What a strange day !

Last weekend, I ______in bed sleeping when suddenly I ______a strange feeling. It ______me up! I ______in bed for a while then I ______up, ______to the kitchen and ______myself a cup of coffee. I ______marmalade on a piece of toast, ______a large glass of fruit juice and ______some cereals. I then ______the cat, and ______the dog a bone. I ______a shower and ______all the things I had to do before going out. I ______the windows, locked the door behind me and ______the house.

ate - did - drank - fed - gave - got - had - lay - left - made - shut - spread - took - was - went - woke

As I left the house, I ______a letter on my doorstep. When I ______my address was ______in green letters, I ______it was from my friend John, the 'ecologist'. He always ______trees on the back of envelopes and ______nothing but green clothes! I ______the first lines and ______it was a nice surprise. I ______a bit jealous and ______to myself he was really lucky. He had ______me this mail to ______me know he was in New York. A cousin of his had ______him a flat near Central Park - funnily enough, my parents ______up in New York, not far from where they ______the Empire State Building. One problem ______on his first day there: somebody ______John’s suitcase at the airport so he had to buy new clothes.

arose - built - drew - felt - found - grew - knew - lent - let - read - said - saw - sent - stole - thought - wore - written

As the rain ______to fall, I ______to take the bus to go to Trafalgar Square. I ______the letter in my pocket and ______to the nearest bus-stop. A bus soon ______by, I ______for the bus-fare which ______me £1.50 . As I ______at the back, an old lady ______to me: she ______me a strange story about her family and ______me pictures of her grandchildren. I ______that they ______living in the USA now, in New York, near Central Park. She was sad because they rarely ______to her. Living so far apart ______they rarely ______except for very special occasions when they ______across the Atlantic. She ______talking and talking. She didn’t know how to ______a long story short! Seeing Nelson’s Column in the distance, I ______up, ______hands with the old lady and said goodbye. As the bus ______on, I was still feeling sorry for her.

began - came - chose - cost - cut - drove - flew - kept - meant - met - paid - put - ran - sat - shook - showed - spoke - stood - told - understood - were - wrote


The rain had stopped now. I ______some time near the lions, then I stopped at a shop which ______magazines and I ______a newspaper. I then walked to St James’s Park. Some people were ______horses, others were riding bikes. Some children were playing football near the water: no respect for the ducks! Besides, ball games were strictly ______. One of the boys ______the ball, it ______an American tourist who actually ______into the water. He ______himself and nearly ______a leg. The man’s camera ______into the water and some fool ______across the pond to pick it up.

bought - broke - fell - forbidden - hit - hurt - riding - sank - shot - sold - spent - swam

The man ______from the water, he ______his temper. He ______at the boys, ______insults at them, saying this would never happen in Central Park, his favourite park at home. It soon ______clear that he needed assistance. So I ______out my mobile and ______for an ambulance. They were here ten minutes later: one nurse ______a stretcher, they ______the man on his back. The other nurse ______over and ______the man’s hand. He was alright, just shocked. I ______that incident ______the boys a lesson: they would never ______that day!

became - bent - bet - brought - forget - held - laid - lost - rang - rose - swore - taught - threw - took

I ______a voice beside me shout “They ______! They won!”. Apparently, England’s rugby team had just ______France. They really ______hard for that victory. A band of supporters ______'God save the Queen'. I just couldn’t ______the noise, so I followed a path which ______to a quieter place in the park, to ______from all this commotion . As I ______a glance behind me, what ______me was the contrast between the loud rugby fans and the quiet tourists who didn’t really understand what was going on.

bear - beaten - cast - fought - heard - led - sang - struck - withdraw - won

The wind was ______harder now. I was ______. I decided to go home, so I ______a taxi. Once at home, I opened the door and ______myself in. I ______my coat by the door, ______some wood in the fireplace, ______up an old newspaper -the main article was ______with holidays and sun-______ers, how appropriate!- and ______a big fire but I ______myself with a match. I was alone: the dog had ______, the cat was ______somewhere. After a light dinner, I ______the alarm-clock for 7 and went to bed to ______about Central Park.

blowing - burnt - caught – dealing - dream - frozen - gone - hiding - hung - let - lit - seek - set - stuck - tore Yvan BAPTISTE – novembre 2005