[00:01.040]--- lesson 15 Fifty pence worth of trouble
[00:06.680]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:12.320]--- Did George get anything for his fifty pence? what?
[00:19.200]Children always appreciate small gifts of money.
[00:22.840]Mum or dad, of course, provide a regular supply of pocket money, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra income.
[00:32.720]With some children, small sums go a long way.
[00:37.480]If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money boxes.
[00:44.840]Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money box.
[00:49.080]For most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay for a nice big bar of chocolate.
[00:55.520]My nephew, George, has a money box but it is always empty.
[01:01.360]Very few of the fifty pence pieces and pound coins I have given him have found their way there.
[01:08.360]I gave him fifty pence yesterday and advised him to save it.
[01:13.280]Instead he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble.
[01:17.840]On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain.
[01:27.560]George took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and pushed his right arm through the drain cover.
[01:35.800]He could not find his fifty pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could not get his arm out.
[01:43.440]A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck.
[01:51.360]The fire brigade was called and two fire fighters freed George using a special type of grease.
[01:58.880]George was not too upset by his experience
[02:01.840]because the lady who owns the sweet shop heard about his troubles and rewarded him with a large box of chocolates.