• 4) Which of the summaries renders the content of the article you have read the most adequately:

a) In order to improve crop yields it is necessary to eliminate the presence of destructive insects. Otherwise, there may be food shortage. Farmers started using different chemicals, e.g. DDT. Some of them are very harmful to health. It is therefore essential to find suitable but safe measures to control the use of pesticides.

b) This text is mainly about the Department of Agriculture. The Department is trying to introduce methods of controlling destructive insects. The Environmental Protection Agency works hand in hand with the Department of Agriculture and is working on methods to let farmers prosper.

2.28 The intruder in the salad

• 1) Paraphrase the heading using substitute words.

• 2) Read the text and say whether the following questions are covered in it:

a) What is most important in business?

b) Services to meet the client’s wishes.

c) Crime and punishment.

d) Types of restaurants.

Mr. Cohen of San Francisco went out one warm, summer evening. He decided to go to a restaurant to dine. He chose a seafood restau­rant with nautical decor and pleasant atmos­phere. He sat in a captain’s chair and ordered lobster with all the trimmings.

Soup and salad preceded the main course. After Mr. Cohen enjoyed his clam chowder, the waiter served him salad. As Mr. Cohen poured oil and vinegar on his salad, he noticed some­thing extra in the bowl of greens. At first he thought it might be part of an olive pit. Further examination indicated that it was a fly. He called the waiter and pointed out the intruder in the salad bowl. The waiter picked up the fly and threw it on the floor. He turned to the customer and told him to continue to eat the salad be­cause the fly was gone. Mr. Cohen was so angered by this behavior that he left the restau­rant without paying his bill.

Mr. Cohen was later arrested for “defrauding an innkeeper.” He then sued the restaurant and won. Three years later the restaurant had to pay him nearly $1,000 in damages. At the time of the incident, a fresh salad would certainly have been less costly.

• 3) A good word to describe the waiter would be: pleasant; efficient; courteous; rude.

• 4) Is the text information up-to-date or out-of-date?

• 5) What recommendation / instruction would you give to the waiter: call the police; make Mr. Cohen pay; tell the man to leave; bring a new salad? Give your own examples to the main ideas expressed in the text.

2.29 A British spy

• 1) Read the text and name the statements which are true.

a) Phoebe Fraunces was General Washington’s wife.

b) Something lethal can kill you.

c) Hickey’s punishment was eating poisoned peas.

d) Mortier House is located in Washington.

e) Ms. Fraunces was loyal to General Washington.

The American Revolution had numerous heroes and heroines who contributed to its ultimate success. In many cases, history books describe these individuals and their deeds inadequately, if at all. One such case is the story of Phoebe Fraunces, a young black woman who was a housekeeper for George Washington. Ms. Fraunces was in charge of the general’s New York headquarters, an establishment called Mortier House.

A British spy, Thomas Hickey, gained access to the American headquarters by posing as a desert­er. Hickey had it in mind to kill General Wash­ington by serving him poisoned peas.

Before carrying out his plan, Hickey happened to fall in love with Ms. Fraunces, and he made the strategic mistake of telling her what he intended to do. She quietly informed Washington that the peas were poisoned, as she set the plate in front of the general.

Washington reportedly tossed the peas out the window into the yard, and the lethal vegetables were eaten by chickens which then died. Hickey was caught. He gave a full confession and was hanged for his crime. An audience of 20,000 New Yorkers witnessed the spy’s final punishment.