“India is so far away,” Mary said to him. “I think we should stay in North
America. Or we could travel to Europe if you want to go somewhere a little
more exotic.”
“Or how about Hawaii?” John said.
But no matter how much they talked, they couldn’t agree on a destination.
John believed being in a large city was important, but Mary wanted to be in
the countryside or at a beach. How could they decide what would be best for
both of them?
John opened the newspaper and saw an ad for a resort outside of Miami.
He showed Mary the article, and she thought the place looked inviting.
“That sounds like fun,” Mary said. “I’d love to spend time at that pool or
on the beach.”
“We could swim during the day, and at night we could go dancingor dine
in the city,” John said. “And we could go shopping if the weather got bad.”
Mary was happy with the idea, because the beach really appealed to her
and she knew John would like visiting Miami. John wouldn’t mind spending
time at the beach, because he knew that it would make his wife so happy. But
there still was a problem.
“Do we have enough money for such an expensive resort?” Mary suddenly
asked. “Do we have enough in the bank?”
John thought a moment, and then he smiled slyly at Mary. He opened the
desk drawer and pulled out a small book. He showed Mary a bank book with
some extra money he had saved, but she was still concerned that a fancy
resort was too expensive. John smiled at her and said, “Don’t worry. This extra
money should be enough. And if it’s not enough, we can borrow a little more
from the bank.”
“Oh, John,” Mary said happily. “Now we can have what we both want. This
vacation will be the best one we ever had.”
Then he kissed her cheek, because seeing his wife happy was the best part
of any vacation.Exercise 4.2Sample answers are provided.
The Ant and the Grasshopper
It was a beautiful summer day. The sky was blue and dotted with white
clouds, and the field was filled with swaying grass and pretty flowers. A happy,
green grasshopper with long legs and twitching antennaejumped from a
bouncy leaf to a slanting twigand sang a song as he looked around. He was
enjoying the wonderful weather. He sang to himself, as he took in his beauti-
ful surroundings.218 Answer Key