Trevor was a reporter and he was writing a story for his newspaper. It was a big story and he hoped it would make him famous. The editor of the newspaper was planning to print it on the title page and give it a lot of space on the following pages. It was a very important story for them all and she wanted to publish it as soon as possible.
However, there was a problem. As he was writing the last few paragraphs, Trevor discovered that some of the facts which he had used in the story were not true. He had talked to many people when he was trying to find out what had really happened. And he blindly believed all that he was told. That was a mistake.
‘Do you think you’ll have it ready by tomorrow?’ asked Etna as she approached his writing desk. She was the chief editor and she was very excited about the story that Trevor was working on.
‘I don’t think so,’ replied Trevor. ‘I will need more time, I guess.’ He liked Etna and he didn’t want to lie to her. Nevertheless, he couldn’t tell her the whole truth. He had his own reasons for it.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ asked Etna. She wasn’t smiling now. ‘You said you were finishing the story. I thought you only need a few hours, no more.’
‘It is a little complicated, Etna.’
‘Complicated? You have been working on a story for a month. You are finishing it. When you have finished it, I will print it. It will be printed,’ she said. ‘There is nothing complicated about it!’
Trevor said nothing. He needed to stay calm and think about the whole thing to figure out what to do next.
‘I need to concentrate now. I’ll talk to you about it in the morning, OK?’ he said to Etna.
‘Make sure you have it ready by tomorrow, as you have promised,’ replied Etna and left his desk angrily.
English Reading, Level 3 / © Sparrow’s English Reader
Sparrow's English Reader 