Red Line 1, Coursebook

118 one hundred and e i ghteen A story Paul and Jason on a ship to China “Paul! Jason! Stay with the group, please,” says Mrs Sanderson, their teacher. When Paul’s and Jason’s class go to the Old Ships Festival in Greenwich, they visit the Cutty Sark. All the old ships are sitting at anchor on the River Thames. When the pupils go on board the Cutty Sark, an old man takes their tickets. He is wearing clothes like in the old days. Paul and Jason are last, as usual. “He looks just like an old sea captain,” says Paul. “He’s even got a patch on one eye,” says Jason. “And his white beard looks real. Ha, ha!” When the old man takes their tickets he winks at Paul and Jason with his good eye, and whispers, “Pssst! We lift the anchor at two o’clock, boys! Then we sail to China!” Paul and Jason think he is very funny. “Welcome on board the Cutty Sark,” says the guide, a small woman with a very loud voice. “The Cutty Sark is a museum now, but it was once the fastest ship in the world. It sailed all the way from London to China and brought tea back to Britain. Later, we can go downstairs and you can see the hold, where they stored the tea from China. Tea was very special in those days, and very expensive.” The guide takes them to see the cabins where the crew used to sleep. “Now, stay together class,” Mrs Sanderson says. Mrs Sanderson is a new teacher – this is her first school trip and she is a little scared. The crew’s cabins are very small: twelve men to one cabin. “Look at this little bed,” says Lucy. “How can a man sleep in that?” Lucy always asks a lot of questions. “That bed is for a young boy – a cabin boy,” the guide tells Lucy. “Young boys of eleven or twelve went to sea in the old days. Cabin boys were part of the crew. They worked very hard on the ship for the captain.” “We’re lucky we don’t live in those days,” laughs Jason. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 c E A story Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv