Ex.3 Study the list of the sentences which have been removed, decide what sentence was in each gap.

1. "Because many people don't know how to write a telegram."

2. "Sending a telegram?"

3. "You are", I answered.

4. Let me see your telegram.

5. Your wife must know it without any instructions.

6. ... the hotels were not crowded that year...

7. The telegram said...

Telegram

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon I went to the nearest post-office. I bought some stamps and an envelope to send a registered letter to my parents. When I was writing a telegram I saw a friend of mine, Briggs.

"________________________?" he asked. "May I see it?"

"Why do you want to see it?" I asked.

“________________________. They write out a message, then they get angry that it costs a lot.______________, I shall make it shorter and leave only the most important things".

I gave him the telegram. It was a message to my wife to tell her that I would come to her in Switzerland.

______________: "Finished business well everything OK stop arriving Friday five thirty stop book room stop."

But the telegram didn't impress Briggs, "If you have settled your business well, doesn't it mean everything OK?"

"I think it does", I agreed.

"I have never known that you made a bad transaction yet and your wife knows it too. Am I right?"

“______________”______________.

"Did your wife have to go to Switzerland alone because you had to finish business in London?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Then it's not necessary to write business finished. So you will save three pence a word. And why are you telling her to book a room? _________________." I had to agree with him.

"So we have made the telegram eight words shorter: arriving Friday five thirty. Now what about arriving? If you write Friday five thirty, your wife will understand what you mean."

And then I had an idea. I told Briggs that I didn't have to send a telegram at all as ___________________and it was not necessary to book in room in advance. Besides I didn't like when somebody met me at the station.

"Well", said Briggs. "Do as you like, but never ask me to help you again," and he walked out of the post-office.

When he left the post-office, I took another telegram form and wrote the original text.

UNIT 2

Telephone

Topical Vocabulary

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD), an automatic system which allows you to make trunk (long distance) call easily and cheaply. Cheap time call – you get the largest discount after 11 p.m. at night and on weekends.

Telephone services in Britain: numbers to dial

100 – Operator: she will help you connect the call if you can't do it yourself.

192 – Directory Enquires: if you're looking for a number.

8081 – Speaking Clock: it will tell you the time (this number may be different in different towns).

999 – Emergencies: if you want to call Fire Brigade, Police or Ambulance.

Text 1

Ex.1 Make sure that you know the meanings of all the words.

Telephonecan be used as a noun or a verb, as can the short form phone,which is four times more common in spoken English.

If someone phones you, you have or receive a call(NOT a telephone) from them.

If you want to phonea friend or callthem / ringthem (up)BrE/ givethem a ring (BrE a call),you dialtheir (phone) number.

If you are phoning long distance,you will need to dial the codeBrE /area codeAmE for the region or country where they live, as well as their localnumber.

All these numbers are found in the phone bookor directory.

If you have a problem getting throughto the person you are phoning, you may ring the operatorfor help.

When you phone someone, their phone will ring,and if they are at home they will answer by picking up the phone(or technically the receiver,or on cordless phones the handset).

If they are busy, they may ask you to phone / call / ring backlater or hold on.

If they do not want to speak to you, or have finished speaking to you, they may hang up (= replace the receiver or switch off the handset).

If someone is already on the phonewhen you call them, their number is engagedBrE /busyAmE.

A telephone in a public place is a public phoneor payphone,often placed in a phone / call boxBrE or phone boothAmE.

Ex.2 Choose the best word or words.

1. You can't get through on the phone because the number you want is_____.

a) busy              b) occupied             c) in use

2. You can make a telephone call from a public______.

a) phone box     b) cabin                  c) cubicle

3. Someone calls your number by mistake, so you say, "Sorry!_____!"

a) Wrong number b) Mistake c) You've made a mistake d) Error

4. You want to use the phone. You ask, "Can I make a_____please?"

a) ring     b) phone       c) telephone         d) call

5. Someone answers the phone and you say, "Can I___Elsa, please?"

a) speak to   b) talk to      c) say to    d) tell

6. How do you pronounce the first figure in this number: 071 499 3725?_____

a) oh    b) nil         c) nought

Text 2

Ex.1 Read this text and explain to your partner how to use a private and public telephone.

If you want to ring somebody up, you pick up the receiver, wait for the dialing tone and then dial your number; if you are not sure of the number, you look it up in the telephone directory / book.

After you have finished dialing, you may hear a series of high-toned blips which means that the line is engaged (then you hang up or replace the receiver) or you may hear the calling-signal (i.e. a series of separate slower blips), which means that the line is free, and you just have to wait until your partner answers your call.

If you happen to have no private (home) phone you walk up to the nearest telephone booth (public phone, call phone). You start by dropping a coin into the slot. But for a trunk call (long-distance call) you have to make use of the operator. If you are calling from an extension phone, things work a little differently. Indeed instead of waiting for the signal and then dialing your number, you'll hear the switchboard operator say: "Number, please", or "Switchboard operator", or "Hotel operator" and you simply give the number of your partner. The operator will either repeat your number (to make sure she got it right), or just say "Thank you” and try to put you through.

By the way, in giving your number don't forget to give it figure by figure (e.g. seven-ou-five-ou – 70-50). When you have been put through, you may hear a voice, saying "Hello" at the other end, but it's much more likely that the person answering will either repeat his own phone number, e.g. "Kensington 2209 (here) speaking", or give the name of the office in full.

Ex.2 Act out the dialogue with another student explaining how to make international calls.

Model: – What can I do for you?

– The thing is, my parents are in Switzerland at the moment and I want to phone them. I'm not sure if I do it correctly. Can you help me how to find out the code?

– Sure I can. First dial 010 for international calls, then the code of the country and the town you are calling. You can find this in the phone book. After that dial the personal number.

– And where can I find a phone book?

– At any Post-office, I suppose.

– Thank you very much, indeed.