he said. "Well, it was still in the window of the shop after a week, so I thought, nobody else wants this dress, so I don't want it either. " Who Waits for Whom? Mr and Mrs Allen go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. Mr Allen never enjoys these trips. Mrs Allen does the shopping and he sits in the car and waits for her. This morning there were a lot of people and it took Mrs Allen longer than usual. An hour went by and finally a man came up to Mr Allen. "Excuse me," he said, "is your name Allen? Your wife is waiting for you at the check-out counter. She doesn't have enough money for the groceries ! " After a Heavy Snowstorm One night there was a heavy snowstorm, and in the morning Mr Smith's garden was full of deep snow. Mr Smith wanted to take his car out, so he paid a man to clean the path from his garage to his gate. He said to this man, "Don't throw any snow on that side, because it will damage the bushes in my garden; and don't throw any snow into the street, or the police will be angry. " Then Mr Smith went out. When he came back, the path was clean and the snow from it was not on the bushes, or the fence, or the street. Mr Smith was very pleased-until he opened the garage to get his car out! The garage was full to the top with all the snow from the path, and his car was somewhere under it all! A Better Mailman ! I worked as a mailman for a short time. However, I am afraid of dogs and I had a lot of trouble. One day I tried to deliver some letters to a big house. I started to open the gate and all of a sudden a huge dog ran toward me. It growled and barked at me , so I threw the letters over the fence. The dog picked them up and carried them into the house. The dog was a better mailman than I was! Interesting Pictures "Food really tastes good cooked over an open fire," Lloyd remarked as he took another bite of his hot dog. "It sure does," replied Fred. "I wish this weren't the last night of our camping trip, but school starts next week. " A couple of days after returning home, Lloyd and Fred took the exposed film out of their camera and took it to the camera shop to be developed. They were told that the pictures would be ready Thursday. Thursday was just two days away. Fred and Lloyd could hardly wait to see how their pictures came out. They planned to show their pictures to everyone at school as soon as school was back in session. Fred and Lloyd felt very pleased when they showed their teacher the pictures they had taken on their vacation. She said that they were some of the most interesting pictures she had seen. Give Me a Big Box of Chocolates John liked chocolates very much, but his mother never gave him any, because they were bad for his teeth, she thought. But John had a very nice grandfather. The old man loved his grandson very much, and sometimes he brought John chocolates when he. came to visit him. Then his mother let him eat them, because she wanted to make the old man happy. One evening , a few days before John's seventh birthday , he was saying his prayers in his bedroom before he went to bed. "Please, God," he shouted, "make them give me a big box of chocolates for my birthday on Saturday. " His mother was in the kitchen, but she heard the small boy shouting and went into his bedroom quickly. "Why are you shouting, John?" she asked her son. "God can hear you when you talk quietly. " "I know," answered the clever boy with a smile, "but Grandfather's in the next room, and he can't. " A Tall and Slim Girl At five feet six inches , Rosa was taller than every other student in the sixth grade. She worried about this alt the time, in school and at home. Her mother told her to stand up straight and be proud that she was so tall and slim. "Someday , " her mother said , "you'11 be happy that you're tall. " This made Rosa happier, but she was still afraid her classmates were making fun of her behind her back. One day , all this changed when Mr Ransom, the coach from the youth club , asked Rosa to play center on their basketball team. He said that Rosa was a good ball player and her height would make her valuable as center. Now, she really was proud to be tall. She was someone special. Better Be a Stupid Man It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot . so Mr Andrews was surprised when saw an old gentleman at the bus-stop with a big, strong black umbrella i' his hand. Mr Andrews said to him, "Are we going to have rain today, do you think?" "No , " said the old gentleman , "I don't think so. " "Then are you carrying the umbrella to keep the sun off you?" "No, the sun is not very hot in spring. " Mr Andrews looked at the big umbrella again, and the gentleman said, "I am an old man, and my legs are not very strong, so I really need a walk- ing-stick. But when I carry a walking-stick, people say, `Look at that poor old man , and I don't like that. When I carry an umbrella in fine weather, people only say, `Look at that stupid man'. " They Don't Talk Mr Jones was very angry with his wife, and she was very angry with her husband. For several days they did not speak to each other at a11. One evening Mr Jones was very tired when he came back from work, so he went to bed soon after dinner. Of course , he did not say anything to Mrs Jones before he went upstairs. Mrs Jones washed the dinner things and then did some sewing. When she went up to bed much later than her husband, she found a piece of paper on the small table near her bed. On it were the words,"Mother. - Wake me up at 7 a. m. -Father" When Mr Jones woke up the next morning, it was nearly 8 a. m. -and on the small table near his bed he saw another piece of paper. He took it and read these words: "Father. - Wake up. It is 7 a.m.-Mother. " What a Language! First Frenchman: I once heard someone shout, "Look out." I put my head out of a window and a bucketful of water fell on me. It seems that "look out" may mean "don't look out. " Second F: I was once on a ship and heard the captain shout, "All hands on deck. " I put my hands on the deck and someone walked on them. . Third F: I once called early on an English friend and the maid who came to the door said, "He's not up yet. Come back in half an hour. " When I went again for him, she said, "He's not down yet. " I said , "If he's not up and he's not down, where is he?" She said, "He's still in bed. When I say 'He's not up' I mean he has not yet got up, so he has not yet come downstairs." What do these phrases mean in their respective contexts? Going to the Theater If you want to be certain of seeing a play in London, you have to book your seat in advance. You can buy your tickets either at a Theatre Ticket Agency or at the Box Office in the theatre itself. tt is very rarely that you will be lucky enough to get a ticket five minutes before the play begins. If you go in a large party it is not always possible for all of you to sit in the same part of the theatre. Some will have to sit in the Stalls, others in the Dress Circle and some in the Upper Circle. These seats are the least expensive of the three. Seats in a Box or the Front Stalls are the most expensive.