PONS 5-Minuten-Lektüren Englisch A2 - The Black Sheep: Kurzgeschichten aus dem englischen Alltag

By PONS Langenscheidt GmbH

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Intangible Press
• Release date: Oct 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781620531761

Book preview

1 The Black Sheep[1]

"So, what’s he like[2]?" asked Stacey, who was checking her tidy blonde hair in the mirror of Dan’s sports car.

Who? asked Dan. He was busy parking in front of his parents’ house, and he had no idea who Stacey was talking about.

Your brother, Tom, she replied. He’s the only person in your family that I haven’t met.

Dan turned off the engine and said nothing for a moment. "Well, I suppose[3] you might call him the black sheep of the family."

Stacey looked at him in surprise. What do you mean?

Dan reached into the back of the car and took hold of his sister’s birthday present. Come on; I’ll tell you as we go. We don’t want to be late.

Stacey smiled. Her boyfriend was never late. In fact[4], no one in his family was ever late. Perhaps that was what he meant about his brother Tom – maybe he was not a very punctual[5] person.

They stepped out of the car and walked up to the big house. They could hear music playing in the back garden, so they headed towards[6] the gate.

Well? she asked, curious[7] to know the family secret.

"Oh, it’s just that Mother and Father and Sarah and I are all quite similar[8] really. We all like the same type of things. Do you know what I mean?"

Stacey smiled again. She knew exactly what he meant. The first night she had met Dan’s family she had seen exactly how similar they were. They were all very polite[9], quiet and rather[10] sensible[11] people. They weren’t in any way boring, but they liked things to be organised and tidy[12] and not too silly.

So, what’s Tom like then? she asked, but before Dan could answer they walked through the gate and into the large garden. The party looked lovely, with about thirty or forty people all dressed in nice clothes, listening to the gentle music from a violin player[13], talking politely and enjoying glasses of fine wine.

Back in a minute, said Dan, who went to find somewhere to put the present.

Stacey couldn’t see Dan’s parents, so she went to talk to Liz, one of Sarah’s friends from college. I can’t wait to meet Tom, she said, after a few minutes. "Dan is being very secretive[14] about him. He called him the black sheep of the family."

Really? Wow. Do you think he might be a criminal? asked Liz, who was a very imaginative[15] young lady.

Don’t be silly, Stacey said, but it was strange[16] how little Dan talked about him.

Liz was about to say something else when they suddenly heard a very strange noise. It was the sound of a very loud and ridiculous horn[17].

Everyone in the garden stopped talking and looked at the garden gate. Stacey looked just in time to see the gate swing open[18] and a very colourfully dressed[19] man jump into the garden. For a moment, Stacey was a little scared[20], but then she realised[21] that the man was a clown. He was wearing a very large yellow and green suit, a big blue hat, white gloves and long red shoes. He also had a huge smile on his face, white make-up and a red nose.

Oh, how lovely, said Liz. Look, they’ve booked a clown.

A clown? But Sarah’s twenty-one! said Stacey.

The clown heard her say this, and with another quick jump he was standing right next to her. He held up his white gloves for her to see, moved them quickly in the air, then suddenly[22] held out a big bunch[23] of beautiful flowers.

Wow! said Stacey. Are they for me? Thank you very much.

OK, OK. That’s enough of that, someone said. Stay away from him, Stacey. It was Dan and he did not look very happy.

They’re just flowers, she said and leant forwards to smell them[24].

It was then, however[25], that cold water squirted out[26] of the middle of the flowers right into her face.

There were chuckles of laughter[27] from around the garden, and Sarah saw that even Dan had a little smile on his face.

She looked up at the clown and smiled, too.

Hello Stacey. Nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you too, Tom, she replied.

mind map: describing people: positive adjectivesmind map: describing people: negative adjectives/useful phrases

[1]  The Black Sheep — Das schwarze Schaf

[2]  what’s he like — wie ist er

[3]  suppose — denke

[4]  In fact — Um genau zu sein

[5]  punctual — pünktlich

[6]  headed towards — gingen in Richtung

[7]  curious — neugierig

[8]  quite similar — ziemlich ähnlich

[9]  polite — höflich

[10]  rather — eigentlich

[11]  sensible — vernünftig

[12]  tidy — aufgeräumt

[13]  violin player — Geigenspieler

[14]  secretive — geheimnisvoll

[15]  imaginative — phantasievoll

[16]  strange — merkwürdig

[17]  ridiculous horn — alberne Tröte

[18]  swing open — aufschwingen

[19]  colourfully dressed — bunt angezogen

[20]  scared — ängstlich

[21]  realised — merkte

[22]  suddenly — plötzlich

[23]  a big bunch — ein großer Strauß

[24]  leant forwards to smell — beugte sich nach vorne, um sie zu riechen

[25]  however — jedoch

[26]  squirted out — herausspritzte

[27]  chuckles of laughter — leises Gelächter

2 An Easy Sell

Kerry Harrington, real estate agent[1] for Harry’s Homes, liked things to be perfect. Perhaps that was why she was so good at her job.

Dressed in her smart, black trouser suit, with her short dark hair and red lipstick,