9. Read the text and answer the questions.

Kidnap!

Mr and Mrs Barker were having a quiet day at home. Their 17-year-old daughter was away in Scotland staying with a friend. At noon Mr and Mrs Barker got a phone call from the friend where their daughter was supposed to be staying, saying that she had disappeared. They were just about to call the police when the phone rang again. A hoarse voice informed Mr Barker that his daughter had been kidnapped and that unless he paid a ransom of $ 10 000 he would never see his daughter alive again.

When Mr Barker inquired who the caller was, the voice answered that it was someone he knew well. The voice then gave him instructions about where and when to hand over the money. He was warned not to tell the police or to attempt to have the phone call traced. Mr Barker went to the bank and immediately withdrew the money out of his bank account and left on the next train to Brighton. When he arrived, he entered the Grand Hotel at five to six and carefully placed the briefcase beside a sofa as arranged. At six o'clock precisely, a woman in a scarf and raincoat approached, took the briefcase and walked quickly away.

At 10 p.m. the same evening, to his great relief, his daughter returned home. She could hardly refrain from laughing. Imagine his surprise when she handed him his briefcase containing the $ 10 000. It turned out that she and her friend had decided to play a practical joke. It was she who had put on a hoarse voice to phone her father and it was she who had collected the briefcase in Brighton. The joke had succeeded but, strangely enough, Mr And Mrs Barker did not appreciate it as much as their daughter did.

1. What did the daughter's friend phone to say?

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2. Where did Mr Barker have to go with the money?

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3. Where did he put the money?

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4. What was his daughter's explanation?

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IV. Relax!

1. Read the following jokes and try to understand it.

a. A man was accused of stealing a pair of trousers. After a long examination he was acquitted, because the evidence against him was not sufficiently strong. He stayed, however, in the dock after his acquittal had been pronounced. The lawyer who had defended him, observing that he didn't go away, informed him that he was free to go wherever he wanted.

The man shook his head slightly, but remained. By this time the court was nearly empty. Again his lawyer told him that he could go. «I can't go till all the witnesses against me have left the court», said the man. «And why may that be? » asked the lawyer. «Because of the stolen trousers, sir. I've got them on».

b. Caught in his own trap

It happened in England not very long ago. A judge was going for an assize (выездная сессия суда) to a distant town. His wife asked him to allow her to go with him. The judge agreed but told her not to take a lot of boxes. Next morning they started in a carriage. On the way the judge wanted to stretch his legs and his feet struck against something under the seat. It was a box. The judge was very angry; he opened the window and threw the box out. The coachman stopped the horses to pick up the box but the judge ordered to drive on.

The next day the travellers reached the town. The judge put on the robes and was ready for going to the court, but he couldn't find his wig (парик) which is a very important attribute of an English judge. Then he cried: «Where in all the world is my wig?» – «Your wig, my Lord? Why, your Lordship threw it out of the carriage window yesterday», explained the coachman who was watching the scene.