Supplementary Reading
Quality
(abridged)
By J. Galsworthy
I knew Mr. Glesser from the days I was a child because he made my father`s shoes. He had a little shop in a small street.There was no sign on the door of his shop that could attract people`s attention and Mr. Glesser had a few customers like my father who ordered their shoes only from Mr. Glesser. They knew that they could not get more comfortable shoes from any other shoemaker.
I often wondered if it was difficult to make shoes and Mr. Glesser`s answer was the same: It`s an art. The shoemaker was a pleasant and really talented man. He made wonderful shoes, he made them very quickly and the price was quite reasonable. I enjoyed each visit to his shop. But I didn`t have to call at his shop very often as his shoes were always of high quality, fitted me nicely and I wore them for a long time.
Once I called on him in a pair of shoes which I had bought in some large shop when I was on a business trip in a foreign country. He took my order and all the time he was looking at my shoes. At last he said: Those are not mine.
He touched my left shoe where it was not quite comfortable and said: Those big companies are not reliable at all. They take our buyers from us by their advertising, not by work. It seems people do not want good shoes. Soon I`ll have no more work, I`m afraid. Unexpectedly I saw things I had never seen before. I understood how difficult his life was. He couldn`t be a competitor to big well-known companies who produced shoes and got much profit. I tried to explain to him why I had bought those shoes. But he didn`t hear me.He looked very unhappy and I was so sorry for him that I ordered many pairs, more than I wanted.
As a result of my purchase I did not have to go to him for about two years.
Time flew. When I came to his shop one day I was surprised to find another name which was painted on the door. The sign on the door was very colourful and attractive. It said here was a shoemaker who was making shoes for the Royal Family. I decided to come in to find out what had happened to Mr. Glesser.
A young man in a well-made suit met me. He greeted me warmly. Do you want shoes, sir? We can find anything you like. No, I answered. Thank you. You see, I`d like to know if Mr. Glesser works here.
Oh, poor old man, the shoemaker said, he died a few months ago. And he told me that Mr. Glesser had to sell the shop as it had become too expensive for him to keep it. He had no one in London who could help him. Oh, but what could you expect of a man with his ideas? He never advertised his shoes though nobody in London could make shoes of better quality. I really feel sorry for him.
I could not stay at the shop any longer and left it.
Assignments
1) Render the text in no more than 20 sentences.
2) Why do you think the author didn`t want to order shoes at the new owner of the shop? Why couldn`t he stay at the shop?
3) Do you think private shoemakers have any chance to survive at present?
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Annie Oakley
(From Moscow News)
Born 1860 in Darke County, Ohio, USA. Sharp-shooting star of the Wild West. Died 1926, aged 66.
Phoebe Anne Moses was born on a farm.When she was very young, she used to watch her father and his friends shoot animals: she wanted to try too. They laughed at her because they thought she was too young and not strong enough to hold a gun properly. But she surprised them all by learning to shoot and becoming very good at it. Her family was quite poor, too poor to give Annie a good education. When she was a child, her family had to borrow money from the bank to keep their farm. Annie hunted game, which she sold to help pay the mortgage on the family farm: no rabbit was quick enough to escape her bullets!
Annie married a marksman whom she met at a shooting competition. Together they started their own shooting show and they performed in variety shows and circuses around the country.
When Annie Oakley (her stage name) was twenty-five, the legendary Buffalo Bill saw her perform ans said she was too good to perform in small shows: her skills deserved a bigger, better-known show. That year, she and her husband joined the famous Buffalo Bill`s Wild West Show. For the seventeen years that she was part of the show, Annie was the main attraction. She was such a good shot that she could split a playing card from the side, standing ten metres away. She could hit a coin thrown in the air and even shoot cigarettes held between her husband`s lips. Annie Oakley travelled to Europe with the Wild West Show. When she was in Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm insisted that she shoot a cigarette from his lips.
When Annie was forty-one, she was seriously injured in a train crash. Everyone thought that would be the end of her career. But she recovered quickly and as soon as she was well enough to perform she continued to amaze her audiences for many years.
In 1946, years after her death, a musical called Annie Get Your Gun was written about Annie Oakley. However, she was much quieter in real life than the character in the musical. Some of the stories about her shooting skills are almost too extraordinary to be true. Annie Oakley has become a legendary figure of the Wild West.
Time-Saving Tips: Lists
(From Weekend Telegraph)
Making lists is relaxing. It makes you feel important all those things to do. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it claims you down (It`s OK, it`s on list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross something off (list-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might even help you to get things done too.
The world divides in two when it comes to listing. Type A makes orderly lists, priorities and calmly sets to work on them. Type B waits until panic sets in, grabs the nearest envelope and scribbles all over it, sighs with relief and promptly loses it.
The more you you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with high-powered jobs get by without them.
Barbara Vanilli, chief executive of a large chain of supermarkets, says, Before I go to bed, I have to write down everything that`s going to stop me sleeping. I feel I won`t forget anything I`ve written down, so my lists are a great comfort.
Women always think they`re better at lists than men. Men tend to have Tasks which they assemble into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of Things to Do. Jacqueline Maddocks, head of Maddocks Publishers, says, My male colleagues only make lists for work, whereas I have to make lists for work and for home too. It`s essential to write things down. If you`re constantly thinking, I must remember this, it blocks your mind.
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James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own time management matrix. He writes a list of things to do and then organises them into categories: things that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do today, things that are important but haven`t got to be done immediately and things that are less urgent but that he doesn`t want to forget. Using categories to order the world is the way the human mind works, he says. After that, you should put things into hierarches of importance. But he warns against the danger of Excessive List Syndrome. If people get obsessed with making lists, it doesn`t work. They have too many categories and lose their capacity to prioritise.
It`s all a question of what works best for you, whether it`s a tidy notebook, a forest of post-in notes or the back of your hand. Having tried all these, student Kate Rollins relies on a computerised list, printed out each morning to be scribbled on during the day. My electronic organiser has changed my life, she says. Up to now, I`ve always relied on my good memory, but now that I`m working and studying, I find I`ve got too much to keep in my head.
So what are you waiting for? No, you`re not too busy to make today the first day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there`s no better time than the present to get an upper hand on time and begin to take increased control of your work and life. So, get out your pencil and paper and make a list.
Assignments
- Are you the sort of person who makes lists?
- How many things to do do you have on your list now?
- Talk about the article from memory using these prompts:
- good things about making lists
- type A / type B
- before bed
- women / men
- matrix
- categories
- excessive list syndrome
- electonic organiser
- what are you waiting for?
Hearts and Hands
by O. Henry
At Denver, a great many passengers joined the east-bound Boston and Maine train. In each coach, there sat a very pretty young woman. She was beautifully and richly dressed. Among the new-comers were two men. The younger one was good-looking with a bold, honest face and manner. The other one was a large, sad-faced person, roughly-dressed. The two were handcuffed together.
As they passed down the aisle of the coach, the only empty seat was one facing the young woman. Here the linked pair seated themselves. The woman quickly glanced at them with disinterest. Then with a lovely smile, she held out a little grey-gloved hand.When she spoke, her voice showed that she was used to speaking and being heard.
Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don`t you ever say hello to old friends when you meet them in the West?
The yuonger man pulled himself up sharply at the sound of her voice. He seemed to struggle with a little embarrassment, which he threw off instantly. Then he held her fingers with his left hand.
It`s Miss Fairchild, he said with a smile, I`ll ask you to excuse the other hand. I`m not able to use it at present.
He slightly raised his right hand, which was bound at the wrist by the shining bracelet to the left one of his partner. The happy look in the woman`s eyes slowly changed to one of puzzled horror. The glow passed from her cheeks. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other stopped him. The sad-faced man had been watching the young woman`s face with sharp, searching eyes.
You`ll excuse me for speaking, miss. But I see you know the marshal here. If you`ll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen, he`ll do it. It`ll make things easier for me there. He`s taking me to Leavenworth Prison. It`s seven years for counterfeiting.
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Oh! she sad, with a deep breath and returning colour. So that is what you are doing here. A marshal!
My dear Miss Fairchild, said Easton calmly, I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings. You know it takes money to keep instep with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the Weat, and well, a marshal isn`t quite as high a position as that of an ambassador, but
The ambassador, she said warmly, doesn`t call anymore. He needn`t ever have done so. You ought to know that. So now you are one of those dashing western heroes. And you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That`s different from the Washington Life. You have been missed by the old crowd.
The woman`s eyes, interested, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the shiny handcuffs.
Don`t worry about them, miss, said the other man. All marshals handcuff themselves these days to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business.
Will we see you again soon in Washington? asked Miss Fairchild.
Not soon, I think, said Easton.My carefree days are over, I fear.
I love the West, she said. Her eyes were shining siftly. She looked away and out the train window. She began to speak truly and simply, forgetting about style and manner. Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because Father was ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me. Money isn`t everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid.
Say, Mr. Marshal, growled the sad-faced man. This isn`t quite fair. I`m needin` a drink of water. Haven`t you talked long enough? Take me into the dining car now, won`t you?
The bound travellers rose to their feet. Easton still had the same slow smile on his face.
I can`t say no to a need of water, he said lightly. It`s the one friend of the unfortunate. Goodbye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know. He held out his hand for a farewell.
It`s too bad you`re not going East, she said, remembering again her manner and style. But you must go Leavenworth, I suppose?
Yes, said Easton, I must go on to Leavenworth.
The two men made their way down to the aisle into the dining car.
The two passengers in a seat nearby heard most of the conversation. Said one of them,That marshal is a good sort of chap. Some of these Westerners are all right.
Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn`t he? asked the other.
Young! exclaimed the first speaker. Why Oh! Didn`t you catch on? Say, did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?
Assignments
Work with a partner and discuss these questions:
1) Have you ever lied to help someone?
2) When was the last time you did someone a good turn? What did you do for them?
3) When was the last time someone was kind to you? What did they do? Have you been able to repay their kindness?
