THE BIG CHANCE大好时机
一‘Drink your tea’
Ray Martin, the new boss of Smalltown Football Club, was very happy. It was almost half-time and his team were winning 1-0.
Ray raced down to the changing room to talk to the team. Eleven cups of tea were waiting for the players.
The team jogged in, looking tired but happy.
‘Well done, lads,’ smiled Ray.‘You must be thirsty. Drink your tea while it`s hot.’
‘In a minute, boss,’ said Steve the captain.
Then Ray noticed one player after another taking their cups of tea into the shower room. When they came back the cups were empty.
‘That`s funny,’ thought Ray. ‘Drinking tea in the shower.’
Steve the captain picked up his cup. Ray followed him. In the shower room Steve was pouring his tea down the sink.
‘What`s going on? ’said Ray.
Steve leaped in the air and dropped his cup. The sound of the smashing cup brought the other players running.
‘It was his fault,’ sobbed Steve. ‘He made me jump.’ ‘What shall we do?’ moaned Nick the goalkeeper. ‘Maybe we can glue it,’ said Steve.
‘Will somebody tell me what`s going on?’ said Ray. ‘Why are you all
tipping your tea down the sink?’
Nobody spoke. ‘Well?’
‘Because it`s not very nice.’
‘Why all the fuss about a broken cup?’ ‘Hilda,’ whispered somebody. ‘Who is this Hilda?’
‘She makes the tea,’ hissed Nick.
‘Then I shall go and tell her that the tea is not very nice.’ ‘Ssh,’ hissed the team. ‘She will hear you.’ ‘She certainly will hear me,’ said Ray. ‘Oh dear,’ said Nick.
‘Fancy,’ said Ray. ‘A bunch of men, scared of a little old tea lady.’ ‘Er,’ said one player. ‘She`s not little.’ ‘She`s not that old,’ said another.
‘And we`re not scared of her,’ said Steve. ‘We`re terrified.’ ‘That`s enough,’ said Ray. ‘Where will I find this Hilda?’ ‘At the tea stand,’ said Nick. Ray strode towards the door. ‘Good luck,’ said someone.
二Ray meets Hilda
The tea stand was an old caravan. Ray joined a quiet queue of fans.
‘I’d like one cup of tea please, with a dash of milk and no sugar, ’said a big man.
‘You’ll get it how I make it and you’ll like it, ’boomed a voice from inside the caravan.
The next man in the queue already had a cup of tea. ‘Excuse me, ’he said politely.
‘Yes, ’boomed the voice.
‘I’m sorry to bother you, ’continued the man. ’But this tea is not very nice.’
‘What did you say?’
The caravan began to tremble. The caravan rocked and shook. There was a great bang and the door flew off its hinges.
There in the hole where the door had been stood Hilda. She wore a green skirt ,an apron, red boots and a jumper that said,‘Smalltown F.C.’
‘Hilda, ’gasped Ray.
Hilda stepped down from the caravan ,rolling up her sleeves.; She strode over to the man.
‘Do you know what I do with great moaning minnies who come complaining about my tea?’
‘I-I don’t know, ’stammered the man. ‘I do this, ’said Hilda.
Hilda grabbed the man and threw him over her shoulder. She marched down
towards the pitch.
‘Help!’ cried the man. Hilda strode into the goal area.
She lifted the man over her head and sat him on the cross bar. ‘Get me down, ’yelled the man. Hilda marched back to her tea stand.
‘What are you looking at?’ she said to one supporter. ‘Nothing.’
‘Is that cup on the floor yours?’ ‘I- er. ’
‘Put it in the bin.’
Hilda climbed back into the caravan.
‘ Right ,’said Hilda. ‘Any more complaints?’
‘I think I’ll talk to Hilda after the game, ’said Ray to himself. A group of fans helped the man down from the goalpost.
‘Excuse me, ’Ray asked them. ‘But if the tea is so horrible, Why do you buy it?’
One of the fans looked up towards the tea stand.‘ It’s OK, ’he said.‘ She’s looking the other way.’
‘If you don’t buy a cup of tea, ’whispered another, ‘She comes out and makes you drink two cups.’
‘So, ’said another, ‘it’s safer to buy a cup and tip it away.’
Ray looked around. All over the terraces were puddles of tea. ‘She’ll have to go, ’said Ray to himself.
Ray walked back to the changing room. The players had just left to start the second half . Instead of watching the game, Ray paced up and down.
The game ended in a 3-1 win for Smalltown F.C.As the players trotted into the changing room, Ray patted them on the back.
‘Right , ’he said bravely. ‘I’m off to see Hilda.’
The players crowded into the shower room. Nick, the goalkeeper ,climbed up on Steve’s shoulders. He looked out of the window.
‘What’s going on？’asked the others. ‘He’s reached the tea stand.’ ‘Yes.’
‘He’s talking to Hilda. Oh no! He’s on his way back.’
The players raced out of the shower room, leaving Nick hanging onto the window ledge.
‘Oi , lads, ’yelled Nick. ‘Get me down!’
The changing room door opened. In staggered Ray, with a tea urn rammed on his head.
‘You told her, then, ’said Steve, as he pulled the urn off.
The changing room door flew open and Hilda marched in.‘ Where do you think you are going with my tea urn?’
Just then there was a terrific crash from the shower room.