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Mirijam
Ploteny
Mirijam
Ploteny, the Austrian actress, has travelled the world
and experienced many fine places. But, it's her first stay abroad
she remembers the most. It was a long time ago, it was England, it
was winter, and, it was cold.
Ramsgate is
a small English town on the coast. And, it was there that Mirijam
Ploteny had gone to learn English. And, her flat had a wonderful
view of the harbour and sea. Great in
the summer, but torture in winter. And, her first big English winter
surprise came early one morning. It was the frost.
And, the
frost was not only outside, it was inside
as well. The insides of the single panes were covered
with beautiful frosty designs. Her apartment was freezing and the
electric heating just couldn't keep up! Keeping warm
was not only a question of pullies and thick woollen socks, but
drinking piping hot hot drinking chocolate as well.
But, then came the second surprise. And, this was a shock!
It was
Sunday evening and Mirijam Ploteny was enjoying a show on TV. All of
a sudden there was a very loud “click”. The metre
had run out of money! Metres get hungry when heating with current.
Everything was dead. The heating had gone off, the lights had gone
out, and the TV had died. Mirijam Ploteny was in darkness. And
then, with the help of her lighter she managed
to find her purse. Soon, all would be working again.
But no! All
Mirijam Ploteny had was a 50 pound note. And, electric
metres only ate 50 pence pieces! And, so it was that
Mirijam Ploteny went out into the cold freezing night to change her
50 pound note. And, she was lucky. The land lord of a
nearby pub had no problem changing Mirijam's 50 pound note. And,
later that night, Mirijam Ploteny's heating came back. All's well
that ends well. And, in the morning, Mirijam Ploteny went shopping
for candles and matches. Never again
would she be stuck in the dark. And, from then-on, she always had
the right change for the metre. Once was enough.
And, Mirijam
Ploteny was young in those days, and young eyes see things in a less
serious way. It was all an adventure in life. But, Mirijam Ploteny
never forgot the kindness of the English and the way they were
willing to help. And, she would do it all again if she could. But,
next time, with enough 50 P. pieces for the metre! “Always be
prepared” was the lesson she learned.
Vocabulary
abroad - Ausland
actress – Schauspielerin
ate (eat/ate/eaten) – ass
candles – Kerzen
change – Kleingeld/Wechselgeld
current - Strom
frost – Raureif
harbour – Hafen
inside - innen
keep up – mit
halten
land lord – Gastwirt
lighter – Feuerzeug
matches - Streichholz
managed (manage/managed/managed) –
schaffen
metre - Stromzähler
note – Schein
(Geldschein)
outside - außen
pane of glass – Fenster
Scheiben
piping hot – sehr
heiß
view - Ausblick
Questions
Where is
Ramsgate?
What was
Mirijam's first winter surprise?
What did
metres eat?
What was
Mirijam's second surprise?
Who changed
Mirijam's 50 pound note?
What did
Mirijam go shopping for?
What lesson
did Mirijam learn?
