CHAPTER IV

Elizabeth paused for breath at the top of the third flight of stairs. She leaned against the iron balustrade.

"You poor dear!" she exclaimed. "How many times a day did you have to do this?"

"I didn't go out very often," he reminded her, "and it wasn't every day that the lift was out of order. It's only one more flight."

She looked up the stairs, sighed, and raised her smart, grey, tailor-made skirt a little higher over her shoes.

"Well," she announced heroically, "lead on. If they would sometimes dust these steps--but, after all, it doesn't matter to you now, does it? Fancy that poor girl, though."

He smiled a little grimly.

"A few flights of stairs aren't the worst things she has had to face, I'm afraid," he said.

"I am rather terrified of her," Elizabeth confided, supporting herself by her companion's shoulder. "I think I know that ultra-independent type. Kick me if I put my foot in it. Is this the door?"

Philip nodded and knocked softly. There was a sharp "Come in!"

"Put the key down, please," the figure at the typewriter said, as they entered.

The words had scarcely left Martha's lips before she turned around, conscious of some other influence in the room. Philip stepped forward.

"Miss Grimes," he said, "I have brought Miss Dalstan in to see you. She wants--"

He paused. Something in the stony expression of the girl who had risen to her feet and stood now facing them, her ashen paleness unrelieved by any note of colour, her hands hanging in front of her patched and shabby frock, seemed to check the words upon his lips. Her voice was low but not soft. It seemed to create at once an atmosphere of anger and resentment. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Did Elizabeth need to pause for breath?
2. Where?
3. What's it made of?
4. Who's she with?
5. Is she used to physical exertion?
6. What's she wearing on her legs?
7. Was it made just for her?
8. What color is it?
9. Why are they having to climb the stairs, today?
10. How many flights of stairs are there in total?
11. What does Elizabeth wish someone would do to the steps?
Answer: 1. yes
2. top of the third flight of stairs
3. iron balustrade
4. Philip
5. No
6. skirt
7. Yes
8. grey
9. the lift was out of order.
10. Four
11. dust these steps

Problem: For many people the subject of hiccups is a joke, but for Harry Mendes, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different. His hiccups began one Sunday lunch time and continued day and night for two weeks. After the first week, Harry's parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack. Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him. "When I began to hiccup, I drank a glass of water but that didn't do any good. That evening I had hiccups every four seconds. We tried everything to stop them. I held my breath and drank cold drinks. My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn't work either." After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital. The doctors took an X-ray of his chest but they couldn't find anything wrong. "They gave me some medicine and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the medicine worked completely and my hiccups stopped." Harry was very lucky. The world record holder is the American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for sixty-eight years. He stopped in 1990 at last, but nobody knows why.
1. Who is the world record holder for hiccups?
2. Where was Harry Mendes from?
3. What was wrong with him?
4. How old was he?
5. What did he do when he started to hiccup?
6. How often did he have the hiccups?
7. Did the doctors find something wrong with his x-ray?
8. Did Harry have hot drinks to try to cure himself?
9. How long before he went to the hospital?
10. Did the medicine cure his hiccups right away?
11. How long did it take to work?
12. How long did Charles Osborne hiccup for?
13. Did he stop in 1995?
14. Why did Charles Osborne's hiccups stop?
15. What did Harry's father try to do to stop his hiccups?
16. What did Charles Osborne do for a living?
17. What country was he from?
18. What day of the week did Harry's hiccups start?
19. Was it dinner time?
20. Is Harry back at school?
Answer: 1. Charles Osborne,
2. Birmingham
3. He had hiccups day and night for two weeks.
4. fifteen-years
5. He drank a glass of water
6. Every four seconds.
7. They couldn't find anything wrong.
8. No, cold drinks.
9. After a week.
10. No.
11. Another week.
12. Two weeks.
13. No, Charles Osborne did.
14. Nobody knows why.
15. Shock him.
16. He was a farmer.
17. America.
18. Sunday.
19. No.
20. HYes.

question: Women had a significant part to play during World War II,which was the time when women also made their own contributions.Some women's great efforts and their names have been recorded in history.Here's a look at some of the strong figures of women in World War II.

Tatiana Nikolaevna Baramzina was born in Glazov of Russia on December 12,1919.In 1943,she was sent to the Central Women's Sniper Training School and upon her graduation in April,she was further sent to the front.She managed to kill around 16 enemies in the first three months!Unfortunately,she was captured by the enemies and was killed on the fifth of July in 1944.Today,the street where she grew up has been renamed in her memory.

Anne Frank was a Germanborn Jewish girl who was wellknown for the publication of her diary that described all her experiences when the Germans occupied Holland in World War II.Anne was born on June 12,1929 and she,along with her family,went into hiding in July 1942.Two years later,her family was captured and seven months from her arrest,Anne Frank died of illness in early March 1945.

Margaret Ringenberg was born on 17 June,1921,in Indiana of America.She began her career during World War II when she became a ferry pilot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots.After that she turned a flight instructor in 1945.She even wrote her own book named Girls Can't Be Pilots.She passed away on 28 July,2008,after flying for 40,000 hours in the air.

Hannah Szenes was born on 17th July,1921 and was trained to parachute by the British army into Yugoslavia during World War II.This task was given in order to save the Jews of Hungary.Her secret mission was not revealed even when she was tortured following her arrest at the Hungarian border.Hannah Szenes had to brave immense tortures,yet she did not lose heart.She bravely battled it out and tried to sing to keep her spirits high!She also kept a record of events in her diary till 7th November,1944,when she was finally killed.

These names are just a few of the women who played a significant part in World War II.Their stories go a long way in showing the kind of lifestyles they led and their struggles and sacrifices.
1. When was Margaret Ringenberg born?
2. Where?
3. What military branch did she serve?
4. Did she write a book?
5. What was the name of it?
6. What was her total number of hours in the air?
7. Who was trained to parachute?
8. Who taught her?
9. Was she tortured?
10. How did she keep her spirits positive?
11. How long was Anne Frank in hiding?
12. How did she die?
13. What made her so famous?
14. What did it talk about?
15. Who had a street named after her?
****
answer:
1. 17 June,1921
2. in Indiana
3. Women Airforce Service Pilots
4. yes
5. Girls Can't Be Pilots
6. 40,000 hours
7. Hannah Szenes
8. the British army
9. yes
10. by singing
11. Two years
12. illness
13. the publication of her diary
14. her experiences when the Germans occupied Holland in World War II
15. Tatiana Nikolaevna Baramzina