Read and learn news

 Authentic reading is a great way to skim for 

gist over subjects relavent now.  

Let's visit the New York Times Learning 

network for this weeks article.

Begin HERE

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B1 Reading

British Council has reading practice to help you understand texts with everyday or job-related language. 

Read the text. Answer the task questions. Check the answers.

Digital habits across generations

Today's grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations' online habits couldn't be more different. The over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site's second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55–64 and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, 'I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It's a much better way to see what they're doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That's how we did it when I was a child, but I think I'm lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.'

Ironically, Sheila's grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 are leaving the site – only 2.2 million users are under 17 – but they're not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. 'It's my alarm clock so I have to,' she says. 'I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.'

Unlike her grandmother's generation, Chloe's age group is spending so much time on their phones at home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn't heard from in forty years. 'We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country,' she says. 'It's changed my social life completely.'

Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early adopters of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. 'I was always connected and I felt like I was always working,' he says. 'How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself?' So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. 'I'm not completely cut off from the world in case of emergencies, but the important thing is I'm setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.'

Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and below Peter catches up with the new trend for a less digital life?

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Reading for fun (B2 level)

Are you an Intermediate (B2) reader of English? Read and practice.

Begin HERE

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Reading fun (elementary)

Restroom or bathroom?
Read the story aloud for extra practice.

Laura is at the airport. She waits for her flight. Her flight is to Berlin, and it is 4 hours away. Laura walks around the airport and looks at the shops. She has a nice time.

After an hour she wants to visit the bathroom. She searches for it, but she doesn't find it.

"Where is the bathroom?" she asks herself.

She looks and looks but she can't find it. She starts asking people where it is.

Laura: "Excuse me sir, could you please tell me where is the bathroom?"

Man: "You mean the restroom, right?"

Laura: "No, I mean the bathroom."

Man: "Well, the restroom is over there." He says and walks away.

Laura doesn't understand. She asks a lady: "Excuse me madam, could you please tell me where is the bathroom?"

"The restroom is over there," the lady answers and walks away.

Laura is confused. "What's their problem? I need to use the bathroom and they send me to rest?! I don't need a restroom, I need the bathroom!"

After a while Laura gives up. She feels tired of all this walking and asking. She decides that maybe they are all right and she does need to rest.

She walks to the restroom. Now she is surprised. She realizes the restroom is actually the name for a public bathroom!

THE END

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15 grammar Goofs

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A Plastic Ocean

A Plastic Ocean is a film to make you think. Think, and then act. We need to take action on our dependence on plastic. We've been producing plastic in huge quantities since the 1940s. Drink bottles, shopping bags, toiletries and even clothes are made with plastic. 1) _____. What happens to all the rest? This is the question the film A Plastic Ocean answers. It is a documentary that looks at the impact that plastic waste has on the environment. Spoiler alert: the impact is devastating.

The film begins as a journey to film the largest animal on the planet, the blue whale. But during the journey the filmmakers (journalist Craig Leeson and environmental activist Tanya Streeter) make the shocking discovery of a huge, thick layer of plastic floating in the middle of the Indian Ocean. 2) _____. In total, they visited 20 locations around the world during the four years it took them to make the film. The documentary premiered in 2016, and is now on streaming services such as Netflix.

It's very clear that a lot of research went into the film. There are beautiful shots of the seas and marine life. 3) _____. We see how marine species are being killed by all the plastic we are dumping in the ocean. The message about our use of plastic is painfully obvious.

4) _____. In the second half, the filmmakers look at what we can do to reverse the tide of plastic flowing around the world. They present short-term and long-term solutions. These include avoiding plastic containers and 'single-use' plastic products as much as possible. Reuse your plastic bags and recycle as much as you can. The filmmakers also stress the need for governments to work more on recycling programmes, and look at how technology is developing that can convert plastic into fuel.

We make a staggering amount of plastic. In terms of plastic bags alone, we use five hundred billion worldwide annually. Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, and at least 8 million of those are dumped into the oceans. 5) _____. Once you've seen A Plastic Ocean, you'll realise the time is now and we all have a role to play.

Reading B2: 'A Plastic Ocean': a film review – 1

Match the missing sentences with the correct place in the text (1–5).

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An exercise in reading and comprehension

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Preparation task

Match the phrases (a–h) with the times (1–8).

Times Phrases

...... 2.30 p.m.


...... 6.25 p.m.


...... 12.00 p.m.


...... 12.30 a.m.


...... 7.45 p.m.


...... 3.55 p.m.


...... 9.15 a.m.


...... 1.40 a.m.


a. Twelve noon
b. Half past two in the afternoon
c. Quarter past nine in the morning d. Five to four in the afternoon
e. Quarter to eight in the evening
f. Twenty to two in the morning
g. Twenty-five past six in the evening h. Half past midnight

Task 1
Answer the questions with the words in the box.


1. Which day of the week does the yoga class take place?....................................
2. How many classes can you take for £10?....................................
3. What time will the class end?....................................
4. What kind of clothes do you need to wear to the class?....................................clothes 

5. What do you need to send to Sam if you want to join?....................................

6. When should you book if you want to join?....................................

Task 2
Are the statements true or false?
1. Sam Holden is the yoga teacher.
2. The yoga class is once a week.
3. The class is at lunch time in room 7.
4. You need to bring yoga mats to the class.
5. The class can’t take 22 people.
6. You need to call Sam Holden if you want to join the class.


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Answers:

Originally provided to you by the British Council.

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British vs. American English (in pictures)

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Help!

Curious to know what the different lyrics are to some of your favourite songs? 

Here is a great list of song and lyrics to follow along.

What is your favourite song?

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Finish Vs. Finish Up And Other Verbs Vs. Phrasal Verbs

A student asked me, “Is there a difference between finish and finish up?” 

The answer is no. There’s no difference in meaning.

• I’ll be home soon, I just need to finish a few things at the office.
• = I’ll be home soon, I just need to finish up a few things at the office.

Finish up is the more informal way to say it, and if we were writing or speaking formal English then we would probably use finish because we try to avoid phrasal verbs in formal English.

CALL / CALL UP

Another word like this is call or call up when talking about calling someone on the phone. For example you could say:

• I called my grandmother.
• I called up my grandmother.

They’re the same.

IS THIS TRUE FOR EVERY VERB / PHRASAL VERB?

Is this the case for every verb and phrasal verb? The answer is no. Usually a verb when used by itself is different from the verb when used in a phrasal verb (which is a verb plus a preposition). Today I’ll teach you nine examples (there are many more).

THROW / THROW UP / THROW OFF

To use an extreme example, the verb throw means to make something go out of your hand with speed – ex. throw a ball. But if you throw up, it means you vomit, and if something throws you off that means it confuses you. As you can see, throw is very different from throw up and throw off!

FIGHT / FIGHT OFF

Other times the difference is not so drastic. For example if two people fight, it means they engage in violent conflict – but if one guy fights off an attacker that means he used violence to successfully defend himself and make the attacker go away. Both fight and fight off refer to violent conflict but fight off has the additional meaning of successfully defending yourself and making your opponent go away.

SHOW / SHOW OFF

Another example is show and show off. If a woman shows you her diamond ring it means she lets you see it – but if she shows off her diamond ring, this means she’s doing it arrogantly, she’s showing everybody her ring so that everyone could admire it and make her feel superior. That’s the difference between show and show off.

STAND / STAND UP

Let’s take a look at more of these phrasal verbs with up. Some of them are quite similar and can be used almost interchangeably.

For example, “I asked the students to stand” is the same as “I asked the students to stand up.” Both stand and stand up refer to the action of lifting your body up to your feet from a sitting position.

But if referring to someone’s location then we would say “There was a man standing on the sidewalk.” We wouldn’t say “There was a man standing up on the sidewalk.”

Standing up emphasizes the contrast between standing on your feet and sitting down or lying down, but for someone’s location we would standing and not standing up.

GROW / GROW UP

Another one is grow and grow up. You can grow flowers or the population of a town can grow, it can increase – but grow up is only used for the specific case of children becoming bigger, older, and more mature. You can’t grow up flowers or grow up the population of a town.

CHOKE / CHOKE UP

The verb choke means to have something stuck in your throat so that you have difficulty speaking or breathing. For example, if you swallow a large piece of meat without chewing it completely, the piece might get stuck in your throat and you might choke.

However, the phrasal verb choke up means something slightly different. To choke upmeans to be so overwhelmed by emotion that you find it difficult to talk. For example, if you are giving a eulogy (a eulogy is a speech at a funeral about the person who has died) – so if you are giving a eulogy at your mother’s funeral, you might choke up. You would be so overwhelmed by sadness, the emotion would be so intense that it makes it difficult for you to get the words out. That’s what it means to choke up, and it’s different from the verb choke.

CRACK / CRACK UP

Here’s one that’s completely different. The word crack is both a noun and a verb, meaning a thin, broken line in a hard surface. If you’re driving your car and a small rock hits your windshield, the windshield might crack, get a small line of breakage in the glass.

Crack up has a totally different meaning. To crack up means to suddenly start laughing. For example, if you tell a great joke to a group of your friends everyone would crack up,they’d start laughing.

FOLLOW / FOLLOW UP

To follow someone means to go wherever they go, for example, if you have a very devoted dog, the dog might follow you around the house.

The phrasal verb follow up means something a bit different. To follow up means to take another action that continues the process of an action that was previously taken. It’s often used for further communication or research. For example, if you’ve emailed your friend and he hasn’t responded for the past week, then you might follow up with a phone call. The phone call continues the process of communication that began with the email. You are following up.

HOLD / HOLD UP

Finally we have the verb hold. To hold something is to have it in your hand, but the phrasal verb hold up has three different meanings.

First is the literal meaning – to hold up means to hold something in your hand in a high position, for example, at the parade I held up a flag.

If someone says, “Hold up!” – that means “Wait!” You can also say something like the project was held up, that means the project was delayed.

Finally, if criminals hold up a bank or hold up a store, it means they rob the bank or the store. They go in with guns and demand to take all the money – so that’s a third definition for the phrasal verb hold up.

**********************

The answer to the original question is that sometimes verbs and phrasal verbs have the same meaning. In other cases the phrasal verb has a slightly different meaning. And then there are some cases where the meaning of the verb and the phrasal verb are just completely different.

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Reading Comprehension

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Mobile Phone Phrasal Verbs

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Valentines Day

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The Remarkable Rocket

Read by Elizabeth. Duration 35.55. By Oscar Wilde.

To follow along while you read, listen here.

The King's son was going to be married, so there were general
rejoicings. He had waited a whole year for his bride, and at last
she had arrived. She was a Russian Princess, and had driven all
the way from Finland in a sledge drawn by six reindeer. The sledge
was shaped like a great golden swan, and between the swan's wings
lay the little Princess herself. Her long ermine-cloak reached
right down to her feet, on her head was a tiny cap of silver
tissue, and she was as pale as the Snow Palace in which she had
always lived. So pale was she that as she drove through the
streets all the people wondered. "She is like a white rose!" they
cried, and they threw down flowers on her from the balconies.

At the gate of the Castle the Prince was waiting to receive her.
He had dreamy violet eyes, and his hair was like fine gold. When
he saw her he sank upon one knee, and kissed her hand.

"Your picture was beautiful," he murmured, "but you are more
beautiful than your picture"; and the little Princess blushed.

"She was like a white rose before," said a young Page to his
neighbour, "but she is like a red rose now"; and the whole Court
was delighted.

For the next three days everybody went about saying, "White rose,
Red rose, Red rose, White rose"; and the King gave orders that the
Page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all
this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great
honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette.

When the three days were over the marriage was celebrated. It was
a magnificent ceremony, and the bride and bridegroom walked hand in
hand under a canopy of purple velvet embroidered with little
pearls. Then there was a State Banquet, which lasted for five
hours. The Prince and Princess sat at the top of the Great Hall
and drank out of a cup of clear crystal. Only true lovers could
drink out of this cup, for if false lips touched it, it grew grey
and dull and cloudy.

"It's quite clear that they love each other," said the little Page,
"as clear as crystal!" and the King doubled his salary a second
time. "What an honour!" cried all the courtiers.

After the banquet there was to be a Ball. The bride and bridegroom
were to dance the Rose-dance together, and the King had promised to
play the flute. He played very badly, but no-one had ever dared to
tell him so, because he was the King. Indeed, he knew only two
airs, and was never quite certain which one he was playing; but it
made no matter, for, whatever he did, everybody cried out,
"Charming! charming!"

The last item on the programme was a grand display of fireworks, to
be let off exactly at midnight. The little Princess had never seen
a firework in her life, so the King had given orders that the Royal
Pyrotechnist should be in attendance on the day of her marriage.

"What are fireworks like?" she had asked the Prince, one morning,
as she was walking on the terrace.

"They are like the Aurora Borealis," said the King, who always
answered questions that were addressed to other people, "only much
more natural. I prefer them to stars myself, as you always know
when they are going to appear, and they are as delightful as my own
flute-playing. You must certainly see them."

So at the end of the King's garden a great stand had been set up,
and as soon as the Royal Pyrotechnist had put everything in its
proper place, the fireworks began to talk to each other.

"The world is certainly very beautiful," cried a little Squib.
"Just look at those yellow tulips. Why! if they were real crackers
they could not be lovelier. I am very glad I have travelled.
Travel improves the mind wonderfully, and does away with all one's
prejudices."

"The King's garden is not the world, you foolish squib," said a big
Roman Candle; "the world is an enormous place, and it would take
you three days to see it thoroughly."

"Any place you love is the world to you," exclaimed a pensive
Catherine Wheel, who had been attached to an old deal box in early
life, and prided herself on her broken heart; "but love is not
fashionable any more, the poets have killed it. They wrote so much
about it that nobody believed them, and I am not surprised. True
love suffers, and is silent. I remember myself once--But it is no
matter now. Romance is a thing of the past."

"Nonsense!" said the Roman Candle, "Romance never dies. It is like
the moon, and lives for ever. The bride and bridegroom, for
instance, love each other very dearly. I heard all about them this
morning from a brown-paper cartridge, who happened to be staying in
the same drawer as myself, and knew the latest Court news."

But the Catherine Wheel shook her head. "Romance is dead, Romance
is dead, Romance is dead," she murmured. She was one of those
people who think that, if you say the same thing over and over a
great many times, it becomes true in the end.

Suddenly, a sharp, dry cough was heard, and they all looked round.

It came from a tall, supercilious-looking Rocket, who was tied to
the end of a long stick. He always coughed before he made any
observation, so as to attract attention.

"Ahem! ahem!" he said, and everybody listened except the poor
Catherine Wheel, who was still shaking her head, and murmuring,
"Romance is dead."

"Order! order!" cried out a Cracker. He was something of a
politician, and had always taken a prominent part in the local
elections, so he knew the proper Parliamentary expressions to use.

"Quite dead," whispered the Catherine Wheel, and she went off to
sleep.

As soon as there was perfect silence, the Rocket coughed a third
time and began. He spoke with a very slow, distinct voice, as if
he was dictating his memoirs, and always looked over the shoulder
of the person to whom he was talking. In fact, he had a most
distinguished manner.

"How fortunate it is for the King's son," he remarked, "that he is
to be married on the very day on which I am to be let off. Really,
if it had been arranged beforehand, it could not have turned out
better for him; but, Princes are always lucky."

"Dear me!" said the little Squib, "I thought it was quite the other
way, and that we were to be let off in the Prince's honour."

"It may be so with you," he answered; "indeed, I have no doubt that
it is, but with me it is different. I am a very remarkable Rocket,
and come of remarkable parents. My mother was the most celebrated
Catherine Wheel of her day, and was renowned for her graceful
dancing. When she made her great public appearance she spun round
nineteen times before she went out, and each time that she did so
she threw into the air seven pink stars. She was three feet and a
half in diameter, and made of the very best gunpowder. My father
was a Rocket like myself, and of French extraction. He flew so
high that the people were afraid that he would never come down
again. He did, though, for he was of a kindly disposition, and he
made a most brilliant descent in a shower of golden rain. The
newspapers wrote about his performance in very flattering terms.
Indeed, the Court Gazette called him a triumph of Pylotechnic art."

"Pyrotechnic, Pyrotechnic, you mean," said a Bengal Light; "I know
it is Pyrotechnic, for I saw it written on my own canister."

"Well, I said Pylotechnic," answered the Rocket, in a severe tone
of voice, and the Bengal Light felt so crushed that he began at
once to bully the little squibs, in order to show that he was still
a person of some importance.

"I was saying," continued the Rocket, "I was saying--What was I
saying?"

"You were talking about yourself," replied the Roman Candle.

"Of course; I knew I was discussing some interesting subject when I
was so rudely interrupted. I hate rudeness and bad manners of
every kind, for I am extremely sensitive. No-one in the whole
world is so sensitive as I am, I am quite sure of that."

"What is a sensitive person?" said the Cracker to the Roman Candle.

"A person who, because he has corns himself, always treads on other
people's toes," answered the Roman Candle in a low whisper; and the
Cracker nearly exploded with laughter.

"Pray, what are you laughing at?" inquired the Rocket; "I am not
laughing."

"I am laughing because I am happy," replied the Cracker.

"That is a very selfish reason," said the Rocket angrily. "What
right have you to be happy? You should be thinking about others.
In fact, you should be thinking about me. I am always thinking
about myself, and I expect everybody else to do the same. That is
what is called sympathy. It is a beautiful virtue, and I possess
it in a high degree. Suppose, for instance, anything happened to
me to-night, what a misfortune that would be for every one! The
Prince and Princess would never be happy again, their whole married
life would be spoiled; and as for the King, I know he would not get
over it. Really, when I begin to reflect on the importance of my
position, I am almost moved to tears."

"If you want to give pleasure to others," cried the Roman Candle,
"you had better keep yourself dry."

"Certainly," exclaimed the Bengal Light, who was now in better
spirits; "that is only common sense."

"Common sense, indeed!" said the Rocket indignantly; "you forget
that I am very uncommon, and very remarkable. Why, anybody can
have common sense, provided that they have no imagination. But I
have imagination, for I never think of things as they really are; I
always think of them as being quite different. As for keeping
myself dry, there is evidently no one here who can at all
appreciate an emotional nature. Fortunately for myself, I don't
care. The only thing that sustains one through life is the
consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and
this is a feeling that I have always cultivated. But none of you
have any hearts. Here you are laughing and making merry just as if
the Prince and Princess had not just been married."

"Well, really," exclaimed a small Fire-balloon, "why not? It is a
most joyful occasion, and when I soar up into the air I intend to
tell the stars all about it. You will see them twinkle when I talk
to them about the pretty bride."

"Ah! what a trivial view of life!" said the Rocket; "but it is only
what I expected. There is nothing in you; you are hollow and
empty. Why, perhaps the Prince and Princess may go to live in a
country where there is a deep river, and perhaps they may have one
only son, a little fair-haired boy with violet eyes like the Prince
himself; and perhaps some day he may go out to walk with his nurse;
and perhaps the nurse may go to sleep under a great elder-tree; and
perhaps the little boy may fall into the deep river and be drowned.
What a terrible misfortune! Poor people, to lose their only son!
It is really too dreadful! I shall never get over it."

"But they have not lost their only son," said the Roman Candle; "no
misfortune has happened to them at all."

"I never said that they had," replied the Rocket; "I said that they
might. If they had lost their only son there would be no use in
saying anything more about the matter. I hate people who cry over
spilt milk. But when I think that they might lose their only son,
I certainly am very much affected."

"You certainly are!" cried the Bengal Light. "In fact, you are the
most affected person I ever met."

"You are the rudest person I ever met," said the Rocket, "and you
cannot understand my friendship for the Prince."

"Why, you don't even know him," growled the Roman Candle.

"I never said I knew him," answered the Rocket. "I dare say that
if I knew him I should not be his friend at all. It is a very
dangerous thing to know one's friends."

"You had really better keep yourself dry," said the Fire-balloon.
"That is the important thing."

"Very important for you, I have no doubt," answered the Rocket,
"but I shall weep if I choose"; and he actually burst into real
tears, which flowed down his stick like rain-drops, and nearly
drowned two little beetles, who were just thinking of setting up
house together, and were looking for a nice dry spot to live in.

"He must have a truly romantic nature," said the Catherine Wheel,
"for he weeps when there is nothing at all to weep about"; and she
heaved a deep sigh, and thought about the deal box.

But the Roman Candle and the Bengal Light were quite indignant, and
kept saying, "Humbug! humbug!" at the top of their voices. They
were extremely practical, and whenever they objected to anything
they called it humbug.

Then the moon rose like a wonderful silver shield; and the stars
began to shine, and a sound of music came from the palace.

The Prince and Princess were leading the dance. They danced so
beautifully that the tall white lilies peeped in at the window and
watched them, and the great red poppies nodded their heads and beat
time.

Then ten o'clock struck, and then eleven, and then twelve, and at
the last stroke of midnight every one came out on the terrace, and
the King sent for the Royal Pyrotechnist.

"Let the fireworks begin," said the King; and the Royal
Pyrotechnist made a low bow, and marched down to the end of the
garden. He had six attendants with him, each of whom carried a
lighted torch at the end of a long pole.

It was certainly a magnificent display.

Whizz! Whizz! went the Catherine Wheel, as she spun round and
round. Boom! Boom! went the Roman Candle. Then the Squibs danced
all over the place, and the Bengal Lights made everything look
scarlet. "Good-bye," cried the Fire-balloon, as he soared away,
dropping tiny blue sparks. Bang! Bang! answered the Crackers, who
were enjoying themselves immensely. Every one was a great success
except the Remarkable Rocket. He was so damp with crying that he
could not go off at all. The best thing in him was the gunpowder,
and that was so wet with tears that it was of no use. All his poor
relations, to whom he would never speak, except with a sneer, shot
up into the sky like wonderful golden flowers with blossoms of
fire. Huzza! Huzza! cried the Court; and the little Princess
laughed with pleasure.

"I suppose they are reserving me for some grand occasion," said the
Rocket; "no doubt that is what it means," and he looked more
supercilious than ever.

The next day the workmen came to put everything tidy. "This is
evidently a deputation," said the Rocket; "I will receive them with
becoming dignity" so he put his nose in the air, and began to frown
severely as if he were thinking about some very important subject.
But they took no notice of him at all till they were just going
away. Then one of them caught sight of him. "Hallo!" he cried,
"what a bad rocket!" and he threw him over the wall into the ditch.

"BAD Rocket? BAD Rocket?" he said, as he whirled through the air;
"impossible! GRAND Rocket, that is what the man said. BAD and
GRAND sound very much the same, indeed they often are the same";
and he fell into the mud.

"It is not comfortable here," he remarked, "but no doubt it is some
fashionable watering-place, and they have sent me away to recruit
my health. My nerves are certainly very much shattered, and I
require rest."

Then a little Frog, with bright jewelled eyes, and a green mottled
coat, swam up to him.

"A new arrival, I see!" said the Frog. "Well, after all there is
nothing like mud. Give me rainy weather and a ditch, and I am
quite happy. Do you think it will be a wet afternoon? I am sure I
hope so, but the sky is quite blue and cloudless. What a pity!"

"Ahem! ahem!" said the Rocket, and he began to cough.

"What a delightful voice you have!" cried the Frog. "Really it is
quite like a croak, and croaking is of course the most musical
sound in the world. You will hear our glee-club this evening. We
sit in the old duck pond close by the farmer's house, and as soon
as the moon rises we begin. It is so entrancing that everybody
lies awake to listen to us. In fact, it was only yesterday that I
heard the farmer's wife say to her mother that she could not get a
wink of sleep at night on account of us. It is most gratifying to
find oneself so popular."

"Ahem! ahem!" said the Rocket angrily. He was very much annoyed
that he could not get a word in.

"A delightful voice, certainly," continued the Frog; "I hope you
will come over to the duck-pond. I am off to look for my
daughters. I have six beautiful daughters, and I am so afraid the
Pike may meet them. He is a perfect monster, and would have no
hesitation in breakfasting off them. Well, good-bye: I have
enjoyed our conversation very much, I assure you."

"Conversation, indeed!" said the Rocket. "You have talked the
whole time yourself. That is not conversation."

"Somebody must listen," answered the Frog, "and I like to do all
the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments."

"But I like arguments," said the Rocket.

"I hope not," said the Frog complacently. "Arguments are extremely
vulgar, for everybody in good society holds exactly the same
opinions. Good-bye a second time; I see my daughters in the
distance and the little Frog swam away.

"You are a very irritating person," said the Rocket, "and very ill-
bred. I hate people who talk about themselves, as you do, when one
wants to talk about oneself, as I do. It is what I call
selfishness, and selfishness is a most detestable thing, especially
to any one of my temperament, for I am well known for my
sympathetic nature. In fact, you should take example by me; you
could not possibly have a better model. Now that you have the
chance you had better avail yourself of it, for I am going back to
Court almost immediately. I am a great favourite at Court; in
fact, the Prince and Princess were married yesterday in my honour.
Of course you know nothing of these matters, for you are a
provincial."

"There is no good talking to him," said a Dragon-fly, who was
sitting on the top of a large brown bulrush; "no good at all, for
he has gone away."

"Well, that is his loss, not mine," answered the Rocket. "I am not
going to stop talking to him merely because he pays no attention.
I like hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures. I
often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever
that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am
saying."

"Then you should certainly lecture on Philosophy," said the Dragon-
fly; and he spread a pair of lovely gauze wings and soared away
into the sky.

"How very silly of him not to stay here!" said the Rocket. "I am
sure that he has not often got such a chance of improving his mind.
However, I don't care a bit. Genius like mine is sure to be
appreciated some day"; and he sank down a little deeper into the
mud.

After some time a large White Duck swam up to him. She had yellow
legs, and webbed feet, and was considered a great beauty on account
of her waddle.

"Quack, quack, quack," she said. "What a curious shape you are!
May I ask were you born like that, or is it the result of an
accident?"

"It is quite evident that you have always lived in the country,"
answered the Rocket, "otherwise you would know who I am. However,
I excuse your ignorance. It would be unfair to expect other people
to be as remarkable as oneself. You will no doubt be surprised to
hear that I can fly up into the sky, and come down in a shower of
golden rain."

"I don't think much of that," said the Duck, "as I cannot see what
use it is to any one. Now, if you could plough the fields like the
ox, or draw a cart like the horse, or look after the sheep like the
collie-dog, that would be something."

"My good creature," cried the Rocket in a very haughty tone of
voice, "I see that you belong to the lower orders. A person of my
position is never useful. We have certain accomplishments, and
that is more than sufficient. I have no sympathy myself with
industry of any kind, least of all with such industries as you seem
to recommend. Indeed, I have always been of opinion that hard work
is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do."

"Well, well," said the Duck, who was of a very peaceable
disposition, and never quarrelled with any one, "everybody has
different tastes. I hope, at any rate, that you are going to take
up your residence here."

"Oh! dear no," cried the Rocket. "I am merely a visitor, a
distinguished visitor. The fact is that I find this place rather
tedious. There is neither society here, nor solitude. In fact, it
is essentially suburban. I shall probably go back to Court, for I
know that I am destined to make a sensation in the world."

"I had thoughts of entering public life once myself," remarked the
Duck; "there are so many things that need reforming. Indeed, I
took the chair at a meeting some time ago, and we passed
resolutions condemning everything that we did not like. However,
they did not seem to have much effect. Now I go in for
domesticity, and look after my family."

"I am made for public life," said the Rocket, "and so are all my
relations, even the humblest of them. Whenever we appear we excite
great attention. I have not actually appeared myself, but when I
do so it will be a magnificent sight. As for domesticity, it ages
one rapidly, and distracts one's mind from higher things."

"Ah! the higher things of life, how fine they are!" said the Duck;
"and that reminds me how hungry I feel": and she swam away down
the stream, saying, "Quack, quack, quack."

"Come back! come back!" screamed the Rocket, "I have a great deal
to say to you"; but the Duck paid no attention to him. "I am glad
that she has gone," he said to himself, "she has a decidedly
middle-class mind"; and he sank a little deeper still into the mud,
and began to think about the loneliness of genius, when suddenly
two little boys in white smocks came running down the bank, with a
kettle and some faggots.

"This must be the deputation," said the Rocket, and he tried to
look very dignified.

"Hallo!" cried one of the boys, "look at this old stick! I wonder
how it came here"; and he picked the rocket out of the ditch.

"OLD Stick!" said the Rocket, "impossible! GOLD Stick, that is
what he said. Gold Stick is very complimentary. In fact, he
mistakes me for one of the Court dignitaries!"

"Let us put it into the fire!" said the other boy, "it will help to
boil the kettle."

So they piled the faggots together, and put the Rocket on top, and
lit the fire.

"This is magnificent," cried the Rocket, "they are going to let me
off in broad day-light, so that every one can see me."

"We will go to sleep now," they said, "and when we wake up the
kettle will be boiled"; and they lay down on the grass, and shut
their eyes.

The Rocket was very damp, so he took a long time to burn. At last,
however, the fire caught him.

"Now I am going off!" he cried, and he made himself very stiff and
straight. "I know I shall go much higher than the stars, much
higher than the moon, much higher than the sun. In fact, I shall
go so high that--"

Fizz! Fizz! Fizz! and he went straight up into the air.

"Delightful!" he cried, "I shall go on like this for ever. What a
success I am!"

But nobody saw him.

Then he began to feel a curious tingling sensation all over him.

"Now I am going to explode," he cried. "I shall set the whole
world on fire, and make such a noise that nobody will talk about
anything else for a whole year." And he certainly did explode.
Bang! Bang! Bang! went the gunpowder. There was no doubt about it.

But nobody heard him, not even the two little boys, for they were
sound asleep.

Then all that was left of him was the stick, and this fell down on
the back of a Goose who was taking a walk by the side of the ditch.

"Good heavens!" cried the Goose. "It is going to rain sticks"; and
she rushed into the water.

"I knew I should create a great sensation," gasped the Rocket, and
he went out.

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