Joe had a vacation, so he decided to go to the seashore for a few days. He got on a train one morning, and an hour later he was in a small town by the sea. A few minutes after he left the station, he saw a small hotel and went in. He asked the owner how much it would cost for one night there.

"Fifteen dollars," the owner answered.

"That's more than I can really afford to pay," Joe said sadly.

"All right," the owner answered. "If you make your bed yourself, you can have the room for ten dollars."

Joe was very happy because he always made his own bed at home. "Okay," he said, "I'll do that."

The owner went into a room at the back, opened a closet, took some things out and came back to Joe.

"Here you are," he said, and gave him a hammer and some nails.

A   Answer these questions:

1. How much did the owner of the small hotel want Joe to pay for one night there?
2. What did Joe say about this?
3. What did the owner of the small hotel say then?
4. Why was Joe happy about this?
5. What did the owner take out of a closet?
6. What did he want Joe to do?

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

1. How long did it take Joe to get to the seashore?

1. A few days.
2. An hour.
3. A few minutes.

2. What was the usual price of a room in the small hotel?

1. Ten dollars.
2. Fifteen dollars.

3. How much was Joe willing to pay for his room?

1. Ten dollars.
2. Fifteen dollars.

4. What did Joe expect to do?

1. He expected to build a bed for himself.
2. He expected to neatly arrange his sheets and blankets in the morning.

5. What did the owner of the hotel expect Joe to do?

1. He expected Joe to build a bed for himself.
2. He expected Joe to neatly arrange his sheets and blankets in the morning.

C    Write this story, putting one of these words in each blank space:

cheap     decided     dollars     hotel     owner     pay     seashore     soup     vacation     waitress

Pete had three weeks' _______ every summer, and he thought, “I like fishing, so I'll go to the _______ this year." He found a small ______ to stay in, and he asked the _______ how much he would have to ________for one week. The owner said that it would cost one hundred ________.

That was __________ enough for Pete, so he _________ to stay there.

On the first evening, he went down to dinner, and the _______ put a plate down in front of him, but Pete said to her, “This plate's damp."

"No, it isn't," the waitress said. "That's your _______ .”