Laundry Day

Saturday morning meant one thing for Susandoing the laundry. She hated
doing the laundry. Unenthusiastically, she took the pillow cases off all the
pillows. Then she removed the fitted sheet from the mattress. She took the
towel off the towel bar in the bathroom.
She grabbed a couple of dirty dish towels out of the kitchen, and looked all
around her apartment for anything else that needed washing.
In the corner of her living room, a can of coins sat on top of the file cabinet. She
fished out seven quarters. She opened the cabinet under her kitchen sink and
grabbed a plastic bottle of liquid detergent.
inally, she set her electronic timer for !" minutes. The timer would remind her
that the washing was done, and that it was time to go back downstairs and put
the clothes into the dryer for #$ minutes. %ithout the timer, Susan would
completely forget to check her clothes.
Susan carried the laundry basket downstairs. &ow happy she would be when
her laundry was done for this week. 's she approached the laundry room, she
heard a familiar sound. The sound was the washer washing and the dryer
drying. (ne of her neighbors had got there before her. )uttering, Susan took
her basket back upstairs.
Vocabulary
laundry - clothes, sheets etc that need to be washed or have just been washed.
laundry basket - a large basket that you put dirty clothes in until you wash them
[= hamper in American English]
pillow - a cloth bag filled with soft material that you put your head on when you are
sleeping
pillow cases - cloth covers for pillows
fitted sheet - a bed sheet having ends that are elastici!ed and shaped to fit tightly
over a mattress
mattress - the soft part of a bed that you lie on
dish - a flat container with low sides, for serving food from or cooking food in *bowl]
dish towels - cloths used for drying dishes
file cabinet - a piece of office furniture with drawers for storing letters, reports etc
"
fish out - to pull someone or something out of water# to find something after
searching through a bag, pocket etc, and take it out
a quarter (coin) - a coin used in the $% and &anada worth '( cents
sink - a large open container that you fill with water and use for washing yourself,
washing dishes etc *basin]
timer - an instrument that you use to measure time, when you are doing something
such as cooking
dryer - a machine that dries things, especially clothes
Questions
+. %hat did Saturday morning mean for Susan,
-. .id she love doing the laundry,
!. %hat did she take off the pillows,
#. %hat did she remove from the mattress,
". %hat did she take off the towel bar,
/. %hat did she grab out of the kitchen,
0. %ere the towels dirty or clean,
1. %hat did she look around for,
2. %here was the can of coins sitting,
+$. &ow much is seven quarters,
++. &ow many coins did she fish out,
+-. %hat did grab under her kitchen sink,
+!. &ow long did she set her electronic timer for,
+#. %hat was the timer used for,
+". or how long would she put the clothes into the dryer,
+/. %hat would happen if she didn3t use the timer,
+0. %here did she carry the laundry basket to,
+1. &ow would she feel when her laundry was done,
+2. %hat did she hear as she approached the laundry room,
-$. %hat was the sound she heard as she approached the laundry room,
-+. %ho got to the laundry room before her, %hat did this mean to Susan,
'
--. %hat did she do when she reali4ed that the laundry room had already
been taken by one of her neighbours,
-!. &ow about you. .o you do the laundry every week, If you do, do you like
doing it, %hy or why not,
Crossword Puzzle
ill in the squares with the correct word!
Across:
3. Men often ___ an attractive woman to get to know her better.
5. When you "throw in the ___," you have given up.
6. Time after time, the dog ___ay ran into the ake to retrieve the tenni! ba.
". ___ me to pick up a carton of mik when we get to the !tore, pea!e.
#. $e ___ed !omething under hi! breath, but no one nearby knew what he had !aid.
%&.
"'o you know what thi! ___!( )ow we can buy a hou!e*" !he e+caimed, !howing
him the winning ottery ticket.
%,. Modern ___ !oap contain! no pho!phoru! and come! in recycabe container!.
%-. . ___ !hirt coar !ometime! re/uire! !ome e+tra !crubbing to get it cean.
%5. $e ___bed a pa!tic !poon and !tarted eating the baked bean!.
)
%6.
0opuar aundry ___! procaim that they contain no dye! or perfume!, and work we
in a temperature!.
Down:
%. 1itted !heet! have ea!tic ___! that ea!iy fit the ___! of mattre!!e!.
,.
.n ___ timer i! a handy kitchen device for reminding you when it2! time to check the
boiing egg!.
-. 3t2! important to buy the correct !i4e ___ca!e for your ___.
5.
6eep )umber i! a popuar ___ that hu!band or wife can ad7u!t for !eeping comfort
7u!t by turning a dia.
%%.
Mo!t peope keep their bandaid!, a!pirin, and acoho wipe! in the medicine ___ in
the bathroom.
%,. 6ome ___!, ike coffee, create !tain! that are difficut to remove.
%3. 3f the ___ temperature i! too hot, you might !hrink !ome of your 7u!t8wa!hed cothe!.
"peakin#
Now look back at the story, read it again silently two or
three times. Then, translate the Portuguese version
below back to English.
( S5bado de manh6 significava uma coisa para a Susan 7 lavar a roupa su8a.
9ontudo, ela detestava lavar a roupa. 'ssim, sem entusiasmo, retirou as
fronhas de todos os travesseiros, e de seguida, retirou o len:ol de cobertura do
colch6o , e depois retirou a toalha da barra da toalha na casa;de;banho.
'panhou um par de toalhas de limpar pratos que estavam su8as da co4inha e
olhou ao redor do seu apartamento para ver se havia mais qualquer outra coisa
que precisasse de ser lavada.
<o canto da sala de estar, estava =sentada> uma lata com moedas em cima do
arquivo. ?la meteu a m6o na lata e pescou sete moedas de -" c@ntimos..e
seguida, abriu o arm5rio debaiAo da pia da co4inha e pegou uma garrafa de
pl5stico de detergente lBquido.
Cor fim, colocou o tempori4ador eletrDnico para !" minutos. ( tempori4ador f5;
la;ia lembrar;se que a lavagem estava terminadaEfeita, e que eram horas de
voltar para baiAo e colocar as roupas na secadora por #$ minutos. Sem o
tempori4ador, a Susan esquecer;se;ia completamente de verificar as suas
roupas.
' Susan levouEcarregou o cesto de roupa para baiAo. Fue feli4 que ela ficaria
quando a sua roupa desta semana ficasseEestivesse pronta. Fuando ela se
aproAimava da lavandaria, ouviu um som familiar. ( som era da lavagem da
*
m5quina de lavar e do secador. Um dos seus vi4inhos tinha chegado l5 antes
dela. Gesmungando e murmurando, a Susan levou a cesta de volta para cima.
Crossword Puzzle $ey
Take a Dictation
Saturday morning meant one thing for Susandoing the laundry. She hated
doing the laundry. Unenthusiastically, she took the pillow cases off all the
pillows. Then she removed the fitted sheet from the mattress. She took the
towel off the towel bar in the bathroom.
In the corner of her living room, a can of coins sat on top of the file cabinet. She
fished out seven quarters. She opened the cabinet under her kitchen sink and
grabbed a plastic bottle of liquid detergent.
(
inally, she set her electronic timer for !" minutes. The timer would remind her
that the washing was done, and that it was time to go back downstairs and put
the clothes into the dryer for #$ minutes. %ithout the timer, Susan would
completely forget to check her clothes.
+