Students Book

0 Read
a Look at the cover of the
book and read the short
summary of the story.
Would you be interested
in reading the book?
Why / Why not?
b Read the text quickly and
choose the best answer to
the question.
Why does the man return the
record he bought?
1 He didn’t like it.
2 He thought it was a
different record.
3 Both reasons 1 and 2.
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Rob Fleming is a man in his 30s who owns a specialised record store in
an unfashionable part of north London. He has two part-time assistants,
Barry and Dick, to help him. The shop isn’t doing well, and neither is Rob
– his long-time girlfriend has just left him and he feels that everything is
going wrong in his life. Will his business, and/or his life, improve?
Ever since I’ve had the shop, we’ve been
trying to flog a record by a group called The
Sid James Experience. Usually we get rid
of stuff we can’t shift – reduce it to 10p, or
throw it away – but Barry loves this album
(he’s got two copies of his own, just in case
someone borrows one and fails to return it),
and he says it’s rare, and that someday we’ll
make somebody very happy. It’s become a bit
of a joke, really. Regular customers ask after
its health, and give it a friendly pat when they’re browsing, and
sometimes they bring the sleeve up to the counter as if they’re
going to buy it, and then say ‘Just kidding!’ and put it back
where they found it.
Anyway, on Friday morning this guy I’ve never seen before
starts flicking through the ‘British pop S-Z’ section, lets out
a gasp of amazement and rushes up to the counter, clutching
the sleeve to his chest as if he’s afraid someone will snatch it
from him. And then he gets out his wallet and pays for it, seven
quid, just like that, no attempt to haggle, no recognition of
the significance of what he is doing. I let Barry serve him –
it’s his moment – and Dick and I watch every move, holding
our breath; it’s like someone has walked in, tipped petrol over
himself and produced a box of matches from his pocket. We
don’t exhale until he’s struck the match and set himself alight,
and when he’s gone we laugh and laugh and laugh. It gives us
all strength: if someone can just walk in and buy The Sid James
Experience album, then surely anything good can happen at
any time.
[…]
The next morning the guy who bought The Sid James
Experience album comes in to exchange it. He says it’s not what
he thought it was.
‘What did you think it was?’ I ask him.
‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘Something else.’ He shrugs, and looks
at the three of us in turn. We are all staring at him, crushed,
aghast; he looks embarrassed.
‘Have you listened to all of it?’ Barry asks.
‘I took it off halfway through the second side. Didn’t like it.’
‘Go home and try it again,’ Barry says desperately. ‘It’ll grow on
you. It’s a grower.’
The guy shakes his head helplessly. He’s made up his mind. He
chooses a second-hand Madness CD, and I put The Sid James
Experience back in the rack.
c
CD3 T10 Read the text again and listen. Answer the questions.
1 What do they usually do in the shop with things they can’t sell?
2 Why has Barry got two copies of The Sid James Experience album?
3 How does the man react when he finds The Sid James Experience album in the shop?
4 Why do the three men in the shop laugh when the man buys the record?
5 How do the three men in the shop feel when the man brings the record back?
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UNIT 11