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Picnic
My elderly cousin came to stay with us just before our youngest daughter's birthday. We were a little apprehensive whether we ought to arrange the usual picnic celebration because my cousin loathes meals in the open air. However she was determined not to spoil our plans and said she did not mind being left at home. On the day itself, seized by some sudden impulse, she elected to come with us, much to our surprise. It was certainly a day to tempt anyone out, even the most inveterate anti-picnicker: a clear blue sky, glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze.
We duly arrived at our favourite picnic site, a field beside a river, and everybody, except my cousin, had a lovely and most refreshing bathe before we settled ourselves for our meal under the willow trees. While we were eating, a herd of cows from the adjoining field began to amble through the open gateway, unnoticed by my cousin. We like cows but guessed that they would be as little to her fancy as picnics and so hoped that they would go quietly back, satisfied that we were harmless. But one by one they gradually advanced nearer and nearer. When my cousin chanced to look up, their eyes confronted hers. With one shriek of horror she leapt into the air and ran, not to the car, where she might have taken refuge, but towards a gap in the hedge, so small that she could not possibly have crawled through it. The cows, full of curiosity, gave chase. We were convulsed with laughter but my husband managed to pull himself together, rounded up the cows, drove them back through the gateway and shut the gate. We thought that disaster had been averted but our shaken guest, walking unsteadily back to us through a marshy bit of the field that the cows had trampled into mud, lost her balance and fell on her face. A hot cup of coffee did nothing to restore her composure, so we had no alternative but to pack up and go home. Never again, my cousin vowed bitterly, would she be so foolish as to go out on a picnic.
8. a) Tell the story of "Picnic" as the cousin might have told to her boy-friend, b) Work in pairs. You will tell each other the story in your own words. Keep interrupting with questions, c) Imagine that you are an elderly cousin. Describe in your own words what happened to you on the day after the picnic, d) Suppose you had been present at this event. Describe what you would have seen when the cows came into sight. Use your own words as far as possible and do not include anything that is not in the passage, e) Imagine that you are the cousin. Describe what you saw and did.
9. In a narrative you can choose whether to report exactly what was said or report the main points of what was said.
Here are some ways of reporting the main points of what was said:
He wanted to know ...
He wondered ...
He tried to find out...
He mentioned something about...
He hinted that...
I found out that...
10. Read the following dialogue. Report the main points of what was said. Use the opening phrases of Ex. 9.
Newsagent's shop. Sunday morning. A young married couple, Anne and Jim, meet Ronald Marcer, a middle-aged librarian, while buying the Sunday newspapers.
Ronald: "Sunday Telegraph", please. Thank you.
Jim: We would like all the Sunday papers. Why ... hullo, Mr. Marcer.
Ronald: Hullo.
J i m: You know my wife, Anne, don't you?
Ronald: Yes. We've met once or ... How are you?
Anne: Yes, of course. How are you, Mr. Marcer?
Ronald: Buying up the whole of the paper shop this morning?
J i m: Well... We want to plan our summer holiday you see. And it's about this time of year especially that... that all the holiday adverts appear in the ...
Anne: So we thought we'd have a good look at about everything that's going.
Ronald: I see ... Yes ... You have to book up early these days. Are you thinking of going somewhere?
J i m: Yes ... we are. The trouble is ... the money.
R о n a 1 d: Ah yes. Now there's the rub. Now why don't you try the same holiday as my wife and I had last year? Does a package holiday attract you?
J i m: Well that sounds OK. What do you think, Anne-?
Anne: A package holiday ... But ... well you know these organized holidays ... you know what they are like. Everybody doing everything together, ... all at the same time. You sometimes need to lose the others for a bit.
Ronald: That does surprise me. You wanting to escape from the madding crowd. As I remember, you were always the life and soul of...
Jim: If that's how you'd care to put it. But getting away from the others at times ... you know ... never harmed anyone.
Ronald: Look ... How about a walking tour?
Anne: But how do we go about arranging it?
Ronald: Let's walk, shall we? We're going the same way I think. Let's cross here, shall we?
Anne: Watch out. You will get run over.
Jim: Whew. Narrow escape. We nearly didn't have any holiday ...