The keys

One day Sarah and her little son Ben (to drive) home from London. The weather (to be) fine and warm though it (to rain) since morning. They (not to be) to their place for a long time and they (can) sее some changes. “Mum, look, a new house (to build) in our street near our cottage.” Sarah’s cottage was a nice little place. It was theirs though in fact they (not to pay) all the money for it yet. As soon as they (to arrive) and (to come) into the house Sarah (to take) оff her bag from her shoulders and (to put) it on the stairs in the hall.

Ben (to run) into the sitting-room, (to turn) on the television though his mother (to forbid) him to do it. The boy made the TV work very noisily. Sarah (to leave) the house to take the food box from the car. At that moment their dog (to push) the door and it (to lock). Sarah (cannot) get inside. The keys (to be) in the bag, the windows and the back door (to close) and Веn (not to hear) her shout.

Sarah (to hear) the music playing and some voices speaking. She (to understand) that if she (not to shout) at the top of her voice, the boy (never to come) to the door. So she (to do). Ben (to come), (to push) the keys through the letter-box and Sarah (to be) able to open the door. Ben (to give) the keys, the dog (to tell) to sit quiet, and they both (to go out) to take the food. While Sarah (to take) the box out of the car Ben (to lock) the door and (to push) the keys into the house through the letter-box. How do you like that?

TEXT 5

My night of the dolphins

As I 1) (to prepare) for bed that chilly Sunday night in January 1989, I happened to glance out through the sliding glass doors of my beachfront apartment. I saw a Jeep with its lights on, and two men, who 2) (to kick) at something in the surf. As the men drove away, I 3) (to continue) looking curious.

Then, in the dim light of stars and the glow from city lights, I 4) (to see) them, two dark shapes at the edge of the foaming surf. I 5) (to know) the shapes had to be dolphins – beached and in trouble.

Pulling on warm slacks and a sweater, I 6) (to race) out into the 40-degree night, and (to try) to remember evening I 7) (to learn) about dolphins. How strange, I 8) (to think), that only a day earlier I 9) (to discuss) dolphins with the scientist. A friend 10) (to invite) me to a party for Dr. John Lilly a world’s foremost dolphin research authority. Although I 11) (to be) a real estate agent, I 12) always (to love) animals. I 13) (to pray) for guidance because I 14) (to want) to live a more meaningful life.

I 15) (to find) the mother and the baby lying side by side. I 16) (to approach) the two cautiously. In a soft voice I 17) (to try) to communicate love. “Hello, I 18) (to want) to help you. 19) (to be) you OK?” I 20) (to sense) they 21) (to understand) me.

I gently 22) (to place) my hand on the larger dolphin’s cold, sleek side. She 23) (to flap) her tail as through trying to swim away from me. I 24) (to jump) back. I 25) (to keep) on talking to them, and soon both 26) (to calm) down. I 27) (to remember) Doctor Lilly telling me how particularly sensitive dolphins 28) (to be) to humans; in many cases they 29) (to show) incredible compassion in rescuing people. I 30) (to decide) to shake hands, relying on the information I 31) (to learn), that dolphin flippers 32) (to be) very much like human hands and every bit as sensitive. I 33) (to touch) and (to massage) their flippers. Warmth 34) to seem to come from the mother, as if she 35) (to acknowledge) my concern. I 36) (to rush) to my apartment and (to cal)l the Coast Guard. They said to me “Forget it, lady. Beach dolphins 37) (to have) zero chance of survival. There’s nothing anybody 38) (can) do for them.” I 39) (to be) outraged. I quickly 40) (to grab) my largest cooking pot and (to run) back to the beach. Wading into the surf, I 41) (to collect) full pots of seawater and periodically (to pour) them over the dolphins to keep them moist. I gently 42) (to massage) their long, cold bodies and (to pat) them loving. I also 43) (to lie) down next to them on the sand with my arms around them. Both 44) (to emit) high-pitched squeaks. I 45) (to see) that they 46) (to try) to tell me something. When I 47) (to brush) my hand over the mother’s snout, she 48) (to open) her mouth as if to show me that she 49) (to trust) me. I felt I 50) (to accept). As the surf crashed and ebbed around us, I 51) (to feel) that however long these two 52) (to stay), the three of us 53) (to find) a way of communicating. We 54) (to have) trust and friendship.

The dark hours 55) (to pass). I 56) (to continue) sitting with my friends in the frigid salt air, often lying next to them with my arms around them, praying for them. About every half hour or so, when my body 57) (to become) numb with cold, I 58) (to run) home, to gulp some hot tea and change into dry clothes. Every time I 59) (to return), they 60) (to look) up as if to say “So glad you 61) (to be) back.” But about 3:00 am the dolphins weakened. The poof-poofing through their blowholes 62) (to show) considerably. Before long they 63) (to gasp). “Oh, please don’t die,” I 64) (to cry). By about eight o’clock the animals 65) (to appear) to be comatose. They 66) (to lie) quiet, eyes closed, their limp tails sloshing in the knee-deep surf. I 67) (to lean) over their whisper of air. After pouring hundreds of buckets of water over them and massaging them until my hands 68) (to be) raw, I felt I 69) (to lose) the battle.

By nine o’clock the beach 70) (to be) a circus. Crowds 71) (to mill), helicopters circling and television crews dashing about. Everyone 72) (to seem) to be waiting for the moment of death. The tide 73) (to roll) in, and I 74) (not to be able) to reach the dolphins as well as before. Five or six biologists 75) (to decide) to try and float the dolphins in order to take pressure off their lungs, which 76) (to compress) by the weights of their bodies. Then a man from Sea Shepard, a marine wildlife conservation group, 77) (to come) up in his wet suit. He gently 78) (to take) the baby and 79) to float it. Placing his hand under her and rubbing her belly soft, he 80) (to keep) on encouraging her. Suddenly a shudder 81) (to run) through her body, as if she 82) (to shake) herself awake. She 83) (to open) her eyes, (to look) up at him for a long moment, then 84) (to turn) and (to glide) out into the ocean.

Next they floated the other in the surf. She 85) (to orient) herself for about 30 seconds, then 86) (to shoot off) through the sea to follow her calf! I couldn’t contain my emotions. I 87) (to laugh), (to cry). “Thank You, God, for helping me,” I said. But I 88) (to worry) if they 89) (to be live) after their long ordeal? I wished they 90) (to let) me know in some way that they 91) (to be) all right. “The crowd 92) (to roar) and I (to look) up in astonishment. Out in the open sea, mother and baby 93) (to leap) out of the water, their sleek gray bodies arching high in the air. It was as if they 94) (to let) us know they 95) (to be) all right.

Later that day the Coast Guard 96) (to report) spotting a pod of dolphins about a mile and a half offshore – probably the family of the mother and calf. I 97) never (to see) them again, but out of that experience I 98) (to give) new direction to my life. I 99) (to learn) there are a lot of need to be met. Too often our good intentions end at our front door, when all we have to do is look outward, as I 100) (to do) that Sunday night.