Read the story and recollect funny events connected with cooking happened in your family.

Mary has taken the children to see their grandparents. Mary’s parents live in the country, about fifteen mikes away. John likes to work in the garden on Saturdays, so he has not gone with Mary. He is at home, and he is alone.

John has to get his own dinner. He is not a good cook. He knows very little about cooking. What will John have for dinner?

What is there in the kitchen cupboard? There are lots of things. There are tins of soup, tins of fish, tins of vegetables, and tins of fruit. There are so many tins that John finds it difficult to choose. At last he takes down from the shelves a tin of tomato soup and a tin of sardines.

For a long time John could not find the tin-opener. He did not know where Mary kept it. At last he found it in a drawer. He has opened the tin of soup. He thinks he is very clever because he has done this without cutting his fingers. He is going to pour the soup into a pan.

John has poured the soup into a pan and has put it on the gas-stove. Now he is opening the other tin. This is more difficult. It has a different kind of opener. This opener is like a key and John has to turn it round and round. The sardines are from Portugal and are in olive oil. Once again John is clever enough to open the tin without cutting himself. He will empty the sardines out on to a dish.

While John is turning the sardines out on to the dish, he hears a noise. He looks round quickly. The tomato soup has boiled over. The top and sides of the stove are a beautiful pink colour. The pan is almost empty. John will not have tomato soup today.

“Well, I still have the sardines, ” John says to himself. He turns away from the stove. But John will not have sardines, either. The cat has jumped on to the table. She has eaten all the sardines and is now licking the dish clean.

John did not open any more tins. He threw a pan at the cat but missed her. Then he put his coat on and went out. There was a good restaurant only a hundred yards away. The waitress was very pretty and John soon forgot his troubles.

Last summer John had to look after himself for a week while his wife and the children were away at the seaside during the school holidays. John lived well. He opened lots of tins. But John does not like washing up. When Mary arrived home after her holiday, she found every plate, every cup and saucer, every pan and dish, every bowl and jug, every knife, fork and spoon, waiting to be washed up. There were mountains of dishes!

(from A.S.Hornby)

Word List:

tin opener – ключ (или машинка) для открывания консервных банок

to be clever enough – быть достаточно умным

to empty – опустошить

to lick – лизать, слизывать

waitress – официантка

Text 25 The Killers