1. Listen to the tape and tick the words you hear.

√thief      √knife                  √potatoes

□carrots   □mushrooms      √midnight

√shirt       □trousers           √spread

√stole      √whispered         √shouted

This story is about a thief who tries to steal some potatoes and Peter Who successfully prevents them from being stolen.

2.Listen to the story again and answer the questions. Then check your answers with your partner.

(1) Where did Peter get the potatoes?

    Peter was given the potatoes by a friend.

(2) Why did he ask his wife to be quiet when she heard the thief?

    He thought the thief might have a knife and he did not want to make him angry.

(3)Why couldn’t the thief take away the potatoes?

Peter removed the shirt that the thief had planned to put the potatoes in.

(4)Why was the thief angry？

     He thought the husband had stolen his shirt so he could no longer steal the potatoes.

WHO’S TAKEN MY SHIRT?

Long ago there lived a poor couple, Peter and his wife. One day a friend gave them some potatoes and they put them on the floor. At midnight a thief broke into their house. It was very dark. The wife heard a noise and whispered, “Peter … Peter … Wake up. There is a thief in our house.”

    Peter was clever. Thinking that the thief might have a knife, he did not want to make him angry. So he said, “Be quiet! It must be a mice. There’s no thief.” So his wife went back to sleep.

The thief found the potatoes on the floor. Having no bag to carry them, he took off his shirt and spread it on the floor. As he was picking up the potatoes to put them on his shirt, Peter quietly took the shirt away and hid it under the bed. He did not want to lose his potatoes.

The thief did not know his shirt had Gone, so he put the potatoes on what he thought was his shirt. However, when he tried to pick them up he could not do so.

     As he was looking for his shirt, Peter’s wife woke up again and shouted, “Peter. There is a thief in our house.”

Peter became very angry. He shouted, “ I’ve told you there’s no thief in our house.” Hearing this, the thief became very angry too. “Who says there’s no thief?” he said. “If there’s no thief in this house, then, who’s taken my shirt?”