Tom had retired ad lived by himself a long way from town. He hardly ever left his home, but one day he went into town to buy some things in the market, and after he had bought them, he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table by himself. When he looked around, he saw several old people put eyeglasses on before reading their newspapers, so after lunch he decided to go to a store to buy himself some glasses too. He walked along the road, and soon found a store.

The man in the store made him try on a lot of glasses, but Tom always said, "No, I can't read with these."

The man became more and more puzzled, until finally he said, "Excuse me, but can you read at all?"

"No, of course I can't!" Tom said angrily. "If I was already able to read, do you think I would have come here to buy glasses?"

A.   Answer these questions:

1. What did Tom see in a restaurant?
2. What did he decide to do?
3. What did the man in the store do?
4. What did Tom say each time?
5. What did the man finally ask Tom?
6. What did Tom answer?

B.   Which of the answers are true? Write down the questions and the correct answers.

1. How did Tom live?

1. He lived alone.
2. He lived with his family.
3. He lived with his wife.

2. How often did he go into town?

1. Everyday.
2. Every week.
3. Hardly ever.

3. What did the old people in the restaurant do before reading their newspapers?

1. Drink their drinks.
2. Take their glasses off.
3. Put their glasses on.

4. What did the store that Tom went into sell?

1. Glasses for drinking from.
2. Glasses for people who couldn't read.
3. Glasses for people who couldn't see well.

5. What mistake did Tom make?

1. He didn't try on all the glasses in the store.
2. He thought that a person who had not learned to read would be able to do so if he wore glasses.
3. He went to the wrong kind of store.

C.    Write this story, putting one word in each blank space. You will find all the correct words in the story.

When Mrs. Lewis was young, she was ________ to read her_______ without having to put on _______ , but when she ________ from her job at the age of sixty, she began to have trouble reading the prices when she went shopping in the _________ in the town where she lived. At first she was ________by this, but then one day she said _________to one of the women who sold fruit, "Why did you make the signs with the prices so much smaller?" The woman said, "We didn't. Why don't you_______ your glasses on to read them?"

"I don't have any," Mrs. Lewis answered.

"Well," the woman said, "why don't you get a pair?"

"Yes, I______ I should," Mrs. Lewis said, and she went to a store to buy them.

The man in the store made her _________ many different glasses, until finally she found a pair that suited her, and she was happy.