1. A Cheap Meal (A1)A man went into a restaurant and sat down at one of the tables.A waiter went up to him and gave him the menu.The man read it carefully, and then ordered all the most expensive dishes.The waiter served the meal and the man ate it with great enjoyment.Then a small boy came into the restaurant and sat at the mans table.The waiter came up and said to the man, “What would your little boy like, sir?”“Oh, just an ice cream,” the man told him. Then he stood up and said to the waiter, “Im just going out to buy a newspaper.”He left the restaurant. The waiter gave the boy an ice cream. The boy ate it, and then stood up and walked to the door.The waiter ran towards him.“Excuse me,” he said, “but your father hasnt come back and he hasnt paid for his meal or for your ice cream.”“Im sorry,” the young boy said, “that has nothing to do with me.”“Oh, yes,” the waiter said, “but you need to stay here until your father comes back and pays his bill.”“Hes not my father,” the boy said. “I dont know who he is.”The waiter did not understand. “What do you mean?” He asked.“The man came up to me in the street,” the boy said. “He asked me if I liked ice cream. I told him I did. Then he told me to come into the restaurant at 2 oclock and sit down at his table. He said hed give me some.“Oh, my god!” said the waiter.2. How Wars Begin (A1)The Stevenson family was having dinner. The family ate without talking for several minutes, and then Tom said, “Daddy, do you know how wars begin?”Mr. Stevenson thought for a moment, and then he said, “Yes, I think so. Ill give you an example. Take two countries, Britain and America. If Britain fought with America.”Mrs. Stevenson laughed. “Thats crazy,” she said to her husband. “Britain and America have been friends for over two hundred years. Theyll never fight.”“Yes, I know that,” Mr. Stevenson said. “I was only using them as an example.”“But theyre not a good example,” Mrs. Stevenson said. “France and Germany are a better example.”“Britain and America are the best example,” Mr. Stevenson replied. “They are friends now but they were enemies in the past. They fought a war!”“But that was a long time ago,” Mrs. Stevenson said. “You should use more modern examples.”“And you should let me answer my sons question,” Mr. Stevenson said angrily.“Not when you give him wrong answers,” Mrs. Stevenson said.“I am not giving him wrong answers!” Mr. Stevenson shouted. “I am giving him perfectly good answers.”“Dont shout at me!” Mrs. Stevenson cried. “Im not one of your stupid friends.”“My friends arent stupid!” Mr. Stevenson stood up and walked angrily out of the room.“Now Ill answer your question,” Mrs. Stevenson said to her son.“Its all right, Mom,” he said. “You and Dad already have.”3. The Hole in the Ground (A1)There was once a farmer who lived near a road.It was not a busy road, but from time to time, cars passed the farm.Near the farm gate, there was a large hole in the road.This hole was always full of water, and the drivers of the cars could not see how deep the hole was. They thought it was probably shallow.Then when they drove into the hole, they could not drive out because it was so deep.The farmer did not spend much time working on his farm. He spent most of it watching the hole.When a car drove into it, he pulled the car out with his tractor and charged the driver a lot of money for doing this.One day, the driver of a car said to him, “You must make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole night and day.”“Oh, no,” the farmer said. “I dont pull cars out of the hole at night. At night I fill the hole with water.”4. Quick Thinking (A1)One day, Tony met his friend, Alan, in the street. Tony was quite rich, but Alan was poor. The two boys walked along the street together. They talked about many things. Tony liked to listen to music and he told Alan about some new songs. Alan liked reading and he told Tony about some new books. They had the same friends, and they talked about these, too. Then Tony remembered something, “I lent you ten dollars last week,” he said. “Can you give it back to me?” “Im very sorry, Tony.” Alan said, “I forgot about it.” He thought about this money for a minute. Then he said, “I havent got any money with me today. Ill pay you back tomorrow. ” “All right,” Tony said. “I can wait another day.” At that moment a man ran up. He had a knife in his hand. Alan and Tony were afraid. He was a dangerous man. “Give me your money,” he said to Tony. Tony took out his wallet and gave it to the thief. The thief took out the money and threw the wallet on to the ground. “Now you give me your money,” he said to Alan. Alan thought quickly. He took out his wallet, but he did not give it to the thief. He gave it to Tony and said, “I owe you some money, Tony. Here it is.”5. A Free Meal