[00:01.120]--- lesson 13 'It's only me' “
[00:05.560]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:11.120]--- What did the man expect to find under the stairs?
[00:16.800]After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom.
[00:25.840]She was too excited to do any housework that morning, for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress party with her husband.
[00:34.160]She intended to dress up as a ghost and as she had made her costume the night before, she was impatient to try it on.
[00:43.080]Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective.
[00:48.840]After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs.
[00:53.440]She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear.
[00:58.040]Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dining room, there was a knock on the front door.
[01:04.520]She knew that it must be the baker.
[01:07.480]She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table.
[01:15.520]Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs.
[01:23.520]She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall.
[01:28.440]Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered.
[01:34.240]Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the metre.
[01:41.960]She tried to explain the situation, saying 'It's only me', but it was too late.
[01:47.880]The man let out a cry and jumped back several paces.
[01:52.240]When Mrs. Richards walked towards him, he fled, slamming the door behind him.