In hot water

Problèmes avec les tuyaux.

It was break-time at school. It was a dreadfully cold day as it had been snowing all morning. Joyce, Margaret and Mary were feeling the chill so they decided to find a warm place to stand and chat.

The best place in the whole school was the corridor next to the staff-room because the hot-water pipe ran down the wall opposite the door, but if a teacher came out and found them in the corridor they would be in big trouble, as children were not allowed to be there. The idea was to warm their hands on the pipe and the moment  they heard the door opening they would run away before they got caught.

Margaret was so cold that she decided to get between the pipe and the wall to warm her whole body. Unfortunately, she was a little plump and it was difficult to squeeze herself into the narrow space .

'Oh, this is lovely!' she grinned happily, but the smile left her face as the staff-room door started to open.

'Come on, Margaret,' her friends cried, but Margaret couldn't move. She was stuck!

The door opened and Mr. Dobson came out. It had to be him, the strictest teacher in the school!

'What are doing here?' he shouted at the girls. Then he saw Margaret.

'Come out, you silly girl!' he roared.

'I can't, sir.' replied Margaret, 'I'm stuck.'

'What goes in must come out!' the teacher answered, pulling at Margaret's arm.

Eventually, a very red Margaret was dragged out. The three girls were punished by sending them to sit in the freezing courtyard for the rest of the day!

**

 Note:This story is true and it took place in the sixties in the cold north-east of England before the days of central heating!

Now choose the best answers to the questions.

Intermediate
English exercise "In hot water." created by chrislondon (12-04-2008) with The test builder
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1. What was the weather like? It was surprisingly warm.It was really awful.It was changeable.
2. Where was the warmest place in the school? There were no warm places.It was in the courtyard.It was near the teachers'room.
3. What couldn't the children do? They couldn't knock on the staff-room door.They couldn't stand in the corridor.They couldn't stand in the courtyard.
4. What did the girls want to do? They wanted to play hide and seek.They wanted to have a hot drink.They wanted to warm themselves up.
5. Why did Margaret get behind the pipes? She heard a teacher coming.She was cold.She had dropped something.
6. Why did Margaret get stuck? She wanted to play a joke on her friends.She was a little overweight.She wanted to hide.
7. Who came out of the staff-room? The worst teacher in the school.Her favourite teacher.The most feared teacher in the school.
8. What did the teacher tell Margaret to do? He told her to come out.He told her to go to the teachers' room.He told her that he wanted to warm his hands too.
9. How did the teacher get Margaret out? He put soap on her arm.He bent the pipe.He pulled her out.
10. How were the girls punished? They got extra homework.They were expelled from school for a day.They had to sit in the cold all day.