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1 . A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

A PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE

A day in the life of... has been specially written for

intermediate students of English as a second language,

and each story contains passages in dialogue which

are suitable for acting out in class.

Words and expressions that may present difficulty are

asterisked in the text and listed in a glossary at the end

of each story. There is a wide range of exercise material

and answers are provided at the end of the book.

The author, Alan Townend, has taught English in

Switzerland and is now Area Principal of Centres for

Adult Education in the London Borough of Barnet.

There was absolutely no doubt that Henry Orpington

liked politics. He talked about politics all the time. All

the members of his family were pleased, therefore, when

Henry was *adopted as the *prospective parliamentary

candidate for the *constituency in which they were

living. One year later the date of the general election

was announced by the Prime Minister. Throughout the

election *campaign Henry's wife and his two teenage

daughters worked night and day for him and he finally

won a seat in the *House of Commons by a very large

majority. Every day of the campaign was a *challenge,

but there was one day in particular that Henry would

never forget. That was the day he thought he was

going to be *blown up by a bomb.

On a Friday morning at the beginning of the campaign,

the phone rang in the Orpingtons' house at six-thirty in

the morning. Henry got out of bed and ran down the

stairs. He wondered who could possibly be ringing at

that early hour in the morning.

Henry Hello.

Man's voice Is that Mr. Henry Orpington, the

parliamentary candidate?

Henry Yes, speaking.

Man's voice Oh, good morning. I want to warn you about

a bomb....

Henry A bomb? Where? Hello! We've been cut off.

*Operator! Operator! Operator!

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE

It was no good. *The line had gone dead. As calmly as he could Henry

went upstairs to tell his wife the alarming news. They decided to get

dressed at once and take the two girls to their aunt's house. Henry

informed the police but asked them to keep the news from *the press.

At half past eight Henry was in conference with his *election agent,

Andrew Higgins, at party *headquarters.

There was very little *reaction to Henry's speech, except from one or

two *hecklers at the back who kept on asking what Henry's party intended

to do about the *rising price of fruit and vegetables. After the speech he

shook hands with some of the women. One of them lifted up a baby

for him to kiss, but the sight of Henry's beard must have frightened it

because it began to *scream its head off.

At eleven o'clock he *paid a brief visit to a *public house on the estate.

Henry couldn't offer to buy anyone a drink because he knew very well

that his opponents would consider that to be *bribery. So he let one of his

supporters buy him a drink instead.

At lunch time he went to his sister's house to see his wife and daughters.

They had spent the morning addressing envelopes for the leaflets he was

sending out. His sister, Vera, thoroughly *disapproved of his*involvement

in politics.

Andrew If you want my opinion, I suggest you *cancel all your

*engagements for today and wait until the police

*get to the bottom of the matter.

Henry Certainly not! I'm not going to let myself be scared by some

stupid *crank.

Andrew What did the man sound like? Did you recognize his voice?

Henry No, I was half asleep. His voice wasn't familiar but he

sounded quite pleasant. He didn't seem to be *threatening me.

Andrew That makes *the whole business even more *sinister.

Look here, Henry, one day won't make all that much difference.

I'll tell people that you've lost your voice or something.

Henry No, I'm going to *carry on as usual. Think of the advantage

it would give my*opponents if I were out of the campaign

even for one day.

Andrew If you say so. But I'd like to make it clear that *I'm dead

against it.

Vera Now I hope you can see the danger of *getting mixed up in

politics, Henry. You and the family will probably all be

blown up.

Henry Don't *exaggerate, Vera. I'm sure it's just a *hoax.

Vera I only hope you're right. What other meetings have you got

today?

Henry I shall be calling at houses in Midhampton this afternoon, and

then there's a big meeting tonight in the field behind

Thompson's farm.

Vera There you are, then. No doubt one of those stupid farmers has

got a *pile of bombs hidden in a *haystack..

Henry Oh, Vera, really!

Henry Orpington's first engagement that day was an, open-air meeting

on a large *housing estate at ten o'clock . As most of the men were out

at work, his audience consisted mainly of women and young children.

Andrew Higgins *kept a close watch on the platform from which

Henry was making his speech, while several *plainclothes policemen

*mingled*inconspicuously with the crowd.

There was a large crowd in the field when Henry arrived at eight o'clock

for what was perhaps the biggest meeting of the whole campaign. His

constituency was

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*largely a farming *community and the most important local *issue

concerned the *subsidies that the new government would be paying

to the farmers. After a hard day's work, hundreds of farmers and farm

labourers had come to the field to hear what Henry had to say.

The crowd started to cheer and Henry managed to finish his speech

without further interruptions. In the meantime the police had made

a thorough search of Henry's house and *assured him that there

were no hidden bombs. He went back to his sister's house to collect

his family.

Henry Ladies and gentlemen, I *appreciate the anxiety you must

all feel about this question of subsidies. I too have been

a farmer and I know the difficulties you are experiencing,

and so ...

Heckler ... and so you've decided to become an M.P. and get rich!

Henry No, my friend. I want to give the farmers a voice in the

House of Commons.

Heckler I don't believe a word of it!

Henry You've got a strong voice, 111 admit. But London's two

hundred miles away and I don't think your voice will

*carry that far. That's why I want to speak on your behalf.

Vera I've got some supper ready. I'm sure you must be *starving.

Henry You shouldn't have *bothered. We can all go back home now.

The police have searched the house thoroughly and they

found nothing at all.

Vera Well, at least stay and eat the nice *salad I've made.

Henry All right, Vera. Just so long as there are no tomatoes in it!

After supper, Henry and his family went home. Later that

evening the phone rang.

Henry Hello.

Man's voice Oh, Mr. Orpington. I've been trying to reach you all

day. This is Paul Harris. I called you this morning.

Henry You did indeed! I think you owe me an explanation.

Harris Yes, I do. When I phoned you this morning *I was cut

off. It was a bad line or something.

Henry Well, what about the bomb?

Harris The bomb? *What on earth do you mean?

Henry That's what I'd like to know. You said, "I want to warn

you about a bomb."

Harris Oh, dear! I'm afraid there's been a

*misunderstanding. I didn't have time to finish

my sentence. You see, I'm a farmer and I*overheard

some of the other farmers planning to break up your

meeting.

The crowd remained *good-natured for the first part of his speech

and Henry was feeling pleased with himself. And then, suddenly,

*half a dozen *tractors *roared onto the field.

"Do you like tomatoes?" shouted one of the tractor drivers. Henry

hesitated for a moment and then replied: "Yes, I like them very much."

"Well, we can't sell them at a profit," said the tractor driver, "because

the *imported ones are too cheap. So rather than let them *go to

waste, you can have them!"

It was then that Henry noticed that the tractors were loaded with

boxes of tomatoes, which the farmers started to throw at him.

Unfortunately for Henry, two of them hit him full in the face. He

realized that he had to say something quickly to *win the crowd

over to his side. "Thank you for your generous gift, but I really

prefer them in sandwiches. And now let's get on with the meeting."

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Henry I still fail to see what all this has got to do with a bomb.

Harris Well, if we hadn't been cut off I was going to warn you

about a *bombardment of tomatoes!

threaten try to frighten

the whole business the situation

sinister strange and frightening

carry on continue

opponents those who are against you (here refers to members of the

other political parties)

I'm dead against it I'm completely against it

housing estate an area with houses of the same type and usually built

by the same builder

keep a close watch on watch carefully

plainclothes policemen policemen wearing civilian(ordinary)

clothes

mingled mixed

inconspicuously so as not to be noticed

reaction showing of feelings for or against

hecklers people who interrupt a speaker (usually political)

rising increasing

scream its head off scream very loudly

paid a brief visit to visited for a short time

public house a place where wine, beer and spirits can be bought and

drunk

bribery money or goods given to someone to win his support

disapproved of did not approve of

involvement in mixing in

getting mixed up in becoming involved in

exaggerate say that something is more important etc. than it really is

hoax (pronounced like jokes) joke . :

pile heap, number of .

haystack large pile of hay

largely mainly

community district and its people

issue question or problem for discussion

subsidies help in the form of money from die government

NEW WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

parliamentary candidate man or woman standing for election

to parliament as an M.P. (Member of Parliament)

adopted here means chosen

prospective future

constituency district represented by one M.P. The people in this

district are called "constituents"

campaign planned course of action; here refers to the time (about

three weeks) just before an election

House of Commons one of the two Houses of Parliament (the

other is the House of Lords)

challenge a test of one's ability

blow up kill in an explosion

operator the telephonist at the telephone exchange

the line had gone dead the connection had been broken

the press the newspapers, newspaper reporters

election agent the person who manages the campaign for a

parliamentary candidate

headquarters main office

cancel call off, do not attend

engagements appointments

get to the bottom of the matter find out the truth about it

crank someone with strange ideas

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ....

appreciate here means understand

carry here means travel, i.e. be heard in London

good-natured friendly

half a dozen six (twelve to a dozen)

tractor vehicle used on a farm for pulling things

roared made a loud noise; here came in with a loud noise imported

bought from another country

go to waste be wasted

win the crowd over to his side win the support of the crowd

assured him made him certain

starving very hungry

bothered taken the trouble

salad dish of fresh vegetables

I was cut off my telephone connection with you was broken

What on earth.. .? a strong way of saying "What. ..?"

misunderstanding mistake due to something not being understood

overhear hear something without the speaker knowing

bombardment in the military sense, with heavy guns; here with

tomatoes

5. Why did Henry's audience at the housing estate consist mainly

of women and children?

6. Why did the baby scream its head off when Henry tried to kiss it?

7. What had Henry's wife and daughters been doing all morning?

8. What was the most important election issue for the farmers?

9. Why couldn't the farmers sell their tomatoes at a profit?

10. How did Paul Harris know about the bombardment of tomatoes?

B. Change the following sentences into the passive:

Example:

The constituency adopted Henry as the candidate.

Henry was adopted as the candidate for the constituency.

1. The Prime Minister announced the date of the general

election.

2. He thought a bomb was going to blow him up.

3. They've cut us off.

4. They kept the news from the press.

5. I'm not going to let some stupid crank scare me.

6. Henry's beard must have frightened the baby.

7. Two of the tomatoes hit him in the face.

8. If they hadn't cut us off.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

A . Comprehension questions

C. Use the following words to complete the sentences below:

1. Which constituency was Henry Orpington adopted for?

2. What sort of majority did he get?

3. Who is Andrew Higgins?

4. Does Andrew want Henry to continue with his engagements

after the bomb threat?

bribery hoax

scream starving

crank cut off

cancel teenage

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