Peter was a ventriloquist. He worked in theaters and night clubs, but he wasn't very good, and one month he was out of work and hungry. Then he found a dog on the street and took it into a restaurant with him. They sat down at a table, and the dog seemed to order food and talk about it, so the owner of the restaurant, the waiters, and the other guests were very surprised.
The owner thought that a lot of people would come to his restaurant to listen to the dog speak if it was his, so he offered to buy it, and finally the ventriloquist agreed to sell the dog for a high price.
When the owner of the restaurant had paid, the dog appeared to say to the ventriloquist, "Well, you sold me, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," answered the ventriloquist. "Then I refuse to speak ever again."
A. Answer these questions:
- What did the dog seem to do in the restaurant?
- Why did the owner of the restaurant want to buy the dog?
- What did the ventriloquist finally do?
- What did the dog "ask" then?
- What did the ventriloquist answer?
- And what did the dog "say" then?
B Write these sentences. Choose the correct word or words under each blank space.
1. The owner of the restaurant thought that a lot of people (came, will come, would come) __________ to it if he (had, will have, would have) _________ a dog that talked.
2. As soon as he had bought the dog, he thought, happily, "A lot of people (come, will come, would come) ________ to my restaurant now that I (buy, have bought, would buy) _______ this dog.”
3. If the ventriloquist (didn’t sell, hadn’t sold, wouldn’t have sold) _______ the dog, he (didn’t have, hadn’t had, wouldn’t have had) _________any money to buy didn't sell food.
C Draw lines from the words on the left to the correct words on the right. Then write out the five correct sentences.
- A lot of people. A. couldn't really talk.
- Peter. B. offered to buy the dog.
- The dog. C. pretended that the dog could talk.
- The owner of the restaurant. D. was high.
- The price which the owner paid. E. would come to a restaurant which had a talking dog.
