dorthin zu kommen.
Ihr Gesprächspartner sagt, daß es zu Fuß ein Weg von ungefähr einer halben Stunde ist.
Fragen Sie, ob Sie das Weiße Haus besichtigen können.
Ihr Gesprächspartner sagt, daß vor dem Weißen Haus immer eine lange Schlange steht.
Bedanken Sie sich dafür, daß Ihr Gesprächspartner Sie gewarnt hat.
Sagen Sie, daß es Ihnen nichts ausmacht, anzustehen.
40 N Summary
This time Jane and her boy-friend were visiting Washington D.C. They had difficulty finding their way because their map was so small, and then Jane had to leave Russell to go and interview a Senator, Senator Gatewater, in his office on Capitol Hill. The Senator’s secretary, Miss Pendlebury, showed Jane into the Senator’s office, where the Senator was eating cookies – an American word for biscuits. Jane said her boy-friend manufactured cookies. Senator Gatewater found this very interesting, as President Turpin was very fond of eating cookies, and since it was election year, the President’s support was very important.
He offered Jane some cookies and began to answer her questions about the US Constitution, but he was interrupted by Miss Pendlebury, who said that Russell Grant had called to say he was lost in Washington – he wanted to go to the White House. Senator Gatewater told her to get Russell a car or find him a helicopter – after all, he was important. Then the Senator went on with his explanation until Miss Pendlebury interrupted him again. There’d been a call from the White House! Russell was having tea with the President and Mrs Turpin, and they were discussing a new trade agreement with Great Britain to import Russell’s cookies!
Have another cookie
UNIT 41
Manhattan, New York City
The Big Apple is a nickname for New York City. And Manhattan, the most famous island in the world, is the very heart of the city. It includes everything that most people think of when they say New York: the financial district with Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, Fifth Avenue with all its shops and museums, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations Building, Broadway as well as Lincoln Center, the home of all the arts: the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York State Theater and the Avery Fisher Hall, known as Philharmonic Hall.
Finding one’s way around New York City is very simple. The streets and avenues are numbered.
When they’re giving directions, Americans often say “That’s three (or four, or five, etc.) blocks away.” A block is a group of buildings surrounded on all four sides by streets. It’s quite common to give a corner address by giving the point where a street and an avenue meet, for example 96th and Lexington.
41 A Crime in the City
(F = Frenchie, L = Lauren, W = Waitress, A = Attendant, N = Newscaster, Man)
| (At a lunch counter in a deli-restaurant in New York City) | |
| F | Oh! So sorry. |
| L | Excuse me. Is this seat taken? |
| F | No. Of course it’s free – for you. |
| L | Gee, thanks. Thanks a lot. I haven’t seen you here before. |
| F | No, you haven’t. It’s my first time in New York. |
| L | Well, you can spend your whole life at this counter waiting to be served. But you gotta hand it to them. |
| They have the best pastrami in town. Say! You’re British, aren’t you? | |
| F | English, actually. |
| L | My name’s Schmidt. Lauren Schmidt. |
| F | ffrench. The Honourable Pilkington Booth ffrench. With two f’s. |
| L | The Honourable? |
| Son of a lord? No kidding? You here on vacation? | |
| F | I suppose it’s a sort of holiday. |
| I’ll do a bit of sightseeing. Maybe a bit of work, too. | |
| L | Oh! What sort of work? |
| F | Oh, business – you know – |
| L | Real estate? Stock market? Wall Street? |
| F | Anything to do with money, actually. I’ll take what comes along. |
| L | So what do you think of the Big Apple? |
| F | Big Apple? |
| L | New York. We call it the Big Apple. |
| F | Fine city. Romantic … |
| L | Romantic? Let me give you a piece of advice. For free! Take care where you go in this city. It’s a mighty rough place. There’s a lot of crime around. |
| F | What about your police? They can handle it, I’m sure. |
| L | Yes. But they’re very busy a lot of the time. Too busy to keep an eye on everybody. |
| F | Oh, I see. A useful piece of information. Thank you. |
| L | So take care where you go. Specially at night. Keep away from Central Park. And mind how you go on the subway. |
| F | Subway? Ah, yes. Not quite like the London Underground. Excuse me. I must be going. But I’d like to see you again. |
| L | Sure! What about here? Around noon, tomorrow. |
| F | Yes. Splendid! Well, cheerio! |
| L | Have a good day! And take care! (Frenchie leaves) |
| W | Hey, mister! Your check! |
| L | Don’t worry. He’ll be back tomorrow. Now, how about a pastrami on rye and a coke? |
| W | All right, lady. You got it. |
| (Frenchie somewhere in New York City, knocking at a door) | |
| F | Good afternoon. Joe sent me. From London. |
| (the door is opened from inside) | |
| F | Silent type, isn’t he? |
| Man | Guess so. You’re Frenchie, aren’t you? |
| F | At the moment I’m the Honourable Pilkington Booth ffrench, with two … |
| Man | Aw, you can cut that out with me. You’re Frenchie and you’re here for a piece of the action. Right? |
| F | Well, I certainly need a bit of cash. |
| Man | You got it. On my terms. I say what goes round here. OK? |
| F | OK. |
| Man | Right. It’s a hold-up. A liquor store. Uptown. Corner of 96th and Lexington. |
| F | All right. Sounds fine. |
| (man gives him a gun) | |
| Man | You’ll need a piece. Here! |
| F | Oh, no. I don’t like guns. |
| Man | I said a hold-up. |
| F | Oh, all right. I’ll take it. |
| Man | You have transportation? |
| You have a car? | |
| F | No. But I’ve got a map. Now, let’s see. I’ll take a cab to Grand Central Station. Then Underground – sorry, the subway. Take the subway to Times Square. That’s down the stairs
|
