7. Listen to the text and read it out loud. Explain why Miss Goodbody feels happy and Mr Wetherington is gloomy1.
September Mood2.
It is Monday morning. Miss Goodbody walks into the office. Her holiday is over and she has just come back to work. She looks brown and happier than usual. The other girls stand around her. "Where did you go?" one asks. "Italy. A little place near Naples." "Was it an apartment with self-catering?" "I prefer better facilities on holidays'' "What was the weather like?" "Hot, of course." "Where did you go?" "Oh, Brighton." "Did you enjoy it?" "Yes, quite. It rained a bit." It's September. The holidays are over and the girls are busy, their job season has begun. Mr. Wetherington comes ten minutes later. He is not very happy. Every Monday morning since early June he has heard the same talk in the train on his way to the office in London. Someone is just back from holidays. Everyone else is asking where he went and what the weather was like and if he enjoyed himself. He tries to avoid such conversations as his holiday was over two months ago. But it is not only holiday talk that worries him. He is thinking about winter. His central heating3 didn't work well enough last year and he must think how to make the house warmer. He is even afraid to think about frost in the autumn. Maybe October and November will be mild. In the autumn his wife always buys school uniform for the children, gets ready with winter overcoats, gloves, heavy shoes... The garden wants his attention, too. It takes much time to gather and burn old leaves...
