The Pumpkin with No Face

There is a boy on the fence. He is about nine or ten. He has got red hair and a lot of freckles. He is thin and he is not tall. He has got a blue coat and one green glove. He does not have a second glove.

—Hello, —Mia says.

—You are the granddaughter, —the boy says.

—I am Mia.

—I know. Everybody knows. It is a very small town. My name is Tommy Bird. I live at number nine, next to you.

Tommy jumps down from the fence into Mia’s garden. He does not ask.

—So, —he says—. Two pumpkins.

Mia looks at him.

—How do you know that?

—I see everything, —Tommy says—. I get up at half past six every day. My father works at the harbour and he goes at seven, so my family gets up early. I look out of my window and I see your porch.

—Do you see the pumpkins in the morning?

—I see them at half past six. They are there. They are always there.

—So somebody puts them there in the night.

—Yes, —Tommy says.

Mia thinks for a moment.

—Or you put them there, —she says.

Tommy laughs. He laughs very loudly, and two birds go out of the apple tree.

—Me? I don’t get up in the night. I like my bed. My mother says I love my bed more than I love my family.

—That is not an answer.

—It is a good answer, —Tommy says—. And I don’t have any pumpkins. My mother buys one pumpkin every year and she buys it on the thirtieth of October, because she never does anything early.

Mia looks at his face. She does not know him, but she thinks he is telling the truth. And she also thinks: he laughs too much for a person with a secret.

—OK, —she says—. You don’t do it.

—Thank you very much.

—Do you know who does?

—No, —Tommy says—. But I want to know. This town is very boring. Nothing happens here. Last year a dog runs into the school and everybody talks about it for four months.

Mia laughs.

—So, —Tommy says—. We work together?

—Do you want to?

—Yes! Yes, of course. Look, I know everybody in this street. I know all nineteen houses. I know who has a dog, who has a boat, who is nice and who is not nice. You know nothing. You are new.

—That is true, —Mia says.

—So I am useful, —Tommy says—. And you have the pumpkins. So you are useful too.

They shake hands over the wet grass. It is a very serious moment, and then Tommy puts his hand in his pocket and takes out half a sandwich and eats it, so it is a less serious moment.

They sit on the porch steps. Tommy tells Mia about Bell Street.

At number one there is a man with three dogs. At number three there is a family with a baby, and the baby cries every night. At number five there is Mrs. Pike, and she is one hundred and one years old, and she never opens her door.

—One hundred and one, —Mia says.

—One hundred and one. She is the oldest person in Maine. Maybe.

At number nine there is Tommy. At number eleven there are two brothers with a boat. At number fifteen there is Mr. Doyle. He is the postman and he knows every house.

At number nineteen, at the end of the street, there is a red door.

—Who lives there? —Mia says.

—Miss Ada, —Tommy says—. She has the vegetable shop.

Mia stops.

—The vegetable shop, —she says slowly.

—Yes.

—Does she sell pumpkins?

Tommy looks at her. Then his eyes are very big.

—Oh, —he says.

—Yes.

—Oh!

—Tommy, does she sell pumpkins?

—She sells all the pumpkins, —Tommy says—. Everybody in this town buys pumpkins from Miss Ada. Everybody. Every year.

They look at each other on the cold porch step.

—Tomorrow, —Mia says—, we go to the shop.

—Tomorrow I have school.

—After school.

—After school, —Tommy says—. OK. But I want to say one thing first.

—What?

—This is the best October of my life, —Tommy Bird says, and he goes back over the fence. ## Vocabulary exercises

1. Complete the sentences (Дополни предложения)

1. Tommy Bird is a ______ with red hair.

2. He sits on the ______ between the two gardens.

3. He has got red ______ and a lot of freckles.

4. Tommy is not tall. He is ______.

5. He is very ______ when he laughs.

6. Tommy and Mia are ______ now.

7. Tommy ______ at number nine.

8. He gets up at half past six ______ ______.

2. Match the words (Соедини слова)

1. a bike 2. thin 3. funny 4. to know 5. to help 6. a fence

a. знать b. велосипед c. забор d. худой e. смешной f. помогать

3. Choose the correct answer (Выбери правильный ответ)

1. A person who lives next to you is: a) a friend b) a neighbour c) a teacher

2. If a person is loud: a) you cannot hear them b) you can hear them very well c) they never talk

3. Freckles are on your: a) face b) shoes c) bike

4. If something is boring: a) it is very interesting b) it is not interesting c) it is dangerous

5. A postman brings: a) vegetables b) letters c) children

4. Answer the questions (Ответь на вопросы)

1. What is the word on the second pumpkin?

2. Where does Tommy live?

3. Why does Tommy see the porch every morning?

4. Who lives at number five?

5. Why is Miss Ada interesting for Mia and Tommy?

5. True or false (Верно или неверно)

1. The second pumpkin is bigger than the first one.

2. Tommy has got two gloves.

3. Tommy’s father works at the harbour.

4. Mrs. Pike opens her door every day.

5. Miss Ada sells the pumpkins in the town.

Грамматика

Present Simple: утвердительная форма

Present Simple используется для того, что происходит регулярно, всегда или обычно: привычки, расписание, факты.

Tommy gets up at half past six every day.

Miss Ada sells vegetables.

The sea is cold in October.

Форма

Для всех лиц берётся глагол без изменений. И только для he, she, it добавляется -s.

Лицо — Форма:

I — live

you — live

he / she / it — lives

we — live

they — live

I live in a big city. · Tommy lives at number nine.

Правила написания -s

Окончание глагола: обычный глагол · Что добавить: -s · Пример: works, sells, knows

Окончание глагола: -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o · Что добавить: -es · Пример: watches, goes, does

Окончание глагола: согласная + -y · Что добавить: -y меняется на -ies · Пример: cry → cries, study → studies

Окончание глагола: гласная + -y · Что добавить: просто -s · Пример: play → plays, buy → buys

Три особых глагола

have → has · do → does · go → goes

Слова-помощники

Эти слова часто стоят рядом с Present Simple: always, usually, often, sometimes, never, every day, every morning, on Mondays.

Наречия частотности ставятся перед смысловым глаголом, но после глагола to be:

She always helps. · She is always happy.

Grammar exercises

1. Write the correct form (Напиши правильную форму)

1. Tommy (live) ______ at number nine.

2. I (live) ______ in a big city.

3. Miss Ada (sell) ______ vegetables.

4. Mia and Tommy (walk) ______ in the garden.

5. Grandma Rosa (make) ______ soup on Friday.

6. The baby (cry) ______ every night.

7. Mr. Doyle (know) ______ every house.

8. Pepper (go) ______ out at night.

2. Choose the correct verb (Выбери правильный глагол)

1. Tommy (get / gets) up early.

2. We (live / lives) on Bell Street.

3. My father (work / works) at the harbour.

4. The children (play / plays) in the garden.

5. She (watch / watches) the porch every morning.

3. Put the adverb in the right place (Поставь наречие на правильное место)

1. Mrs. Pike opens her door. (never)

2. Grandma Rosa is happy on Friday. (always)

3. Tommy laughs very loudly. (often)

4. I get up at six o’clock. (sometimes)

5. The pumpkins are there in the morning. (always)

Ответы

Vocabulary 1: 1. boy 2. fence 3. hair 4. short 5. loud 6. friends 7. lives 8. every day

Vocabulary 2: 1-b, 2-d, 3-e, 4-a, 5-f, 6-c

Vocabulary 3: 1-b, 2-b, 3-a, 4-b, 5-b

Vocabulary 4: 1. AND. 2. At number nine, next to Mia’s grandmother. 3. Because his family gets up early and his window looks at Mia’s porch. 4. Mrs. Pike, who is one hundred and one years old. 5. Because she sells all the pumpkins in the town.

Vocabulary 5: 1. False 2. False 3. True 4. False 5. True

Grammar 1: 1. lives 2. live 3. sells 4. walk 5. makes 6. cries 7. knows 8. goes

Grammar 2: 1. gets 2. live 3. works 4. play 5. watches

Grammar 3: 1. Mrs. Pike never opens her door. 2. Grandma Rosa is always happy on Friday. 3. Tommy often laughs very loudly. 4. I sometimes get up at six o’clock. 5. The pumpkins are always there in the morning.

Chapter 4. Mia’s Notebook

Key vocabulary

a notebook — тетрадь

a page — страница

a pencil — карандаш

a pen — ручка

a list — список

a line — линия, строка

a table (in a book) — таблица

a plan — план

a question — вопрос

an answer — ответ

to draw — рисовать

to count — считать

to remember — помнить

to forget — забывать

difficult — трудный

Mia’s Notebook

The third pumpkin is on the third step. It is very round and it is dark orange. The word is:

YOU

—Soup, and, you, —Mia says—. Soup and you. That is not a sentence.

—No, —Grandma Rosa says—. It is not.

—Soup and you. And You Soup. You And Soup.

—Mia.

—Yes?

—Please stop.

At the school in Harbor Point the children finish at three o’clock. At ten past three Tommy Bird is at the fence.

—Do you have a notebook? —he says.

—No.

—You need a notebook. A detective always has a notebook. That is a rule.

—Is it a rule?

—It is a very big rule, —Tommy says.

Grandma Rosa gives Mia a notebook from the little room with the books. It is old and green and there is nothing in it. She also gives Mia a pencil.

—Don’t use a pen, —she says—. With a pen you cannot change anything. With a pencil you can be wrong.

Mia sits at the kitchen table. She opens the notebook at the first page and she writes at the top, in big letters:

THE PUMPKINS

Then she makes a table with a ruler. There are three lines: day, word, where.

Then she writes:

Monday 13 October. SOUP. Second step.

Tuesday 14 October. AND. First step.

Wednesday 15 October. YOU. Third step.

Tommy looks at the page over her shoulder.

—That is very good, —he says—. You are better than me. I don’t write things. I only remember them, and then I forget them.

On the second page Mia writes QUESTIONS. Under it she writes five questions:

1. Who puts the pumpkins on the porch?

2. When? (In the night? Very early?)

3. Why is there no face?

4. Why one word?

5. Is it for Grandma?

—Now the people, —Tommy says—. Who does it? Write the names.

On the third page Mia writes NAMES.

Tommy Bird. She looks at Tommy.

—Do you want to write my name?

—A detective writes every name, —Mia says.

—That is fair, —Tommy says—. But put a line after it. A line means no.

Miss Ada. She sells all the pumpkins.

Mr. Doyle. He is at every house every morning.

Mrs. Pike. She is one hundred and one.

—Mrs. Pike does not carry a big pumpkin in the night, —Tommy says.

—I know. But a detective writes every name.

At four o’clock Grandma Rosa comes into the kitchen with a basket of apples. She looks at the notebook, and at the table with three lines, and at the list of names.

She does not say anything.

—Grandma, —Mia says—. Who do you think it is?

—I don’t think about it.

—You don’t think about it?

—No.

Mia puts down her pencil.

—That is a strange answer, —she says.

Grandma Rosa washes an apple in the sink. She does not turn around.

—Mia, —she says—, in this town people give things. They do not always say who they are. Somebody puts fish on my porch in July. Somebody puts wood next to my door in January. Somebody cuts the grass in front of my house in August and I never see them.

—Really?

—Really. And I don’t ask. If a person wants me to know, they tell me.

—But this is different! —Mia says—. This is nineteen days of pumpkins with words on them!

Her grandmother stops. Her hands are in the water and she is very quiet.

—Why do you say nineteen? —she says.

Mia opens her mouth. Then she closes it.

—I don’t know, —she says—. It is a number. It comes into my head.

Grandma Rosa dries her hands slowly with a small blue towel.

—There are nineteen houses on this street, —she says.

Then she goes into the living room and she does not come back for a long time.

Tommy and Mia look at each other.

—Write that down, —Tommy says quietly.

Mia opens the notebook at the second page and adds a sixth question.

6. Why does Grandma not want to talk about it?

That evening Mia sits on her bed with the notebook. Pepper is on the blanket next to her. He is very heavy and he is asleep on her left foot.

She reads the three words again.

SOUP. AND. YOU.

—They are all different, —she says to Pepper—. Soup is a thing. And is a small word. You is a person. They don’t go together.

Pepper does not answer. He is a cat.

—But maybe, —Mia says slowly—, maybe they don’t come in the right order.

She sits up. Pepper is not happy about this.

She takes the pencil and on a new page she writes the three words in a different way:

AND YOU SOUP

YOU AND SOUP

SOUP YOU AND

They are all wrong. But something in her head is right, and it is like a light in a dark room, very small and very far away.

Maybe the words are not in order, she writes at the bottom of the page. Maybe I have to wait.

She looks at the window. Outside it is black and there is no moon.

Wait for how long? she writes.

Then she puts the notebook under her pillow, because that is what detectives do, and she goes to sleep. ## Vocabulary exercises

1. Complete the sentences (Дополни предложения)

1. Grandma Rosa gives Mia an old green ______.

2. She says: don’t use a pen, use a ______.

3. On the first page Mia makes a ______ with three lines.

4. On the second page there is a ______ of questions.

5. Mia writes the names in a ______.

6. Every question needs an ______.

7. Tommy does not write things. He ______ them.

8. This mystery is very ______.

2. Match the words (Соедини слова)

1. a page 2. to draw 3. to count 4. to forget 5. a plan 6. a line

a. забывать b. страница c. план d. рисовать e. строка f. считать

3. Choose the correct answer (Выбери правильный ответ)

1. You write in a notebook with: a) a pencil b) a spoon c) a fence

2. If you forget something: a) you remember it b) you do not remember it c) you write it

3. A list is: a) a picture b) names or things one under the other c) a question

4. If something is difficult: a) it is easy b) it is not easy c) it is small

5. To count is to say: a) one, two, three b) hello, goodbye c) red, blue, green

4. Answer the questions (Ответь на вопросы)

1. What is the word on the third pumpkin?

2. Why does Grandma Rosa give Mia a pencil and not a pen?

3. Who is on Mia’s list of names?

4. What does Grandma Rosa say about people in the town?

5. What is Mia’s new idea at the end of the chapter?

5. True or false (Верно или неверно)

1. Mia writes in the notebook with a pen.

2. Tommy wants his name on the list.

3. Grandma Rosa likes talking about the pumpkins.

4. There are nineteen houses on Bell Street.

5. Mia puts the notebook under her pillow.

Грамматика

Present Simple: отрицательная форма

Чтобы сказать «не делает», в английском языке нужен вспомогательный глагол do или does. Само по себе слово not к смысловому глаголу не присоединяется. Сказать I not know нельзя.

Форма

Лицо — Отрицание:

I / you / we / they — do not (don’t) + глагол

he / she / it — does not (doesn’t) + глагол

I don’t know. · She doesn’t know. · They don’t live here.

Самая частая ошибка

После doesn’t смысловой глагол теряет окончание -s. Окончание уже «ушло» во вспомогательный глагол.

Правильно: She doesn’t live here.

Неправильно: She doesn’t lives here.

Сравни:

Tommy lives at number nine. → Tommy doesn’t live at number nine.

Mrs. Pike opens the door. → Mrs. Pike doesn’t open the door.

Глагол to be отрицается по-другому

У глагола to be свой способ отрицания, без do и does:

She isn’t here. (не she doesn’t be here)

They aren’t happy.

Полезные слова

never — никогда

not any — нисколько, никакой

nothing — ничего

nobody — никто

Важно: в английском предложении отрицание только одно. Русское двойное отрицание не переводится буквально.

Я ничего не знаю. → I know nothing. или I don’t know anything.

Но не I don’t know nothing.

Grammar exercises

1. Make the sentences negative (Сделай предложения отрицательными)

1. Mia knows the answer. → ______

2. Tommy writes things in a notebook. → ______

3. They live in a big city. → ______

4. Mrs. Pike opens her door. → ______

5. Grandma Rosa talks about the pumpkins. → ______

6. I remember his name. → ______

2. Write don’t or doesn’t

1. Mia ______ understand the words.

2. We ______ have a car.

3. Pepper ______ like other cats.

4. The children ______ go to school on Sunday.

5. My father ______ work on Saturday.

3. Correct the mistakes (Исправь ошибки)

1. She doesn’t lives here.

2. I not know the answer.

3. Tommy don’t get up in the night.

4. He doesn’t is my friend.

5. I don’t know nothing about it.

Ответы

Vocabulary 1: 1. notebook 2. pencil 3. table 4. list 5. list 6. answer 7. remembers 8. difficult

Vocabulary 2: 1-b, 2-d, 3-f, 4-a, 5-c, 6-e

Vocabulary 3: 1-a, 2-b, 3-b, 4-b, 5-a

Vocabulary 4: 1. YOU. 2. Because with a pencil you can change things and you can be wrong. 3. Tommy Bird, Miss Ada, Mr. Doyle and Mrs. Pike. 4. That people give things and do not always say who they are. 5. That the words are not in the right order and she has to wait.

Vocabulary 5: 1. False 2. True 3. False 4. True 5. True

Grammar 1: 1. Mia doesn’t know the answer. 2. Tommy doesn’t write things in a notebook. 3. They don’t live in a big city. 4. Mrs. Pike doesn’t open her door. 5. Grandma Rosa doesn’t talk about the pumpkins. 6. I don’t remember his name.

Grammar 2: 1. doesn’t 2. don’t 3. doesn’t 4. don’t 5. doesn’t

Grammar 3: 1. She doesn’t live here. 2. I don’t know the answer. 3. Tommy doesn’t get up in the night. 4. He isn’t my friend. 5. I don’t know anything about it. (или I know nothing about it.)

Chapter 5. Miss Ada’s Vegetable Shop

Key vocabulary

a vegetable — овощ

a potato — картофель

a carrot — морковь

an onion — лук

a cabbage — капуста

a tomato — помидор

a bean — фасоль, боб

a box — коробка, ящик

a shop — магазин

a customer — покупатель

to sell — продавать

to buy — покупать

to pay — платить

fresh — свежий

expensive — дорогой

Miss Ada’s Vegetable Shop

The fourth pumpkin is next to the flower pot on the left. The word is:

OPEN

Mia writes it in the notebook.

Thursday 16 October. OPEN. Next to the flower pot.

—Soup, and, you, open, —she says.

—Still not a sentence, —Grandma Rosa says from the kitchen.

—I know.

The vegetable shop is at the end of Bell Street, at number nineteen, and it is under the house with the red door.

It is a small shop. There is one room and there are two big windows. In front of the shop, on the street, there are wooden boxes. In the boxes there are potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbages, tomatoes and green beans. Everything is fresh and everything is cheap.

And on the right of the door there are pumpkins.

There are a lot of pumpkins. Big pumpkins, small pumpkins, orange pumpkins and one white pumpkin. They are on the ground in three lines.

Mia and Tommy stand in front of them.

—How many? —Mia says.

Tommy counts.

—Fourteen.

—Are they the same as our pumpkins?

—They are pumpkins, —Tommy says—. All pumpkins are the same.

—That is not true. Look at ours. Ours are very big and very round and they are all dark orange. Look at these.

Tommy looks. Some of the pumpkins are small. Some are light orange. One is white.

—OK, —he says—. Some of them are the same.

A bell rings when they open the door.

Inside the shop it smells of earth and apples. There is a wooden table with a machine for money. Behind the table there is a woman.

Miss Ada is about sixty. She is tall and thin. She has got short grey hair and glasses on a chain around her neck. Her hands are big and brown, like the hands of a person who works with the ground.

—Tommy Bird, —she says.

—Hello, Miss Ada.

—Does your mother want potatoes?

—No.

—Then why are you in my shop?

—This is Mia, —Tommy says—. She is Rosa’s granddaughter.

Miss Ada looks at Mia for a long moment. Her face does not change, but something in her eyes is different.

—Ah, —she says—. Yes. Of course you are.

—Hello, —Mia says.

—How is your grandmother?

—She is well.

—Good, —Miss Ada says—. That is good.

Mia takes a breath.

—Miss Ada, do you sell pumpkins?

—You have eyes. There are fourteen pumpkins in front of my door.

—Do a lot of people buy them?

—In October? Everybody buys them. This is a small town and I am the only shop.