ONE-WAY TICKET SHORT STORIES A train is a closed world Each carriage is like a small room, with windows and doors, but you can’t get out when the train is moving The world outside is far away, and you can forget your home, your work, your friends On a train you sit with strangers You don’t know anything about them, but you sit next to them for hours, or perhaps days, in the same small room You can’t get away from them As the wheels of the train turn, these stories show us three different people A beautiful young wife – going on holiday with her new husband, through the green hills of England A carefree young man – travelling across the mountains of Yugoslavia, looking for work A sensible middle-aged man – travelling north through the forests and lakes of Finland, hoping for a quiet journey Three different journeys, three different people – all locked in the closed world of the train … where anything can happen OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY Human Interest One-Way Ticket SHORT STORIES Stage (400 headwords) Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Alison Baxter To my brothers, Nick and Rod, who a lot of travelling around Europe by train JENNIFER BASSETT One-Way Ticket SHORT STORIES OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries OXFORD This edition © Oxford University Press 2008 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published in Oxford Bookworms 1991 10 No unauthorized photocopying All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the content ISBN 978 19 478914 A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of One-Way Ticket is available on audio CD ISBN 978 19 478849 Illustrated by: Nick Harris Word count (main text): 5520 words For more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library, visit www.oup.com/bookworms e-Book ISBN 978 19 478714 e-Book first published 2012 15 He sees something terrible on the train What is going to happen in these stories? Can you guess? Tick one box for each sentence Story 1: The Girl with Green Eyes Story 2: South for the Winter Story 3: Mr Harris and the Night Train Someone dies Someone falls in love Someone goes to prison Someone gets a lot of money Someone loses something Someone jumps off the train 123 ACTIVITIES While Reading Read The Girl with Green Eyes Who did what in this story? How many true sentences can you make? Here are some untrue sentences about the story Change them into true sentences The man in the brown hat was an interesting man The tall dark man read the back page of Julie’s newspaper Nobody got on the train at Plymouth Julie said goodbye to Bill when she got off the train Bill was very happy when Julie left The man in the brown hat wanted Bill to remember Julie Read South for the Winter Then put these sentences into the right order, to make a short paragraph They took all his clothes out of the bag, and so he went to prison Tom didn’t know anything about this money, two policemen came into Tom’s carriage but the dollars were in his bag, A lot of US dollars fell out on to the table They told Tom to go with them into the station building, and then picked it up and turned it over When the train stopped at a village, 10 and to bring his bag with him Read Mr Harris and the Night Train Choose the best questionword for these questions, and then answer them Who / What / Why … did Mr Harris after dinner? … came into Mr Harris’s carriage after Otava? … did Carl want Elena’s diamond necklace? … gave the diamonds to Elena? … did Carl when Elena took out a knife? … was in the carriage when Mr Harris came back? … never saw the ghosts of Carl and Elena? … did Mr Harris take the bus back to Helsinki? ACTIVITIES After Reading Complete this crossword with words from the stories ACROSS 2 Elena di Saronelli was one of these (5) 4 Bill’s stories were not interesting; they were _ (6) 8 When you wait for a train, you stand on this (8) 9 A ‘room’ on a train (8) 10 You sit on this on a train (4) 11 Tom went to this place for the winter (6) 12 Julie was _with Bill (5) DOWN You walk along this on a train (8) 3 A train stops at this (7) 5 This man works on a train (5) 6 Elena killed Carl with this (5) 7 Julie and the tall dark man talked with these (4) In The Girl with Green Eyes, Julie and the tall dark man did not talk, but here is a ‘conversation’ between their eyes, in the wrong order Write it out in the correct order and put in the speakers’ names The tall dark man speaks first (number 7) _ ‘Of course you can Bill is more interested in his stories than in his beautiful wife And you are beautiful, Julie You have the most wonderful eyes.’ _ ‘I can’t that! What about Bill?’ _ ‘No buts Come with me to Italy You can be happy with me Don’t you want to be happy?’ _ ‘How wonderful! I’d love to go to Italy But I’m going to St Austell.’ _ ‘Say nothing That’s the best way Just get off the train at Plymouth after me.’ _ ‘Yes, that’s true I am bored But he’s my husband, and I can’t just leave him … can I?’ _ ‘Do you see my book about Italy? I’m going to visit these four famous cities.’ _ ‘All right Wait for me on the platform!’ _ ‘Well, what about him? You don’t like him You’re bored with him.’ 10 _ ‘OK, I have wonderful eyes, but …’ 11 _ ‘St Austell’s a boring town Come with me to Italy.’ 12 _ ‘Yes Yes, I But what I say to Bill?’ Tom (in South for the Winter) writes a letter home to his mother, but he gets a lot of things wrong Find his mistakes and correct them And he forgets to say one important thing What is it? Dear Mum I left Italy last autumn and came north by bus I’m staying here in Cyprus for the summer I’ve got a job in a hotel, and I’ve got lots of money So life is easy Next year, I’m going to America with an old friend – his name’s Ivan We’re going to start a new life in Los Angeles Hope you’re well Give my love to Burnham-on-Sea! Love from Tom When Mr Harris arrived in Oulu, his friend met him at the station Complete their conversation with these words (Use one word for each gap.) blood, bus, but, diamond, happened, journey, killed, knows, man, nothing, right, sister’s, sleep, terrible, there, train, true, why FRIEND: Mr Harris, how nice to see you! Did you have a good _? MR HARRIS: Well, not very good I didn’t _all night FRIEND: Oh, that’s bad But _couldn’t you sleep? MR HARRIS: Because _were two ghosts in my carriage FRIEND: Ghosts? How exciting! What _? MR HARRIS: It was a young _and his sister He had a _necklace, but it was his _necklace and she wanted it back And in the end she _her brother with a knife It was _! There was _everywhere – I saw it! I ran to get the guard, _when we came back, there was _there FRIEND: Ah, wait a minute It was Elena di Saronelli and her brother Carl, yes? MR HARRIS: That’s _, but how did you know? FRIEND: Oh, everyone in Finland _that story MR HARRIS: But is it _? FRIEND: Of course it is You saw their ghosts, didn’t you? Well, well, how exciting! And when you take the _ back to Helsinki … MR HARRIS: Oh no, I’m going back to Helsinki by _ No more ghosts for me, thank you! What you think about ghosts? Do you agree (A) or disagree (D) with these sentences? There are ghosts There aren’t ghosts Some people can see ghosts, but other people can’t see them Perhaps there are ghosts, and perhaps there aren’t; we just don’t know Here is a new illustration for one of the stories Find the best place for it, and answer these questions The picture goes in the story _ Who is the girl in the picture? What is she doing, and why is she doing it? Where are the other two people in this story? Now write a caption for the illustration What did you think about the people in these stories? Were the men nicer people than the women? Did you feel sorry for anybody? Choose some names, and complete some of these sentences Julie / Bill / the tall dark man / the man in the brown hat Tom / Melanie / Carol Mr Harris / Elena / Carl I feel sorry for _because _ I think _was a nice person but _ _was right to _ _was wrong to _ I think _did a very bad thing _did the worst thing Here are some new titles for the three stories Which titles go with which stories? Some are better titles than others Can you say why? Saturday Night in Sofia Love Before Plymouth A Man Called Bill Happy Days in Finland Murder in the Night Green Eyes, Brown Eyes A Loving Sister Don’t Talk to Strangers A Holiday in St Austell The Ghost Train The American Girls An Easy Winter ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jennifer Bassett has worked in English Language Teaching since 1972 She has been a teacher, teacher trainer, editor, and materials writer, and has taught in England, Greece, Spain, and Portugal She is the current Series Editor of the Oxford Bookworms Library, and has written several other stories for the series, including The Phantom of the Opera and The President’s Murderer (both at Stage 1) She lives and works in Devonshire, in the south-west of England The stories in One-Way Ticket were inspired by her many train journeys across Europe She loves the ‘closed world’ of the train, and over the years has had many interesting, and sometimes surprising, conversations with other travellers ‘People tell you their life stories on trains,’ she says, ‘because they know they will never see you again.’ OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY Classics • Crime & Mystery • Factfiles • Fantasy & Horror Human Interest • Playscripts • Thriller & Adventure True Stories • World Stories The OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY provides enjoyable reading in English, with a wide range of classic and modern fiction, non-fiction, and plays It includes original and adapted texts in seven carefully graded language stages, which take learners from beginner to advanced level An overview is given on the next pages All Stage titles are available as audio recordings, as well as over eighty other titles from Starter to Stage All Starters and many titles at Stages to are specially recommended for younger learners Every Bookworm is illustrated, and Starters and Factfiles have full-colour illustrations The OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY also offers extensive support Each book contains an introduction to the story, notes about the author, a glossary, and activities Additional resources include tests and worksheets, and answers for these and for the activities in the books There is advice on running a class library, using audio recordings, and the many ways of using Oxford Bookworms in reading programmes Resource materials are available on the website The Oxford Bookworms Collection is a series for advanced learners It consists of volumes of short stories by well-known authors, both classic and modern Texts are not abridged or adapted in any way, but carefully selected to be accessible to the advanced student You can find details and a full list of titles in the Oxford Bookworms Library Catalogue and Oxford English Language Teaching Catalogues, and on the website THE OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY GRADING AND SAMPLE EXTRACTS STARTER • 250 HEADWORDS present simple – present continuous – imperative – can/cannot, must – going to (future) – simple gerunds … Her phone is ringing – but where is it? Sally gets out of bed and looks in her bag No phone She looks under the bed No phone Then she looks behind the door There is her phone Sally picks up her phone and answers it Sally’s Phone STAGE • 400 HEADWORDS … past simple – coordination with and, but, or – subordination with before, after, when, because, so … I knew him in Persia He was a famous builder and I worked with him there For a time I was his friend, but not for long When he came to Paris, I came after him –I wanted to watch him He was a very clever, very dangerous man The Phantom of the Opera STAGE • 700 HEADWORDS … present perfect – will (future) – (don’t) have to, must not, could – comparison of adjectives – simple if clauses – past continuous – tag questions – ask/tell + infinitive … While I was writing these words in my diary, I decided what to I must try to escape I shall try to get down the wall outside The window is high above the ground, but I have to try I shall take some of the gold with me – if I escape, perhaps it will be helpful later Dracula STAGE • 1000 HEADWORDS … should, may – present perfect continuous – used to – past perfect – causative – relative clauses – indirect statements … Of course, it was most important that no one should see Colin, Mary, or Dickon entering the secret garden So Colin gave orders to the gardeners that they must all keep away from that part of the garden in future The Secret Garden STAGE • 1400 HEADWORDS … past perfect continuous – passive (simple forms) – would conditional clauses – indirect questions – relatives with where/when – gerunds after prepositions/phrases … I was glad Now Hyde could not show his face to the world again If he did, every honest man in London would be proud to report him to the police Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde STAGE • 1800 HEADWORDS … future continuous – future perfect – passive (modals, continuous forms) – would have conditional clauses – modals + perfect infinitive … If he had spoken Estella’s name, I would have hit him I was so angry with him, and so depressed about my future, that I could not eat the breakfast Instead I went straight to the old house Great Expectations STAGE • 2500 HEADWORDS … passive (infinitives, gerunds) – advanced modal meanings – clauses of concession, condition When I stepped up to the piano, I was confident It was as if I knew that the prodigy side of me really did exist And when I started to play, I was so caught up in how lovely I looked that I didn’t worry how I would sound The Joy Luck Club BOOKWORMS • HUMAN INTEREST • STAGE The Lottery Winner ROSEMARY BORDER Everybody wants to win the lottery A million pounds, perhaps five million, even ten million How wonderful! Emma Carter buys a ticket for the lottery every week, and puts the ticket carefully in her bag She is seventy-three years old and does not have much money She would like to visit her son in Australia, but aeroplane tickets are very expensive Jason Williams buys lottery tickets every week too But he is not a very nice young man He steals things He hits old ladies in the street, snatches their bags and runs away … BOOKWORMS • CRIME & MYSTERY • STAGE Sister Love and Other Crime Stories JOHN ESCOTT Some sisters are good friends, some are not Sometimes there is more hate in a family than there is love Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago They say that everybody has one crime in them Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps they kill … ... LIBRARY Human Interest One- Way Ticket SHORT STORIES Stage (400 headwords) Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Alison Baxter... To my brothers, Nick and Rod, who a lot of travelling around Europe by train JENNIFER BASSETT One- Way Ticket SHORT STORIES OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford.. .ONE- WAY TICKET SHORT STORIES A train is a closed world Each carriage is like a small room, with windows and doors, but you can’t get out when the train is moving The world outside is far away,