Basic Teacher, Step 26

The Basic Teacher

STEP 26

VOCABULARY
Nouns		Adjectives
board	owner	brown
cake	paint	electric
color	pipe	flat
condition	position	thick - thin
cork	property
doubt	size
key	space
lock	square
music	stone
note	use ¹
oven

^1.

an,

use.

LOOKING FOR A HOUSE

Mr. and Mrs. Bird had been walking through the streets of Middletown all day. Mr. Bird had been offered work in the town and they were looking for a house, but no one in Middletown seemed to have a house to let. Mr. Bird was feeling tired. His feet were giving him pain him and he had a great desire to get back and take his shoes off, but Mrs. Bird kept saying, "Lets go on a little farther. We may come to something in a minute."
Suddenly Mrs. Bird saw a house which had 'TO LET' outside it. It was a small new house with a square of grass in front and a garden with some fruit-trees at the back. It had a flat roof and the walls were of stone. "Henry," she said, gripping his arm, "there is the very place we have been looking for." Mr. Bird did not take quite the same view. They were looking for a cheap house because their income was small, and they were now in the best part of Middletown. He had little doubt that a beautiful house in this part of town would be far from cheap. But Mrs. Bird was as woman who got ideas into her head, and when she got an idea into her head it was hard to get it out. Mr. Bird had had some experience of Mrs. Bird's ideas. The more he said, the stronger the idea became. So, being a wise young man, he did not say very much.
"It is the right size for us," went on Mrs. Bird brightly, " and it is in a position where it gets all the sun. And Jack and Mary will be able to take their playthings out on that flat roof in the summer. It will be so good for them to be outdoors. There seems to be somebody there. Let's go in and have a look." Mr. Bird made a feeble protest, but Mrs. Bird gave no attention to him and, pulling him by the coat, she went up the front steps and gave the bell a push. A well-dressed woman came to the door with a pencil and a bit of paper in her hand. "We saw the sign outside," said Mrs. Bird. "Is the house still to let, and if so, may we have a look over it ?" "yes, please come in," the woman said. "We will be moving out very shortly and I am in the middle of putting our things into boxes, so the house isn't looking its best. I've been making notes of what is ours."
She took them into a room where there were books and pictures and flowers. The colour of the walls was blue and the curtains and covers and cushions were a darker shade of blue. "What a sweet colour !: said Mrs, Bird, when she saw it. "Isn't it, Henry ?" Mr. Bird was not quite so ready to give his approval. It was a good colour for summer, but, in his opinion it would give one a cold feeling in the winter. Mrs. Bird's answer to that was that the room would get sunlight most of the day. She was picturing to herself the pleasure of having on her new dress in such a room when her friends came to see her. "The condition of the paint is very good, isn't it ?" she said to the woman who was taking them round. The woman said that they had had the house painted the year before, so the paint was almost new. In answer to a question put by Mrs. Bird, she said that the housework gave very little trouble. In fact, it was quite a pleasure. The rooms were all small and this was such a clear part of Middletown. Mr. Bird had the feeling that these women who had never seen one another before were working together to make him take the house.
Mrs. Bird was very pleased with the room and she was surprised that it was so quiet. One didn't seem to be troubled at all by the noises in the street. The woman said this was because the room had thick stone outside the walls and there was a thin inside wall of cork to keep out sound. When the windows were shut, not a note came through into the room even when music was being played in the street. Mr. Bird, who had never been able to do any work in his flat in London, said that most of the noises came from inside the house when one ha a small son and daughter.
The woman of the house then took them into the room for meals. It seemed a dark, narrow little room to Mr. Bird, but Mrs. Bird gave a cry of pleasure when she went into it. "How well the dark brown table goes with the dark floors and the dark doors, and what a good view one gets of the garden from here ! Henry, wouldn't there be enough space in here for our dark table which Mother gave us ?" It was not a beautiful table and Mr. Bird had been hoping that they would not have tot take it with them to Middletown. He was almost ready to have a fight about it. "No," he said, "if you had that table in a room as narrow as this, you wouldn't be able to get round it. this room may not seem much smaller than the one it is in now, but it is a long narrow room and our room is square." Mrs. Bird made no answer, but she have him a look which said as clearly as words "We'll have a talk about that later." Then she went round the room with the other woman and gave her approval to every detail -- the position of the lights, the opening in the wall through which the food was handed by the cook, the bell on the floor which was pushed with one's foot.
The woman then took the Birds to see where the cooking was done. Mr. Bird saw that the washing up had to be done in a bad light and that the pipes were uncovered and so placed that they might give trouble in the cold weather. Mrs. Bird was more interested int he bright yellow curtains and light green walls, and she wasn't able to take her eyes off the electric cooker. The oven had an instrument for recording the heat and an apparatus for controlling it. By the use of this apparatus one was able to keep the oven at the right heat all the time. The cook said that it was a beautiful oven for cakes but the electric current was dear.
The coal place was by the back door. They went to have a look at it and the woman took a key from her bag and put it in the lock on the door of the out-building. "We have to keep this out-building locked," she said "because if we didn't little boys would come and take our coal." "So do we, don't we, Henry ?" It's the same everywhere" said Mrs. Bird.
After this the Birds were taken up to the first floor to see the bedrooms. Again Mrs. Bird gave her approval to everything -- basins with water in all the rooms, shelves everywhere, a heated rail in the bathroom, in fact, all the details necessary for one's comfort. It was clear to Mr. Bird that he was going to have a hard fight not to take the house, however high the price. He made Mrs. Bird have a look at a place where rain had come in from the roof and done damage to the wall, and he said, almost with a suggestions of pleasure in his voice, that some of the boards of the floor were in bad condition. The woman of the house said it would be no trouble at all to put such little details right, and Mrs. Bird said with a laugh, "How like a man !"
They went down to the front room again and the women went on talking like old friends, but at last Mr. Bird go the chance to put some questions. He said, "What price will the house be let for, and will we be able to have it for two years ?" "I have no idea," said the woman who had taken them round. "I am not the owner. The house is the property of a friend who let us have it for a year while he was away." "Who is responsible for the letting ?" said Mr. Bird. The woman said that he would have to see Box, Day, and Potter, in whose hands the business had been put by the owner, and that they'd be wise to go that day because some other persons had been looking at the house in the morning. but the office would be shut in less than an hour, so they would have to be quick.
Mrs. Bird got up, saying, "Let's go there now, Henry. We may not get a chance like this again." Mr. Bird had been hoping that he would not have to make a decision till later and that there would be time for discussion. Now he had the feeling that he was being pushed into taking the house. His feet were still paining him and he was in a bad humour. He had no desire to go and see Box, Day, and Potter at the other end of the town. In fact, his one desire was to get into a warm bath. But anything was better than a long argument with Mrs. Bird, so he said that he would make an offer. At the door, Mr. Bird said to the woman of the house, "I have no doubt that I will see you again. We will come back and have another look at the house before moving in."

NOTES

all day : The is generally omitted when all is used with day and night.
Mr. bird had been offered work : Offered as a simple adjective is applied only to the thing which is the subject of an offer, but after be, like given and so on, it may be used of the person to whom the offer is made.
no one == Note that these two words do not form a compound like someone or nothing. However, see none from 'not one'.
a house to let : To let a house == to give the use of it for a rent. Note the use of the phrase to let lower down in the sense of to be let. When used adjectivally, the construction with to is frequently put in the Active Form where the sense logically requires the Passive.
was feeling tired == had a tired feeling. Note this use of an adjective after feeling to express the nature of the feeling being experienced. A similar construction is possible with looking in the sense of 'appearing' (looking angry == having an angry look).
his feet were paining him : As already noted, the -ing and -ed forms of pain belong to the same group of those of interest.
a great desire to get back : Get back, without qualification, is understood in such a situation to mean get back to one's home or wherever one came from.
kept saying : Keep is used before the -ing form of an operator or of a noun to indicate that the action named by it is done repeatedly or continually.
the very place == exactly the place. Note that, in this idiomatic adjectival use, very must be preceded by the or a pointing or possessive adjective.
take the same view : The view one has of something is the way it appears to one, and so the way a thing appears to one's mind is also talked of as a view. In this sense, view == opinion, and so may be followed by either about or of.
far from cheap : Far form is frequently used before adjectives as an emphatic way of stating their opposites.
the more he said, the stronger the idea became : Note this way of expressing the idea of a proportionate increase by using two parallel statements, each beginning with the followed by a comparative. The literal sense of the construction is 'to whatever degree he said more, to that degree the idea became stronger'. -- The sense of become is come to be. Come followed by to and certain operators like be and see has the sense of 'arrive at the condition of being, seeing, etc
being a wise young man == because he was a wise young man. We have seen that this construction with an -ing form may represent a preceding action or condition. As an action or condition that precedes another is frequently the cause of it, this construction is sometimes used, as here, to indicate a causal connection.
it is the right size : Though a thing is normally said to have a quality, be is used before nouns, such as size, indicating measurement, and also before colour and nouns naming colours (see, for example, "the curtains and cushions were a darker shade of blue", which occurs later in this Step).
went on : Go on in the sense of 'continue' may be used by itself for 'proceed to say, say next'.
all the sun : Sun is frequently used, as here, for sunlight.
playthings == toys.
outdoors : Note the adverbial form of outdoor. Indoors is also formed.
somebody == someone. Similarly, one may form the compounds, anybody, everybody, nobody.
well-dressed == smartly dressed. An adverb qualifying an adjective is joined to it by a hyphen only when the adjective comes before the noun (The woman is well dressed, but a well-dressed woman).
if so : That is, 'if it is true that the house is to let'. To say, with reference to a previous statement or question that it is so is to confirm that it is true or to indicate that the answer is 'yes'. The phrase if that is so is generally contracted to if so.
a look over it : Compare with "go over the account", Step 23.
moving out : that is, 'removing ourselves and our belongings from the house'. Moving in has the parallel sense of 'bringing oneself and one's belongings into a new home' ; and moving by itself is used for the act of changing from one dwelling to another.
shortly == in (that is, at the end of) a short time. The only other sense which shortly may have is 'in a small number of works, briefly'.
looking its best : That is, 'having the best appearance of which it is capable'. Note this idiomatic phrase. We say, similarly, of a person who tries as hard as he can or does the best work of which he is capable, that he does his best.
a darker shade of blue : The different tints of what goes by the general name of one colour are named shades of that colour. A dark shade or colour is one that is relatively near to black, or not bright. In this sense, dark is frequently used before colour adjectives (see, for example, the dark brown table later in the Step). -- Note that blue, like the other colour adjectives, may be used as a noun.
what a sweet colour ! : What and how have an exclamatory use to express intensity of degree, in which they are placed, together with the word or words they qualify, before the rest of the statement (What a sweet colour (it is) ! How thick the board is !), which is frequently omitted, as here. Note that a singular countable is preceded by a after what in this use.
picturing : The sense of this -ing form is generally 'making a mental picture of' or 'making a picture of in words'.
taking them round : That is, 'taking them on a tour of the house'. It is an easy step from the use of round as an adverb or preposition to give the idea of circular motion or surrounding position, to its use, as here, to indicate a journey form one point to another, coming back, more or less, to its starting-point.
had had the house painted : Have, followed by a noun or pronoun and an -ed form or a corresponding operator form is used with the sense of 'cause to be'.
in answer to == by way of answer to. Note this idiomatic phrase.
in fact == the fact is that. This idiom is used when mentioning some fact that may be a little unexpected.
take the house : To take a house is to 'rent' it.
pleased with : To be pleased with something is to 'approve of' it. We may be pleased with either things or persons. Compare angry with, which is used only in connection with persons. When things or events make us angry, we are angry about them.
troubled == given trouble, disturbed. Troubling means either 'inconveniencing' or 'causing anxiety (to).'
at all : an idiom meaning 'in any degree, of any sort, in any way', used only for emphasis in negative statements, questions, and if-statements, frequently to reinforce any (If it gives you any trouble at all, don't do it ; I saw nothing at all).
not a note : By expansion, note is used for the symbol by which a musical unit of sound is represented on paper, and so for the sound itself.
music was being played : by an expansion which is natural enough in view of the fact that music is a form of entertainment, playing == 'performing' music or 'performing on' a musical instrument.
in his flat : As a noun, flat is used for a living-place which is on one floor of a building.
little room : Little may be used in the sense of ' small '.
goes with == harmonizes with.
our room is square : Square is used as an adjective having the sense ' in the form of a square '.
made no answer : Note that make, as well as give, may be used with answer.
the opening in the wall : Note this expansion of opening. An opening == a gap, way through.
handed == passed by hand.
uncovered : un- may be used with certain of the -ing and -ed forms.
so placed that : With -ed and similar adjectives so . . . that may mean '. . . in such a way that ' -- Placed == put (in a place).
light green walls : As an adjective light contrasts with the two senses of dark, meaning both ' well-illuminated ' and , of colours, as here, ' pale '.
recording : Used of instruments, recording may mean, as here, 'indicating, showing on a scale, etc.', though it may also have the more literal meaning of ' making a record of '.
controlling == keeping under control.
a beautiful oven : Beautiful is used to describe something which is very good for some purpose. Similarly, beautifully frequently has the sense of ' well, excellently '.
out-building : A smaller building separate from but associated with another is called an out building. 'Outhouse' has a more specific meaning as an outdoor toilet.
the first floor : by expansion, floor == story. In Europe, the first floor is the first floor higher than the level of the street. In U.S.A. the first floor is at street level and the floor higher is the second floor.
however high the price == no matter how high the price. However== ' in whatever way ', or , before adjectives and adverbs, ' to whatever degree '.
had . . . done damage to : Note that to ' cause damage ' is to do damage and to 'damage ' anything is to do damage to it.
be no trouble : A cause of trouble may be called a trouble.
put . . . right : The sense may either be 'put in good condition,' 'repair ', as here, or, in connection with an error, person, statement, etc., ' correct.'
in whose hands the business had been put == who had been put in charge of the business.
that day : In reported speech after an operator in the past or future that day == today. Similarly, the day before == yesterday and the day after == tomorrow.
make an offer : An offer is frequently an offer to pay a certain price, as here, or an offer to pay a certain price, as here, or an offer to sell something for a certain price.

EXERCISES

1 . Answer in Basic these questions abut the pictures on the previous page :

(a) What is the man on ?	(f) What is the woman looking at ?
(b) What is in his left hand ?	(g) Where is the cake ?
(c) What is he doing ?	(h) What is the position of the cake in the oven ?
(d) What are on the net ?	(i) What are the walls made of ?
(e) Are the rails as think as the pipe ?	(j) What is hanging on the wall by the door ?
	(k) Where is there another key ?

2 . You have learned eight color adjectives. Write eight sentences from which a person who did not now these adjectives could discover what color is named by each.

3 . Explain, in Basic, what the following mean :

4 . Write sentences using each of the following :

5. Write two sentences with each of the following, using them in two different senses :

6 . Suggest two different forms of exclamation that you might use to express to a friend that you think is behavior has been very silly.

7 . Translate into Basic. Teacher link

8 . Answer in Basic :

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